30 September 2015 (gig)
10 October 2015
One of the reaffirmations of the night is how good a guitarist Rich Robinson is. His solos on Your With Me and Roll Um Easy are exquisite. On his own and stripped of band and support Robinson could come on with an acoustic, harmonica, and a lazy set of half-baked adaptations. Not a bit of it (and no harmonica). A fifteen song set sees him adapt his solo material, some choice covers and songs from the other band.
His most recent album The Ceaseless Sight dominates and exposed to the elements as these songs are just goes to show how strong this collection is. Opener I Remember is a mile from the album but so much closer to the heart in this context, while Down The Road shorn of the keyboards is sparse but retains its ambulatory drift.
He goes electric (and he changes guitar for nearly every song) for Bert Jansch’s Blackwaterside and is one of the highlights of the set. A packed, rapt crowd soak in every moment and nuance; it’s a performance of subtle assurance, never arrogant.
No encores Robinson just plays until he feels like stopping and closes the night with Oh Josephine and What is Home from The Black Crowes. And that’s it, he’s back up the steps to the dressing room, audience head out of the Café, everyone’s in a good mood and can’t ask for more than that.
Photograph courtesy of John Hayhurst.
