The Wafflehead
1995 (#1)
Robyn Hitchcock Live
Robyn Hitchcock -- Live At The Hop & Grape, Manchester, 5/12/95
by Haydn J. Mullineux
Robyn Hitchcock tempted fate by venturing "up north" to the cold turfs of Manchester on a mystic Friday night. He had come to play the legendary Hop & Grape (no, not really) in front of an odd mix of Mancunians as part of a British tour. Although he had also (supposedly) spent the afternoon at the airport growing blackberries in a small plane to pass the time. But he was there, and on that Friday suddenly everything was strange.
It is the audience who need a special mentioning, because never have I seen one like it. Punks, hippies, students, older people, young people (alhtough I didn't see any), criminals, clowns, kings, queens, and me -- all in the same room. I stood at the foot of the stage in an aura of magical confusion with two skinheads (shouting the words out to every song) on one side, and two 40+ rather large people on the other (who each held a glass of wine and just stared at Robyn). Anyway, I only noticed the surrounding zoo when the support, Denzil, was playing and amusing himself with songs about holiday camps and such (the skinheads did seem rather interested, though). The spirit was there, but sadly, the songs were not.
When Robyn's ghostly figure appeared out of the shadows of backstage, the hours shook hands and disappeared: 15-20 songs fuelled with surreal visions alongside sterling guitar work (acoustic then electric), with the faint hum of an entusiastic audience beneath. The songs reached back to the days of The Soft Boys ("Queen Of Eyes" and "Only The Stones Remain") through to the recent single ("Zipper In My Spine", "Man With A Woman's Shadow", "I Something You") -- and seeing as most were recorded with a backing group, I think I can say that everyone in that room was impressed. The between-song dialogue added a source of confusion to the songs, with one story about a man who received a fax from the devil (when he didn't own a fax machine in the first place). Other song explanations included wardrobes, fish (a favourite of his), insects, and grandmothers.
He didn't jump up and down and eat his guitar. There was enough movement in the guitar's notes and the man's lyrics to keep your mind a-wandering through deep, dark caverns -- and beneath glorious sunshine for several nights. Several nights after, The Madcap's cousin had left the stage with a polite, "Sleep well."
Tracks Played (please note that these are from memory, and possibly it may not include one or two):
Acoustic -- "Glass Hotel"; "The Yip Song"; "My Wife And My Dead Wife"; "Chinese Bones"; "Balloon Man"; "Madonna Of The Wasps"; "She Doesn't Exist"; "Ride"; "I Something You"; "Surgery".
Electric -- "Zipper In My Spine"; "I Often Dream Of Trains"; "Listening To The Higsons"; "Queen Of Eyes"; "Only The Stones Remain"; "Man With A Woman's Shadow".
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