There are gigs, and then there are memorable gigs. And then there are surprise gigs – and this was one such, being found after a casual search to see what was on at Harpenden Public Halls, a venue which rarely had much to offer in the way of Americana, but when it did – Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch and Jessie Malin on one memorable night in 2018 – was surprisingly high in the ratings. No more, though. Harpenden Public Halls is a thing of the past, and the shiny new Eric Morecambe Centre is the happening space. They’d almost managed to sell out this night – and this despite well-known information sites such as Songkick having no idea about the gig and the advertising seemingly relying on people searching for what was on at the defunct Harpenden Public Halls. The centre has a café at the entrance, a bar inside the main doors and a long thin auditorium which must be able to seat a shade over 500 – a similar size to The Stables but with less of an in-the-round feel, a bigger stage and a much higher ceiling.
This was billed as Richard Thompson solo – and it was the man and an acoustic guitar all the way through, with his wife Zara Phillips joining him for most of the second part of the 90-minute set. It predominantly drew on the ‘Acoustic Classics‘ and ‘Acoustic Classics II‘ albums and, therefore, was also a bit of a “greatest hits” setlist. It started with a wonderful ‘I Misunderstood‘ with its twisted chorus of “I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying goodbye”, instantly drawing us into the Thompson world of mistakes, missteps, bad luck and betrayals. Second song, ‘Turning of the Tide‘ brought us into the evening’s other theme – a touch of the eighties, with this shabby “love” song coming originally from 1988’s ‘Amnesia‘. In its reshaped acoustic version it is, if anything, a put-down more cruel and dripping with acid.
And if ‘Genesis Hall‘ and a truly lovely ‘Beeswing‘ might have made the set look very backward looking, then, happily, there were also new songs blended in. ‘The Old Pack Mule‘ might, Thompson indicated, be a political song, or it might be about geology, or maybe just about an old mule thrashed once too often. Yeah, it’s a political song, a suitably vicious sideswipe at unrestrained capitalism. Couple “The Old Pack Mule, he’s breathed his dying breath / Poor old mule, they worked his arse to death” with discussions on how the carcass can still be used to turn a profit “And who wants his liver? There’s rich pickings there / We’ll chop it up and carve it up, and each shall have a share”, and it all becomes clear.
Rather ungenerously, if not unreasonably, Thompson guessed that the majority of the audience’s musical prime was the sixties and seventies – and offered some nostalgia in the form of ‘Walking The Long Miles Home’, which reflects on his youthful journeys back from The Marquee after his parents moved to the end of the Tube line. Zara Phillips claimed the eighties as her decade, and Thompson wryly observed that he was making music in the eighties as well – illustrating the point with a savage ‘She Twists The Knife Again‘ which this writer first heard when it was new and Richard Thompson was playing the University circuit. And reflecting on this gig and the heavy proportion of duets such as ‘Hokey Pokey’ the lovely ‘Withered And Died‘ and ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight‘, there’s also the feel of the intimacy of a folk club gig – a big folk club admittedly, but the easy rapport that Thompson has with his audience made the room seem that much smaller.
How about the playing, though? Oh, come on – of course, it was astonishing, of course. ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning‘ rightfully got a massive response, but it also shines through on a song of heartbroken regrets and longing like ‘If Love Whispers Your Name.‘ At seventy-five, Richard Thompson is still at the top of his game as a player, singer and as a songwriter, and the signs are good to assume that there’s a bit of life left in this pack mule. A memorable night for sure.
Similarly we were slightly blindsided by this tour. I mean, Cambridge Corn Exchange has featured on just about every RT tour (solo and band) since 1988 – but not this time. It was only by chance that we saw he was playing The Apex at Bury St Edmunds and managed to get the final two remaining tickets. We didn’t see any major announcements for the tour itself. One point I did notice was the gig was promoted by the venue itself – so maybe no promotion of the tour as a whole? Not sure how these things work, so speculation on my part.
Still, excellent show in a great venue, and even the back row was close enough!