HW: Bizaare gig experiences

[Dr. T.]

my bizarre gig experience #9

Theres some back story so please bear with me
 I have been a hawkwind
madman for about 31 years...

Anyway, in 86 or 87 I’m at a street fest and sit through a gig by a band
called Friends of Betty. They were alright, sorta spacey in a smashing
pumpkins way, but what really attracted my attention was the bassist, a
babe-o-licious blond haired gal. So at the end of the set, I’m feeling a
little hormonally inbalanced and I start chanting “hawkwind, hawkwind”
during the applause.

Much to my surprise the babe bassist unstraps her instrument and comes
right off the stage at me. I’m thinking oh shit, I’ve pissed her off and
I’ve offended her arty sensibilities. But she’s smiling and beaming at
me. “Hey, do I know you? How did you know about Hawkwind? Do you know
Bruce? How did you know I was a Hawkwind fan?
”

It turns out that former boyfriend Bruce had turned her onto Hawkwind, and
she was a major fan. Friends of Betty didn’t really sound anything like
Hawkwind, but maybe I was responding to some psychic thing
 We spent a
bunch of time talking that day and I was her instant Hawkwind comrade.
Glynnis was her name, and over the following couple of years I saw her band
a number of times, and hung out with her crowd a bit.

In October 89, after a 11 year hiatus, Hawkwind finally made it back to the
states. Something like 3 days before their show I see the announcement in
the paper. And Glynnis’ band Friends of Betty are the opening act.

I rallied my few closest fellow hawkwind madmen and we took our place near
the head of the line outside the Lounge Axe like 6-8 hours before the show.
I’m talking with this one guy in line, trading Hawkwind show stories, and
it turns out that he’s been to all the same shows as I – like every show in
the chicagoland area since 73
 and I realize I actually saw this guy at a
few of them – watched him writher on the floor at one of the Hammond Civic
Center shows as he freaked on acid just a few feet from me, saw him get
pushed through the plate glass entrance doors (lots of broken glass – very
little blood) at the Riveria Theatre in ’78 at what turned out as a
generally miserable show and would be the last for quite a while.

About this time I spot Glynnis coming down the sidewalk. She heads right
over and starts very warmly greeting the guy I’ve been talking with. This
is THE Bruce she’s told me about that turned her onto Hawkwind.

Its all a very small circle
 (hmmm is that really so bizarre???) It is
definitely cool meeting someone who has also undergone the hawkwind
transformation (is that orgone accumulation?) and realizing that on some
deep level you have that shared experience that connects you
 (hmmm maybe
that’s the bizarre thing???)

Glynnis was freaking that they got the intro gig. FOB played a pretty brief
set, and Glynnis mentioned how happy she was about sharing the stage with
Hawkwind about dozen times during their show.

’89 at the Lounge Axe may not have been Hawkwind’s strongest show, but it
was the start of a new phase of my hawkwind fandom, and I met a bunch of
folks there – Bruce F for one, and Chris Bruce and his Madame Quantum.
Everything seemed revitalized knowing the Hawks were making stateside tours
again.

As a post script - Friends of Betty later caught the attention of Billy
Corrigan of the Smashing Pumpkins
 (I think Glynnis told me that either
Corrigan or James Iha were Space Ritual era hawkfans
)

Glynnis unfortunately passed away in the mid 90’s
 Billy wrote a song about
her.