Great to see a young Pete Zorn having fun. RIP. Just amazing. Inter alia I'm always struck by the guitar breaks on Shoot Out the Lights. Excrutiating but exactly right for the song. One of the many facets of Thompson's playing is his use of the tone of the guitar. Most other great guitarists lock into a certain tone (eg Knopfler) but RT matches it to the song like no-one else.
Sometimes I think he was in his prime back then, but then I see him today and think the best is yet to come. He keeps on getting better. How he does this is miraculous.
Lovely version of Night Comes In. Pour Down Like Silver is probably still my favourite post-Fairport album, for a large part because I love the constant accordion throughout most of the album - just not Night Comes in, where it's only featured in a Bonus Track on the CD which fits the album much better. So glad to hear it here! (Also great to see most of Fairport here).
Thank you so much for posting this. The Hand of Kindness tour was the first time (of many) that my wife and I saw Thompson perform live. Same exact set as when we saw earlier that year. The whole audience danced to Tear Stained Letter and many other cuts. Never saw this exact lineup again, so much appreciated for the trip down memory lane. It's a Sunday afternoon, 42 years after we saw this tour, and we're enjoying it again.
Same. My gf moved from grad school in Lubbock, Tx to Clear Lake Tx near Houston. I started buying Houston newspapers and eventually saw that Richard Thompson was performing at Rockefeller's in Houston. I saw it as a sign of god /s and moved down after Hurricane Allison. Got tickets for this show and it was fantastic. Small venue. Just perfect. A couple of years later saw him at a small house concert near the museum district. Great times. Love him in Band Mode.
Best 'tear Stained Letter' I ever saw was the Town and Country club London 1989-I think. Gregson would take a solo. Kirkpatrick top that with his solo. Zorn with his solo. RT then top all the topping with His solo, and they went round and round in the same order-top THAT, then TOP THATeach time taking it up, seemingly impossibly, another level ...can you imagine? Pity the cameras weren't on then...
Sometimes I dream up some encounter or collaboration between musicians that (I think) hasn't happened. While watching this I suddenly envisioned Dave Gregory sitting in on Tearstained Letter, and he and Richard taking turns on a looong solo section at the end, challenging each other to ever more advanced, crazy, humorous things. (For those of you having access to XTCs Transistor Blast, go to the last disc and listen to Burning With Optimism's Flames while reading Andy Partridges album notes on it. I think you'll get the image I had in my head.)
Yes, they were all in Fairport together, but this outfit was billled as the Richard Thompson Big Band. This was the tour supporting Hand Of Kindness, the first release after Richard and Linda split.
Great to see a young Pete Zorn having fun. RIP. Just amazing. Inter alia I'm always struck by the guitar breaks on Shoot Out the Lights. Excrutiating but exactly right for the song. One of the many facets of Thompson's playing is his use of the tone of the guitar. Most other great guitarists lock into a certain tone (eg Knopfler) but RT matches it to the song like no-one else.
Sometimes I think he was in his prime back then, but then I see him today and think the best is yet to come. He keeps on getting better. How he does this is miraculous.
Lovely version of Night Comes In. Pour Down Like Silver is probably still my favourite post-Fairport album, for a large part because I love the constant accordion throughout most of the album - just not Night Comes in, where it's only featured in a Bonus Track on the CD which fits the album much better. So glad to hear it here! (Also great to see most of Fairport here).
So great to see Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg in this show!
Also great to see Simon Nicol ... gotta love his Kellogg's Corn Flakes guitar. 🎸
Great upload, thanks.
Thank you so much for posting this. The Hand of Kindness tour was the first time (of many) that my wife and I saw Thompson perform live. Same exact set as when we saw earlier that year. The whole audience danced to Tear Stained Letter and many other cuts. Never saw this exact lineup again, so much appreciated for the trip down memory lane. It's a Sunday afternoon, 42 years after we saw this tour, and we're enjoying it again.
Same. My gf moved from grad school in Lubbock, Tx to Clear Lake Tx near Houston. I started buying Houston newspapers and eventually saw that Richard Thompson was performing at Rockefeller's in Houston. I saw it as a sign of god /s and moved down after Hurricane Allison. Got tickets for this show and it was fantastic. Small venue. Just perfect. A couple of years later saw him at a small house concert near the museum district. Great times. Love him in Band Mode.
RT has learned a lot about life since 1983.
Best version of Tear stained Letter EVER.
I think so.
This sweat-stained Fender with a stoved-in pick-up played some real magic in the 1980s ✨
Best 'tear Stained Letter' I ever saw was the Town and Country club London 1989-I think. Gregson would take a solo. Kirkpatrick top that with his solo. Zorn with his solo. RT then top all the topping with His solo, and they went round and round in the same order-top THAT, then TOP THATeach time taking it up, seemingly impossibly, another level ...can you imagine? Pity the cameras weren't on then...
Guitar solo at the end of Night Comes In. Crikey!
Sometimes I dream up some encounter or collaboration between musicians that (I think) hasn't happened. While watching this I suddenly envisioned Dave Gregory sitting in on Tearstained Letter, and he and Richard taking turns on a looong solo section at the end, challenging each other to ever more advanced, crazy, humorous things.
(For those of you having access to XTCs Transistor Blast, go to the last disc and listen to Burning With Optimism's Flames while reading Andy Partridges album notes on it. I think you'll get the image I had in my head.)
Eigentlich ein Fairport-Convention-Konzert (Nicols, Pegg, Mattacks, Johnson) mit Bläsern und Akkordeon
Yes, they were all in Fairport together, but this outfit was billled as the Richard Thompson Big Band. This was the tour supporting Hand Of Kindness, the first release after Richard and Linda split.
While 'Lights'...one of the tastefully nastiest solos ever?