HW: My Space Daze adventure

[Stephen Lindsey]

Well finally a little time to review the great magical event
that was the first Space Daze festival.

As a leadin let me say, if you didn't go and you could have
- you made a very bad decision. If this thing does come off
next year, for God sake don't hesitate for a second, just
GO! I don't think theres anywhere on the planet (please note
all you Europeans) that this wasn't worth making the trip
from to be there. I got to see all kind of great bands I
never would otherwise have seen live, got to meet old
friends, make new ones, have some of the strangest Hawkwind
encounters  imaginable and generally had a great Adventure.

In overview, the sound system was excellent, extremely clear
and well mixed all weekend. The lights, only a factor for
the evening of course, were tremendous, great wheeling
spinning shifting images, really helping to put the "Space"
in the Space Rock.   The site is a great find, with the
essentials (food & beer) available in a non-intrusive and
not-ridiculoulsy priced way.  No trouble with the camping
(somthing I hadn't tried my hand at in twelve odd years).
And the music ....

Well onto the bands, didn't arrive until 3ish on the
Saturday so missed Gaia Avatara and Red Giant, sorry folks !
Someone said Gaia Avatara were a little more ethnic with
tablas and flute I think.  So arrived partway through
Nucleon, I liked these guys, someone said they were more
rock than Space Rock, but I was impressed by the very wide
range of sounds and effects the guitarist was getting, so
I'd give them the vote there. A three piece with drums,
guitar and one guy on  hand held and rack synths.  Wouldn't
have minded picking up a tape but didn't run into them the
rest of the weekend, anyone got anymore info ?

ST37, who I'd never heard of before were up next. From
Austin Texas, these guys just blew me away, totally the find
of the weekend for me.  Ripping into their set, the vision I
had was of five tightly spinning whirlwinds each
concentrating intently on their own sound, yet in
combination producing an intense maelstrom which ebbed and
flowed with great force.  The use of pretaped spoken vocals
isn't normally  one of my favourite tricks but worked well
here. I'm confused now whether they actually played the Neu
cover, or whether that was the track that "We haven't got
time to play this, but if you want to find it you'll have to
go to Italy to buy the record"....   I suppose Neu with an
extra guitarist and more distortion might be one attempt to
describe these guys. Highly recommended if you like the
punkier, more dissonant end of Space Rock.  Talked to their
new guitarist Mark after the show, and bought College Radio
their last CD, I think the last two tracks on the CD are the
first two they played.

Quickly off for food (the food place still had burgers then,
it wasn't until later that they were reduced to veggies only
and they were better than I expected), then Architectural
Metaphor.   Well, again very impressed.  Three piece,
synths, our friend Greg Kovacincy (sp?) wonderfully
psychedelic green suit that Syd Barret would have been proud
of, on guitar, and a fabulously gorgeous lady on the drums.
This was excellent stuff, Someone else mentioned Ash Ra
Tempel as a comparator, I was thinking early (Ummaguma)
Floyd, and given the common ground between those two I'd
have to say we were on hte same wavelength.  Whatever the
influences though, this is very well played and spellbinding
stuff.  I have never seen an even semi-competent female
drummer before, but now I guess its back to attitude
readjustment school for me. Holy Cow ! both the powerful
insistent rhythmic stuff, and also tastefully chosen
percussion effects on the spacier passages were enough of a
lesson to leave me smitten. ("Heck she even packs her own
drums away!" I believe I was overheard to say).

F/I were on prior to Nik, great sound. As with some of the
other acts I heard part of the show from out of sight on the
grounds, but the sound carried beatifully and clearly. Twas
dark enough for the lights now, and I remember great pulsing
geometric patterns from Liquid Louise helping to establish a
great vibe backing up some tight and powerful music. These
guys have a sense of humour judging from the red jump suit
the bass player had on. Definitely a band to check out.

