HW:Dracfest

[John Cartledge]

Hi,

Just back in the land of the living after the Dracfest weekend, and thought i'd
come out of terminal lurk mode and report on what happened.

The festival itself was not exactly packed. Maybe it had something to do with
the location, time of year, lineup, whatever. There were probably about 2 to
2.5 thousand people there on average and there was a good relaxed vibe about the
place. Hopefully, it might happen again next year (hopefully a month earlier,
because it was f***ing freezing!!).

Saturday was definitely the busiest, with quite a few hawkfans arriving just
for the day.

As for Hawkwind. For me, it was not one of their better performances. This was
the first time i'd managed to see them for 3 years and I guess i'd worked myself
up into such an anticipatory frenzy that the reality was somewhat lacking.

As Jill mentioned, the sound quality was poor. Where I was standing, Dave's
guitar and vocals were barely audible. Dave hid behind his keyboards again for
the entire show. He definitely needs to come out on stage.Maybe it's time to get
in a new keyboard player which would gallow him to do this.

On top of this, 3 other things didn't really work for me :

1. Captain Rizz.
For me, his presence didn't really work and detracted from the flow of the gig.

2. The setlist was fairly uninspiring. One new track, and a couple of rambling
pieces with Captain Rizz doing his bit ("Hawklords in the area, Hawklords on the
land" ad infinitum). Considering they've got a new album out shortly, there was
a worrying lack of new stuff (apart from Reptoid Vision).
Also, given the fact that the bands back catalogue is not exactly small, there
must be loads of stuff that they could/should be doing.
Surely Brainstorm and Hassan I Sahba have been done to death by now?
Definite highlights were a stonking version of Aerospaceage Inferno and a manic
Sonic Attack!!

3. The lack of spaciness (for want of a better phrase). Musically, the set
was very stripped down (unless the keyboards drowned in the mix), and most songs
were fired off at too fast a rate. Ron's bass playing is competent, but that's
about it. Alan Davey he ain't. The new heavier sound is fine however, and
hopefully they will get into their stride as the tour progresses.

Having said that, 2 of my mates (who gave up on them after cotbs) thought that
they were brilliant (as did a lot of others). I also overheard a bloke
comparing them to Nine Inch Nails!! Maybe it's just me.

Obviously, the above is just my take on the gig. Don't get me wrong, It was good
to see them, and I will be catching a couple more dates on the tour.


As for Arthur Brown. What a surprise. It was probably one of the most
entertaining gigs I have ever seen. Catch him if u can.

Back to lurk mode ;-).

                        Cheers

                        John

                        (Still waiting For his ICU album from 4th world)

Obgossip: I bumped into Ron & Richard on the campsite on Sunday morning. Ron
said that there had been a lot of hassle with the tour and that things were a
bit messy. He also said that the band have had enough of Doug Smith, and are
going to get shot of him. Maybe this is part of the new beginning for the band.

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Email : John.Cartledge at sunderland.ac.uk
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