from TheEnchanter:

Set List:
Song to the Sien
Shine It All Around
Takamba
Friends
Tin Pan Valley
29 Palms
Misty Mountain Hop
Four Sticks
Nirvana
Slow Dancer
Freedom Fries
Black Dog
Gallow’s Pole
encore:
7+7 Is
Whole lotta love

What an ubelievabe experince to see Robert in such an intimate setting. By far the best show I have ever seen. The stage was so tiny there were definitely some close calls but it didn’t stop Robert or Justin from getting their freak on The band’s energy was top notch and Robert was very relaxed and quite humorous. I wish I oould remember some of what he said.

It was so fantastic to hear both Nirvana and Slow Dancer, Strange Sensaton style. Slow Dancer in particular is a great example of how timeless Robert’s music is. That song was written 25 years ago and yet it sounded as though he just wrote it yesterday.

I was delighted to see them play 29 Palms. I’ve heard it on cd but great to actually see. Justin plays Djembe for the song. During a couple of other numbers, he plays these Moroccan hand cymbals. I apologise for not knowing their proper name.

A couple of things that partcularly struck me were first, how quite differently the songs were done. It would have been so easy for Robert to have played them as he has from the last tour. It’s so wonderful that he is so forward moving and always wanting to be challenged. The second thing is you can start to hear some of the New Orleans/Nashville influencs in some of the arrangements The North African sound is still very much present but there’s the other sound quite subtley blended in. It makes for even more eager anticpation for what the next Strange Sensation album will sound like

It’s clear from the chemsiry they have together and especially from Robert, I think there is a long and very adventurous journey ahead. How lucky for us.

From Down by the Sea:
Probably the smallest club I’d seen Robert on since Priory days, the 450 capacity club in downtown Bristol, was already hot and sticky by the time we got there. The support band, AurA were excellent, performing a mixture 60’s and 70’s covers as well as there own material, Tunnel Vision and Neil Young, My Life, both stand out.

Robert and The Strange Sensations came on around 10.30 with the surprise opener of Song To The Siren, perhaps the perfect opener for such intimate surrounding. Shine it All Around ups the tempo before the brilliant Takamba. Friends and Black Dog (later in the set) have out stayed there welcome by now. 29 Palms still works although the new version of Misty Mountain Hop was frankly both strange and confusing. Nirvana was a real joy, a lost nugget not played since 1990. The slowed down Slowdancer was a nice interlude but maybe the full band version world work better with the Sensations firing on all cylinders. Talking of which, Freedom Fries injects some pace into the night with some great interplay between Robert, Justin and Skin. Gallows Pole finishes the main set with it’s now familiar jaunty tempo. 7 + 7 Is was for me the highlight, the whole band now really flying, the energy generating from the stage just awesome. Whole Lotta Love closes tonight, no surprise there and even I’m really beginning to enjoy this Middle Eastern tinted version.

A great night, pity he can’t lose some of the Zepp numbers and introduce some numbers from his own solo career and it was disappointing no hint of new material from the band. The Sensations are Roberts longest serving band now and I hope there around this time next year for a new album. The tour started tonight in Bristol and is due to end in the Brecon Beacons, Wales in August with around 18 festival dates in between, here’s hoping the Strange Sensation carry on, because I missed The Enchanter this time around.