NIK: Burg Herzberg etc.

[Jon Jarrett]

        I realise I've kind of put my two-penn'orth in about Space Ritual
(the band) several times already, but given as I have enjoyed their gigs I
thought I'd try it again.

        I don't expect the same thing of SR that I do of HW. Nik's gigs
have always been to me a case where you'd turn up expecting a show out of
the live of doing it, hopelessly amateur and disorganised but
spontaneous. The best one of these I've seen was the not-so-recent Space
Unit gig where half the band was All Stars and guests. The worst one I've
seen was unquestionably the last-minute-all-change Inner City Pompadours
one, but the most recent Space Ritual gig was also pretty dire. I did like
the one I saw before that, though, not that I thought the band was *good*
or anything but I enjoyed it.

        HW by comparison I expect to be *good*, and they almost always
are, though often seem slightly uncertain as to what to *do* with their
ability. SR have the beneft of a very clear idea of what they're doing
which they however lack the ability to perfect.

        I'd say that the difference is that Nik is an amateur whereas HW
are professionals. That said, I don't think (no matter what it may
sometimes seem like in my postings) that HW are "only in it for the
money". They often seem genuinely concerned to deliver the best they
can, and besides, if they were after our money they could make a so
much better job of it than they currently are :-) But when I go and see
Nik, I know it'll be done on the fly, on a shoestring, and may well fall
to bits. I just go because it's fun. HW I tend to expect my money's
worth because it's part of what they offer.

        However, part of the, um, charm of a Nik show was that you never
knew what you would get. Now he has a steady band, and they're, well,
bad. Nik is actually playing OK these days, and while I agree with Keith
H. that Mick Slattery is stylistically well behind the fashion curve he's
not a *bad* guitarist, even if nothing to copy. Dave Anderson can and has
recently played far better bass than SR demands of him, and seems to have
both energy and fun left in him. The problems are in what remains. John
the Ghost, the synth player, is all right but no more. I'd rather have Jim
Hawkman on a good night any day. You don't always get Jim on a good night
of course, but it's worth hoping.

        Terry Ollis. Terry Ollis is a big problem. Not because he's
bad; he's rock-solid. *Too* solid; he plays everything at the same
speed (except `D-Rider', at half that). This makes everything plod along
where some things should fly and jump. They can't break free of the set
rhythm. This is crippling.

        Thomas Crimble is just crap, unadventurous and dull, and should be
retured from the band as soon as. Sorry, but it's true. But he does a
massive amount of the actual tune-holding. So it's always going to be slow
and dull while he and Terry are both refusing to shift.

        Now, the first time I saw them since they settled on this name,
they had Sam Ollis as well, on a second drum-kit dancing patterns round
his dad's, or else adding strange noises from his DJ decks. I thought that
added enough dub weirdness and artistry that the attempt to do HW tunes as
ska and reggae, which is basically what this is about, was at least worth
hearing and certainly there was lots to dance to. Second and more recent
time I saw them however, they did not have Sam at all and it sucked,
becaue none of that new stuff was there, just tired musicians playing a
bad gig. Was it Mike that said he was playing keyboards where he saw the
band? That worries me. On the other hand it has to be better than Thomas
Crimble doing it...

        So no, this is not a good band, but they're capable of being
fun. Nik's iea of what Hawkwind is about has always seemed to have more
giod vibes and less attack than all the other members. I fear this is the
ultimate realisation of this difference, a party band with no actual
musical genda, but that first time with Sam Ollis on drums and decks you
could have fooled me that they'd acquired one. Since then, um, no. I hope
this is only temporary. I'd say, be forewarned that there will be no
dazzling artistry, but there will be sunny lights, silly sax and danceable
if dull festi dub sounds. It's possible to enjoy this band, But only if
you didn't expect HW.[1]

        One last thing I will say though is that I think the criticism
levelled tha the dancer is unfair, bordering on prudish. The costumes are
I grant you not wildly original, though JKeith and Maxine both fail to
mention those that are less than cliched (unless she's no longer doing the
flapper girl with the I-dog), but I think this is again expecting too
much. HW present an organised visual thing which is a part of the whole
performance: Angie's doing it by herself. No band vision informs her, and
they have no money, so she's just wearing fun stuff. I'm sure it's not
supposed to be erotic; if she wanted to achieve that effect, she could do
it because unlike many of HW's dancers of the past, not meaning Kris
obviously whose gig is rather more spectacle than actual dance anyway, she
can actually dance, rather than just shaking vaguely. I also think as much
of what she does as possible is tied to the music, but that not much is
possible for her given their budget. But by and large the dancing, hers or
others, is one of the things I've tended to enjoy about SR
performances. It's people who can dance having fun, what's the problem? I
don't see the fuss about the costumes; surely it's just a laugh. If it
makes me a pervert not being bothered by them, well, hey. Probably nothing
new there.

        Anyway. In summary: the band sucks, but there are worse parties to
be at than one of Nik's band's ones even if they are playing. Yours,
                                                                     Jon


[1] Actually, the Cambridge gig they did had a lot of people who hadn't
seen HW for years convinced that that was what they were seeing and
ecstatic about it, but, well. This was Strawberry Fayre and they may not
have been at their most alert.
--
    Jonathan Jarrett    "There is scarce any tradition or popular error
    Birkbeck College     but stands also delivered by some good author."
        London         (Sir Thomas Browne, "Pseudodoxia Epidemica", 1646)