OFF: Peter Hammill

[Sonique]

Hi All,

Here's an "OzHawk's" review of the recent Peter Hammill gig in Sydney (I
missed the Melbourne one :(

Sonique

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Mon, 30 Jun 1997 15:36:46 +1000 (EST)
To:            paul at pcmicro.com.au
From:          s.overmyer at uws.EDU.AU (Stephen Overmyer)
Subject:       Peter Hammill

Paul,

As promised,here's a brief(?) review of Peter Hammill's Sydney show from
last Thursday.Feel free to put it on the Oz Hawks mailing list
if you think it's worthwile or just read and delete.I won't mind.

Last Thursday on a cold wet winter's night an enthusiastic audience was
treated to a truly wonderful performance by a gifted enigmatic man.
Peter Hammill at 49 has lost nothing of his ability to give his audience
a passionate,inspired  performance.
Tall and thin and a little grey on the sides these days,he was graceful,
polite and friendly on stage,even to a yob who was calling out for some
song both PH and the rest of us didn't recognize.I think he may have got
the night mixed up with a Jimmy Barnes/Cold Chisel gig.

Alone on stage with a grand piano and his acoustic guitar,Peter played
for the best part of two hours an eclectic mix of his excellent solo work from
over the years and plundered the Van Der Graaf Generator vaults to breathe new
life into some incredibly complex music with arrangements to suit solo
piano.This worked brilliantly and I was thrilled how well the VDGG pieces
stood the test of time.

And he was working hard! He put his all into the music and as most of the
pieces played lasted up to 10 minutes,and he was the only musician on stage,
he was pretty exhausted by the end of each song.But he just shook out his
fingers,wiped the sweat away and through himself into the next one.

I now wish I had taken notes as to the set list but unfortunately did
not and whilst most of the set sounded familiar,the names of many of the
pieces from his solo work now escape me.
The show opened with 'My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)'-(VDGG-Still Life) and
followed with some solo material both old and new and possibly another VDGG
track all on piano.

Then he moved to his acoustic guitar and proceeded to work just as hard.
Performing flawlessly,he kept his audience in awe as he played songs like 'The
Tail that Chased the Comet'and other familiar pieces whose names now also
escape me.

Then it was back to the piano for the final third of the evening with more PH
and VDGG songs including,for me,the evening's highlight.A beautiful passionate
version of probably my favourite VDGG song 'Still Life'(from Still Life) I
will never forget it.

He then politely thanked his audience and left the stage looking thoroughly
worn out,but the response from the audience of PH fans and the loud and
undying calls for an encore saw him soon back to finish with 'Refugees'
(VDGG-The Least We Could Do Is Wave To Each Other) A magnificant song that we
all knew and was immediately met with hearty applause as he began to play.

With that he thanked us and departed from the stage and his most appreciative
audience leaving us with our memories of a brief glimpse into the world of one
of modern music's most gifted,albeit obscure singer/songwriters and I felt
privileged to have been part of this rare opportunity to see him in
Australia,possibly for the first time ?I'm not sure if he's ever been here
before. If he ever returns don't miss him what ever you do,even if not all
that familiar with his material.My sister-in-law was among the 4 of us who
went and she had never heard of him but she left very impressed indeed.For the
rest of us,he was preaching to the converted.

What we witnessed was pure magic and I am most grateful to the Ozhawk list for
mentioning that he was in Australia.Without it I would never have found out in
time to book tickets and get to Sydney where I rarely venture, although if
Hawkwind make it,a sonic attack won't keep me away !

This'brief'review ended up anything but,sorry about that, but I find it hard
to talk about Peter Hammill in only a few words as I just can't fit in all of
the superlatives necessary to describe this wonderful man.

Steve O.
The 'not at all biased' PH/VDGG fan
and 'the old bastard' Hawkwind fan









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