OFF: Mind Your Head- Act 1

[Nick Medford]

[cross-posted to alt.music.planet-gong]

How my jaw dropped when I heard the Royal Festival Hall was to host a
series of psychedelic gigs under the banner of "Mind Your Head". It's
extraordinary to think of some of these bands treading the boards at this
particular venue, but it's gratifying that after years of mainstream media
indifference and derision, some of this music is getting belated recognition
from the world of "serious art" (snigger).

So this gig was the first in the series and this is what we got:

Acid Mothers Temple: Japanese guitar'n'electronics freakout collective.
Imagine early Hawkwind mixed with Hendrix at his wildest, with bits of
thrash metal, early Floyd and Damo-era Can thrown in, and, well, that's the
kind of noise they make. Pretty good but pretty unremitting- they could
have done with a bit more melody amidst the racket, although this was
probably not the right setting for them. They might be amazing in a small
club.

Gong: who were on form. I had wondered if Daevid might tone down the
absurdist antics a bit, given that many in the crowd would have been there
mainly for the Orb and might not take kindly to a sixtysomething hippy
beanpole acting the merry prankster, but I needn't have worried- he came
on dressed as Madonna  in a pointy bra, huge shaggy hat and ludicrous
shades. A fine start. They had promised a "short and intense" set and lived
up to that with:

Zero the Hero
I Am Your Pussy
Radio Gnome Invisible
Magdalene
Flute salad
Oily way
Outer Temple/Inner Temple
You Can't Kill Me
Master Builder

Line-up was Daevid, Gilli, Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe, Theo Travis,
Chris Taylor, Gwyo Zepix. GZ was far more prominent than when I saw
them earlier this year, applying real-time effects to Gilli's voice to good,
erm, effect. The sound was excellent apart from not being quite loud
enough!  They got a rapturous reception and it seemed harsh that they
couldn't return for an encore but I guess the evening was running on a very
tight schedule. Which brings us to:

The Orb: With the Doors' "The End" coming through the PA the lights
very gradually dimmed, and two anonymous figures half-hidden behind huge
banks of machinery gradually merged the music into huge- and I mean
HUGE- swirls and slabs of electronic sound. Then the mother of all
lightshows kicked in and the RFH went into Orb-it. I've loved their music
since the first album, but never seen them live before. The first hour or so
was superb: a dizzying torrent of images came and went on five big screens
while the duo conjured massive soundscapes set to irresistible beats. They
pulled off the not inconsiderable feat of infusing this staid venue with the
atmosphere of an underground rave. They had a few "real musicians" joining
in at various points- a guitarist, a bassist and an excellent tabla player. The
second half wasn't quite as good- the beats became less insistent and one felt
the need for a bit more variety in the sound- shame they didn't do a couple
of their more melodic pieces. But overall it was very impressive and I would
definitely see them again.

Next up at the RFH: Hawkwind! ...and Faust a couple of days after that.
Will the South Bank ever be the same again? See some of you there
hopefully.
--
Nick Medford

--
Nick Medford