Tom Robinson
12 October 2017Regular readers will know I am a big fan of Tom Robinson who we saw perform many times across the country in the 1990s. After twelve years of ‘retirement’ from touring, it was wonderful to witness his return with a one-off gig at the Jazz Cafe (reviewed here in August 2014). Following a tour to promote a new album in 2015 (reviewed here in November 2015), Tom Robinson is now touring again to mark the 40th anniversary of his first hit single ‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’. With a new band, featuring Adam Phillips, Andy Treacey and Jim Simmons, he is performing the whole of the first Tom Robinson Band album ‘Power in the Darkness’ which was released in 1978 (including some songs the Tom Robinson Band never performed live because they were too difficult!). We were at The Stables in Milton Keynes on Wednesday for the second date in the tour and it was a fantastic evening. Tom Robinson has such a big back catalogue that his concerts usually provide a richly varied mix of musical styles, but this performance of songs from a single album (plus the EP that immediately followed it) strangely felt more satisfying, giving a coherence and consistency to the music. And there are some great songs on ‘Power in the Darkness’ which opens with a brilliant rock number in ‘Up Against the Wall’ and closes with the title track – here updated to comment on the crazy politics of 2017. Tom Robinson was on great form: now 67 years old he needed a little more recovery time between songs but showed no lack of energy in performance. And the band were incredibly impressive. With support from the wonderful Lee Forsyth Griffiths – who we first saw supporting Tom Robinson at The Stables in 2001 – and a rapturous reception from a sold-out audience, it was a magnificent gig.
posted by Robin Simpson @ 11:41 am
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