Sophia - Apr. 29 '99: Herrgårn, Linkoping (S)

Review 1 Anyway, i'll do a small gig report from the linkoping show. Pretty much the same as the norwegian ones i guess. I believe they played more songs in norway (and in stockholm last year) that were omitted now. No solo tracks by Robin here. ca 75 min in total. Good show all over, no new tracks compared to Stockholm last year, but still fun to see them again. Bjorn and I were standing in the front, and after a while, quite many students in this pub got attracted, although maybe 10-20 knew enough abt Sophia to sing along. (On the bus to the venue, I met two girls that were going there, asking me "this Sophie, is she from Stockholm or what?" ...sigh.) As told, Steve had problems with his keyboard, and kept strapping down the keys with black tape to keep them pressed down! At one track, it got completely out of tune, and he just skipped it for the rest of the show. Sad. It was just a small plastic synthesizer thing, compared to the big old style (Farfisa?) he used last year. Some of the guitar melodies (both adam and robin) were refreshed and slightly altered. The River song had the looong ending, those who knew it appreciated it. Talked a bit with the guys after the show. Some news and gossip: Robin commented on the tour. Helsingborg the day before was appaling, poor audience etc. Stockholm the day after was going to be the last one on this tour, and after that, no live shows for at least one year!!! Not for Sophia, not for Swervedriver. The gig in Haderslev was going to be cancelled. Sad, since i sent list-member Victoria up there from Hamburg. Hope she got the news in time!! :( Robin still isn't used to the list, when i told him that i told this to Vikki when she was still i the states, he asked me "how can you keep in touch with ppl all over???" And the Swervies said "The list, off course!!" (certainly after being pestered by swerve-listees all over) I also passed on greetings from other list members, and they remembered this one girl from stockholm very well from the last time, "she was the one who sang tunes in a medieval style, right?!" Robin is preparing for a new one-off project, together with a guy from Switzerland called Polar (sp?) They haven't decided what name the cooperation will have, but it will result in a CD, pressed in only 1000-5000 copies or so, only for the hardcore fans, and maybe live shows, nothing decided yet. Swervedriver was going to release a new single, they mentioned the name, a new track, not from the album, but i can't remember it now. What else??? Always a great privilege to see them, and the cheap beer at the student pub already made me forget half of what they told me :P Jan, God Machine mailing list Review 2 Inlevelsens ansikte Efter första låten ber Robin Proper-Sheppard, kapellmästare i 'The Sophia Collective', ljusteknikern att sänka belysningen som strålar mot honom på Herrgåríns scen. Och mörkt blir detÖ I följande låt 'So Slow' sjunger han: 'Death comes so slow, when youíre waiting to be taken'.  Sophiaís låtskatt bestående av albumen 'Fixed Water' och 'Infinite Circle' präglas av Robins mörka och allvarsamma texter, ackompanjerad av lika vacker och smärtsam musik. Det är ur denna skatt Robin och hans 3 kompmusiker från 'Sophia-kollektivet' omsorgsfullt plockar låtar för kvällens konsert. Stämningen framför scenen blir i det närmaste sakral, och publiken står helt tyst och stilla, paralyserad av det vackra som sköljs över den. Robin har sina ögon slutna medan han framför sina sånger, men det är verkligen ingen oengagerad man vi ser. Jag slås av att Robin (sittandes på en barstol med akustisk gitarr) och hans mannar spelar med en inlevelse sällan skådad. Mellan låtarna, när applåderna tystnat, tittar han upp och ger oss information om kommande låt ligger på första eller andra albumet för att sedan dra för ögonlocken och ge oss ytterligare en fantastisk upplevelse. Efter en kort paus kommer de tillbaka och Robin ber fansen vänligt men bestämt att inte önska några låtar. Det verkar vara så att Robin har några låtar han bara måste få spela innan det är slut. Det blir särskilt uppenbart när han inför kvällens sista låt  förklarar att den betyder väldigt mycket för honom och att det var den första låten han skrev innan hans mamma gick bort. Det blir den underbara îDirectionlessî. Jag får en klump i halsen och Robin lider fram orden: 'Iím losing my direction'. Man kan bli deprimerad för mindreÖ Fredrik Nilsson Pics by 'musique one stop': www.photohenrik.com/mos