HW: Astoria/MQB

[Henderson Keith]

Grüezi mitenand...

Well, I got everything I wanted for Christmas, what about you?

Mr. Quimby's Beard/Tired Earth - Bar 36, Sunderland (Tyne & Wear), England -
20 December, 2003

So, it had seemed to me that shows on consecutive nights by two great space
rock acts a mere 275 miles apart would have led quite a few punters to take
in both...but then I come from an American perspective, where such distances
are hardly anything.  The fact that this journey covers nearly the entire
country from north-to-south...I don't see why that's so important.  The
simple fact that it *can* be done (despite the best efforts of Great North
Eastern Rail) without so much difficulty means that I couldn't think of any
reason why not to treat myself to this 2-for-1 deal.  I had just seen (in
August) both Mr. Quimby's Beard (twice in fact, doing completely different
1-hour sets) and Hawkwind at the 2nd (hopefully) annual Hawkfest weekend in
the Lake District.  Normally, that would make me *less* likely to book a
long travel to see them so soon again.  But then, they were both so good
that at least I knew I would enjoy what I heard.  In the end, it was well
worth it...and also I could use it as an excuse to *not* fly back to the
states to visit my family over the holidaze - a nice bonus!  Not that I have
anything against my family...it's just, you know, so predictable.

Well, not knowing really where I was going or where to find accomodations, I
wrote to MQB synth-master Hardy (in the process learning his full name and
the story behind it, but I won't reveal it here 'cause if he really wanted
that known, he'd have printed it on the CD covers) for suggestions.  But
then he was kind enough to open up his own home to me for two full days,
which made arrangements much easier.  Not surprisingly, the weather was
gloomy, wet, and cold, so neither one of us was too keen on sightseeing
much.  So most of the time then was sacrificed for the cause of music, not
surprisingly.  For better or worse, I got to see all the effort that goes
into putting on just a single 'club' show in one's own hometown.  Made all
that more complicated when none of the band members owns a van and so three
cars must rendezvous at the practice room to load all the gear, just to
transport it a half-mile into a throng of Christmas shoppers on a busy
street.  In the rain.  I won't bore you with the rest of the details...I'll
just say that I never wanted to be a band because I knew I'd rather hear
(many) other bands play rather than myself playing the same thing over and
over a hundred times.  But because the hassles of gigging just seem not
worth the effort, this also reconfirms my feelings on the issue.  Of course,
without these masochists forging onwards, I'd have no concerts to attend, so
I'm eternally grateful for their sacrifice.  Not to mention their talents.

OK, the gig!  Bar 36 I learned is a brand new club in the heart of
Sunderland, an upstairs establishment with a potentially high-quality
soundsystem (high-wattage at least), with a large ante-room for pool or
games, and a bit more conducive to conversation.  The band didn't expect
much of an audience on such a crappy night, especially just before the
holiday, but a number of the most dedicated Quimby fans did show, as well as
an ever-growing number of "unsuspecting" patrons throughout the evening.
These were the obvious ones...young, attractive, well-dressed...they had no
business being at a space-rock show!  I kid...all are welcome, even if they
practice the wrong religion.  An I was happy to see that not all of them
scrunched up their noses with derision and snuck to the back room away from
the horrible racket, but some even looked entertained and amazingly tried to
dance!  To Space Rock...hard to believe.

