Though its title track came about through Richard Thompson musings over Brezhnev ordering tanks into Afghanistan, Shoot Out The Lights – originally released on Hannibal in 1982 – is more renowned for depicting a very different conflict: the breakdown of a marriage, comparable only to Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks. The titles alone speak volumes: Don’t Renege On Our Love or Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed, Linda commenting in the sleevenotes that, “I can tell you right now she was pushed.” What adds to the drama here is a previously unreleased bonus disc recorded in San Francisco on the tempestuous tour which followed the album’s release – by which time the couple had separated.
The tensions brought out an intensity in Linda’s singing and a ferocity in Richard’s playing while, as with the sinking Titanic, the band played on. Drummer Dave Mattacks describes how he and fellow ex-Fairporter Simon Nicol sometimes felt they were “taking sides”. Fuelled by the friction, the performances are top notch, the setlist highlighting the recent album, but concluding with a rather fitting cover of The Price Of Love.
