HW: RFH comments.

[Nick Medford]

Jon- a few footnotes to your comments...

In message <Pine.LNX.4.21.0110121857260.3004-100000 at chiark.greenend.o
rg.uk>, Jon Jarrett <jjarrett at CHIARK.GREENEND.ORG.UK> writes
>I thought Add N to X were on to a good thing, having had
>no idea of them at all before then; they understand the blanga concept
>even if they're trying to do it exlcusively with 303s and Wavestations and
>a (very well-played I thought) theremin. But I didn't think their ability
>was quite up to their imagination.

They weren't bad, but I thought they were going to be brilliant. However it
all sounded too samey after a while, and too rigidly mechanical. No light-
and-shade. They were extraordinarily loud, perhaps the first time I've seen a
support band louder than the main event (maybe Bedouin at the
Hawkestra?)

> plus Jez
>Huggett on some numbers (* in the list below)

Jez also played on Hassan- the dervish-style clarinet, his best contribution I
thought- and on Golden Void.

>The Star-Spangled Banner

I have to admit I didn't realise this was what Simon was playing, but you're
right. He only played about 10 seconds of it though. People booed because
Dave had asked him to play a "nice classical violin solo" and it didn't fit the
bill. At least I assume that's why people were booing, hope it wasn't
anything else.. I'm sure it wasn't.

>
>        Where we were the sound was actually not bad. By the end of the
>set. But by that point I'd damned the soundman to every kind of unpleasant
>death I could envisage.

I am counting myself luckier and luckier as I read all the various comments.
I was standing right at the front, directly in front of Huw, and I could hear
every note played by both him and Simon.

I know I already said this in my previous post but it bears repeating- Huw
was brilliant.

> I
>suspect that those who actually could hear him were close enough to hear
>his amp,

Yes that might have been it!

>        Everyone except Jez, who really seemed pissed off, having a brief
>argy-bargy with Huw when he first left the stage

Nooo... I don't think so. They were both laughing- it was just horseplay
unless I was very much mistaken.

One further observation on the RFH: it was amusing that- uniquely in my
experience there- they had a few burly security men on duty Wednesday
night, clearly Hawkwind have a reputation for attracting the "wrong sort"
despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the HW crowd. Yet I saw
Faust there tonight and a mass brawl broke out about 10 minutes into Faust's
set. There was no-one on hand to sort it out, and it continued for far too
long, as far as I could see it was eventually halted by other audience
members. Faust were amazing though.

I really must get some sleep now.
--
Nick Medford