I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2025] Richard Thompson

This is my 12th time seeing Richard Thompson and my sixth time seeing him at McCarter Theater.  For a while it seemed like he was playing McCarter annually.  But we last saw him there in 2020 (he did play in 2023 but we didn’t go).  I was really hoping to see Richard with a full band, as most of the time that I’ve seen him it’s been him solo.  He was playing with a full band on this tour, but I missed those dates.  And, somewhat sadly (in context, but not actuality), this show was a solo.

I admit to not being as excited for this show as I tend to be for bands that I like a lot.  I feared that I had seen his solo show so much that I would be annoyed at how samey it was to other shows.

But, as soon as he started playing I was blown away at his mastery and at how great his voice sounds (at 75!).  We had great seats–row K, center stage–and I could clearly watch his hands as he did…everything.  I was amazed at the way he played the low sting perfectly in time with the beat as the rest of his fingers played intricate melodies and solos.  I was really quite in awe once again.

It’s interesting the way he seems to play certain era songs a bunch (I tend to see the same songs like three times in a row).  So he opened with If I Could Live My Life Again which came out in 2020.  But then he moved back to Walking on a Wire.  I’ve seen him play it 8 times and I never get tired of it.

Same with Beeswing.  I have a hard time believing there were four shows I’ve seen where he didn’t play it!  But hearing it so clean and perfect and watching his fingers play those gorgeous chords was like hearing it for the first time again.

I Feel So Good is one of my early favorites by him.  I haven’t seen him play it since 2013 and it was fantastic.  I guess someone in the front requested Matty Groves, and old Fairport Convention song and he played it–he is sometimes amenable to requests.  Later in the show someone shouted a song and he said.  Maybe later–much later.

Then he played a song that he said he wrote yesterday.  Most of Richard’s properly released songs are serious and intense.  But live he tends to play these goofy songs that are hilarious.  Maybe someday he’ll release an album of funny songs like You Love Me Like It’s 1969.

I feel like he plays Walking the Long Miles Home every time we see him, but it’s only been three times (the last three times, even though the song came out in 1999).

He’s played 1952 Vincent Black Lightning every time I’ve seen him (except when he did the 1,000 Years of Music tour.  It never fails to sound amazing.  I Misunderstood is another song that I feel like he played all the time.  But I see that he played it all three times that I saw him in 2016, but not since then.  A beautiful sad song.

Then he introduced Zara Phillips, who has been touring with him since at least 2020.  She sings duets with him, including taking the Linda parts on old Richard and Linda songs, as well as harmonizing with him on the newer songs.  They did a brand new song, which might be called Pipe Dreams.  Its fascinating that he’s got 50 years worth of music out and he’s still writing new songs,

Then he played a song that I’ve always like but have never seen him play live.  He said that everyone seems to think something dirty about the song Hokey Pokey, but it’s just about ice cream.

They played Singapore Sadie and The Old Pack Mule the last time we saw them.  They’re both from the new album.  Somehow I’m surprised he didn’t play more from it this go around.

Then he played two of my favorites songs of his which I can’t believe I’ve only seen him play one time each before.  Both times were at McCarter in 2012!  She Twists the Knife Again is a wonderfully intense song which really showed off how powerful Richard’s voice still is.  Speaking of voices, I think at times Zara’s mic was too loud.  Not that she has a bad voice–she has a good voice.  But some of the songs she was oohing and it was louder than Richard.  If Love Whispers Your Name is one of Richard’s great guitar solo songs.   It’s 7 minutes on record and the guitar solo is incredible.  He does play fantastic guitar solos on acoustic, but this solo was a little short.  I really need to see him with an electric guitar again.

It was when they played Whispered and Died, a Fairport song that I’ve not heard him play before, that he mentioned how he’d missed  the 50th anniversary of the album–he’s bad at marketing.  They ended with an outstanding version of Wall of Death–always outstanding.

According to setlist, he hasn’t been playing encores at the other shows (which seems so unlikely).  Of course we didn’t have an opener, so maybe he felt obliged to play longer?  I said to my wife that he loves playing and probably plays all the time on his own, I’m surprised his shows aren’t even longer.

But I’m thrilled to have gotten three more songs from him. A solo version of The Ghost of You Walks.  And then Zara came back out for two songs from recent releases, the intense The Rattle Within and the more somber Tinker’s Rhapsody.

Going in I wasn’t expecting to be blown away. but I absolutely was.  He was electric.

I imagined that I wouldn’t want to see him again after this show unless it was with a band.  But if he comes back to McCarter, I’ll be there.  But wow, I’d love to see him with a band one more time.