Ah, so, off the track again...before the Quimbys even appeared, another
local band (all the way from magpie-infested Newcastle-upon-Tyne, maybe 20
miles to the northwest) called Tired Earth put forth a decent 40-minute set
of classic rock material.  Most of which seemed original, but I remember
that they played a version of Peter Green's "Green Manalishi," he of
two-pronged crown fame.  They had a few sound problems here and there, and
they were oriented very oddly on the stage amidst MQB's gear, mainly because
the stage seemed actually deeper than it is (not very) wide.  The
construction of this club placed the DJ booth/dance floor at a priority
above the stage, and so bands have a hard time connecting to their audience.
(And so the audience have a hard time finding the musicians they're
hearing.)  Again, I digress.  Well, anyway, the four-piece Tired Earth were
a decent-enough warm-up act, but were more decidedly more "bluesy" than
"spacey."  Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The Quimbys came on soon thereafter, launching the show with a reworked
oldie entitled "Mossy" from the first cassette (available now on CD from the
band, www.mrquimbysbeard.com, also where you can find at the moment a
t-shirt sporting artwork from same).  The tune now goes on quite some time,
with the long reggae-dubbish jam being something that I can really get
into...works so well in a 'cosmic' sense, as you might have already
discovered if you ever listened to any Ozrics at all.  The band next
struggled to keep "Nebulae" together, probably due to the ever-changing
sound environment, but then quickly resumed strength with another classic
oldie, "Marijuana Nightmare."  This one also featured an extended ad-lib jam
and set the scene for even louder moments to come.  "Chariots" is one of the
songs that we will hear on the next CD for sure, but as it has appeared in
the live set for over two years now, hard to call it a 'new' song anymore.
But I really love this one (perhaps my favorite of all Quimby works) and
even without much spontaneity on this night, it was the highlight of the
evening for me, due also to the fact that the sound was still quite good
where I was standing.

That all changed for some reason during the rest of the set, as (due to
what, I can't say) we started to get some strange audio effects in the
air...it must have been partly a result of the extra dancefloor PA that
makes the club almost 'quadrophonic.'  But then when it got loud, the sound
became rather 'wowy and fluttery' - chaotic wave upon wave of sonic currents
alternately augmenting and destroying each other.  Well, ok, that sounds
like a *good* thing at a space rock show, but really the Quimbys were doing
a fine job of that on their own already.  The guy at the controls should
have let well enough alone, really.  Next was "Pollen," this one being a
true new song that features a number of separate loud (distorted, sadly) and
soft (beautiful) passages, the latter the sort of thing that co-vocalists
Hardy & Ray color with harmonized "Ahhh's" against chattering guitars and a
mix of burbling synth noises.  They wrapped up with a strong rendition of
"Mystery," and then a pair of encores.  "Beyond the Light" is another of my
favorite tunes and guitarist Jim Walton here had a particularly nice intro
lead, but the song winds and twists through many different feels by the end.
The true "end" came a bit later though, as a second encore came in the form
of "The Acid Bringer," which featured an extended synth intro by Hardy
mainly because the rest of the band had gone offstage thinking they were
done.

Towards the end, the sound did begin again to improve, so that overall the
show went pretty well especially since the band tried to put their best
forward for their hometown fans on this special pre-Christmas show.  Late
into the set, three guys dressed as Santa Claus (though none were
appropriately portly) walked into the club and they added additional color
to the surroundings (the club had a full-sized tree with lights and all in
the corner by the bar as well).  Sadly, the mini-disc recording that I was
instructed to produce with Hardy's own personal setup failed to archive this
performance due to an unfortunate technical glitch.  Which means that nobody
can produce evidence to the contrary on my opinion that Mr. Quimby's Beard
continues to be a very strong live space-rock act.  The visuals during the
show were provided by fellow AI-contributor A. "Polly" Pollard to great
effect, though certain members of the band might have preferred just a
little less fog.  Many times, though, awesome starburst effects were
produced from the rear-projected lights, that while turning everyone on
stage into silhouettes (when you could even see them at all), was definitely
fitting to the overall atmosphere produced by the cosmic sounds.

Setlist - MQB:
Mossy '03
Nebulae
Marijuana Nightmare
Chariots
Pollen
Mystery
--------------
Beyond the Light
The Acid Bringer

Hawkwind/Tarantism - Astoria, London, England - 21 December, 2003

After getting sufficient rest (barely) following the late Saturday night I
had in Sunderland, I managed to arrive in Newcastle's main train station at
the proper time (15 minutes early in fact).  Which was much more than could
be said for my pre-booked train, which wasn't in fact 'late' so much as it
was, um, 'cancelled.'  But that's ok...they have trains to King's
Cross/London leaving every half-hour, though the next one (*not* cancelled!)
came limping in 45 minutes behind schedule.  (When you do the math, you then
realize that in the time that three trains should have arrived, in fact none
had.)  Despite there now being a huge mass of impatient travellers on the
platform, I managed to sneak into a less-occupied car and settle in.  Of
course, while my trip north on GNER was made in oppressive heat, now *this*
coach was exceedingly cold...average it out and you'd get the perfect
temperature, so what do I have to complain about, right?  Well, all one
needs to hear that sums up the current state of the British rail system, is
that they have felt the need to put up posters in certain waiting rooms that
outline the penalties for physically abusing the staff.  Living in
Switzerland certainly spoils me, but it's getting ridiculous there in the
UK.

