Astoria Gig

[M Holmes]

Richard Lockwood writes:

> As far as I'm concerned, they ROCKED.  Yes, dull passages, but when they
> rocked out, they rocked.  Seriously rocked.
>
> And, much as I love Huw, was his set a case of "HEY!  LOOK!  HUW CAN STAND
> UP AND BORE EVERYONE SH1TLESS"?
>
> Maybe that's just me.

I wouldn't go quite that far but it did add to pacing problems with the
gig. The first problem was that just as the band had got into high gear,
they played two instrumentals (new ones) back to back and the whole
crowd where I was (next to the sounddesk)lost the flow and started
chatting amongst themselves. This happened again during Huw's set.

It was great to see Huw's health had improved from Hawkfest, but I think
it'd have been better to have the set before Hawkwind, or if not, for
him to do a couple of solo songs and then lead the band into "Moonglum"
to kick up the pace a bit again. The same happened during "Wings".
It's too slow for a gig unless it's there to take down a blistering pace
for a bit. This time it added to the pacing problems. It would have
added interest to have Lene Lovich try the vocals since it was female
vocals on it when the song first aired. I've never thought tjis song
suited Alan's voice, but maybe that is just me.

It was just a shame to see three breakpoints in the gig really ruin the
pace.  Maybe I've just got so used to Dave's instincts on this being
damn near perfect that it took me by surprise.

That said, when things got going, it really was a great gig. Where Are
They Now? was absolutely excellent, and I've been writing to Santa to
say that since this has been left off the album, it'd better be
Hawkwind's bid for a Christmas single or I'm going to kill all the
reindeer. Golden Void featured Void's End again and I really think
that's the best piece of melodic synth since Wave Upon Wave. Angela's
Android and Brainbox Pollution really rocked too. Hurry On Sundown was
excellent, though I'd still like to see that tried as a fugue by the
band. I saw this once by accident when Nik sang the wrong line and Thom
Crimble covered up by turning it into a fugue. It sounds unlikely I
know, but it really worked very well.

Great to see everyone at the Angel (and pretty damn good to find a pub
with a fire on a day like Sunday). Dunno what happened with the whole
Voiceprint and Party tickets thing though...

FoFP