Next up was Nik, Nik had appeared on the grounds earlier in
the afternoon, which was when it became apparent that he had
a banged up leg (Crutches are a bit of a dead giveaway that
way), so I think we were all worried it might be a bit of a
subdued show. Hah ! Think again !  Nik had an astonishing
suit on, some kind of reptilian scaled, horny body suit that
he probably nicked off the set of a movie.  I want one, but
I'm not sure I'd have the guts to wear it !  Started off
with 'Watching The Grass Grow' others have listed more
tracks.  I think the funniest momnent was on the intro to
Ejection.  We got the usual taped intro
(W-W W- for Water..) with crowd accompaniment  but when the
guitarist went for the opening riff, either he blew his amp
or it justsounded way too quiet I don't know.  Well while
they are sorting that out Nik played some almost folk
sounding sax solo getting a curious look from Tommy Grenas
(a kind of "Oh no he's off again" look).  So they fix the
problem, and Nik says "Right then, where were we ?"  Back
comes the cry "R for Rheumanin.."  so thats what we got
again.  I had no idea this was Farflung not Pressurhed
backing Nik up (not until Capn Cloud filled me in later on)
but there were some unfamilar songs and jams and I'm told
some of this was FarFlung material. Sounded good.  Nik and
the boys came out for an encore, but with the time right on
12 didn't do more, cos as Tommy said "We don't want to screw
it up for tomorrow night".  A strange premonition really....

Well twixt days a few collected comments.  Never realised
being English (though Toronto resident) would come with
prestige value !  Got asked several times if I was with the
band, and once, by a naive seventeent year old if I was *in*
the band. That was tempting.....      Got to meet a bunch of
list members, Capn Cloud (won't be able to read those posts
without adding the appropriate twang now !), Greg fromArch
Met, Dan (you never know sometimes the guy in the next tent
is someone you know !),  Eric S and his bro (more Canadians
eh!), Marc from Born To go. Others have mentioned all kinds
of folks that I didn't see. (Hey next time wear your Net T's
people , that or we should arrange a gathering spot).

Onto Sunday,  Bionaut was a two synth lineup (one of the
synth players being ?? from Arch Met.) As mentioned
elsewhere this was well timed and well chosen morning wakeup
music, drifting across the fields in gently shifting
patterns.  Ahhhhhhhh.........    I'm no expert on synth
stuff, but I suppose Cluster was one band that came to mind.
A quick shower and I'm a new man !!

Next up was Nik Riff, and it was a little strange after so
much instrumental music to hear someone singing real, almost
conventional songs!   Can't say this did too much for me so
it was off into town to buy a paper and see if what this
Scottish coin crafter had told me about Lady Di being killed
was really true.  Actually the headline I bought said "Lady
Di seriously injured in car crash.." Guess they jumped the
gun a little on that one. Did I mention that the town of
Sherman looks like you'd be better off hitching your horse
at the rail than parking, and that there were Amish folks in
the area (beware of horse buggy signs),  Just more strange
ambience for a strange adventure.

Melting Euphoria drew the short straw weatherwhise, we're
getting into I'm thinking "This is better than the album I
have, heavier and more guitar", then drip, drip, drip  "Oh
it'll pass over in a second" says my optimistic
friend......Splooosh !  giant downpour for ten minutes.
Never seen a field clear so quickly, took shelter under one
of the awnings of the people who'd camped on the lip of the
arena bowl. Typical of the weekend thse folks who I'd just
jumped in on,  offered me some of their ahem, hospitality.
"Do you think they'll come back on and finish their set ?"
somone asks, "Well they did come especially from San
Francisco for this one gig........" comes the reply.  And
after some frantic wiping down, off we were again with a
very fine instrumental White Rabbit to kick things right
back on track. Good set, but with the rain shortening and
the break in mood, I'd really like to have heard more to get
a good fix on whether these guys have the right stuff.

Well by this time the crowd is swelling a bit, noticed a
couple of people in most excellent alien garb. The Hawkwind
buzz was now going strong.  A trip back to the tent and a
visit to the porta-potty.  Now how often does it happen that
you're taking care of business, and when you come out theres
a certain Mr Brock with a video camera, trying to persuade
his drummer to pose with the porta potty. Yes folks this was
one strange weekend......

