Love, Poetry and Revolution - Tuesday 28th February 2023

Back to work for me too, today.  Reckon it'll be fairly quiet during the day, at least.

I managed to find time to walk at lunchtime, as part of my programme of not sitting down chained to a computer when I'm working (what am I doing now?) and of getting more exercise.

Unusually, I have a final call of the day from 4 to 5 p.m.,  and it happens to be on a day when I'll be going out not long after that.  Similarly, Q's final meeting is running late too, but she returns by ten past five.  At five-thirty we head across the road to catch a bus into town.

We're back, just before eleven, after a great night out.  It's the first time we've explored the city around the Philharmonic Hall and though we booked a great family-run restaurant, we discover there are loads of restaurants in the area.  

Tonight is a date night as well as a gig night, or should that be a show night?  Back to the food. We both enjoyed a really good steak (quite expensive, but hey?), mine washed down with some good red wine and a dessert. I had Affogato with Amaretto (Is this the way to Amaretto?). Very nice. Q had a chocolate orange cake - equally nice. 

After a fine meal, we headed to the music room at the Philharmonic, to watch Robyn Hitchcock supported by Jessica Lee Morgan. This is the first gig of music that I like, well, Robyn Hitchcock specifically, that Q has come to. I have played her some specially curated music that I like, avoiding anything too extreme, and even that has proved challenging, so I attended this with some trepidation.

The music room is an intimate venue and the gig was sold out, though we arrived early enough to get seats near the front with a great view of the stage.

Q didn't fall asleep or run for the exit, so that was good.  Overall it was a successful introduction to one musician I like, and I think she felt Robyn Hitchcock was interesting, especially when he switched to the piano.  As is often the case for Q and I, the gig had a 'cultural chasm' element, especially for the between-song chat which often entered into the surrealist world that Robyn's songs inhabit.

Undoubtedly the highlights of Robyn's set were the songs played on the piano and the encore, for which Robyn was joined by Jessica Lee Morgan on guitar and backing vocals and Christian Thomas on bass guitar.

The final piece of the jigsaw is, of course, the setlist, and here it is:

The Shuffle Man

Only the Stones Remain (The Soft Boys song)

No, I Don't Remember Guildford

Madonna of the Wasps (Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song)

Glass (Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song)

The Cheese Alarm

Autumn Sunglasses

The Lizard

Flavour of Night

Somewhere Apart (Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song) (Piano)

The Man Who Invented Himself (Piano)

Ted, Woody and Junior (Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song) (Piano)

The Inner Life of Scorpio

Saturday Groovers (Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 song)

One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)

Encore (with Jessica Lee Morgan and Christian Thomas):

Oceanside(Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song)

Airscape (Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians song)

Queen of Eyes (The Soft Boys song)

We departed the gig and picked up a bus back to Liverpool Hope. Work tomorrow, so time for bed.

Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band / 'Picklock' / 'Adiós Señor Pussycat'

[[Michael Head seems appropriate, given where I am]]