Robyn Hitchcock at Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS (2026-06-26)

When being ‘The Confuser’ is a good thing-

UK-raised, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and musical troubadour Robyn Hitchcock is still known as a lyrical surrealist and whose folk-based sound has moved from post-punk, to psychedelic, to alt-rock, to jangle pop and more, making him still hard to clearly define, as he seems to enjoy.

As part of the Free State Festival, the prolific Hitchcock made a stop downtown at the Lawrence Arts Center, in support of his upcoming album, The Confuser (out July 24 via Tiny Ghost Records) and also has a new book, Stranded in the Future, a second semi-fictionalized memoir that covers 1968 to 1978 and including the formation of The Soft Boys.

The evening got underway with a conversational interview with Hitchcock, but just after he took his seat, a call of “Is there a doctor in the house!?” came from near the top seats as an older man seemed to be slightly convulsing. A few tense moments later, all seemed ok and Hitchcock resumed by beginning with reading a passage from his first book, 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left, which described attending one of Brian Eno’s nearby art school “happenings” of the day and its effect on him.

Enough time was spent on the first memoir and related, along with several audience questions, that the newest book wasn’t discussed, so would just be left to the audience to discover it on their own.

In the Q+A, Hitchcock described the sometimes chaotic manner of composing a song (and conversely, the discovery of when something inexplicably falls into your lap), why he re-located to Nashville (it is ‘music city’ he said, but not necessarily just for Country), and when asked about newer artists to recommend, offered a few obscure bands like Scottish duo Boards of Canada (who have a new album, Inferno, but haven’t performed live in 25 years). When he asked the young questioner the same thing, New Zealand singer Lorde was offered back, though Hitchcock was unfamiliar with her work.

After almost an hour, it was time for an intermission that found Hitchcock in the lobby for a time, chatting with fans and signing books and music, while the band set up was being readied.

Patrons retook their seats and lights dimmed to see Hitchcock walking out alone with guitar to begin the musical performance, beginning with 1986’s “Raymond Chandler Evening”, a song from the era of his band The Egyptians, who lasted together a decade until 1994. The rest of the younger Tennessee-based group (drummer Eric Slick, bassist Todd Bolden, and guitarist Jeremy Fetzer) then joined Hitchcock on stage for a Soft Boys song from a few years prior, “Kingdom of Love.”

Hitchcock stayed chatty between songs, playing two Egyptians-era hits back-to-back, “Balloon Man” and “Madonna of the Wasps” which had the crowd roaring. Cheekily, he reminded everyone of the age gap between the band and himself, committing each of their late ‘80s birth dates to memory and relating the dates, reinforcing that so many of the songs performed, were originally made before any band member was even born (and he probably owns polka dot shirts older than his band mates).

While hearing Hitchcock solo can be revealing and intimate, Hitchcock with a band shows how good his songs are, more fully rounded out, and at a louder volume. That sound got even better as his wife and partner Emma Swift joined mid-set to add vocals and harmonies to several tracks, best highlighted on a medley of his “Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis)” and the Roxy Music cover, “More Than This.”

The set was a balanced mix of older Soft Boys and Egyptians-era tracks, along with a few solo songs and several of the advance singles from the new album (which easily fit into his vast musical oeuvre), which he self-describes in classic Hitchcock-ian dry wit form, as an “ecstatic work of negativity with nary a dreary groove.”

Hitchcock’s voice retains his English elegance and has added a bit more texture over the decades, adding an additional authenticity and wisdom from decades of performing them.

The tail end of the set moved into cover songs of Hitchcock’s unabashed and greatest musical inspirations- The Beatles, (The) Pink Floyd, and The Velvet Underground. The set finale of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” was a fresh reminder with this band’s version, of how masterfully The Beatles could build a song and sustain a groove.

Hitchcock then announced that, while he didn’t have an acoustic guitar with him, that he’d meet everyone in the building’s lobby, for one final sing-along and encore. A near-acapella version of “A Day in the Life” would end the evening, with the crowd becoming the co-vocalists for the song.

Remaining musically curious and somewhat eccentric, able to balance nostalgia and a freshness, and continuing to to be able to trod his own path and occupy his own unique category, Robyn Hitchcock remains one to see what he’ll do next. “The Confuser” can still amaze.​

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