Review: Evensong featuring Robyn Hitchcock and Ian McNabb, The Assembly, Leamington, November 15.
The tradition of earnest men toting acoustic guitars goes back almost a century, and is so established it could almost have its own branch of social history - Marxism, Fingerpicking and the Labouring Poor, 1918-1939, for example.
The generation pa
ssing the hat around in this show are not ragged-trousered troubadours, nor denim-clad types exploring their emotions, but men in early middle age who were (or were not) big in the 1980s. It's still about feelings, but with a poppy edge.
Opening the evening, Daintees singer Martin Stephenson is a frustration. A guitar player with fingers of gold, he undermines his songs with near constant asides and jokes, many of them disjointed and confusing.
The one or two songs he gets through without this are touching and deftly done, leaving me wishing he concentrated on the material, not the patter.
When it comes to surreal banter, it doesn't help that he came on before the master. Robyn Hitchcock has been going over people's heads for so long he has a parking space in the astral plane.
The difference is that he knows how to string a story together and understands that surrealism goes deeper than wilful weirdness. His voice suits an acoustic backing, and he plays some of his best songs, but the subdued reaction shows terrestrial beings may still not be ready.
It's down to earth, but in a good way, with the arrival of the cheerfully morose Boo Hewerdine. Introducing one song by noting that it has been used in death scenes in three films and Emmerdale, he warns the audience "we usually lose a few during this one."
Such deadpan modesty and the ability to wrap strychnine lyrics in tunes your auntie can hum earns him a few new fans.
Headlining, former Icicle works singer Ian McNabb comes as something of a disappointment.
He has the voice - a more rock'n'roll, straightforward Elvis Costello - but plays the guitar as if he has mittens on. The songs may be sincere and heartfelt, but are frankly repetitive and give the impression that he is having a better time than the audience.
Eventually, his fans come to the rescue. Asked for a request, they have a cheerful debate, leading to a spirited rendition of Evangeline that ends the evening on a high note.
Robert Collins
Verdict: Shiny Unhappy People
