Lighthouse Poole is delighted to announce the welcome return of folk rock legend Richard Thompson to play the Concert Hall on Thursday, 10 September.
Richard Thompson’s musical influence cannot be overstated. Having co-founded the ground-breaking group Fairport Convention as a teenager in the 1960s, he and his bandmates invented the distinctive strain of British folk rock. He left the group at 21 to embark on a decade-long musical partnership with his then-wife Linda, before more than 30 years as a highly successful solo artist.
In 2011, Thompson received an OBE bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. The Los Angeles Times called him “the finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix” and Rolling Stone has named him one of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. He has received lifetime achievement awards for songwriting from the BBC Radio 2 Awards and the Americana Music Association, and was awarded the prestigious Ivor Novello Award.
His song, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest Songs Since 1923. A wide range of musicians have recorded Thompson’s songs, including Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, REM, Sleater-Kinney, Del McCoury, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Jones, David Byrne, and Don
Henley, Los Lobos, and many more. His massive body of work includes many Grammy-nominated albums as well as numerous soundtracks, including Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man and 2019’s The Cold Blue.
His genre-defying mastery of both acoustic and electric guitar, along with engaging energy and onstage wit, continues to earn him new fans and a place as one of the most distinctive virtuosos and writers in folk rock history. In May 2024, Richard Thompson released to critical acclaim Ship To Shore, his first studio album in six years.
Zara Phillips is a singer and songwriter, actor, author, and activist. As an adoptee herself, much of her work is centred around the adoption world and is focused on improving understanding the lifelong impact of adoption. She is a mother of three and tours with her husband, musician Richard Thompson. She divides her time between London and New Jersey.
Zara was raised in Totteridge, North London, and was adopted as a baby. She found her birth mother at 24 and, after a lifelong search, her birth father at 51. She was always singing and writing as a child, which led to her becoming a harmony singer in the 80s, with acts like Bob Geldof, Matt Bianco, David Essex, and Nick Kamen.
After a spell of addiction, she became sober at age 22 and devoted more of her time to her own music, writing and activism. Her 2006 album When the Rain Stops, and You Me and Us (2011) were produced by Ted Perlman. Her 2008 film, Roots Unknown, won Best Homegrown Documentary at the NJ Garden State Film Festival. Her 2008 book, Mother Me, describes the unfolding as an adoptee raises a family of her own. Her song, I’m Legit, co-written with Darryl McDaniel’s of DMC, has been a huge hit in the adoption world and beyond. Beneath My Father’s Sky, a one-woman show that Zara wrote and performed, was the winner of Best Direction at the NYC United Solo festival in 2014, and was also performed in LA, San Francisco, Connecticut, and in London in 2016.
Richard Thompson last played Lighthouse on 13 October 2017 on his acoustic solo tour, delivering a magnificent two-hour masterclass including staples such as 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, a plaintive reading of Who Know Where the Time Goes? and a rollicking Down Where the Drunkards Roll.
The full setlist: Gethsemene, The Ghost Of You Walks, Crocodile Tears, Valerie, Persuasion, Beatnik Walking, Uninhabited Man, Push And Shove, They Tore The Hippodrome Down, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, Hots For The Smarts, Trying, Wall Of Death, Down Where The Drunkards Roll, I Misunderstood, Turning Of The Tide, Beeswing, Walzing’s For Dreamers, Don’t Sit On My Jimmy Shands.
Priority booking opens for Lighthouse Best & Great Friends only on Friday 16 January, and for Lighthouse Good Friends on Tuesday 20 January, before going on general sale from Friday 23 January at www.lighthousepoole.co.uk and on 01202 280000.
To gain access to priority booking, Friends memberships are available from just £50 a year at www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/support-lighthouse.
Photo Credit Michael Ryan Kravetsky