OK, diatribe mode off...the important thing is that I *got* there for the
Hawkwind concert, and that my friends, is what really counts.  Though I had
only a brief chance to meet cyberfriends (from mainly the boc-l list) at a
nearby pub.  Which turned out to no longer be serving food by the time I'd
arrived, so I was off again in search of a BSE-free meal somewhere in the
vicinity.  By this time, I'd already passed in front of the Astoria Theatre
once or twice, so no chance of getting lost on the way to the gig.  Happily,
the will-call attainment of my pre-booked admission went ridiculously
smoothly, though it took me a minute or two to snake through the passageways
to find the place where one actually enters the theatre proper.  That taken
care of, I arrived to find that the opener Tarantism had already began their
performance.  In retrospect it seemed that at most I must have missed only
about one song, and really it didn't much matter, as I'd seen them twice at
Hawkfest '03 (unlike MQB, they played an identical set, or so it seemed).
Here too, I recognized almost every tune they played.  Well, ok, they're a
decent enough band, reasonably-creative uptempo folksy music with flutes,
multiple layers of percussion (which endears them to one Richard Chadwick I
imagine, who I found myself suddenly standing next to on the floor just by
chance) and a "cheerful personality," if you will.  Though because the
circus-tent environment at Hawkfest was such a better venue for them, I felt
that I wouldn't get much out of it this time 'round, and then spent most of
the time wandering around (including up to the top of the massive balcony
section) looking for the place which would be the best (both aurally and
visually) to view Hawkwind when the time came.  Sometimes, this is all
warmup bands are good for.  But hearing Tarantism again was far from being
as painful as a spider bite, and it was nice to see them get the spot on the
bill.  Next year, I hope to see someone new again get a shot...especially a
band I haven't already seen.

When Hawkwind came onstage, I had managed to wriggle myself into just about
the right spot following my mobile 'soundcheck' (later, I switched to the
other side, just for a different perspective), but then I was immediately
disheartened when the band 'tore' into one of my favorites "Arrival in
Utopia," and it sounded like absolute rubbish.  Sigh.  The hall is quite
large (the huge volume of air in front of that balcony section gives it
quite a strong 'hollow' effect) and everything was seemingly lost up into
the "rafters."  For the first minute or two, I couldn't hear much of
anything from Dave Brock (guitar, vocals, or keyboards), but you could tell
something extreme was happening back at the sound desk because throughout
the song the levels of *everything* kept changing.  (In the end, many
openers at big arena shows I find are 'throwaways' due to crap sound, so I
wish they'd all start with my *least* favorites!  Oh well, I've heard
"Utopia" live on several earlier tours including '89, so...)  So, really, I
was overjoyed that the sound/mix soon became not just acceptable, but
actually rather good, considering the circumstances.  One thing that they
never could *quite* get around was the 'diffuse-bass' problem, where Alan
Davey's bass guitar really lacked the "punch" that it should have when he
hit any particular note.  Nothing anyone could do about it, I imagine.  It
was certainly loud enough, but the definition wasn't quite there...although
it also improved later on.

OK, so, the new track "Angela Android" came next, with drummer Richard
Chadwick taking a lead role, both in delivering the (seemingly low-brow)
vocals against a human/machine-hyrbid beat and little else, so it seemed.
Oh, yeah, except that one Lene Lovich (who from reports was once quite
famous in the UK, but in the states she remained pretty much "undiscovered"
so I wouldn't have had a clue who she was if it weren't for the pre-gig
announcement of her intended guest appearance) came onstage in a crazy
costume, and a hairdo big enough for Carmen Miranda to have considered a
watermelon or two.  Her vocal coloratura was not so much full of prose as it
was useful in the same way as DikMik's so-called "Audio Generator" c. 1973.
And actually, I was reminded of the foot pedal that Ron Tree used with
Hawkwind not long ago that made his voice artificially shoot into
stratospheric frequencies.  Lovich appeared again at several stages during
the evening's performance, and she fulfilled similar duties each time.  I
can't say that she did anything to either spoil or greatly enhance the
festivities...for me, she was just kinda 'there.'  At the gig (welcome
surprise) was available the just-finished live CD from last year's Christmas
show featuring Arthur Brown (entitled "Spaced Out in London"), and upon
hearing that just days later, it was obvious to me that Brown had much more
to offer.  He was unavailable for this event apparently, but has made some
contributions to the new studio recordings.

