I was a high-schooler surrounded by “Hotel California” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me” when I first got into singer/songwriter/surreal raconteur Robyn Hitchcock. I was taken with his catchy songs about quizzical things like “Tropical Flesh Mandala” and “Madonna of the Wasps,” but it wasn’t exactly what my friends wanted to listen to on the way to late-night snacks at Big Boy.
Lucky for me, Hitchcock would soon become a regular visitor to Valley stages. My first time seeing him in person was his show at the Bluewall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in September 1989. Being an excited freshman who hadn’t seen many concerts, I got there so early that the venue wasn’t open yet. Hitchcock walked right past me, skulking around the Campus Center in a long black overcoat and a brooding brow — he made me feel like I should clear out of his way, not bug him with jolly small talk. But when showtime hit, in front of a standing-room-only throng of college kids, he got up onstage and was a one-man Monty Python, a ball of energy singing songs oddball and heartfelt about Queen Elvis, old perverts, Raymond Chandler atmosphere, and he had a clever ode to sex that mentioned hairless spinsters and festering boils.
For those unfamiliar with Hitchcock’s playful world, it’s got flickers of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Syd Barrett and Doctor Who, though his unique obsessions are totally his own.
Hitchcock’s newest album is “The Man Upstairs” — a half-originals half-covers collection that finds him singing songs by The Psychedelic Furs, The Doors and Grant-Lee Phillips — but he’s got 40 years of gems he could pluck out of his loud shirt pocket and his six-string guitar. Hauntingly gorgeous stuff like “Autumn Is Your Last Chance,” jangly upbeat should-have-been hits “So You Think You’re In Love” and “The Queen of Eyes” (the latter from his old band The Soft Boys), catchy weirdness like “Victorian Squid” … you never know what he’ll play.
Hitchcock returns to the Iron Horse in Northampton Tuesday at 7 p.m. Emma Swift opens.
With St. Patrick’s Day in the rearview mirror, Dave Houghton is bringing you the Hangover Hoedown, a show featuring his two bands— And The Neighbors (a duo with Debra DeMuth) and Fancy Trash (his longtime trio) — with special guest Bob Hennessy sitting in all night long. It happens at the Luthiers Co-Op in Easthampton Friday at 8 p.m.
MASS MoCA has long been a supporter of film-music hybrids, and it’s about to spotlight another unique collaborative entity, The Trimbin Band. It features Mikael Jorgensen of Wilco, art historian and curator James Merle Thomas (his partner in the electronic music duo Quindar), composer/vocalist Nick Hallett and guitarist William Tyler, performing live accompaniment to excerpts of films by Fred Engelberg, a Los Angeles filmmaker/poet/musician. Experience the new sights and sounds at MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center in North Adams Saturday at 8 p.m.
Eric Lee Band (9:30 p.m.), Abe Loomis Band (8 p.m.) and Susanna Rose (7 p.m.) make up the singer-songwriter triple bill at the Luthiers Co-Op Saturday.
Guitar man Lazer Lloyd, “Israel’s King of Blues Rock,” was turned onto the blues forever when his dad took him to see Stevie Ray Vaughan at age 14. Now Lloyd is a world traveler with his own music, and he’ll play a special Purim show at the Iron Horse on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. (Megillah reading and doors open at 4:30 pm.)
Titus Andronicus put out one of last year’s most ambitious albums, a 29-song, 93-minute rock opera about manic depression called “The Most Lamentable Tragedy,” and the passionate New Jersey rock band comes to Pearl Street in Northampton Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady opens up the show.
Local jazz ensemble Bok Choy (8:30 p.m.), guitarist Jim K. (7:30 p.m.) and Kat Kennedy (7 p.m.) perform at the Luthiers Co-Op Thursday.