 

 

February 22, 2025, McCarter	January 14, 2023 Outpost in the Burbs	January 18, 2020 McCarter
If I Could Live My Life Again ♦ [3]	Gethsemane ∴	The Sun Never Shines on the Poor [Richard & Linda song] £∇ [2]
Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [8]	If I Could Live My Life Again ♦ [2]	The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [6]
Beeswing Ø [8]	Genesis Hall [Fairport Convention song] €Ø [3]	Valerie ð [6]
I Feel So Good ® [5]	Turning of the Tide ◊ [4]	Crocodile Tears
Matty Groves [Fairport Convention song] €£	Beeswing Ø [7]	Beeswing Ø [6]
You Love Me Like It’s 1969	Persuasion [with Teddy Thompson] ≤ [7]	Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [6]
Walking the Long Miles Home ∏ [3]	Cut Across Shorty [Eddie Cochran song] [with Teddy Thompson]	Walking the Long Miles Home ∏
1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [11]	Johnny’s Far Away ⊄ [3]	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [9]
I Misunderstood ® [5]	Little Sally Rackett [recited a verse of the shanty] [2]	Cooksferry Queen ∏ [2]
Pipe Dreams [?]  (with Zara Phillips)	Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [7]	Who Knows Where the Time Goes? [Fairport Convention song] €Ø [2]
Hokey Pokey (The Ice Cream Song) (with Zara Phillips) £∇	Walking the Long Miles Home ∏ [2]	Hope You Like the New Me ∏ [2]
Singapore Sadie (with Zara Phillips) ⊥[2]	Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] (with Zara Phillips) £♦ [7]	Meet on the Ledge [Fairport Convention song] €ϖ
She Twists the Knife Again (with Zara Phillips) ♣ [2]	Singapore Sadie (with Zara Phillips) ⊥	If I Could Live My Life Again ♦
If Love Whispers Your Name (with Zara Phillips) Λ [2]	The Old Pack Mule (with Zara Phillips) ⊥	Jet Plane in a Rocking Chair [Richard & Linda song] (with Zara Phillips) £∇
The Old Pack Mule (with Zara Phillips) ⊥ [2]	The Rattle Within (with Zara Phillips) ≅ [2]	The Storm Won’t Come (with Zara Phillips) ≅
Withered and Died [Richard & Linda song] (with Zara Phillips) £≤	Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen (with Zara Phillips) ∴	She Never Could Resist a Winding Road (with Zara Phillips) Θ
Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] (with Zara Phillips) £♦ [8]	Keep Your Distance(with Zara Phillips) ® [2]	The Rattle Within (with Zara Phillips) ≅
encore	I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (with Zara Phillips) £≤ [4]	My Enemy (with Zara Phillips) ∑ [2]
The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [7]	encore	encore
The Rattle Within (with Zara Phillips) ≅ [3]	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [10]	Persuasion ≤ [6]
Tinker’s Rhapsody (with Zara Phillips) ζ [2]	Encore 2:	Dimming of the Day  [Richard & Linda song] £∇ [3]
	Tinker’s Rhapsody (with Zara Phillips) ζ	encore 2
	She Was Lost in the Crowd (with Zara Phillips)	I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight [Richard & Linda song] (with Zara Phillips) £≤ [3]
		When the Saints Rise Out of Their Graves (with Zara Phillips)ζ

 

October 9, 2016, Sellersville	June 4, 2016 Mann Center (opening for Wilco)	February 9, 2016 McCarter
When the Spell is Broken ♣ [3]	When the Spell Is Broken ♣ [2]	The Sun Never Shines on the Poor [Richard & Linda song] £∇
Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [5]	The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [5]	The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [4]
Josephine Θ [2]	Valerie ð [4]	Valerie ð [3]
Valerie ð [5]	Dry My Tears and Move On ∏ [5]	Josephine Θ
Beatnik Walking Θ [2]	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [7]	Johnny’s Far Away ⊄ [2]
1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [8]	Walking on a Wire £♦ [4]	Beatnik Walking Θ
Dry My Tears and Move On ∏ [6]	Persuasion ≤ [4]	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [6]
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight [Richard & Linda song] £≤ [2]	One Door Opens ∴ [2]	Dry My Tears and Move On ∏ [4]
Who Knows Where the Time Goes? [Fairport Convention song] €Ø	I Misunderstood ® [3]	I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight [Richard & Linda song] £≤
Good Things Happen to Bad People ∑ [4]		Genesis Hall [Fairport Convention song] €Ø [2]
Hots for the Smarts Η		Good Things Happen to Bad People ∑ [3]
Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song]£♦ [6]		Woods of Darney ⇔
Woods of Darney ⇔ [2]		Read About Love ®
Fergus Laing Θ [2]		Persuasion ≤ [3]
I Misunderstood ® [4]		Fergus Laing Θ
encore		Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [5]
Persuasion ≤ [5]		I Misunderstood ® [2]
Read About Love® [2]		encore
encore 2		Beeswing Ø [4]
Beeswing Ø [5]		encore 2
		Down Where the Drunkards Roll [Richard & Linda song] £≤ [2]
		One Door Opens ∴ [2]
		Shoot Out the Lights [Richard & Linda song] £♦

