Over the last few years, Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox have built a new, enthusiastic and unexpected audience, with the entire internet seemingly in thrall to their long-running-although-currently-dormant series of Sunday Lunch videos.
Could they cut it on the road? That was surely the question on everyone's lips when the frisky duo announced a series of 'Rock Party' dates, during which they'd perform many of the songs that have so enriched our lives.
In late May the first audiences bore witness to the pair's live antics, as the King Crimson man and his bride played a pair of local shows at Worcester's Huntingdon Hall. Amongst the songs performed were Metallica's Enter Sandman, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man, and, perhaps most remarkably, Kashmir by Led Zeppelin.
By now the band must be fully warmed up, we presume, with the latest in a trio of festival dates taking place last weekend at the annual Isle Of Wight festival. And, it would seem, the Rock Party is in full swing. Footage has emerged of the couple's version of Billy Idol's Rebel Yell, and it's certainly not as ragged as we've come to expect and/or enjoy.
"This is one of the best songs from 1989", gasps a breathless Toyah, introducing Rebel Yell, which was released in 1983. "Well, let's be truthful about this. It's one of the best songs of the 1980s!"
What follows is a solid if unspectacular version of the song, enlivened mainly by a second guitarist and bassist who appear to have come dressed as Robert Fripp, as if to pay tribute to their boss. Or to confuse onlookers. Either way, it's a shame the rest of the band didn't get the memo. There's also a segment where Toyah appears to dry-hump her husband during a solo from guitarist Manolo Polidario, but we won't mention that.
Toyah and Robert's Rock Party Tour resumes on September 30 at the Tivoli in Wimborne. Full dates below.
Robert & Toyah Sunday Lunch Rock Party 2023 Tour dates
Sep 30: Wimborne Tivoli
Oct 01: Cheltenham Town Hall
Oct 07: Harrogate Town Hall
Oct 08: Whitley Bay Town House
Oct 09: Manchester Salford Lowery
Oct 14: Worthing Assembly Hall
Oct 16: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Oct 19: Bury St Edmunds Apex
Oct 20: Basingstoke Anvil
Oct 21: London Shepherd's Bush Empire
Oct 25: Buxton Opera House
Oct 26: Shrewsbury Theatre Severn
Oct 28: Swansea Grand Theatre
Oct 29: Birmingham Town Hall
