Less than two weeks after I moved to London, on 2 March 2003, Robyn Hitchcock staged a 50th Birthday celebration gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. It was sold out by the time I heard about it, but I rang the box office and was told there might be one or two tickets on the door (if the places reserved for wheelchairs were not taken, or something). That's when I realised that you can get into almost any gig in London if you're prepared to hang around a bit on the day — except Led Zep, probably, but I didn't try…
Anyway, the concert was a bit of a disappointment. The only bit I remember was Alan Rickman reading one of Robyn's poems towards the end, which was both typically surreal and rather affecting. There was an extra sweetener with the tickets: a free copy of CD said to be a very limited edition. That CD was Luxor. My copy of the CD has a South Bank Centre logo on it, as though they were involved in financing it. Hitchcock seems to have a thing about the South Bank. I've bumped into him there twice, once when he was at a MC5/Sun Ra Arkestra gig, and once when he and his daughter/girlfriend (?) were drinking on the same National Film Theatre table as Jeremy and I were (needless to say, I was discreet). On the inside of the CD, there's several photos of him adorning the pedestrian parade on the South Bank.
That 50th birthday was the first time I saw Robyn with his hair suddenly and completely grey. It looks fantastic! If my grey patches continue their sinister creep, I shall be tempted before long to dye all the rest the same colour to see if I can emulate RH's distinguished look.
Meanwhile the CD clearly wasn't a limited edition exclusive, as it's been available continuously since then. I've said before that all I really want from a Hitchcock album is for it to be in the same league as his Eye. This one comes reasonably close to that spec, but still doesn't quite deliver. The acoustic guitar playing is good, though. One of the most interesting pieces is the title track, an instrumental that is almost James Blackshaw-ish in its intent.
Guy and I are going to see Robyn again next month, when apparently he's going to be revisiting I Often Dream of Trains: I must download that from emusic before then. Guess where he's playing? Yep: South Bank.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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