Good day -- my name's Jeff and I'm new to the list, though not to RT. The show in Tokyo on Friday was my fifth RT show, not as many as many of you but I do see him whenever I get the chance. I'll give a short review, skipping only with great reluctance the "I got there at 6:17..." and "there were too many ice cubes in my drink" parts.
Club Quattro in Shibuya: about 700 people. Recent residents include Hootie and the Blowfish and Marilyn Manson. The crowd was about 20% Western (foreigners like me), so it had the feel of the American RT shows with which I'm familiar; among the foreigners was a vocal minority, bellowing requests at Richard and trying to match his banter (some hope). The setlist follows:
* Richard and Danny
Easy There, Steady Now
Hide it Away
Waltzing's for Dreamers
I Feel So Good
The Ghost of You Walks
Don't Sit on my Jimmy Shands
Al Bowlly's in Heaven
* Richard solo
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Genesis Hall <--- Notable addition
Beeswing
* Richard and Danny
Turning of the Tide
I Misunderstood
Hamlet
Lottery Land
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Ghosts in the Wind
Two Left Feet
* Encore -- Richard and Danny
Razor Dance
Wall of Death
For those interested in his reactions to requests -- it's a central goofing point of his
shows but I know I have seen him be struck by certain requests and change tunings... but
it's rare. But still we yell at the poor man. Most requests were met by "too hard,
too many chords" (like mine for "Jerusalem"). Before "Beeswing"
there was a yelling session, and I asked loudly for "Pharoh" which I saw him do
at my first show in 1990. He looked startled and stared in my direction helplessly for a
moment, until someone yelled for "Beeswing", which he was probably planning
anyway. At the encore someone wanted "Macbeth in two minutes" and Richard goofed
on this a bit.
The set is not too different from recent sets, except for Genesis Hall, which he announced as a Fairport Convention song... I'm showing my (young) age but I didn't know the tune. It was a great performance, enthusiastically received. If anyone is interested in more munitae, then they can certainly contact me. It was a real treat for me to be able to see one of his shows, like a piece of home. The ads mentioned that he had not been in Japan for 10 years.
Jeff