It’s almost Spring, or so it seems. From snow to sunshine. Shining daffodils on the kitchen table. And outside my window at night the persistent twittering of insomniac birds. What are they saying? Are they discussing the meaning of life or simply swapping self-absorbed semaphore at a volume that others can’t escape? I can’t really say and frankly don’t care. I’m contemplating, full of remorse. Well, that might be a slight overstatement, but not for the first time I have to admit that here’s an artist who has passed me by for many years, simply a name on a shelf-divider or a listings page. On the basis of this performance, I can confirm that this is something I deeply regret.

Robyn Hitchcock

The slight sense of disorientation that this caused as the guitar moved was nothing compared with the effect of Hitchcock’s spoken contributions, delivered in the theatrical style of an Edwardian actor-manager. Occasionally cleverly-constructed song introductions, sometimes simply surreal observation. Some of it just twitter. It polarised the audience. Some looked bewildered, if not a tad embarrassed. Others – the majority, I’m glad to say - laughed. Frantically. At one point, during a particularly lengthy and obtuse introduction to the wonderful ‘NASA clapping’ the Photographer was in tears, something normally only achieved by comedian Ken Dodd at his bizarre best. It demanded huge powers of concentration just to keep up with Hitchcock’s musings, let alone the fifteen or so songs, all pretty strong material, including a few from his new album Goodnight Oslo, recorded with his sometime band the Venus 3 (featuring, it is mandatory to note, REM guitarist Peter Buck). If you don’t know, Hitchcock has been recording since 1976, first with The Soft Boys, then, in between solo work, with the Egyptians and more latterly the Venus 3. He’s recorded more albums and accumulated more re-releases and retrospective box sets as he’s moved record company, than most of us have eaten, well, plates of fish and chips. So it’s hard to know where to start, although Goodnight Oslo certainly won’t disappoint.

Tonight’s band features long-time collaborator Paul Noble on bass, Rob Ellis on drums and Jenny Adejayan on cello. Hitchcock divided his time between acoustic and electric guitars. On the latter he achieves, with the aid of an array of pedals and a quite unusual technique, a distinctive droning tone that fits marvellously with the cello to produce a sound that sits somewhere in time and texture between the Beatles’ Revolver and Sergeant Pepper.

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