Concert Review: Robyn Hitchcock and Eugene Mirman at the Cedar Cultural Center

Robyn Hitchcock at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Poster for Robyn Hitchcock and Eugene Mirman at the Cedar Cultural Center, May 2, 2024. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Robyn signed the sleeve of my 45. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

On May 2nd, I saw Robyn Hitchcock and Eugene Mirman at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. I’ve seen Robyn live many times, but I missed him when he came through town in 2023, so I’m glad to have caught him this time around. Eugene Mirman opened the show with his stand-up. I’ve seen Eugene open for Robyn before, and he’s a pretty funny fellow. Robyn brought Eugene back at the end of the show, and I really enjoyed seeing how much Robyn laughed at Eugene. 

Robyn Hitchcock is an artist quite beyond description. His songs are beautiful, catchy, melodic, alarming, charming, disarming, and otherworldly. His concert at the Cedar was a solo show, featuring Robyn on guitar, and piano on a few songs. My wife and I got to the Cedar later than we wanted to, just as Eugene was starting his set, but we happily discovered that there were empty seats in the front row. Thanks for not wanting to draw attention to yourselves, Minnesotans!  

Robyn opened the show with “Balloon Man,” one of his most famous songs from the 1980’s. I didn’t write down the songs that Robyn played, because I foolishly assumed they’d make it online, but I haven’t been able to find a setlist for this concert. Oh well. So it goes.  

The songs that I recall were a mixture of Hitchcock favorites like “I’m Only You,” and “I Often Dream of Trains,” and songs like “I Saw Nick Drake” that are performed less frequently. As always, solo shows highlight Hitchcock’s excellent guitar playing. Speaking of Robyn’s guitar playing, his most recent album is 2023’s Life After Infinity, his first all-instrumental album.  

At the piano, Robyn played “The Man Who Invented Himself,” side one, track one from his first solo album, 1981’s Black Snake Diamond Role. I don’t know if the song was meant to be autobiographical, but the lyrics seem apropos of Hitchcock: “He came bursting out of nowhere like a spear into the sky/and he cast his light on everything it was like he’d never die...he’s the fella, the man who invented himself.”  

Robyn also played “Somewhere Apart” on the piano, one of his most John Lennon-esque songs, which is one of my favorites. I requested “Strawberries Dress,” a lovely song from 2013’s Love from London. When I told Robyn after the show that I’d requested that song, he apologized for the tuning not quite sounding right, but it sounded great to me.  

It was fun to see Robyn in concert again, and after the show he signed autographs. I was dressed for the occasion, with a flowery shirt and a neck scarf. Robyn complimented my outfit, and I told him I was trying to dress like it was 1967—the title of Robyn’s new memoir, coming out in July.  

In an Instagram post from yesterday, Robyn wrote: “The longer I do it, the more I love playing live. I’m grateful for the chance to be my best self, night after night, in front of people who genuinely enjoy what I do. My recent US excursion was a slice of bliss.” It was for us too, Robyn.  

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 13: Robyn Mix

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift’s Stageit show for week 13 of “Sweet Home Quarantine” was a mix of Robyn’s songs. Performed on June 17, 2020, the show was made up of audience requests via social media. The show began with Robyn solo, singing “Freeze” and “Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom.” Emma then joined Robyn and sang “N.Y. Doll,” which she said is her favorite song of Robyn’s. It’s a great song from Hitchcock’s excellent 2006 album Ole! Tarantula. Emma sang it beautifully, and when she finished Robyn said, “That’s a nice tune,” as though he was hearing it in a new way when Emma sang it.

Robyn said “We’re going to do one of my radio hits. I had about 3 ½ radio hits.” It was “Balloon Man,” from 1988’s Globe of Frogs album. It’s a catchy bit of pop surrealism that Robyn wrote for the Bangles. In interviews, Robyn has expressed antipathy towards “Balloon Man,” and it was clear from last week’s concert that he prefers one of his other radio hits, “Madonna of the Wasps.” 

