I got into Richard Thompson relatively late, about 20 years ago a coworker lent me his sampler “Action Packed: The Best Of The Capitol Years”. I had known his stellar reputation, but nonetheless was blown away by that album. Since then I have studied his work, solo, with Fairport or with Linda, and now he’s in my pantheon of greatest singer/songwriter/guitarists of all time, actually I can’t name any other musician who’s as good as that in all these three categories at once. But I never had the opportunity to see him on stage.
But I just ordered a ticket for his 8 June show in the Musiktheater Piano (I don’t think I have to translate that name) in Dortmund, Germany. I don’t know the venue, but judging from the Google reviews it’s a small, charming and intimate music club with a great sight and acoustics, just the place I want to experience Thompson in, and it’s only an hour’s drive for me. What I wasn’t able to find out is if it’s a acoustic event or if he comes with a band. My ticket provider only lists him and Zara Phillips (obviously a British singer, but I didn’t find out much about her) under “line up”. Does anybody know? Anyway, it doesn’t matter much to me, though as much as I would want to hear him play “Shoot Out The Lights” on electric guitar, I’d still be in Heaven if he’d play “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” and “Beeswing” on acoustic.
I’m giddy right now, so please make me more giddy with some of your Richard Thompson concert impressions.
I have seen solo shows, with the electric trio, the full band… they’ve all been excellent. I would be very surprised if he doesn’t play VBL, and likely he will also play Beeswing. You might try searching for his recent setlists to see what he’s playing.
The first show I saw where he played with a full band, I told my wife “I’d be happy if he played Tear Stained Letter.” Which he opened with, and when the song was over I said “OK, we can go now.”
I saw him a few times, mostly in the 80s, round about when Daring Adventures and Amnesia came out (my two favorite albums of his). Both acoustic and electric, once with Gregson and Collister backing him up.
Saw him twice at the Blackthorne Tavern, in the middle of nowhere in South Easton, Mass., a tiny club that seated maybe 200 at the most. I don’t know how he came to play there but both were solo shows and were excellent. My then-wife presented him with a bouquet of flowers which he graciously accepted and displayed on stage during the show
Strangely, he did not play VBL at his recent concert in Northampton, MA. I’ve probably seen him over 25 times since 1983 and this was the first show since Rumor and Sigh that he did not play it.
The 1985 AACR tour was an absolute blast. If you can get a copy of the video version of this tour (with Clive Gregson and Christine Collister) you really should watch it.
Thanks for the review, it whetted my appetite even more. I’d love to hear him play “Bells Of Rhymney”. And sorry, I was wrong about his wife’s nationality.
I have also seen him many times, and it doesn’t matter whether he’s solo, with a band, electric, or acoustic, he’s fantastic.
Definitely a top five concert memory for me is when we saw him solo in the early 90s at a really small venue in Dallas, the old Poor David’s Pub, where he was doing two sets… the tickets were so undersold that they let us stay for the second set, and about halfway through he just started taking requests. What a fantastic night, and the recording of it is still out there.
But we’ve also seen him numerous other excellent times.
My husband saw him last month at Town Hall in New York City and said it was an excellent show, even better than the two previous shows of his he’s seen, in 1990 and 1997.
I have never seen him either, and I could have written your entire first paragraph word for word, even the 20-year timeframe, “Action Packed”, and singer/songwriter/guitarist ranking (although Neil Young would be vying for that spot as well).
“Beeswing” may well be my favorite song ever, by anyone.
For me too. It only competes with “Fairytale Of New York”.
I’ll definitely report back. Because I’m an idiot, I got the date wrong, the concert already is on May 8, not June. So I will probably post here again the next day.
ETA: I just became aware that this day is the 80th anniversary of nazi Germany’s capitulation, which gives this even more significance. I wonder if he will address that fact.
But you would have missed “Two Left Feet!”
We first saw him when he was the second act to a Roger McGuin concert we saw at Princeton. Richard was so much better. We’ve seen him five or six times, only once with a band, and as everyone else said, he is great either way. My wife has about 30 CDs including a bunch of concert bootlegs.
One of the best live acts I’ve ever seen, consistently.
