HW: Tour Shirts, MM, etc...

[Henderson Keith]

Hey Folx...

Well, ok, I thought the T-shirt design was a little strange, too, but I
hardly thought it was worth getting upset about.  (And yeah, I did note that
Tom C. has already let it go too, so really I think it's not worth feeding
this thread anymore.)  I was happy to see that they've decided to design
something 'original,' and while PPracownik's (sp???) design is nice and all,
it was time to move ahead.  Of course, then I looked closer and noted that
that design is warped in there as well.  And yeah, I wondered just who the
hell that guy was on top...

So, Matthew Wright is being dragged into 'shilling' for HW on tour shirts?
(Was it necessary to get his permission to use his likeness on such an item?
Just curious.)  I still don't know much about the guy, but I did look up a
biog. and such about him when he was first mentioned here.  And I got the
impression (like others have already stated) that being a 'gossip' columnist
for a British newspaper of curious sort (all of them are, to be honest, from
my 'foreign' perspective) is hardly reason for high praise.  On the
contrary, I got the idea that I would probably be more likely to find him
obnoxious.  Which may or may not be true, how could I say for sure?  Anyway,
I figured that we wouldn't hear much more about him, but now I wonder if
there's an idea to keep him 'involved,' which I think would a little weird.

Oh, and one thing that TomC mentioned, was that at the '03 Nik gig he
attended, it was generally 'commercialization-free,' including...
"No "live" bootlegs"

Well, ok...just note that at Strange Daze 2001, Nik's table featured heaps
of CD-R merchandise, including "live bootlegs."

Which is fine IMHO...in fact, I bought a couple.

I meant to respond briefly to Mike Holmes' question about Burg
Herzberg...but never did get 'round to it...

OK, it looks like there's a recent update on the site, that gives the
following lineup by day...

Thurs.: Sky's Shadow, Verspielte Zeit, Nova Drive
Fri.: Trigon, Ramses, Birth Control, Randy Hansen, Mr. Quimby's Beard, Guru
Guru, Frogg Cafe
Sat.: Farfarello & Nippi Noya, Mark Gillespie, Karthago, Hattler, Caravan,
Anekdoten, Hawkwind, Pothead
Sun.: Ole Lukkoye, Jahcoustix & Dubious Neighbourhood, Dissidenten, Panteon
Rococo, 17 Hippies

So this gives me the impression that indeed Hawkwind seems to be the overall
Festival headliner, which follows nicely with last year where Nektar was
headliner, even though Vanilla Fudge, Ten Years After, and Eric Burdon all
performed.  Guru Guru (who I saw just last night, in front of a very meager
audience of maybe 60, sad to say) looks to be Friday's night headliner.
They are also very good IMHO, though they're starting to do the same set too
much.  Which isn't a problem for those who haven't ever seen them I suppose.

NB: Last year, some bands got moved around a bit, so the schedule is always
a little fluid there it seems.

So...there's a lot of great stuff here!  Birth Control is still a pretty
good band these days (IMHO), and MQB leading into Guru Guru is nothing to
sneeze at.  And on Saturday, as warmup for HW, we'll have (what looks to be)
Kraan's bassist Helmut Hattler (?), presumably a jazz-progressive band of
some sort, and then Caravan and Anekdoten.  Neither to be missed!  On
Sunday, there's Russia's cool psychedelic combo Ole Lukkoye (one the few
here I *haven't* seen before), and also 17 Hippies at the end...who feature
Lütz Ulbrich, of Agitation Free, Ashra, and Nico fame.  I don't know what
they're like to be honest, but will be interesting to see/hear.

>> Here is an accounting of my experience at last year's event...
>> http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue24/burgherz.html
>> which should give some basic info. about how it works there.
>
>Very useful. Thanks Keith, and you've made me very jealous through your
>description of Nektar's set.

Nektar just played here in Switzerland again...completely different vibe!
150 people crammed into a tiny little room (no lightshow sadly, but...), and
they really smoked.  I'm very impressed with the skill of all four of these
guys to perform their old works up to the same quality as they were
originally done thirty years ago.  They are doing shows in the UK soon (?),
and then in the US (with Caravan) this fall.  Don't miss them!

>> Any specific questions about the location/protocol/etc., feel free to
ask.
>
>What's the deal on camping? Are cars separate or parked next to tents
>as at Hawkfest?

Yeah, that was happening...no problem.  It was pretty much unpoliced.  The
rows formed themselves, it seemed.

>Are fires permitted in the evenings?

That I don't remember exactly...but then it was so goddamn hot last year,
that I don't think anybody was so interested in a fire!  My guess is that if
you had wood to burn, and a way to light it and keep it from getting out of
hand, that you could just do it.

>Are there larger communal fires?

Not that I saw.

>> P.S.  Should we try to put together our own little boc-l community
camping
>> zone at the fest?
>
>Sounds like a good plan, though attempts at landlording generally fail
>when the space gets limited

Well, ok, with the lineup as above, I'll probably not plan to arrive until
Birth Control Friday afternoon.  Which automatically means quite far away
from the central site...but still there was no issue about getting in and
finding room to camp.  I *tried* to get a ticket in advance (which I like to
do in all cases, not just to secure entry ahead of time, but also to put
money in promoters' pockets to pay upfront costs/deposits), but the bank
transfer was nixed 'cause of some stupid thing.  So I just showed up and
bought a ticket on site, that I was assured in advance that I could do.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
On another note...I saw this note about summer MM touring.  It sounds
interesting, and maybe worth checking out again, even though I've just seen
them.  The "Club" vs. "Festival" thing is problematic though, from my
perspective, since there aren't any obvious club performances (which I've
tried to indicate with an *) in the immediate area.

>From MonsterMagnet.net:
YO beautiful people, Dave (Wyndorf) here! Just to let you know that the set
list for the club shows in Europe this summer will be almost completly
different from this past tour with strong bend [sic]towards the psychedelic.
Of course the festivals will be all out rock.

05 June 2004 Donington Park - Download Festival, United Kingdom
07 June 2004 Oxford - Zodiac, United Kingdom*
08 June 2004 Colchester - Art Centre, United Kingdom*
11 June 2004 Sölvesborg - Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
14 June 2004 TBC - TBC, Luxembourg*
16 June 2004 Utrecht - Tivoli, Netherlands*
17 June 2004 Eindhoven - Effenaar, Netherlands*
19 June 2004 Burgum - Waldrock Festival, Netherlands
22 June 2004 Wiesbaden - Schlachthof, Germany*
23 June 2004 Hildesheim - Vier Linden, Germany*
24 June 2004 Potsdam - Lindenpark, Germany*
27 June 2004 Bremen - Hurricane Festival, Germany
28 June 2004 Neuhausen ob Eck - Southside Festival, Germany
30 June 2004 Trier - Sommerbuhne, Germany*? (probably outdoor, so...)
01 July 2004 Bochum - Zeche, Germany*
02 July 2004 Werchter - Rock Werchter Festival, Belgium
04 July 2004 Leipzig - With Full Force Festival, Germany
10 July 2004 Kristiansand - Quart Festival, Norway
12 July 2004 Isle of Ruissalo - Ruisrock Festival, Finland
18 July 2004 Gurten (Bern) - Gurten Festival, Switzerland

Maybe working in some new material to prepare for that co-headline tour of
the US with HW this fall!  :)
Grakkl (FAA)