Back to the stage and Born To Go.   Led by a lovable  bloke
who might just be the English Gene Simmons...  Came up with
the most envious quote of the day "I saw Hawkwind at Brixton
in 1972 and I've been in a daze ever since....."  Lucky
Bastard !   Music was a little more straight ahead rock, but
still with plenty of "whooooooosh" on top, if you know what
I mean.  Also produced the days cutest moment when the
singers daughter (tennish ?) got up with to sing a song
about Rober Calvert with her Dad. Missed the second half of the
set (sorry Marc!)

I was wondering about a bit during Quarkspace, and I
remember ethereal floating sounds but nothing I could really
latch onto.

Alien Planetscapes were great, definitely another great find
(and as  Doug their one man PR department and synth player
informed  that they've been playing New York for ten years I
can't help but feel a little bit embarassed to have only
just got into them, still thats what the weekend was all
about really).  It seems easy to say think Gong, because
they have an out front sax-man  (well OK so does that Turner
fellows band, but thats a different sound again), but if you
think the Gong instrumentals without the funny/wacky bits,
and not quite so laid back, then you've got some idea of the
tight, angular, complex music these guys were playing. Not
for everyone as it touches on the J word, but if  like me
you think Didier Malherbe walks on Camembert, then check
these guys out for sure.

Well the planetscapes  finished leaving plenty of time for a
hoard of people to descend on the stage and start fiddling
with everything mechanical in sight. Just watching the
lights getting tested was quite a trip.
Back to the car to grab the last of the beer, and then a lot
of walking around in circles trying to contain the
excitement.  And then its showtime.....

I often have a hard time describing a really great gig, as
if you're right into it, you're not always making the most
precise mental notes (beyond  "better not jump on that
persons foot again") if you know what I mean. So Hawkwind
came on played absolutely brilliantly, levelled the place
and that was it.    What do you mean you want details ???
Oh, alright then.

Well music wise, it was a bit surprising to see Capn Rizz
come out, specially as I'd forgotten the mention of his
appearance at the mini-tour shows. Came out at the start and
then on the second encore for a real jump-up number. I liked
it, but I must admit I'm not sure that Reggae/Dub has as
strong a connection with the Space Rock crowd in the States
as in England, certainly this was the only Reggae tinged
music heard all weekend.   The lights were just mindblowing,
the best I've seen on all the US tours (the '89 tour coming
the closest).  The general approach seemed to be that of
maximum firepower - lets grab everything we can and let it
off all at once - for the whole show (note I think this is a
*good* thing).  Not much good at this techno stuff, but
there were what six  or so of those multi-colored flower
lights (one seeming to come from between the red horns on
Rons head - warning this could be a sign that he Is not
really of this earth) a lot of strobes on the crowd, even
more strobes on the  back plane and enough slides and swirly
patterns projected on the back to make a very entertaining
movie regardless of any music. Now you combine this with my
new friend Stu on the firebreathing/flamethrowing stuff. Stu
was setup maybe eight feet front of the centre-stage, right
beside where I ended up. He was shooting fireballs straight
up with intense effect (really intense when they're maybe
eight feet above your right eyeball).

 Right well I needed the sidetrack there to explain the next
bit, I remember the Golden Void/Black Corridor sequence was
played with great effect.  Imagine it:  "Down a corridor of
flame <Whooooosh>, down a corridor of flame <Whoooooosh>"  I
Died and went to heaven right there. What else,  new songs
were played as reported elsewhere, nice vocal from Dave on
Love In Space.  Then bleeding 'istory as Nik comes on
(seated) to join in, they really cooked together both on the
jams and when they let Nik sing Ejection. Boys do not let it
be another gazinteen years before you play together again,
it sounds too sweet. As for the new man, Jerry, well yes
again I'd agree with others, this is a harder edged HW sound
now, and it sounds as great as ever. I think what I'll
remember is the way that the new songs were almost charged
into life by Jerry and Ron. The shifting synth patterns
between tunes were replaced by a much more direct attack,
which gave a constant series of jolts to the energy level
(kinda like the constant jolts of pain the people whose feet
I jumped on were probably getting....).  A final memory is
that of Dave in perfect blackened silhouette in rock guitar
hero pose against  an intensely bright strobelit backdrop,
God I hope someone got that on film, it would make an
amazing poster.     Well the ending got a little
strange/political whatever.  The final encore was new
numbers with Capn Rizz, and I could see Nik hunkering down
stage right I think looking to Dave for the nod either to
join in, or to come on for one more number. Neither of which
happened. I think that maybe the new boys were given a
chance to grab the final limelight, or maybe there just
wasn't an opening for a sax bit on those songs.

