HW: finest moments

[Doug Pearson]

This is a great thread!  Tough to narrow things down to only a few top
moments, but for me, nothing beats that moment near the beginning of a live
set when Hawkwind have taken the stage and make the transition from the
electronics/intro to where the first song kicks in.  Some examples ...

1) 'Space Ritual' - as "Earth Calling" fades out, the synth tone rises,
slower and slower and slooooower ... almost EXCRUCIATINGLY building the
tension until Dave breaks out the "Born To Go" guitar riff, followed in
rapid succession by Lemmy and the rest.

2) 'Live at the Bottom Line' (c.78 boot) - the electronics give way to
Simon House playing the violin intro riff from "Hassan i Sahba" as a
melodic solo the first time, then the riff repeats, doubled by Adrian's
bass, with Dave, Bob and Simon King all kicking in for the third time through.

3) 'Live 79' - Tim's & Dave's synths at the beginning are fantastic, with
the combined exponential and linear frequency modulations making for
natural/random-sounding burbling (I nailed the sound using one of my
modular synths a couple weeks ago - not necessarily looking for that sound,
but when I hit it, I KNEW), slowly ebbing and flowing gradually upwards in
intensity, then Simon clicks off the beat and Bam!  "Shot Down In The
Night" with everyone hitting the ground running.

4) 1997 tour (embarassed to say I don't yet own 'Hawkwind 1997' - [note to
self - MUST APPLY FOR PASSPORT!], but I hope this moment is captured on it
... I'm basing this on the tape I have of the Chicago/Cubby Bear show) -
not the explosive entry of the previous example, but the subtle shift from
the intro noises to the chugging synthetic rhythm of "Wheels" is extremely
compelling, and the song is drenched in energy when it finally breaks out ...

There are other great examples, but those four come to mind first, and I
have to give an honorable mention to "Brainbox Pollution" from 'The 1999
Party'.

        -Doug
         ceres at sirius.com