Concert review: Robyn Hitchcock at Shank Hall in Milwaukee · Nov 3, 11:44 AM by Don
Robyn Hitchcock began his solo set at Shank Hall last night by saying, “This goes out to Colin Meloy,” before going into “The Ghost Ship.” He followed this with “Autumn is Your Last Chance,” from I Often Dream of Trains, which is part of Hitchcock’s new box set, I Wanna Go Backwards. Yep Roc mail order customers probably already have their copies (like me), but it hits stores on November 13. The set is comprised of Trains, Black Snake Diamond Role, and Eye, plus a 2CD demos compilation, While Thatcher Mauled Britain. Don’t get rid of your copies of the 1995 Rhino reissues of the three albums, as they contain rarities not featured on the new Yep Roc versions.
Back to the concert: “City of Shame,” from Black Snake Diamond Role, was next. Hitchcock played most of it but scuttled it near the end. Before the next song, he commented on the protestors standing outside of the abortion clinic next door to Shank. “What those people outside don’t know is where babies really come from. From a place that’s dark, furry, and with eight legs.” He then went into “Olé! Tarantula,” from last year’s album of the same name. As the applause for “Tarantula” died down, he exclaimed that he rememered how to finish “City of Shame.” And then he did just that. This was met with particularly enthusiastic applause.
Hitchcock broke a string during “City of Shame.” While somebody fixed his guitar backstage, he launched into one of his freeform psychedelic stories about Tom Hanks and the Apollo 13 crew travelling to the dark side of the moon and finding Roger Waters sitting on a column that extends up from the surface of the moon. After realizing his acoustic guitar was still being fixed, he grabbed his electric and played the gently spooky “Raymond Chandler Evening,” from Element of Light. Look for Element of Light to be reissued early next year in a second Yep Roc box set titled Bad Case of History. Also included in the set: Gotta Let This Hen Out, Fegmania and another outtakes comp called Dynasty. Hitchcock followed with “The Lizard,” another Black Snake song.
For the rest of the set, Hitchcock was joined by Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger. (Unfortunately, I missed Nelson’s opening set.) They played “Queen Elvis,” the only Eye song of the night. Next was a song for an upcoming movie about Brian Epstein, “the fifth Beatle.” No title was given, but a key line in the refrain is, “Take it away.” A spirited take on “Alright, Yeah,” a 1993 b-side, and “Sometimes a Blonde,” from Spooked concluded the set.
For the encore, the two did the always touching “N.Y. Doll,” a tribute to the late Arthur Kane, the Velvet Underground’s “Candy Says,” and “Adventure Rocketship.”
Set list: The Ghost Ship/Autumn is Your Last Chance/City of Shame (scuttled)/Olé! Tarantula/Ole Tarantula/City of Shame (conclusion)/Raymond Chandler Evening/The Lizard/With Sean Nelson: Queen Elvis/(song for Brian Epstein movie)/Alright, Yeah/Sometimes a Blonde/Encore (with Sean Nelson): N.Y. Doll/Candy Says (Velvet Underground cover)/Adventure Rocketship
The one and only photo I snapped (during the last song) is of poor quality. Shank is a small room, so even though I was near the sound board I could see fine. Photographically, I was too far to get a good shot. Plus, it was a relatively quiet, intimate show; I didn’t want to disrupt that by taking a lot of photos.
mp3: Robyn Hitchcock – Queen Elvis :: live at the Bottom Line in San Francisco on October 31, 2003 (late show)
mp3: The Velvet Underground – Candy Says :: from The Velvet Underground (1969)
Read Karl’s take on the show at ClaudePate.com. (Karl, thanks for mentioning and linking to Timedoor!)
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Tonight: Robyn Hitchcock plays Shank Hall in Milwaukee Concert review: Robyn Hitchcock at the High Noon Saloon in Madison
I kinda figured you’d review the show too…that’s what my blog entry today is about as well.
— 2fs Nov 3, 04:09 PM #