The Atlantis recently played host to an increasingly unusual performance. The legendary Robyn Hitchcock graced the stage that night — not as a solo act, but with a full band! It was my first time seeing Robyn play with a full band, so my level of anticipation was pretty high, let me tell you!
Before Robyn performed, his lovely and supremely talented wife, Emma Swift graced The Atlantis stage on Nov. 20. She played a beautiful set filled with songs from her latest release, The Resurrection Game. I’ve been to a lot of shows where much of the crowd shows up after the opener. Not this crowd. They were as happy to see Emma play as they were to see Robyn. And she wrapped up her set with a beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna.”
After a brief break, Robyn began his set. He arrived alone, playing a solo version of “I Often Dream Of Trains.” A single white light shone on him as he played. It reminded me of his last tour where he played completely by himself. But after the first song, the rest of the band entered and tore through a grand set that spanned much of Robyn’s career.
For these shows, Robyn plays himself, singing and playing guitar. His supporting cast are Patrick Berkery on the drum kit, Julia, Rydholm on bass, and Rick Lollar on guitar. The foursome played through an energetic list of songs from The Soft Boys’ “Kingdom Of Love” to Robyn’s more recent solo work, like “The Shuffle Man.”
About halfway through the set, Robyn requested that Emma join them on stage to sing a few songs with the band. She happily appeared and they broke into a wonderful version of “So You Think You’re In Love” from 1991’s Perspex Island by Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians. Emma hung out for four songs, in total. It’s quite sweet to see Robyn and Emma sing to each other on stage.
Robyn has had quite a career in music and the set list reflects that. The music and the band are wildly entertaining. But what makes the shows even better are Robyn’s anecdotes between songs. Sometimes he’ll explain a bit about the song you’re about to hear. Other times he’ll tell a story and wrap everything up by saying, “This song is not about that.”
Robyn wrapped up his set with some fan favorites, like “Autumn Sunglasses” and “I Want To Destroy You,” (which elicited a roar from the audience. He wrapped up the set with “Airscape,” thanked everyone, then walked off the stage for just a minute.
Hitchcock quickly returned for an encore set of amazing covers. The set began with Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” followed by The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” That was one of my personal favorites of the night. The full band segment of the encore ended with a wild cover of the Jimi Hendrix/Bob Dylan classic “All Along The Watchtower.” It was crazy how well Rick Lollar recreated Jimi’s playing.
The band left and Robyn continued with one final encore: “A Day In The Life” by The Beatles. At one point, he left the stage and walked into the crowd, playing the song. He returned to his rightful place on stage and finished the song by telling everyone that we must all end the song together with a “BONG!” So we did.
Setlist
- I Often Dream Of Trains (Robyn solo)
- Kingdom Of Love
- Acid Bird
- America
- Balloon Man
- The Shuffle Man
- Madonna Of The Wasps
- Driving Aloud
- Socrates In Thin Air
- Alright Yeah
- So You Think You’re In Love (w/Emma Swift)
- Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis) (w/Emma Swift)
- Queen Of Eyes (w/Emma Swift)
- Oceanside (w/Emma Swift)
- Autumn Sunglasses
- Insanely Jealous
- I Wanna Destroy You
- Airscape
Encore 1
- See Emily Play (Pink Floyd)
- Dear Prudence (The Beatles)
- All Along The Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix/Bob Dylan)
Encore 2
- A Day In The Life (w/the audience) (The Beatles)
Here are some more photos of Robyn Hitchcock and his band performing live at The Atlantis on Nov. 20, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Marc Shea.
