Robyn Hitchcock with Davey Lane at The Boileroom Guildford, Sunday July 21st

Robyn Hitchcock with Davey Lane at The Boileroom Guildford

Here's some photos and a couple of videos from Robyn Hitchcock's superb gig at the Boileroom in Guildford last Sunday. It was my first visit to this intimate venue and I really liked it. The sound and lighting were excellent and the attractive outdoor terrace with it's own pizza shack, all helped to add to the atmosphere. Robyn Hitchcock appeared on stage in customary dotted shirt and treated us to a two hour set packed full of pleasantly surprising song choices and in-between song chat that was often as psychedelic as his music. The more familiar songs from The Egyptians such as "My Wife And My Dead Wife", "Madonna Of The Wasps" and "When I Was Dead" nestle alongside unexpected solo treats such as "Cheese Alarm" and the new single "Sunday Never Comes", which was available as a lovely pink vinyl single at the merch table. His humorous and bewildering instructions to Spencer, tonight's sound engineer, were worth releasing as an album in their own right.

Robyn Hitchcock at The Boileroom Guildford

Robyn Hitchcock with Davey Lane at The Boileroom Guildford

Half way through the set Robyn was joined on stage by the mightily impressive Australian guitarist Davey Lane, who has also previously played alongside Todd Rundgren and is in the line-up of the popular Aussie Alt. Rock band You Am I. Davey somehow managed to coax some remarkable effects from his guitar that added undercurrents of pedal-steel, cello and psychedelic organ sounds to the stripped back acoustic performance. He also chipped in with some nice vocal harmonies and obviously has a great rapport with Robyn, in fact their on-stage chemistry made for a thoroughly heart-warming evening's entertainment. My personal highlights included a beautiful "Autumn Sunglasses" from Robyn's current self-titled album and a rare outing for a Venus 3 song, a rollicking run through of "Adventure Rocket Ship". There was even a nod to The Soft Boys with "Queen of Eyes" and a raucous crowd singalong to the classic "Brenda's Iron Sledge". It was just one of those great nights of live music, enjoying a true British musical legend at the top of his game in such intimate surroundings with a nice crowd of people. You really can't get much better than that.

Robyn Hitchcock with Davey Lane at The Boileroom Guildford

Robyn Hitchcock at The Boileroom Guildford

Robyn Hitchcock with Davey Lane at The Boileroom Guildford

Robyn Hitchcock at The Boileroom Guildford

All photos copyright Retro Man Blog 2019.