HW: gig review

[Bernhard Pospiech]

Hi Mike

Thanks for this great review of a very special gig.
I have the feeling that you all had a good time

Congratulations to Rich and Arin !!!!!!!!!

cheers
Bernhard




At 23:44 24.06.2003 +0100, you wrote:
>This is kind of hard to do in a gig review format since it's a wedding
>of people I admire and care about and a private party involving a bunch
>of people I really like to be around but I'd find it hard to do it
>another way.  I can't plausibly claim the talent to describe just how
>much fun it was and so I hope you folks will indulge me:
>
>
>We arrived at Newquay in the early afternoon and after a quick trip back
>into town for suntan lotion lest radiation burns strip our skin from our
>bones and destroy the mood. Courtesy of Nick Lee's savage approach to
>road sense, we made it to Boots, or some facsimile thereof. This guy
>really doesn't deserve to be in the dungeon, but he's readheaded, and we
>can't make exceptions.
>
>We got changed for the wedding.  I have to say that I never really
>expected to see Hawkwind wearing a kilt (and I still haven't, but I wore
>one) but there was a certain atavistic aura on the day and this
>Solstice was always destined to be different.
>
>Slightly late to the ceremony we discovered that the man in the cassock
>marrying the clearly preternaturally happy couple was none other than a
>certain Mr. Brown.  After a savage indictment of modern mores (well,
>OK, in fact a very amusing speech) Rich and Arin took turns to make
>their own declarations to each other with the exchange of rings, and it
>was very moving.
>
>It was good to see some of the other hardcore again, although their foul
>flesh-eating habits became all too apparent during the main course when
>whole herds of buffalo had apparently been slaughtered for their
>slightest whim. The beef and Yorkshire pudding was rather nice too.
>
>Only a swim with the sharks (and Chris W.) in the pools of the Hotel
>California managed to ease the pull of gravity after Cornish ice cream,
>the production of which undoubtedly required cows to be tortured for weeks.
>
>We then gathered downstairs.  Things were very relaxed and laidback and
>ably assisted by Merrick and Julie's Rocket Ship, a wine fermented
>apparently for special occasions.  A bottle seemed to be under every
>table, or certainly the ones I fell under.
>
>I guess I'd better try to remember the setlist for Bernhard's archives
>though so over to Gig Report Mode:
>
>Nope, failed, but with a bit of prompting from Colin and a memory
>reboot, the lights start flashing once more:
>
>At the special request of the Bride and Groom they opened with Love in
>Space with Rich and Arin trying out an, errrr, new dance for this out
>there on the floor.
>
>This was followed by You Shouldn't do That which sounded much more like
>the Roadhawks version than the one from Tiz the Biz days and this was
>confirmed by the Seeing It As You Really Are encore, right down to the
>whooshy seque that marks the intro to Silver Machine on that album.
>
>Lighthouse came next, a Timless version, this time sung by Richard and
>it worked just fine without Tim, though I hope we'll see him back there
>soon.
>
>The venerable Mr.Brown then entered to much cheering and the band
>launched into the beat for Time Captains. The drumbeat was held for at
>least the length of time on Arthur's album and probably longer, allowing

>for the usual time/space distortion on the M&J Rocketship. An excellent
>rendering of the song followed with folks edging up towards the dance floor.
>
>Take Me To Your Leader mellowed things out again and was followed by
>Assassins of Allah. The timorous encroachment onto the dancefloor became
>a full scale invasion at this point with the dancefloor covered (well,
>OK, the band already had half of it) by the time the Space Is Their
>Palestine techno riff got into its stride. There were a few variations
>and some playing with the toys during this which kept it going. Rich's
>relatives were up for a bop and his mother confided to me that she
>"thought they'd be much noisier". Then back into the Hassan riff. By
>this point the dancers were melting and the band had gone into the red
>on the heat down there, so everyone took a break for a drink and some
>cool.
>
>When they came back, Arthur was in full Steppenwolf regalia and they
>proceeded to do an amazing rendering of the song. If Calvert's ghost was
>there he'd see that his work goes on. I'd never quite got the German "I
>don't know what it is that I'm saying" lyric in the middle but Arthur's
>acting of a drunk German finally closed the connection for me. Some
>impressive wolf-howling got in there too. If there is a tape, then
>I guess it'll sound like the Glastonbury dogs were at it again. No
>seagulls made it past the door though.
>
>Then into Angela's Android.  The start of this reminds me a little of a
>much older song (Rock and Roll Disgrace I keep thinking) and it does
>sound a little like a speeded up 50's riff.  This was an awesomely
>blanga version though and the dancefloor took another pounding, and a
>little beer spillage.  We were cheering the end when the band looked
>around and saw the vibe took off again into an impromptu jam based on
>the riff from the song, with Simon, Alan and Dave taking turns playing
>around with it.  The blanga level went up to eleven and a half and it
>let Alan let rip the way he does on LSD from Business Trip only more so.
>If the new album has anything like this on it, some of us are going to
>wear out our CD players.
>
>Assault and Battery and Golden void were next with the latest variation
>on Void's End segued on. Always great to hear these.
>
>Finally, one I'd waited a long long time to see live: Where Are They
>Now? Well OK, I was at the Astoria, but it's been a long time. I've run
>out of superlatives but you get the picture.  I hope this one gets
>extended too and an appearance on the album certainly wouldn't go amiss
>from where I was standing.
>
>Truly a great day and night and something I'll remember when I'm down to my
>final brain cell.  Everyone I saw or spoke to was having a great time.
>Thanks Arin and Rich for putting it all together.  Best wishes for that
>joint timetrip into the future.
>
>As for the rest of you: if you haven't seen and heard the latest lineup
>and setlist then you'd be better cutting off your own heads with a
>buzzsaw than missing the Hawkwind Festival this year (don't try this at
>home) - book your tickets now or we skewer the seagull.
>

>
>Hunter.S.Timpson (Shoe providers to the Royal Family since at least last
week)
>
>
>P.S Bernhard: the lineup was Barton, Brock, Brown, Chadwick, Davey,
>House, in no particular order except alphabetical.  Personally, I think
>the new guy shows promise.
>