[www.extc.co.uk] I’m sure Andy Partridge is REAL happy about this… https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63602#msg-63602 Sat, 09 May 2026 13:52:23 -0500 Phorum 5.2.23 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,67691#msg-67691 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,67691#msg-67691 Keith Trouser Press Sun, 07 Jul 2024 02:10:50 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,66663#msg-66663 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,66663#msg-66663 eXTC web site lists tour dates in the eastern U.S. in spring 2024, and European tour dates in the summer. (The URL is different from the link earlier in this thread.)

It appears that Steve Hampton has not persuaded Terry Chambers to bring in a fourth musician. As he said, you can't argue with the boss.]]> Delvin Trouser Press Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:45:22 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,66661#msg-66661 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,66661#msg-66661
[www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk]]]> zwirnm Trouser Press Thu, 28 Dec 2023 17:45:29 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65533#msg-65533 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65533#msg-65533 rhettlawrence Trouser Press Mon, 20 Mar 2023 10:18:35 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65530#msg-65530 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65530#msg-65530 Black Sea (which I loved) and Skylarking (which we both loved).

SET 1:
This Is Pop
Statue of Liberty
No Language in Our Lungs
Wonderland
Love on a Farmboy's Wages
Standing In for Joe
Towers of London
Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins)
Senses Working Overtime
Jason and the Argonauts
Ball and Chain
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

SET 2:
Summer's Cauldron/Grass
Big Day
The Mayor of Simpleton
The Meeting Place
Earn Enough for Us
No Thugs in Our House
Sgt Rock Is Going to Help Me
Rocket from a Bottle
Respectable Street
Generals and Majors
Making Plans for Nigel
Life Begins at the Hop

ENCORE:
Stupidly Happy

The musicians were hanging out at the swag booth after the set, and we got to chat with Steve Hampton for a little while. I asked him what had happened with Steve Tilling, their original lead singer. He explained that the guy went into a bit of a meltdown, about six months ago, and simply left the band and went home. Since then, Steve has lobbied hard to add a fourth musician to the lineup, so he doesn't have to carry all of the weight on guitar. (He's a good guitarist, but the sound would've benefited from more depth and texture at times.) But for some reason, Terry prefers it as a trio. "I keep trying," Steve said, "but you can't argue with the boss."]]> Delvin Trouser Press Sun, 19 Mar 2023 12:09:55 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65526#msg-65526 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65526#msg-65526 rhettlawrence Trouser Press Fri, 17 Mar 2023 13:00:57 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65521#msg-65521 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65521#msg-65521 Delvin Trouser Press Thu, 16 Mar 2023 23:43:01 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65517#msg-65517 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,65517#msg-65517 this incarnation of EXTC last night here in Portland and it was pretty great. They're now performing as a trio and I don't know if this dude Steve Hampton was playing lead when they toured last year, but he was a good guitarist and a decent enough vocalist. As Delvin noted last year, Terry is still a very powerful drummer and unfortunately he was way too high in the mix, which was a little too loud anyway. Who woulda guessed I'd walk out of an EXTC show with my ears ringing?

I didn't keep a running tally of the setlist, but it was greatly centered around Black Sea tunes, which was fine by me. Hearing deep cuts like "Paper and Iron" and "Rocket from a Bottle" performed live was pretty awesome. Unsurprisingly there was nothing from Go 2, and also nothing from Mummer, The Big Express, or either of the last two albums. And they didn't get around to anything from Drums and Wires till near the end ("Life Begins at the Hop" and "Nigel"). One song each from Skylarking ("Grass"), O&L ("Mayor of Simpleton"), and Nonsuch ("Pumpkinhead"), and maybe 4 from English Settlement, including - to my delight - "Jason and the Argonauts."

Anyway, they're totally worth seeing if you're an XTC fan (according to the back of the t-shirt I bought, they're headed east from Oregon!). The crowd was mostly older folks, natch, and several white-haired and bald dudes seemed to be in absolute rapture to finally be seeing a band that clearly meant a lot to them. While it was slightly annoying that the guy in front of me couldn't stop standing and waving his arms around wildly, I could scarcely blame him. Tons of fun.]]> rhettlawrence Trouser Press Thu, 16 Mar 2023 10:35:01 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63923#msg-63923 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63923#msg-63923
A close friend of mine, who's about 15 years older than me and has seen shows that blow my mind to hear about (Hendrix, the unsigned Pink Floyd, the young Rolling Stones), saw XTC back in the day -- even interviewed Andy and Colin for the local paper. She turned up her nose at the idea of seeing eXTC, partly on the grounds that the lead singer looks too much like Frank Zappa.

