Too Much Is Never Enough

I've been reminiscing about the Rob Dickinson show I saw a couple of weeks ago at the North Star Bar downtown. Absolutely phenomenal show. I read an online review of another solo gig of his that said something like "the ghost of Catherine Wheel was alive and well during Dickinson's set." So true! His new material, which I think is fantastic, fit right in with the slew of Catherine Wheel tunes he played. In fact, I couldn't believe the number of CW tunes he included.

(If you're reading this wondering who Catherine Wheel is, you need to do a little homework. They are, in my opinion, one of the most tragically underrated and abundantly talented bands of the 90s. Dickinson was the primary songwriter in the band. Check out their MySpace page for a little background. I'm sure I'll post more about Catherine Wheel in the future.)

Anyway, back to Dickinson's show at the North Star... He opened with the CW tune "Heal", one of my faves. In this setting, only Rob and an acoustic guitar with a few effects, the song was even more emotionally compelling than the original. Without the electric guitars and full-band bombast of the studio track, Dickinson's voice took center stage. He didn't have to belt out the lyrics to be heard over the usual cacophony of his former band, so he was able to showcase the subtlety and nuance in his gifted vocal chords. Makes me wish CW had released a full acoustic album back in the day...

The set continued with stellar performance after stellar performance. "All of That"!? "Little Muscle" acoustic?! "Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck"?!!! I couldn't believe it. The highlight from his solo material had to be "Towering And Flowering", the final track on Fresh Wine For The Horses and the last new tune he played at the show. Rob really stretches out melodically on this one. Good stuff.

After "Towering...", the craziness really kicked in. Someone had been screaming out Catherine Wheel requests throughout the night, and in particular this guy really wanted to hear "Delicious". Well, Rob didn't disappoint. He kicked into the sweet opening riff from that song, which turned out to be the start of a string of Catherine Wheel songs that I never dreamed I'd get to hear. Sometime during the evening Rob intimated that Catherine Wheel might still get back together at some point. Now that's what I'm talking about! Thank you Mr. Dickinson for one of my favorite concert experiences in a long time!

Full Set:

Heal
The Storm
All Of That
My Name Is Love
Oceans
Handsome
Bathe Away
Little Muscle
Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck
Intelligent People
Towering And Flowering
Delicious
The Nude
Crank
Black Metallic
Future Boy

There's an audience recording of one of Rob's solo gigs here. The sound quality isn't bad at all.

Check out these Rob Dickinson live tracks from a set he did for KEXP in Seattle.

Future Boy
Oceans
The Night
The Storm

Download the songs here.

Go buy Rob's solo record, Fresh Wine For The Horses, here.