HW: TRANSMISSION FROM STRANGE DAZE!

[Keith Henderson]

Chr. forwards the word from my buddy (and neighbor) Jerry Kranitz...

>Looks like Dave & Ron got caught! Bummer.
>Chr-

>>Hey Christian - I just got home and only have a moment but I wanted
>>to get a word in before the Hawk list gets cluttered up with shit
>>about SD2. OK.... Dave Brock and Ron Tree were NOT there. They got
>>hung up at customs and were not permitted in the country. Richard
>>and Jerry were joined by members of a Hawkwind cover band from
>>Cleveland. Plus, they only got to play an hour due to a neighborhood
>>curfew.

I've just got in myself...looks like I might be one of the first home, since
I'm only a couple hours away.  :)

For those in the know, we're talking about Steve Taylor (on bass) and Steve
Hayes (on keys) from the loose association of HW fans that play HW cover
tunes now and agian under the moniker 'Sun Machine.'

So 'tnqHWb' was officially...

Capt. Rizz+ - Vocals, Antics, Frontman, Synth (that he twiddled with here &
there)
Jerry Richards - Guitar, Lead Vocals (on most HW stds)
Steve Taylor - Bass
Steve Hayes - Synths (he never came out from behind...I thought Dave was
there!) :)
Richard Chadwick - Drums, apologies, and promises

>From my perspective, Chadwick was really the key to them being able to
perform at all.  There was *some* amount of looking around like, 'OK, what'r
you going to play just now...and I'll follow'.  I think Chadwick deserves a
lot of credit being able to keep the proverbial steady beat and guide
everyone through it.  He really has been the best drummer for HW over all
these years IMHO.  (And he remembered me from previous tours!)  Of course,
Jerry's a fine guitarist (sometimes he forgets to sing *into* the microphone
though) and plays those crunching riffs just fine.

Set list included things like...

Assault & Battery/Golden Void (ahhh!!  16 for 16 shows for me with at least tGV)
Brainstorm (standard working but with the reggae dub center portion)
Time we left...  (I think this was the crowd favourite)
Spirit of the Age (it was Bob's weekend after all) (subtle version...nice)
Space is Deep (neary unrecognizable version...not one of Capt. Rizz' finer
moments)
some brand new made up stuff on the spot  (Richard shouted out a title, so
you'll     have it on the live tapes for the record...)
Capt. Rizz+ reggae ranting in middle of Brainstorm  (OK, I admit it...I
liked it)

a 70-minute set that was rather enjoyable, if you accept the circumstances
(which I did).  I hope a high percentage of people in the audience were
accepting as well.

>From rumours I heard, it was debts that Ron owed from an arrest here last
time (?) that held him out, and somehow they were able to keep Dave out as
well.  I guess 'leader of the group' responsibility passed the entry refusal
onto him as well.  They were both in Niagara Falls I heard, although someone
had also said that Ron had already been sent back to the UK.

What happened with the cybercast??  I don't have my own computer (and these
work computers are not wired up for sound), so I know nothing of such
technology.  Did anything happen??  Chris Bruce was there and I got the
impression that maybe he was responsible for that part.  Perhaps I am
mistaken?  I also heard something about a DAT tape (recording) fiasco.  But
there were numerous personal camcorders and microphones all over the place.
I overheard some nice audio from Jim Collins, so no doubt several versions
of audience recordings will pass through listmembers hands.  So then we can
have a vote as to whether this officially counts as a Hawkwind gig on
Bernhard's list. :)

I met lots of good folks there...many for the second, third, fourth time,
etc.  And wonder about the folks I expected to see there, but didn't.  I
hope those folks simply had other commitments as opposed to travelling
fiascos.  Arc Met and Born to Go both had separate travelling difficulties,
which led to some lineup shuffling, but everyone on the schedule (including
an im promptu performance from California's Finally Balanced) played.
(Well, Nash the Slash wasn't there as previously stated.  But Melting
Euphoria did make it.)

I should have time in the next few days to do a more comprehensive music
review on the whole weekend...I heard pretty much every note.  Almost all of
them were really good ones.  I had said earlier that this festival was
really now about Space Rock in the USA, a concept I really tried to push
there (in conjunction with Aural Innovations and Jerry Kranitz), and I think
my feelings were justified, as there are now many very capable bands ready
here to attain feature status (like in Scandinavia).  HW is still welcome
any time, and Richard promised that they'd *all* be back next year.  Jim
seemed very happy at the turnout...I think there were many more than last
year (I wasn't at last year's, so I can't be sure).  And Richard continued
by saying that they didn't want to do anything stupid like smuggle Dave &
Ron across the border, as they'd certainly lose any hope of ever coming back.

So what's up in Jonkoping?

Keith H. (FAA)

P.S.   Pressurehed was amazing.  I was completely knocked out by their sonic
blitz and crazed lightshow (from Rob the Midnight Sun guy...nice fellow).

P.P.S.  Long distance traveller award - Thomas from Germany (another nice
fellow)

ObCD picked up at SD98 - Liquid Sound Company - Exploring the Psychedelic
(more Texas psych/space!)