Nick Lowe/Robyn Hitchcock @ the El Rey 4/11/08 (review)

As published by LA Record:

When I heard that Robyn Hitchcock was coming back to town as co-headliner with Nick Lowe at the El Rey, the first thing I did was cash in on my fabulous L.A. RECORD connections to score tickets. The second thing I did was miss his entire set. I arrived at 10 pm, which on a Friday night by L.A. standards is pretty damn prompt, to find that not only had Robyn come and gone, but I'd already even missed Nick Lowe's first couple of tunes. Not being all that familiar with Lowe's stuff – except of course for his standards "Cruel to Be Kind" and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" – I disappointedly resigned myself to sit through his set and try to enjoy myself. After listening to him play a couple of tunes of just him and acoustic guitar, I was sure that was not going to happen. But as the evening wore on, I found myself increasingly entranced by the 50-something Englishman's simple yet heartfelt melodies and story-like lyrics of life and love. Though sponsored by Indie 103, it felt like more of a KCRW crowd, the audience comprising faux-hipsters in their late twenties who allowed their parents to tag along, all singing to every song, completely enamored with Lowe. The highlight for me was the encore, when both Lowe and Hitchcock took the stage together and performed a number of surprising old covers, including the little-known 1963 tune "Hungry For Love" by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, "Peggy Sue" by Buddy Holly and the Beatles' "If I Fell." (LL)

Robyn Hitchcock @ Spaceland 4/12/07

As published in L.A. Record:

This experience should have been a disaster: I’d planned to meet up with a friend who never showed. Sleepy openers Sean Nelson & His Mortal Enemies weren’t even close to being my cup of tea, forcing me to spend nearly two hours in the smoking lounge silently watching a series of excruciatingly boring billiards games. During the show, I didn’t recognize one single song in the entire set. But Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 turned out to be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Robyn made his way to the stage sporting a brightly colored, flowery button-down shirt that only an English rocker of his caliber could rock without eliciting laughter and piteous head-shaking. From the moment the band began, I and the rest of the enthusiastic audience were completely entranced. Robyn’s signature sound is an inimitable blend of sophisticated pop melodies and nasally vocals that evoke John Lennon mixed with cheeky, smart and eerily bizarre lyrics that recall Syd Barrett. Aside from Soft Boys stuff, I own a grand total of two Hitchcock albums, so when taking into account his massive creative output—which rivals Elvis Costello—it wasn’t much of a shocker that the only song I recognized in the entire set was a Bob Dylan cover. However, the tight playing of the star-studded backing band (R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Young Fresh Fellows’ frontman Scott McCaughey and Ministry’s Bill Rieflin) and Robyn’s unique vocals, exquisite guitar playing and off-the-wall banter kept me immersed the entire night. I’ll definitely be popping by Sea Level soon to pick up my long-overdue copy of "Ole! Tarantula," and I’ll definitely be awaiting Robyn’s next visit to our fair city.