I didn't pick on her for that, but I did remind her that, for some of thus who never got to see the original band, this is a real treat. (Remember, I'm the guy who loved seeing Queen + Adam Lambert, even though a few of my friends who'd seen Freddie scoffed at the idea.)]]> Delvin Trouser Press Tue, 22 Mar 2022 19:52:29 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63922#msg-63922 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63922#msg-63922 Heff Trouser Press Tue, 22 Mar 2022 14:05:16 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63921#msg-63921 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63921#msg-63921 Delvin Trouser Press Tue, 22 Mar 2022 10:13:16 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63920#msg-63920 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63920#msg-63920
I would have loved to be there.]]> Philippe Trouser Press Mon, 21 Mar 2022 18:03:48 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63919#msg-63919 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63919#msg-63919 MrFab Trouser Press Mon, 21 Mar 2022 16:51:18 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63916#msg-63916 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63916#msg-63916 any band play an XTC song before. So I realized, "What, this band is devoting the whole night to this repertoire? I can't miss this!"

And I'm glad I didn't, because it was a blast! My seat was very close to stage left. My ticket had said "partially obstructed view," but apart from the banister for the steps up to my tier, the view was clear. Sound quality was good, and the band was tight. And Terry's drumming has lost none of its power.

Steve Tilling, who was in the project/band TC&I with Terry and Colin, handled lead vocals and rhythm guitar. (His voice is almost a dead ringer for Colin's.) As the setlist attests, they didn't stick just to songs that Terry had played on originally. They covered the whole range of XTC's catalog, plus a song from TC&I.

And as you probably can guess, the audience was terrific. Plenty of people there looked old enough to have been fans back when the band still was active, but quite a few younger people were there as well. Looking around from my vantage point, practically everybody was singing along to every song. It simply was great to be at a show where I just knew that everybody there really had come for the music; I didn't see any clutch of people just yakking amongst themselves while the band was playing (a pet peeve of mine).

SET 1:
This Is Pop
Statue of Liberty
No Language in Our Lungs
Towers of London
Wonderland
Scatter Me
Sacrificial Bonfire
Big Day
No Thugs in Our House
Standing In for Joe
Ball and Chain
The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

SET 2:
Dear God
King for a Day
Sgt Rock Is Going to Help Me
Earn Enough for Us
The Mayor of Simpleton
Where Did the Ordinary People Go?
Grass
The Meeting Place
Respectable Street
Generals and Majors

ENCORE:
Making Plans for Nigel
Senses Working Overtime
Stupidly Happy
Life Begins at the Hop]]> Delvin Trouser Press Sun, 20 Mar 2022 11:56:20 -0500 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63620#msg-63620 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63620#msg-63620 two XTC shows he saw here -- one they headlined at the Showbox, and one where they opened for The Police at the Paramount Theatre. Forty years after the fact, yet I'm actually jealous.]]> Delvin Trouser Press Mon, 10 Jan 2022 16:02:02 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63618#msg-63618 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63618#msg-63618
My point being that, even back in the day, XTC would already not be playing the expected venues.]]> Philippe Trouser Press Mon, 10 Jan 2022 12:51:36 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63617#msg-63617 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63617#msg-63617 Midge Ure). And I've seen quite a few shows at Dimitriou's. Both are very nice supper-club venues. But they just aren't rock 'n' roll joints, to my way of thinking.

Maybe I'll reach a point in my life where my desire for a comfortable vantage point and less jostling by strangers influences my choice of what shows I'll see and where I'll see them. But I'm just not there yet. (I'd like to think that's a good sign.)]]> Delvin Trouser Press Mon, 10 Jan 2022 12:15:10 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63616#msg-63616 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63616#msg-63616 one of those, too]. City Winery chain is a great, upmarket venue that gives acts a great platform and probably treats them and the fans better than they are used to. The clubs [Atlanta, Nashville] had great sound, weren't abusively loud, and the seating and sight lines were well considered.]]> Post-Punk Monk Trouser Press Mon, 10 Jan 2022 10:32:21 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63614#msg-63614 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63614#msg-63614 Heff Trouser Press Sun, 09 Jan 2022 08:56:51 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63610#msg-63610 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63610#msg-63610
As long as he receives whatever performance royalties he's legitimately entitled to from Terry's band, why should Andy mind? (Other than being his usual curmudgeonly complaining self.) The fan website Chalkhills lists at least half a dozen tribute bands that presumably still are active ... and Andy is quoted as being a fan of at least one of them.

I wouldn't mind going to see their Seattle show in March, although I'd be more enthusiastic if it was somewhere other than the Triple Door Tavern. That's more of a supper-club place, not a proper rock 'n' roll venue. Then again, Terry (or his manager) might feel that anyone who's a fan enough to go see an XTC tribute has probably aged to the point where they'd like to see the band in relative comfort. (And in fairness, the ticket prices aren't too bad, at least for the Triple Door.)]]> Delvin Trouser Press Thu, 06 Jan 2022 22:14:48 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63603#msg-63603 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63603#msg-63603 Post-Punk Monk Trouser Press Thu, 06 Jan 2022 06:25:36 -0600 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63602#msg-63602 https://trouserpress.com/forum/read.php?1,63602,63602#msg-63602 www.extc.co.uk]

I’m sure Andy Partridge is REAL happy about this…]]> MrFab Trouser Press Thu, 06 Jan 2022 02:20:52 -0600