Robyn Hitchcock/Imogen Clark @ City Winery, New York, NY 10/30/24
Bill: Robyn Hitchcock/Imogen Clark
Venue: City Winery, New York, NY
Date: 10/30/24
Door: Door $50-$35 (won pair in $35 section from DoNYC)
9pm Robyn Hitchcock
Active: 1972 (London, UK)
Latest Release: 1967: Vacations In The Past (Tiny Ghost, 2024)
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8pm Imogen Clark
Active: 2016 (Sydney, Australia)
Latest Release: The Art of Getting Through (Imogen Clark, 2024)
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Robyn Hitchcock has been playing NYC and it's vicinity heavily of late. It seems like I just saw him at White Eagle in Jersey City a few ago, but I won tickets which meant it would be King Diamond that would have to wait for another time. I've been seeing Robyn heavily of late, certainly the last time he was at City Winery. His new release is his contribution to a Pin Ups type of covers album. The highlight of the night was his grand finale covering the Beatles "A Day In The Life."
This was apparently a request show that were submitted somewhere in advance. Where that is, I had no idea coming into the show or going, so I was just going to have to enjoy what the audience wanted to hear without trying to stump the bandleader. The hits "The Balloon Man," "My Wife and My Dead Wife" and "Queen Madonna of the Wasps" were played early. As for my favorites of the night, "Cynthia Mask" stood out and of course his take of Dylan's "Desolation Row." Black Snake Diamond Role had three tracks tonight: "Love," "The Lizard" and "The Man Who Invented Himself." There was but one Soft Boys song: "Queen of Eyes."
Australian Imogen Clark was an odd pairing with Robyn. She's not in his league. The only thing they share besides accents from English speaking lands not US are their acoustic instruments. Her closing song she did un-miced and she took advantage of City Winery's house piano for some of the set. Her material was bland, especially when juxtaposed with an eccentric icon like Hitchcock. It can be said that she's arguably worked with bigger names like Colin Hay. The pro polish she seems to want to claim doesn't make the material or her topics particularly interesting. That doesn't matter if the songs are performed in a memorable manner. She had one called "Squinters" that I thought approached this, but too often there didn't seem anything to distinguish her among the many talented people that inhabit this planet even with ego titles like "The Making Of Me" or naming her latest album The Art of Getting Though.
FOR FURTHER REVIEW:
Sex, Food, Death...& Tarantulas (2007)
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