HW Walthamstow - I think I get in first this time

[Nick Medford]

On Sun, 25 Nov 2001 21:36:03 -0000, Kevin Perry <kevin.perry at VIRGIN.NET>
wrote:

>I forgot to include Angels of Death on the track list (Dave/Alan fluffed a
>line in it on the second verse): not my favourite song at the best of
>times - maybe I'd blanked it out subconsciously :-)

I dunno, I think it's been outstanding of late. The "Yule Ritual" version
is amazing- perhaps the best track on the album- and at Walthamstow they
completely re-invented the middle section yet again (no Jez Huggett)- a
great electronic passage building up gradually back into the riff.

Great gig at Walthamstow. The sound was undoubtedly the best I've ever
experienced at a Hawkwind show. Finally we heard Simon House as he should
be heard. "Wind of Change" and the intro to "Hassan I sabbah" were sublime.
Huw played superbly despite looking very unwell. I noticed Dave pointing at
Huw both times he sang the line ".. where the wizened sages sat" in
"Assault and Battery"- was he teasing him about having to sit down at times?

If I had a gripe (has to be one little gripe!) it was "Motorway City"- it's
curious that while they restlessly re-invent the other old songs, this one
always seems to stay the same, and it's getting a bit played out I think.
They slowed "Hurry On Sundown" right down which was interesting- less
bouncy but more hypnotic.

Another great performance- everyone played a blinder- special mention to
unsung hero Richard Chadwick who was outstanding.

The other thing is- I had forgotten what a superb venue this is. Only been
there once before, over 15 years ago. It's ideal for a band like HW and I
hope they play there again. Only downer was the last train back from
Victoria being cancelled by the blithering idiots who run our railways,
with an ancient bus eventually coming to take a large and angry group of
people home to Kent. A journey that should take 25 minutes ended up taking
3 hours. Still, can't blame Dave- or even Nik- for that ;-)