Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine David Bowie-Europe Show

David Bowie, rocking out in 2004.

Yesterday, Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift reprised their all-David Bowie edition of “Sweet Home Quarantine.” Robyn and Emma’s concerts happen through the Stageit website on Wednesday nights at 8PM Central time, a fairly friendly hour for the United States, but less so for those in Europe. So, there’s a second show on Friday afternoons at 2PM Central time. This was the first time I’d tuned in to the Friday show, but since I enjoyed the Bowie show so much, I figured why not?

The setlist was mostly the same as Wednesday night, with some slight differences. Robyn and Emma opened Friday’s show with a great version of “Ashes to Ashes,” followed by “Ziggy Stardust.” More songs from the Ziggy Stardust album followed: “Soul Love,” “Moonage Daydream,” with Emma taking the lead vocal, and “Starman.” “Moonage Daydream” sounded great, and it was interesting to hear it without Mick Ronson’s wonderful guitar solo at the end. Emma also took the lead vocal on “Life on Mars?” which has long been one of my favorite David Bowie songs. Robyn and Emma duetted on “Quicksand,” which features some of Bowie’s most impenetrable lyrics. I have no idea what the song is about, but it’s got a lovely melody. 

Robyn again performed “Heroes” in a stripped-down Lou Reed style, almost the opposite of the anthemic version that Bowie recorded. It was effective and goes to show how if a song is really good, you can perform it in all sorts of different ways. Robyn and Emma did a lovely version of “Sound and Vision,” one of my favorite tracks from the Low album. One of the audience members was Jessica Lee Morgan, a singer/songwriter who is the daughter of longtime Bowie producer Tony Visconti and singer Mary Hopkin. (It’s Hopkin providing the “do-do-do-do” vocals on “Sound and Vision.”) Jessica said that Bowie had greatly increased the volume on Hopkin’s backing vocals during the mixing of the song. Also in the audience was a woman who had lived in the same apartment building in New York City as Bowie. She ran into Bowie in the elevator the day his and Iman’s daughter Lexi was born, and she congratulated him. She didn’t say how Bowie reacted, but in my mind, I picture Bowie, immaculately dressed as always, flashing a toothy grin, saying “thank you,” and then disappearing. 

As on Wednesday, there were lovely version of “Drive-In Saturday,” which I feel is an underrated Bowie gem, and “The Prettiest Star.” The show ended with a great version of “Golden Years,” complete with whistling from Robyn. Although Robyn did sing “in the back of a train car” instead of “dream car,” but that just shows you his preferred mode of transportation. Robyn and Emma sang a verse or two of “Sorrow” as the show closed and promised that “Wild is the Wind” would make an appearance on a future edition of “Sweet Home Quarantine.”

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 9-David Bowie

Emma Swift and Robyn Hitchcock

Since the quarantine began, singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and his partner Emma Swift have been performing concerts live from their couch in Nashville. You can view the concerts through the Stageit website on Wednesday evenings, 8PM in the Central Time Zone. I’ve watched about 4 or 5 of the shows, which Robyn and Emma have titled “Sweet Home Quarantine,” and they’re all very entertaining.

Last night’s show, which was week 9, was David Bowie-themed. As a huge Bowie fan, I was excited for this. Robyn has covered Bowie in concert fairly regularly, although I don’t believe he’s done any Bowie covers on his records. 

The show last night began with “Soul Love,” from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It’s a cool song that is probably one of the lesser-known tracks on that classic album. Robyn said that the saxophone solo is one of the few saxophone solos he enjoys. Next up was “Moonage Daydream,” with Emma taking the lead vocal, and it showed just what a fantastic song that is. One of the great things about Sweet Home Quarantine has been seeing and hearing Robyn and Emma sing together—their voices blend very well, and the harmonies really give his songs a different sound. Robyn and Emma have recorded a few songs together, but they haven’t made an album together, and I’ve still never seen Robyn and Emma sing together live. (At the last Robyn show I was at in 2018, Emma was handling the merch table, but didn’t sing with him.) 

Up next was another Ziggy Stardust track, “Starman,” which was a lot of fun to hear. “Starman” is just a great Bowie song, with that sing a long chorus. Then came two songs from Bowie’s 1971 LP Hunky Dory, “Quicksand” and “Life on Mars?” “Mars” featured Emma again singing the lead vocal, and she did a fantastic job on it. Robyn accompanied on his Fender Telecaster. Robyn then sang the iconic “Heroes,” but he gave it more of a Velvet Underground vibe, which was very cool, and very different from Bowie’s version. Robyn also sang “Sons of the Silent Age,” which has a very odd melody and is a hard song to sing. 

