Robyn Hitchcock - Lee Valley Boat Trip 5th August 2000

Thanks to Spencer Kelly, who recorded this show on his MiniDisk, for this info

Museum Of Robyn Hitchcock presents 'All Aboard The Skylark'

Saturday 5th August 2000

Lee Valley Boat Centre, Old Nazeing Road, Broxbourne, Herts, EN10 7AX

Note: This was somewhat difficult to record as RH was sideling up to our boat whilst playing on the other one, or on the towpath, or even on a bridge over the canal. There is a slight amount of movement, and a couple of tracks have a certain 'rumble' due to being outdoors. But all in all, I think the recording came out fairly well.

RH on the other boat, and I didn't have enough time to record it before he sailed off again. A very pleasant and suprising intro to a fabulous day. One for the memory.

RH & Co playing the song along the towpath while the boat was in between locks, a very lazy (in a laid back sense) rendition.

Absolutely brilliant ! RH & Co performing this on a bridge above Lock 10. The sound dips towards the end, the reason is that our boat was moving away from the lock and the bridge….

I'm sure RH & Co were playing this on the towpath (the beer was kicking in by this time), and a really cool slowed down version of the song to boot !

Didn't quite catch the intro. RH playing, sitting on top of the other boat but with both of them head to head until, yet again the other boat moves off slightly faster.

These tracks were played just after most people had polished off their picnics (and their booze) in a park area. Performed in front of both boats (approx. 100 people), this was absolutely stunning. 'Queen Elvis' kicks the proceedings off with RH & Co walking around us playing the song before settling for a cool spot in the sun. The weather was sunny and breezy, it was an amazing setting for an amazing day.

RH decides to play a couple of tunes on the towpath before we board our boats. The sound sways as RH moves a bit trying to find a comfortable spot, but it settles down. It must have been quite amusing to see lots of people on a towpath watching some guy playing a couple of songs. You can even hear other people riding bikes or walking by on the recording.

In the words of John Lennon, 'A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All'. Indeed it was !


1