Monster Magnet - Wolverhampton Fri 20th Feb

[Alan Linsley]

Caught the opening date on the European tour last night and so I
thought I'd bore you all with some obervations.  Disappointed to see MM
booked into the smaller Wulfrun Hall rather than the main Civic Hall
where I'd seen them last time with QOTSA.  Audience spanned all ages,
although the schoolage kids in Limp Bizkit tshirts didn't seem to be
enjoying it quite as much as the high quotient of 30+ blokes wearing
Motorhead or HW tshirts.  I missed both support acts, The Quill &
Gluecifer so can't comment there.  MM came on approx 9:30 and played
til the 11pm curfew.

Although I can't remember the set list with complete accuracy it seemed
to include something from each of the 6 albums.  The ridiculously
titled Negasonic Teenage Warhead was a highlight, as was the chunk of
stuff from Powertrip, inc. the title track, Tractor ("I'm drivin' a
tractor on a drug farm"?!), the opening Bummer and the inevitable
singalong Space Lord Mother F**ker.  Having only had Monolithic Baby
for a few days I couldn't place all that they played from it, but On
The Verge, Unbroken, Radiation Day and Monolithic were definitely
played.  Melt is all I can remember from God Says No.

A treat for Hawkfans came during the middle of Dinosaur Vacume [sic].
Dave had previously brought a guitar on just to strum a bit before
bashing it on the stage in a slightly choreagraphed manner I thought,
so when he strapped one on again for this number I wasn't expecting
anything much.  In the mid-section he stepped back towards the drums
and started to adopt a Brock-esque riffing pose and I thought
"Wyndorf, you sooo want to be in Hawkwind don't you?  Fair enough
though, go on, play something like Brainstorm then".  Well moments
after thinking that, that's exactly what the band did, DV segued into
the mid-section of Brainstorm, "what's he say, what's he say?" or
whatever it is HW sing, then Dave stepped up to sing
"Brain...Storm! Brain...Storm!" as the strobes kicked in.  Quite
impressive, although only for a couple of minutes before going back
into DV.  The encore was The Right Stuff, less of a surprise following
reviews posted here and elsewhere of the Astoria gig last year coupled
with its inclusion on the new CD, but a cracking version nevertheless,
even if he does miss out "...and my eyes are eagle sharp".

Two of the best numbers were probably from Spine of God, although I
can't swear to it as it's the one MM LP I don't have.  An epic in the
middle of the set (including some comment about "you can't hide it
under your Army Coat"?) seemed to get the more die-hard fans going,
while the second encore number certainly included Spine of God in the
lyrics, and was much more trippy and even kraut-rockish than the rest
of the set.  Good to see them returning to their roots like that for
the end of the gig.  If anybody could confirm what these numbers were
I'd be grateful, although SoG is definitely on the shopping list now
regardless.

Visuals included the obligatory bubbling liquid psychedelics, horror
movie footage, screensaver-style space-scapes and marvel comic
characters, although none of the simpler yet more effective black n
white shapes and swirls of some recent HW lightshows ;-)

I was relieved to see that the band themselves haven't transferred
their occasionaly Spinal Tap-esque album photo look to their stage act,
they're still very much a jeans-and-tshirts bunch.  However, two
platforms were specially built at the front of the stage to allow them
all to jump up and pose a bit, although only Dave does it at all
convincingly.  He's very into it, a born frontman, regaling the crowd
with his, er, messages like "Rock Is Alive!" etc, but the others aren't
necessarily classic crowd pleasers.  Ed Mundell for example is just an
effortlessly superb guitarist who looks a bit sheepish posing on a box.


Good gig.  I'd recommend them to any HW or BOC fans who get the chance
to see them.  Like anybody here needs telling anyway.  I'll certainly
be trying to fit in that Shepherds Bush date in April.

AL





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