 

October 4, 2013 McCarter [with Teddy Thompson tour]**	February 17, 2012 McCarter**
One Door Opens ∴	Man in Need  £♦
Hope You Like the New Me ∏	Sally B ∑
Valerie ð [2]	Haul Me Up Λ
Saving the Good Stuff for You ∑	Hard on Me ∏
Johnny’s Far Away ⊄	Good Things Happen to Bad People ∑
Pharaoh ◊	Easy There, Steady Now Ø
1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [5]	Al Bowlly’s in Heaven ð [2]
Sunset Song ⊄	I’ll Never Give It Up ⊄
Good Things Happen to Bad People ∑ [2]	Did She Jump or Was She Pushed? [Richard and Linda song] £♦
Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [3]	Sidney Wells Λ
Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog in Denmark) [Frank Loesser cover] [3]	Dry My Tears and Move On ∏ [3]
Genesis Hall [Fairport Convention song] €Ø	She Twists the Knife Again ♣
Beeswing Ø [3]	If Love Whispers Your Name Λ
Crawl Back (Under My Stone) ∏ (2)	encore
My Enemy ∑	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [4]
Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [4]	Little Sally Rackett [traditional]
Down Where the Drunkards Roll [Richard & Linda song]	Demons in Her Dancing Shoes Λ
I Feel So Good ® [4]
encore
Persuasion [with Teddy Thompson] ≤ [2]
The Price of Love [with Teddy Thompson] [Everly Brothers song]
encore 2
Grey Funnel Love [with Teddy Thompson] [Cyril Tawney song]

** set list approximated from shows near our show.

 

November 3, 2004 McCarter [1,000 years of music tour] **	April 20, 2001 Town Hall (NYC)
Sumer is Icumen In ¥	Don’t Let a Thief Steal Into Your Heart [Richard & Linda song] £1
King Henry Fifth’s Conquest of France ¥	When the Spell Is Broken ♣
So Ben Mi Ch’a Bon Tempo ¥	Crawl Back (Under My Stone) ∏
Bonnie St. Johnstone	King of Bohemia Ø
O Sleep, Fond Fancy	Turning of the Tide ◊ [3]
Dido’s Lament	Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [2]
Remember O Thou Man	I Misunderstood ®
Shenandoah ¥	My Daddy Is a Mummy
Blackleg Miner ¥	Dry My Tears and Move On ∏ [2]
Trafalgar Square ¥	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [3]
There Is Beauty in the Bellow of the Blast ¥	The Great Valerio [Richard and Linda song] £≤
The Sally Gardens	I Feel So Good ® [3]
Java Jive	The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [3]
Night and Day	I Agree with Pat Metheny
London Pride	Beeswing Ø [2]
Orange Colored Sky ¥	Keep Your Distance ®
Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee ¥	Uninhabited Man ∏
A-11 ¥	Cooksferry Queen ∏
See My Friends ¥	encore
Friday on My Mind (The Kinks cover) ¥	Persuasion (with Teddy Thompson) ≤
Tempted (Squeeze cover) ¥	I Can’t Wake Up (with Teddy Thompson) Ø
Kiss (Prince cover) ¥	encore 2
Oops!… I Did It Again / Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt  ¥	Word Unspoken Sight Unseen ∴
encore	Wall of Death  [Richard & Linda song] £∇ [3] (with Teddy Thompson)
I Am a Man in Prison ¥
Money, Money, Money (Abba cover) ¥
It Won’t Be Long (The Beatles cover) ¥
encore 2
Sam Hall ¥
Cry Me A River ¥
1985 ¥

** set list approximated from shows near our show.

June 18, 1998 Harborlights (Boston) Thompson/Bruce Cockburn/Dar Williams **	June 15, 1997 (Guinness Fleadh)
Turning of the Tide ◊ [2]	Turning of the Tide ◊
Bathsheba Smiles ∏	The Ghost of You Walks ⇔
How Will I Ever Be Simple Again ð	I Feel So Good ®
I Feel So Good ® [2]	From Galway to Graceland €
The Ghost of You Walks ⇔ [2]	1952 Vincent Black Lightning ®
Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog in Denmark) [Frank Loesser cover] [2]	Lotteryland [Richard & Danny Thompson song] √
1952 Vincent Black Lightning ® [2]	Razor Dance ⇔
Dry My Tears and Move On ∏	Beeswing Ø
Walking on a Wire [Richard & Linda song] £♦	Hamlet (Dog Eat Dog in Denmark) [Frank Loesser cover]
Don’t Sit on My Jimmy Shands ®	Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] £♦
Razor Dance ⇔ [2]	Dimming of the Day [Richard & Linda song] £∇
encore	encore
Wall of Death [Richard & Linda song] £♦ [2]	Keep That Wheel A-Turnin’ [folk song]
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) [Pete Seeger cover] with Dar Williams and Bruce Cockburn]

** set list approximated from shows near our show.