Robyn and Emma were back harmonizing together on the underrated “Drive-In Saturday,” and the lovely “The Prettiest Star,” both off Aladdin Sane. Robyn sang “Kooks,” Bowie’s sweet ode to his son Duncan, and “Golden Years,” another tricky one to sing, but they pulled it off quite well. Robyn and Emma got a verse or two into “Wild is the Wind,” with Emma on lead vocals, before they got cut off. (The Stageit concerts are 30 minutes, plus a 20-minute encore, but they cut you off right at 50 minutes, no matter where you are!) 

It was lovely to hear some great Bowie songs again, in the hands of two artists who clearly love Bowie’s music.

DVD of the Day: David Bowie VH1 Storytellers

Okay, so there really won't always be a DVD of the Day every single day. But today's DVD is the recently released "David Bowie VH1 Storytellers." The show on the DVD comes from 1999, so don't get too excited, fellow Bowie fans. Why it took 10 years for it to come out, I have no idea. But since it's been nearly 6 long years since Bowie's last studio album, 2003's wonderful "Reality," I will take pretty much any leftover Bowie product! And this show is really great, Bowie has always been one of the most charismatic rock stars, and to watch him work a small venue is awesome. The stories he tells are interesting and funny, and he does many different funny voices as he talks. And he looks terrific, rocking a hooded sweatshirt in that way that only David Bowie can. My theory is that clothes that would look ridiculous on anyone else just look great on David Bowie. I think he made some kind of deal with the fashion gods.

So, how about the music? Well, he starts with a beautiful version of "Life of Mars?" surely one of his greatest songs. Although he leaves out the first verse and starts with the second. Bowie's voice has aged really well, in fact, it may have been the best it's ever been on his last few tours. He can still hit all those high notes on "Mars." Wow! Bowie plays two songs from his then-latest release, "Hours," the singles "Thursday's Child" and "Seven." These were two of the best songs from that album, and they're well-performed here. Bowie throws a curveball into the mix when he performs his very first solo single, from 1965, "Can't Help Thinking About Me." It sounds very much like an early Who song, and this odd choice actually points the way to where Bowie would go next. His next project after "Hours" was the unreleased "Toy" album, which saw Bowie re-recording some of his songs from the 1960's, along with a couple of new pieces written in a similar style. Some of the finished tracks trickled out as B-sides when "Heathen" was released in 2002, but sadly the full album never saw the light of day. "China Girl" gets a nice, moody opening here before Bowie launches into the more familiar arrangement. And the show ends with two fairly obscure songs from the 70's, "Drive-In Saturday" and "Word on a Wing." Lyrically, "Drive-In Saturday" continues the theme of "Life of Mars?" of people escaping from reality through movies. "Saturday" takes place sometime in the future, with the narrator looking back and trying to "get it on like once before/when people stared in Jagger's eyes and scored/like the video films we saw." "Word on a Wing" is from the "Station to Station" album, and it is a cry for help from Bowie's darkest days, as he was in the throes of a crippling cocaine addiction. Despite this, "Station to Station" is one of his best albums. It's a beautiful song, and it's very much like a prayer.

On the DVD, we also get four bonus performances, although sadly, no more stories from David. There are two more songs from "Hours," the lovely "Survive" and "If I'm Dreaming My Life." (The four songs he performs on the show are definitely the four strongest from "Hours.") There's also a stripped-down version of Tin Machine's "I Can't Read," which offers proof that Tin Machine could create things of beauty. (Also see "Amazing.") And finally, a track from "Low," one of my very favorite Bowie albums, "Always Crashing in the Same Car." It's given a different flavor here, with Bowie's acoustic guitar carrying the song along. It's fantastic.

David Bowie's music has meant a great deal to me over the last 10 years, and he's one of my all-time favorite musicians. The two Bowie shows I've seen in person are two of the best shows I've ever seen, and they will remain forever locked in my memory banks. I really wish that he would record another new album, as his last two, "Heathen" and "Reality" are two of the finest he's ever made. But until that time, I'll have to make do with what's already out there, which is a significant chunk of the greatest rock music ever.