 After a lot (and I do mean a lot - I guess we knew there
was some time left before the midnight cutoff) of screaming
for more, I took a peek around the recording truck (yep
reports are right there) and tried to figure out what the
milling mass backstage was upto. Well I saw Nik sitting off
to one side, and I guess Dave and the boys in the middle of
a mass of people. Eventually Nik grabbed his sax and headed
stagewards, where I followed of course. Nik takes centre
stage (on crutches) and announces that he's
been told theres twenty minutes left and he's going to use
'em.  Thus we got surely one of the most bizzare endingd
ever to a Hawkwind gig ever, a 35 minute solo saxophone set
!!   I was so close as to be actually looking down the snout
of Niks sax.  Good job as it was only for portions he was
actually amplified (I'm told the PA was turned off at 12 -
can't say I noticed).  We got some Hawkwind  (Masters, a
sing along on "I've Gotta Washing Machine", In The Mood,
some really, really cool jazz and in a bizzare example of
audience participation the folks to my right were singing
some kind of round - something about blue mountains or
something, and Nik was playing off of it, trouble is it left
them in a situation where it seemed noone could stop, for
fear of leaving the other stranded !.  I think my favourite
moment of the performance was when Nik took a pause and
looked up at someone with a video camera who'd scaled the
speakers stage left. "Play Masters Of The Universe Nik !" he
requests..... Squonk, squonk-squonk-squonk, sq-squonk,
squonk-squonk-squonk comes  back the response. Now thats
what I call listeniing to your audience !    There were
portions where Dave and the boys were stripping their gear
down in the back while Nik was playing.  A couple of joking
attempts were made to drag Nik off the stage at different
points. Finally we were all satiated, and Nik left to wild
applause. I'm proud to say I shook his hand as he departed,
the ultimate trooper !!  I must say I was very pleasantly
surprised by Niks playing in general, and particularly his
Jazz. He was really playing very sweetly.  Think that was
enough strangeness for the evening ???

Well most headed off to the drum circle I'd say, I think
that was Capn Rizz playing one of the many sets of congas.
Much dancing around the fire and blistered knuckles. Well
after heading back to the tent to check I really had drunk
all the beer, and miraculously finding one, I was back to
the drums, when I thought what the heck one last time around
the site see if anythings still happenin (its about 2am by
now).  Its really misty by this point, but sauntering
through the bar I'm a little  suprised (OK so my jaw hits
the ground) to find the band (all but Ron) in there with
maybe five or six others.   Surreptitiously grabbing a bar
stool, I listen to Dave (in a very congenial mood) telling
stories about Old Kent Road, and then getting into a heavy
technical synth discussion with the keyboardist from Arch
Met.  After a lot of "Well, the trouble with the A-234-b is
that if you use the 25th preset for more that 5mSecs then
you have to reset half the time, unless you use a psycho-
flanger-wobbler gizmo" (OK so I didn't really understand
what they were saying, but thats what it sounded like).  I
eventually get up the nerve for a joke "You guys sound like
you're talking about yer favourite video game" says I (I
expect the cheques to be in the mail from all you list
members who've wanted the chance to tell Dave this :-) )!
getting a good laugh all around, then I get a playful
lecture from Dave on how if he wants to sound like a violin
then he needs the gizmos to sound like a violin, but of
course a synth playing a violin FX sounds different than how
a violin sounds anyhows 'cos of the way you're playing it
so. basically you've invented a whole new instrument....
Then I realised that I was sitting in a bar at 2:30am and Dave
Brock was lecturing me and my brain exploded........

Cheers !

Steve Lindsey