“Saturday Groovers” was up next, one of my favorite Hitchcock songs, and as usual, Robyn and Emma sounded great together on it. Robyn then sang “Ordinary Millionaire” and “De Chirico Street” solo. I’ve always liked “De Chirico Street,” as Moss Elixir was one of the first Hitchcock albums I got into. “Ordinary Millionaire” was co-written with Johnny Marr, and after the song Emma laughed and said, “Hitcho, you’re not even close to a millionaire!” Robyn laughed and said, “Well, I was on paper around that time, I had some property…and then I got divorced.” It’s always interesting to hear little tidbits like that. The financial part of the music industry has always fascinated me, and I’ve pondered Robyn Hitchcock’s finances more than you might guess. It’s easy to daydream about the wealth of musicians who are super successful, like Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney or David Bowie or Adele, but I’m really intrigued by someone like Robyn Hitchcock: he’s been around for a long time, but he’s never broken through to a huge audience the way other artists have. How much money does Robyn Hitchcock make from Spotify? Probably not very much.

Emma returned for “The Wreck of the Arthur Lee,” “Madonna of the Wasps,” and “I Pray When I’m Drunk.” Robyn then sang “A Globe of Frogs” solo, and the show ended with a verse or two of “Queen of Eyes.” Emma playfully put out her hand to stop Robyn’s guitar playing, and he looked mildly surprised at this. She explained that she wanted to say a proper goodbye, and not just end in the middle of a chorus. Robyn said, “Let me Hitchsplain that I know how long my songs are.” It’s funny little moments like these that make the “Sweet Home Quarantine” shows so much fun.

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 7

The one and only Robyn Hitchcock!

The 7^th week of Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift’s at home concert series, titled “Sweet Home Quarantine,” aired through the Stageit website on April 29, 2020. This week didn’t have a theme, it was just the songs of Robyn Hitchcock. The show opened with “Uncorrected Personality Traits,” one of Robyn’s most humorous songs, from his 1984 album I Often Dream of Trains. I’ve been a fan of Robyn Hitchcock’s music since I first discovered him in 2007/2008, and I really love hearing him sing with Emma Swift—she brings something slightly different out of his music. It’s fun to hear Robyn vocally paired with someone else, and it brings more variety to his songs. 

Continuing with the Beatles theme of week 6’s show, Robyn and Emma sang “Help!” which of course really needs two vocalists to work as a song. The next tune was “So You Think You’re in Love,” which I don’t think I’ve ever heard Robyn sing in concert. “So You Think You’re in Love” might not be Robyn’s most famous song, but it’s the closest he’s come to having a hit single, as the song made it to number one on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart. (It didn’t make the Hot 100, though.) It was fun to hear, and a reminder of how catchy Robyn’s songs can be. After that, Robyn played two of his most well-known songs, “Madonna of the Wasps,” and “Balloon Man.” Robyn commented that “Balloon Man” was a satire of capitalism, and he noted the irony that it’s made more money for him than any other song. “Balloon Man” is a catchy, surreal pop song that was many people’s gateway into the universe of Robyn Hitchcock.

Next up was “Trouble in Your Blood,” a track from 2014’s The Man Upstairs. Robyn joked that it was about his most recent divorce. Well, I’m not sure if he was joking or not. See, that’s the problem with getting into any musical artists after the Beatles. Because we know so much about the Beatles, I can practically tell you, “Oh yes, John Lennon had a roasted turkey sandwich right before he did the lead vocal on ‘A Day in the Life’!” But that spoils you, because then you expect to know EVERYTHING! “But what kind of hair gel was Nick Lowe using when he was producing Elvis Costello’s High Fidelity??? I need to know!” So then things like, “How many times has Robyn Hitchcock been married?” become difficult questions to answer. 

Robyn reached way back for the next song, “Rain,” from 1982’s Groovy Decay. He then played “Heliotrope,” from one of my favorite albums of his, 1996’s Moss Elixir, which was definitely one of my own gateways into Robyn Hitchcock. Next up was “Brenda’s Iron Sledge,” from his very first solo album, Black Snake Diamond Role, released in May 1981, just a month after I was born. Robyn followed that with “I Want to Tell You About What I Want,” from his most recent album, released in 2017. Then we got a minute or so of “You and Oblivion” as the time ran out.