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.  

Concert Review: Tom Rush at the Cedar Cultural Center

Tom Rush

Me, Tom Rush, and my Mom, September 7, 2013.

Back in September, my Mom and I saw Tom Rush at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. My Mom is a huge fan of Tom Rush-she has many of his albums from the 1960’s. This is the 3^rd time that I’ve seen Tom Rush with my Mom, and he puts on a great show every time. Rush is a relaxed, easygoing performer. He has a mellow baritone voice and he’s an excellent guitar player. He is also very funny and witty on stage, spinning yarns from his 50 years in the music business.

Tom Rush first came to prominence as part of the folk boom of the 1960’s. He recorded several albums for Elektra Records, before switching labels to Columbia in the 1970’s. Rush’s most famous album is 1968’s “The Circle Game,” which featured songs by young songwriters like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne, as well as Rush’s most famous song, the self-penned “No Regrets.” 

Rush is equally adept at singing folk or blues songs, and he also enjoys singing humorous songs like his concert opener, “Making the Best of a Bad Situation.” Rush performed this concert solo, just like the other times I’ve seen him, with just his guitar for accompaniment. But when you’re as good a guitar player as he is, no other accompaniment is needed. Rush’s voice is adept at coloring the emotions of a song, whether it’s good humor or painful memories. Rush’s version of “The Remember Song,” a humorous song about losing one’s memory as one ages, has become a surprise hit on YouTube, with over 6 million views. One of my favorite songs was the old blues song, “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” on which Rush used his ring as the slide on the guitar. Another great song was Rush’s mellow version of “Drift Away,” which was a hit for Dobie Gray. Just before the end of the first half of the concert, “Spider” John Koerner joined Rush on stage and sang “Rattlesnake.” Koerner and Rush have been friends since the 1960’s, and Koerner is a legend in the Twin Cities folk and blues scene. As usual, the highlight of the first half of the concert was the closing song, “Panama Limited,” which is an old Bukka White song. Rush does amazing things on the guitar during “Panama Limited,” as he imitates train whistles, and the sound of a train speeding up and slowing down. It’s amazing, and always leaves me breathless. 

The second half of the concert featured more great songs and more fantastic guitar work on tunes like “Ladies Loves Outlaws,” and the humorous John Prine song “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian.” Rush sang a brand new song, the lovely “How Can She Dance Like That?” As usual, Rush’s last song before the encores was “No Regrets,” with the instrumental “Rockport Sunday.” Rush said of “No Regrets,” “I’ve written better songs, but that’s the one that sticks with people.” And it’s been covered by many, many people, from the Walker Brothers, who had a British hit single with it in the 1970’s, to U2, who have incorporated the song into their concerts. For the encore, Rush sang his version of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” It was a great and fiery version of the song, although it’s a song quite at odds with Rush’s image. (I highly doubt the gentle Mr. Rush uses a “cobra snake for a necktie.”) 

Seeing Tom Rush at the Cedar is always an enjoyable evening full of fine singing and terrific guitar playing. Rush also talks to fans and signs autographs during intermission, and he’s just as nice off stage as he seems on stage.

Set list:

Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Fall Into the Night

Woody Guthrie song-Dust Bowl Blues?

Urge for Going

The Remember Song

Baby, Please Don’t Go

Fish Story Song

Drift Away-Dobie Gray song

Rattlesnake-with Spider John Koerner

Panama Limited

Ladies Love Outlaws

What I Know

New song-How Can She Dance Like That?

Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian

Merrimack County

No Regrets/Rockport Sunday

Encore:

A Child’s Song

Who Do You Love?/Bo Diddley

Concert Review: Loudon Wainwright III at the Cedar Cultural Center

Loudon Wainwright III

Last night I saw Loudon Wainwright III in concert at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. It was a really fun show, as Wainwright is a very engaging performer to see live. I’m not familiar with very much of Wainwright’s work, but I think last night’s concert was a good introduction. Wainwright sang a lot of new songs from his latest album, “Older Than My Old Man Now,” which just came out in April. The album focuses on mortality, and it was specifically inspired by the fact that, at age 65, Wainwright is now older than his father ever got to be. (Loudon Wainwright II was a longtime editor and writer for Life magazine who passed away in 1988 just days shy of his 64^th birthday.) The songs that Loudon sang last night were a mixture of funny and sad. Some were serious meditations on aging; others were humorous songs like “My Meds,” about all the prescription medications Loudon now takes. 

On stage, Wainwright is a very funny, engaging performer. He really acts out his songs as he sings them, which makes him very fun to watch. It’s clear that he still enjoys performing, as he smiles most of the time he’s onstage. Performing solo, he had the audience in the palm of his hand from the beginning of the show. Many of Wainwright’s songs focus on family relationships, whether it’s the relationship between him and his parents or himself and his own children. Wainwright performed most of the songs from “Older Than My Old Man Now,” but he also mixed in some older songs like “Red Guitar,” and “Five Years Old.” (No, he didn’t play “Dead Skunk,” his one hit single.) Wainwright is able to take simple ideas and make a song from them, which isn’t as easy to do as it might sound. He sang one song about an older man taking his dog for a walk which was very funny and silly. It’s a simple idea for a song, but he made it entertaining. His song “In C,” from “Older Than My Old Man Now,” mixes humor and sadness very well. Loudon starts the song by joking that when he plays piano it’s always in the key of C. But the song turns into an eloquent meditation on family relationships, and at the end of the song Wainwright sings the funny and heartbreaking line, “And if families didn’t break apart/I suppose there’d be no need for art.” 

I enjoyed seeing Loudon live, he’s an artist I’ve heard about for a long time but haven’t investigated yet. My wife is a big fan of Loudon’s son Rufus, and I’ve started to get into Rufus’s music through her. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Loudon’s music. I bought “Older Than My Old Man Now” at the concert and got it signed by Loudon after the show. He’s a really funny guy off stage as well, and he was very nice to talk to.