Seemingly everyone's favorite (including mine) "Assault & Battery" came
next, followed (naturally) by "The Golden Void," the transition between the
two always threatening to make me suffer an emotional breakdown.  In a
'good' way, I mean.  If hearing it on the album (the best 10-minutes of
music history, if you ask me) wasn't enough, then it was the 1989 tour (my
first live-Hawkwind, or in fact, space-rock experience) that I always
reflect upon when hearing it again.  Here was a similar version, but not as
long-winded at the end.  Instead they segued into the obscure "Where Are
They Now?" (you can find it on one of the Weird Tapes CDs...No. 5 I think),
which is quite good in its own right.  After a bit of instrumental
'noodling,' the first half of the set wrapped up with Bob Calvert's "The
Right Stuff" and then a bouncy "Hurry on Sundown" if the former wasn't quite
'classic' enough.  To this point, we'd also seen a pair of svelt female
dancers in tight-fitting white outfits flanking Alan Davey at center stage.
And of course, a lightshow projected onto the usual white screen in the
back...here, it didn't really show so well though, as there was an unusually
high amount (for a Hawkwind gig anyway) of ambient light on the stage
itself...plus, it was really a deep stage, giving Davey almost *too* much
room to wander about.

Dave Brock then introduced Huw Lloyd-Langton as he entered stage right with
his acoustic guitar.  Huwy then played a 15-minute solo set featuring some
of his compositions from the 1980-83 period.
Now, I'd seen Huw both at the Hawkestra event in Brixton (2000) and then
again this summer at Hawkfest '03, both times wondering whether would ever
be able to play the guitar competently again.  And this year, it seemed his
overall health was in question.  But then, I have also heard the Canterbury
live recording (2001), where he sounded like his old self.  Well, I won't
pretend to know exactly what's going on in Huwy's life...all I can say is
that he seems to be back on the right track again, so let's hope he
continues to get it together.  I wouldn't say his playing was *perfect* at
the Astoria, but he looked in good spirits, his voice was strong, and his
fingers were once again quick and nimble upon the frets.  The versions of
"Solitary Mind Games" and "Waiting for Tomorrow" were interesting enough,
though limited by the fact that he was out there alone.  All in all, my
third viewing of HLL in person was the first positive one...I wish he'd come
back out on electric for the encore or something, but sadly that didn't
happen.

As Huw wrapped up (most of the audience hung around for this 'intermission'
break), the other four re-emerged (including ever-more-frequent-guest Keith
Barton, of Spacehead, on guitar) and rather gently refired their engines
with Davey's thoughtful "Wings."  I might have preferred his take on Lemmy's
"The Watcher" instead, but they'd done that last year, so that's fine by me.
"Ejection" saw Davey also handling lead vocals as is normally the case, and
although he's never been able to do justice to the song, this version was
improved at least by Chadwick filling in the counter-lines of the chorus.
Actually, Chadwick did quite a bit of additional vocals throughout the
evening, and I think it helped some...his voice is not a thing of beauty
perhaps, but he can sing in tune and I quite liked what he contributed.  One
of my favorite 80s tracks "Heads" came next, Brock delivering Roger
Neville-Neil's wonderful lyrics in an appropriately sinister way.  The
synths and rhythms were slightly different than any previous version, and it
seemed that they put in a lot of extra stuff at the end, making it one of
the pleasant surprises of the whole performance.  What I assume will become
a single from the new album, the track "Sunray" was then unleashed...it does
seem to have some strong possibilities to reach a wider audience, maybe even
moreso than "Right to Decide."  And just before the finale, another great
move...the tired old "Brainstorm" (and "Silver Machine") was put aside this
night, and instead they played the non-album track "Brainbox Pollution."  I
never thought much of this one in the past, but it here it was much more
lively and interesting for some reason.  I think Chadwick helped on vocals
here too, which was part of the reason.  The finale itself was more
predictable though, the staple merging of "Assassins of Allah" with the
trancey "Space is Their (Palestine)," the one moment of repetitiveness (ok,
laziness) we got in the main set.  Still, I imagine that those who only see
Hawkwind on rare occasion consider it a highlight...I can't say that it
hasn't always 'worked' to some degree.

