HW: Reformation

[Jon Jarrett]

On Tue, 13 Jun 2000, ANDREW GARIBALDI wrote:

> Honestly - you all can't see the wood for the trees - has anyone entertained
> the idea that Dave, following a long trek to the Southern hemisphere, just
> wants to take the summer off to do things he wants to do (mend the fences,
> listen to Radio One after 6.00pm, feed the animals, enjoy himself). I think
> you will find the Hawkwind machine clicks in with a vengeance in the early
> autumn ('fall' for our USA friends) and it should be good - after all, look
> who Dave can call up now to join the band - fun times ahead, methinks......

        It's encouraging to hear this sort of stuff, especially from
someone with a better right to speak as an informed source than many, but
I still have a rather jaundiced viewpoint. Since I first started really
following HW in '96 I've seen far more broken plans for gigs and shows and
projects than I have successful ones, and I get sceptical. What happened
to the Death Generator Project? That new album that was supposed to be
coming out in time for Christmas last year and was supposedly one third
recorded in March? I'll believe it when I see it, basically.

        And while I entirely accept that Dave has a perfect right to take
time off and so on, even if the other people who were on the tour with him
don't seem to feel the need (and Simon and Harvey are no younger than he
is, are they? And Nik's older, but as Andy says he's a special case :-), I
do wish he'd say that's what he's doing rather than promising gig after
gig and project after project that just never materialise. It makes it
difficult to Believe.

        What do _I_ want? I want a scheduled tour most of whose dates are
kept, not now, but in the autumn maybe, one that happens, and I want some
more product. I was thinking last year that with all the guests and old
members around the place maybe the best way to do the "reunion" would be
on CD, with the Death Generator thing blown up into a concept project with
various people guesting on individual tracks and so on. I think the last
"tour" showed that for some of the modern Hawkwind tracks it's easy to
have too many people on stage, so not everyone on everything, but the
potential's clearly there especially since the whole Death Generator story
involves a reunion of sorts anyway. But that's a pipe-dream, I accept
that. What I'd like is just some indication that Hawkwind as a band is
functional, to the extent of being able to mount a tour with a
double-figure number of dates or some recorded project, you know, like
working bands do.

        Forgive my cynicism, by the way, I was going to see Man
tonight. For those who don't know they had to cancel yesterday because
Phil Ryan's wife is on life-support in Denmark. Can't blame anyone for
that, so perhaps I'm blaming the Hawks too readily. Yours,
                                                           Jon

--
 |  Jon Jarrett (01223 741219)           jjarrett at chiark.greenend.org.uk
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