On Monday night, June 23, I had the utmost pleasure of witnessing the legendary Robyn Hitchcock perform a concert. This was my first time in the Columbia City Theater in Seattle’s south end. Seattle Theater Group recently acquired it. Columbia City Theater is very small, so very intimate, but loaded with character.
The beginning of the concert was just Robyn and an acoustic guitar and occasionally a harmonica. He stated he was glad to be back in the 206 area again. Then he brought out (as he put it his 206 friends) Sean Nelson (of Harvey Danger fame). The two of them bantered about over perfection and the existence of cactus before singing in beautiful two-part harmony. Sean’s succulent and sweet voice was the perfect complement to Robyn’s more nasal tones.
The entire evening was the playing of songs and Robyn’s talent of spinning a story with quirky metaphors and nonsensical segues that were both poignant and amusing.
A little later in the show Kurt Bloch (of Fastbacks and Young Fresh Fellows fame) joined Robyn and Sean and the duo became a trio now with two guitars and two singers. Robyn described Kurt as the “Elvis of the Rolling Stones.” They sang Viva Seatac with lyrics of, the Space Needle touches the sky. The Space Needle’s such a nice guy . . .” Then, as if three weren’t enough, legendary musician Bill Rieflin came out and the two-part harmony became three and they performed a perfect cover of Simon and Garfunkle’s The Only Living Boy In New York (one of my all-time favorite S&G songs). Robyn even jokingly compared Sean to Art Garfunkle (Sean has a head of golden curls). It just couldn’t have gotten better than that, but it did.
An encore consisted of a raucous cover of Pretty Woman and the foursome left the stage. Everyone thought that was the end, but the passage to the backstage entailed a walk across a catwalk that spanned the entire wall at stage left. They retrieved their instruments from the stage and put on a show for everyone from the catwalk that included a cover of Cripple Creek and everyone sang along on the chorus. This singing was done sans amplification, yet their voices chimed beautifully through the tiny theater. Just when I thought the night couldn’t get better, Cripple Creek was followed by the Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset — a perfect finale.
I am still basking in the glow of such a wonderful and magical concert. There was no opener. As Robyn said, “I’d like to thank myself for opening my own show.”
Judging by the rapt and enthusiastic response from the crowd, it’s safe to surmise I am not the only one who felt magic this night. And I should also mention that Sean Nelson does not age. He looks the same as he did when I used to go see him in Harvey Danger fifteen years ago. I’ve been a fan of Robyn’s for about a quarter of a century now and have seen him many times over the last twenty-five years, but I think this concert was one of the best. I am still basking in its glow nearly twenty-four hours later.
All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