The encore started with "Spirit of the Age," which they had done also at
Walthamstow 2002 (but sadly wouldn't fit onto the new CD).  Anyway, it was
nice to hear again and it always gets the crowd going.  "Master of the
Universe" finished everything off, with the Brock/Barton duo able to put
enough guitar sound together to offset Davey's still-boomy bass.  As the
last riffs were finally abating, the synth intro to the "Welcome to the
Future" outtro began from Brock's rig.  But, unless my eyes were playing
tricks on me, I swear he was forced to scramble up his lyric book to recall
how it all started out ("Welcome to the oceans in a labelled can..." etc.).
I think I could even see that he first opened it up to an index before then
finding the proper page.  Finally, just as Davey was beginning to wonder and
turned his head around, Bob Calvert's words came forth from the mic and the
last climax of Hawkwind's performance thundered forth.  Including HLL's
acoustic break, nearly two hours long...seemed hard to believe.

After the show, there was to be an after-gig party somewhere in the vicinity
of the theatre, just as had been organized the previous year.  But this
time, it hadn't been widely announced, and I didn't find out about it until
after I'd arrived in the UK and so I didn't even have my (Hawkwind) passport
with me for entry.  Like others in similar situation, I knew I could
probably have talked my way in, but actually I was already pretty exhausted
from the night(s) before and the tubes were still open.  So I decided to bag
the whole idea and just rode the underground back to Paddington determined
to get adequate rest.  In the end, I heard that the only Hawkwind member to
appear at the party was Martin Griffin!

In the final analysis, the event this year was particularly strong given
that it was a one-off unlike 2002 (which came at the end of a mini-tour at
least).  And the theatre was large enough for nearly all who wanted to come,
a good 2,000 or more I think.  The new tracks and the promise of a new album
for 2004 give one good reason to be cautiously optimistic that the Hawkwind
spaceship will soon again break into warp speed.  All previous predictions
of their imminent demise (which started first in, what, 1976?) have proven
unfounded.  Having seen them now more than 20 times over a period of 15
years, I guess I still think at each and every show perhaps it could be the
last for me.  And best of all, the band remains to this day anything *but* a
tired old dinosaur playing a predictable set of standards without a hint of
further glory.  (I've seen a number of these in my time.)  True, live albums
(some from ages past) dominate the recent catalogue output, but even these
show creative touches and often total overhauls/rewrites of classic tracks.
And you go through the track-listings (and even the lineups!!) and no two
are really much alike.  The next day after the show, I picked up the
newly-released "Love in Space" DVD, recorded seven years ago with Ron Tree
on board.  Having just seen it now, it strikes me how much that show was
completely unique from this one ("Allah/Palestine" aside).  And then of
course, despite there being too few (studio) albums and tours in between,
much has happened (for better or worse) since.  That's the sign of a band
that never stagnates...and that's of course why Hawkwind continues to feed
the legend that it has long since become.  (Another thing I picked up in
London was Lemmy's autobiography...a great read!...and hopefully he
introduced yet a few more to the legend of Hawkwind, and perhaps we'll see a
legion of next-gen'ers at the next Hawkwind gigs in 2004.)

Ciao zäme...Grakkl (FAA)

Setlist - HW:
Arrival in Utopia
Angela Android
Assault and Battery
The Golden Void
Where Are You Now?
Out There We Are (instrumental)
The Right Stuff (with Levitation/Paranoia coda)
Hurry on Sundown
-----------------
Intermission (Huw Lloyd-Langton acoustic)
The 5th Second of Forever (intro)
Solitary Mind Games
Waiting for Tomorrow
The 5th Second of Forever (outtro)
-----------------
Wings
Ejection
Heads
Sunray
Brainbox Pollution
Assassins of Allah/Space is Their (Palestine)
-----------------
Spirit of the Age
Master of the Universe
Welcome to the Future