Concert Review: Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at the Turf Club

 

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at the Turf Club in Saint Paul, April 15, 2022. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

My Robyn Hitchcock swag: "Somebody Ring the Cheese Alarm!" tea towel, Robyn Hitchcock socks, and a Record Store Day 45 that Emma took to Robyn to get signed. And then re-signed after he signed the shrink wrap the first time! (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

On Friday, April 15^th, I saw Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift at the Turf Club in Saint Paul. It’s the first time I’ve seen Robyn in concert since 2018, although I’ve seen him and Emma many times through my computer since 2018 during their “Sweet Home Quarantine” web concerts. This concert at the Turf Club was the first time I’ve seen Emma sing with Robyn live. In 2018, Emma was handling the merch table, but didn’t perform.

Robyn performed two sets, and Emma sang with him on 6 songs, 3 in each set. In the first set, Robyn played the ultra-rare “For Debbie Reynolds,” which I believe he said he’s never played live before. (It was only released on a rarities and outtakes album.) Robyn played one of my favorite songs of his, “Adventure Rocket Ship,” and he also sang “Balloon Man,” probably his biggest “hit” song. The three songs Emma joined Robyn for during the first set were all lovely: “Raining Twilight Coast,” “So You Think You’re in Love,” and the catchy “Up to Our Nex.”

The second set opened with the beautiful “I Often Dream of Trains,” which resonated strongly with my friend Jo, who grew up in the same part of England as Robyn. “Sudden Town,” from the Soft Boys reunion album, reminded me that I should dig out my CD and listen to Nextdoorland again. Robyn sang the goofy “Trilobite,” which was a treat, and “Alright, Yeah,” one of my favorites from Moss Elixir, one of the first Hitchcock albums I owned. I was also very pleased to hear “Ole! Tarantula,” from the album of the same name. Robyn closed the concert with “Visions of Johanna,” the Bob Dylan song that has practically become Robyn’s own, given how many times he’s performed it.

I was thrilled that there’s more Robyn Hitchcock merchandise available, and I got a pair of polka-dot socks, and the “Somebody Ring the Cheese Alarm!” towel. I told Emma that I’m waiting for Robyn’s signature line of shirts. Her response was “I know!” Robyn’s shirt for the second set was outstanding. It had birds on it, which makes any shirt better. I was explaining to Jo that the cats on the cheese alarm towel are Tubby and Ringo, Robyn and Emma’s Scottish Fold cats, and Emma said that the only people who get the towel are “Groovers,” the nickname for those of us who watch Robyn and Emma’s web concerts.

Robyn had fewer monologues than usual, but he still went on some amusing riffs about the planet Europa, and he said that life is “scary, creepy, absurd, and beautiful.” An apt quotation from modern rock’s champion of the surreal.