HW: Emperors New Clothes

[J Strobridge]

chris bates writes:

> always worked. Later listening to albums that live experience
> would affect how I listened to the songs.
>
> Now I go to HW gigs and the audiences are both sparse and static.
> Maybe it's an age thing but HW gigs just aren't as much fun.

Not always the case.   Went to a gig in London a year or so back that
was mobbed and had a terrific time - there was another that was all
seater and though I didn't really get into it (it doesn't feel right
watching a rock gig sitting down!) others there were really impressed.
And there have been a couple of other places like Leicester and Truro
where the audience wasn't large but the show was totally compelling.
But then I was also at a gig that was mobbed and was really not very
good at all - I speak politely   8-(

To some extent I think it depends on the venue - but also on the mood of
the audience and on how the sets have developed during the tour.    I've
heard the same track at the beginning and end of a tour sound totally
different and things that work one night don't always work as well the
next - the recent live version of Sonic Attack is a good example of
that.   This is IMO why it's worth catching the Hawks more than once
during a tour - if one of the gigs doesn't work for you then the next
one probably will.

I guess age might come into it as well - perhaps you get more critical
of the details of *what* is being played rather than just listening but
what I enjoy about Hawkwind live is that they don't just blast sound at
you - they surround you with sound but there is always something else
special and individual to listen for inside the background - and that
for me is when it really works.     I think they played some terrific
live shows in the recent period between Space Bandits/Alien albums - but
I'll admit that the last time I heard them live I found the first part
of the show fairly slow - not sure why - although the later part really
came alive.

> Too right. Part of the difficulty that HW have is that their core
> audience of travellers/hippies/students is now fragmented. Without
> an audience they don't have any income so they have to adapt to
> find a new audience. Yet in adapting they lose the heart of their
> music which is improvised space-rock.

I would personally say that some of the trance stuff they did during the
height of the rave scene was phenomenal and gathered a whole new young
generation of audience - the age range of the audience for a while was
extraordinary.    Not sure what it would be like today - it's been a
long time between live shows and a year is a very long time in the music
business!

That's my view anyhow!

jill

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J.D.Strobridge at ed.ac.uk                         eset08 at holyrood.ed.ac.uk
                                                ELIJSA at srv0.arts.ed.ac.uk
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