The last time I saw ROB DICKINSON was at Mercury Lounge in New York back in March 2006. At the time, his first and thus far only solo album Fresh Wine for the Horses had come out the year before and he was still supporting it the first time around. At the time of its release, I enjoyed the record in spite of its sometimes all too obvious lyrics and dreadful cover that more closely resembled an ENRIQUE IGLESIAS cover than something befitting the man who wrote “Black Metallic,” “Crank,” “Future Boy” and so many other beloved CATHERINE WHEEL classics. I also enjoyed the show, which was completely solo and which focused on Fresh Wine for the Horses, throwing in a few Catherine Wheel songs into the set as well as a bone for the die-hard fans.
So since he hasn’t released any new material since then, I was intrigued when I found out that he was touring again. It turns out that the occasion is a reissue of Fresh Wine for the Horses. It’s been resequenced and an extra track (“The End of the World”) has been added. In addition to that, there’s a bonus disc featuring acoustic reworkings of 6 old Catherine Wheel songs. Since I don’t have this version of the album, I can’t comment on it, but I can comment on the show.
Taking the stage at exactly 8 PM since it was being broadcast live on WXPN, Dickinson played a short set (barely an hour) that alternated between Fresh Wine for the Horses and Catherine Wheel. Unlike the last time, he also had a full band with him, though he only used them for about half of the set. Opening with “My Name is Love” (which I thought was Chrome’s “Broken Head” beforehand since I hadn’t listened to Fresh Wine for the Horses in years but still play the first few Catherine Wheel albums often!), this set the pace for the rest of the show. The new song “The End of the World” was particularly strong, as were “Oceans” and “Intelligent People”, both from Fresh Wine for the Horses.
Of course a Rob Dickinson show wouldn’t be complete with at least a few dips into the Catherine Wheel catalog and we got “Crank” in the main set along with “Black Metallic” as the main set closer, both performed with the band. While these versions were powerful, I still couldn’t help but think that if Catherine Wheel got back together, they would just rip these songs open!
Perhaps the best surprising part of the set was when he played a reworked, solo acoustic version of Ferment’s “I Want to Touch You”. It was beautiful, but I still prefer the original version. For the short, 2 song encore, we once again got 2 selections from Adam & Eve, generally considered to be their best album by many fans. “Future Boy” and “Ma Solituda” finished off the set and while I was satisfied with the performance and Dickinson was in fine voice, I still couldn’t help but feel that something was missing.
The above photo is from his show in London, Ontario on June 17th. It was taken by KARA KNOWLES and is used with permission. You can see the rest of her photos here.
