The Archive.
Sat  3-8-97.
Sun 3-9-97.
Womad. Western Springs . 
Auckland. New Zealand . 

 

3-8-97.

Easy There, Steady  Now.

Waltzing's For Dreamers.

Hide It Away. 

Ghost Of You Walks. 

Jimmy Shands

Turning Of The Tide.

Al Bowlley's In Heaven.

1952 Vincent Black Lightning.

Dimming Of The Day. 

I Misunderstood.

Dog Eat Dog In Denmark.

Two Left Feet. 

 

   Review By Ron

      I went to the Saturday show 8 March 1997 It ran from 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm (as scheduled) the second show was on the following night 11.00 pm to 12.00 pm which I was not able to attend. Richard played an acoustic set (dressed in black) with Danny on Double Bass. There was an audience of probably 300-400 people, of which quite a few were familiar with his work judging by the banter between songs.

   I was totally blown away both by the sound quality and the quality of Richard's playing. So effortless and yet with so much variety and passion. I was close enough to be able to him play and spent some time just watching how he played . At one point when Danny left the stage I could still hear a bass line and looked around for another bass player and couldn't find one. I haven't got the first clue about how to play guitar so I presume Richard was playing a bass line with his thumb on the top string. I think his playing will live with me forever. I wonder what he would be like on an electric guitar with a band, but for the moment I think I prefer his acoustic approach.

   An hour would never be enough to hear all the songs I wanted to hear, I loved what I heard, the power and the sensitivity and passion of his voice had me wishing that it was never going to end. I personally would have loved to hear some of his earlier material but that's purely selfish on my part and no way distracted from the show. I sensed Richard to be slightly shy but someone who came through with a terrific sense of humour and certainly not worth the Doom and Gloom tag that is often given to him.

   It was a magical afternoon that I will never forget, my first and I hope not my last chance of ever seeing Richard play live. Back to the CD's I suppose ,  but somehow its not the same .

                                Ron 

   This set list is probably incomplete. This could be a mix of either show, or the Saturday show missing the last song -Two Left Feet. I would guess this is the Sat show, if only for the fact that they would be more likely to record an early show to avoid paying overtime to the recording crew. This list is taken from the AM broadcast on NZ radio, which also included an interview, which unfortunately was played over parts of some of the songs. 

  For some reason RT was playing hour long sets at the Auckland Womad. whereas at the  Womad festival in Adelaide we only got 40 minute sets on both days , although both sets were completely different , so if you managed to see both it was like seeing a 90 minute show. 

 Lucky Kiwi's

AM broadcast NZ radio,

Easy There, Steady  Now.

Waltzing's For Dreamers.

Hide It Away. 

Ghost Of You Walks. 

Jimmy Shands

Turning Of The Tide.

Al Bowlley's In Heaven.

1952 Vincent Black Lightning.

Dimming Of The Day. 

I Misunderstood.

Dog Eat Dog In Denmark.


 

2001 Australian tour reviews/interviews and photographs

Richard Thompson photo gallery.

 

The Richard Thompson pages .
 Pacific tour 97.setlists/reviews.
General revews
RT banter.
RT Womad 97 photos
97 Australian tour photos
RT links.
RT Video
   RT Photogallery

 


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