Thankfully Thomas Dolby returned to Austin after performing at SXSW this Spring, it says I live in a very awesome city. Well I feel it does because I know Milwaukee wouldn’t be worth another attempt.
Last time I saw Thomas was six years ago and it was just him doing stuff from his back catalog. The show was a really cool demonstration of a one-man band. Now he has a new album out, his first in about 20 years, called Tales from the Floating City which is a personal favorite. I feel he picked up where he left off with Astronauts & Heretics, a record which helps define 1993 for me.
Originally the concert was going to be in the upstairs of a posh BBQ restaurant. Tickets must’ve sold out quickly since the venue was changed to the larger Parish in a week. I took it as a good sign.
Joining Thomas on stage was a three-piece band which came to the rescue when his Logic setup went out after playing “I Live in a Suitcase.” After spending a couple minutes troubleshooting why the connection between his MacBook Pro and instruments were offline, he ordered the musicians to improvise. They pulled off a very entertaining instrumental number until the Thomas’ equipment came back online.
The evening was a mix of his past hits most know: “She Blinded Me With Science,” “Hyperactive,” “Airhead,” and “I Love You Goodbye” (a big hit in Louisiana). There were the others fans such as myself recognize and love to hear: “I Live in a Suitcase” (he ended this with the closing piano music from Derek & the Dominoes’ “Layla,” it brought laughter), “The Flat Earth,” “My Brain is Like a Sieve,” “Commercial Breakup,” “Europa and the Pirate Twins” and “Screen Kiss.” New tunes were present as well: “Evil Twin Brother,” “The Toad Lickers,” “17 Hills,” and “Road to Reno.” He save “Spice Train” for the first song of the encore. He did the song which always brings back good memories of Houston in the Spring of 1983…”One of Our Submarines is Missing,” on odd track KLOL played frequently and weeks before Thomas broke out nationwide with “Science.” The closing song to the encore was another personal fave, “Silk Pyjamas.” My concert buddy Mark had told me last year how he found Tales disappointing. As we were leaving, I asked, do you like the new record a little more now that Thomas played those tracks with more conviction, namely his disco dancing gestures during the chorus of “Evil Twin Brother.” He said somewhat. We were in agreement about how this was a better show.
Should Thomas Dolby be coming to your neck of the woods, get a sitter, schedule the time, take the following day off from work and see him. He is very entertaining and talented. More importantly, there is much more to his music than “She Blinded Me With Science.” Even when describing his material I have convinced a young lady at the comic book store to check him out. I think she wasn’t even born while Thomas was a staple of the Eighties.
There’s an incomplete setlist here. I chipped in the two from the encore. Hopefully somebody got a copy off the stage and will share it.