

[Photo by Bill Johnson. From Robyn Hitchcock’s Facebook page]

Not long after we caught Robyn Hitchcock on two nights with Yo La Tengo as his backing band, Robyn made his way up to what is likely America’s most musically adventurous music festival, Big Ears, which has enthralled listeners down in Knoxville, Tennessee for the past few years. The independent festival has continued to grow in stature while retaining a unique musical character; there’s room in its lineups for rock, experimental noise, classical, folk, and more, but you’ll find an admirable absence of the Top 40-type bands that are now the main draws of almost every major U.S. festival. Robyn’s sets at this year’s festival were divided into an early and late show, and each has its pleasures. Both sets opened with Dylan covers (“Chimes of Freedom” and “Not Dark Yet”). The early set continued in the covers vein, with Robyn lighting up songs by the Beatles (“Dear Prudence”) and Syd Barrett (“Terrapin”) and closing with the Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You,” that last one being a particularly interesting feat for a solo singer/guitarist. As you might expect, the late show took on a more freewheeling character, with Robyn giving songs like “I Often Dream of Trains” and “Adventure Rocket Ship” extended and hilarious introductions.

As longtime Robyn fans, we’re thrilled that the Big Ears team provided us with access to these recordings. We look forward to partnering with the Big Ears crew in 2018.

The next Big Ears Festival begins on March 22, 2018. Watch for the lineup to be announced next week!

Early Show: [LMA Page] | [Direct MP3] | [Direct FLAC]

Late show: [LMA Page] | [Direct MP3] | [Direct FLAC]

Early:



Late:



Robyn Hitchcock

2017-03-24 (early show)

Big Ears Festival

The Standard

Knoxville, TN USA

Produced by acidjack

Zoom H6>WAV (16/48)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Adobe Audition CC (compression, amplification)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track)>FLAC ( level 8 )

Tracks

01 Chimes of Freedom [Dylan]

02 Dear Prudence [Beatles]

03 Terrapin [Syd Barrett]

04 My Wife and My Dead Wife

05 [banter1]

06 Saturday Groovers

07 [banter2]

08 Fifty Two Stations

09 Full Moon In My Soul

10 Raymond Chandler Evening

11 I Want To Tell You About What I Want

12 I Wanna Destroy You [Soft Boys]

___________________________

Robyn Hitchcock

2017-03-24 (late show)

Big Ears Festival

The Standard

Knoxville, TN USA

Produced by acidjack

Soundboard + Zoom H6 (internal mics, at SBD)>WAV (16/48)>Izotope Ozone 5 (EQ, effects)>Adobe Audition CC (compression, amplification)>Audacity 2.0.3 (track)>FLAC ( level 8 )

01 Not Dark Yet [Bob Dylan]

02 I Pray When I’m Drunk

03 Madonna of the Wasps

04 [banter]

05 The Devil’s Coachman

06 Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom

07 N.Y. Doll

08 [banter2]

09 I Often Dream of Trains

10 [banter3]

11 Adventure Rocket Ship

12 [banter4]

13 I’m Only You

14 [banter5]

15 Mad Shelley’s Letterbox

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