Ten years ago today, our UK jaunt with Gorky’s reaches Basingstoke and it’s not impossible that it was only then that I knew for sure that Robyn Hitchcock hadn’t invented the place. With members of the Terraplanes in the house, we encore with “Evil Going On.” Rewind another four years and we’re rejoining the tour promoting the release of And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out as it arrives in Detroit. Things are definitely getting looser. Lambchop’s Deanna Varagona and Dennis Cronin add horns to “You Can Have It All,” David Kilgour sings “Billy Two” during the encore, and even the Majestic’s fire alarm gets into the act, adding a few deafening flourishes to “Our Way to Fall.” Willie from Bangor, Maine was there too:
Following YLT’s performance at Detroit’s Majestic Theater, my friends literally shove my timid little self to go say hi to James, who’s hanging around by the bar. He amiably carries the brief conversation as I am too shy to say much of anything. For some reason, we begin talking about The Simpsons and he tells me that he recently discovered a real-life establishment named Uncle Moe’s. He confirms that it does indeed boast “all kinds of crazy crap on the walls,” at which point my night attains perfection.
Before I sign off, a postscript to Saturday’s installment in which we wondered how “Warm Leatherette” found its way into our encore. Chachacha Miller offers an explanation. PPS: It was 1992, February 22, to be exact. We played with Love Child, and concluded the show with all six of us playing Moondog’s “All Is Loneliness.”
