Cambridge and London gig reviews and Chart Trek thoughts
Please don't think this is any sort of ego trip, giving myself a page in it's own right to review the two gigs I recently attended. The simple fact is that I have quite a lot to say if I include my Chart Trek thoughts so rather than writing a couple of pieces I thought to save time I'd bring them under one roof, so to speak.
It seemed a long time coming but eventually Friday dawned and that could mean only one thing - all roads lead to Cambridge. And whilst that part is true it'd be nice to know where you are going once you get there. Now I've been to Cambridge many times before, twice to see the Hawks, but hitting the city around 4 o'clock on a Friday is definitely something I would advise against, there's only one word I can use to describe it - "Gridlock". It was after some 45 minutes and with some relief that I suspected that I recognised a road and lo and behold I was right, from there on in it was plain sailing and I was soon parked in the car park opposite the venue.
I was fortunate enough to be on the guest list tonight, although Chart Trek is completely independent of the band they have been good enough to help out by having leaflets displayed on the merchandise desk, so before you all go "jammy bas***d" the reason for my being on the list was, I can assure you more business than pleasure. That said these things do have there perks and having been met by Chart Trek helper and on this tour fledgling Hawkwind roadie Nick Lee I was quickly ushered into the hall where the band were in the middle of a sound-check, so got to hear a further version of Spirit Of the Age as well as other improvised bits and pieces! The first thing I noticed was how impressive the new back-drop looks in the flesh, when bathed in UV light the female android figures that are sighted either side of the screen take on an eerie and effective 3D effect.
So on to Chart Trek. This being my first gig was so far, my only opportunity I had to gauge first hand the public interest and it has to be said that the feedback is very positive, the problem really is spreading the word, I'm pleased to report that both gigs I attended were, if not sold out, well on the way to being so but with only a couple of people on the ground I don't feel we've had the coverage that we could have done. What was encouraging however was the amount of forms that were being picked up from the merchandise stand, hopefully people will not simply forget about them but instead return them to Hawkwind's PO Box, another thing they have kindly agreed to, if you're one of those then please pay for a stamp and return it, thanks. It's probably at this point that I should thank a few people who I know without their invaluable help then Chart Trek would not have got as far as it has done in such a short space of time, those who should take a bow include Nick Lee, I know you've been busy with other things but without your prescience on the ground at the gigs I don't think we'd have achieved what we have, John Pattison for well and truly canvassing the Newcastle gig and then bringing his spares to London and handing those out, Neil Price for copying a load of the information sheets and, Chris Dove who did his piece at Exeter, Alan and Peter Last who did a spectacular job at the Astoria on Sunday night, if you were there I'm sure you will have been "nabbed" by one or the other and finally Michael Daniel who was handing out leaflets last night at Manchester and also hopefully tonight at the final gig in Birkenhead, if there's anybody else I've forgotten then please drop us a line and I'll be more than happy to mention you.
I'm sure if most of you are honest the main reason you're reading this is for a review of the gigs, so you can now rest easy knowing that's what I'm moving on to. So where do I begin, well Cambridge and London were, by my reckoning, my 24th and 25th Hawkwind gig respectively not many by some peoples standards but certainly enough to know a good show from a bad one and both of these definitely fitted into the former category with London being one of the best gigs I've ever seen them play. The set remained the same both nights and is basically -
Spirit of
the Age
Sword of the East
Greenback Massacre
Psychedelic Warlords
Uncle Sam’s On Mars > The Iron Dream
Out Here We Are
Digital Nation
Assassins of Allah inc. Palestine
Angels of Death
Ode To a Time Flower
To Love A Machine
Angela Android
Brainstorm inc. Vega
(encore)
Brainbox Pollution
Master of the Universe
Welcome
The basic three piece line up is being augmented on this tour by a keyboard player known only as Jason, whose previous employer is occasional Hawkwind guest vocalist, Captain Rizz, he alone could very well be the piece of the jigsaw that has been missing for so long. Put another way he seems to give Dave and Alan so much more freedom to rock out, the captain in particular appears to have dispensed with his keyboard - synth set up and now just has a few effect units perched on top of his amp rack, this suits me fine, one of the main reason to go to a Hawkwind gig in my opinion is to see Dave thrash out some mean rhythm guitar and on this tour we're getting that in abundance , but wait there's more as he's playing more lead solos than I've ever heard him play before. Whilst I don't think the likes of Messers Van Halen, Clapton, Vai etc will be losing too much sleep over this, for the dedicated Hawkfan such as myself this is a joy to behold. Alan is still playing a small synth rig but seems much more comfortable and confident with it than he did on the spring dates where it had to be said he at times looked a little out of his depth with the technology he was using. And what is there left to say about Richard Chadwick, like the rest of them he seems to, like a fine wine, to improve with age and for a little fella he sure makes a big racket.
The set is well put together with a nice blend of old and new material, I'm not convinced that Spirit Of the Age is the ideal opener, maybe something a bit more bombastic would be more appropriate, but that said this is a very good version, what's more Dave actually performs the song, by that I mean he puts real emotion into his voice and really expressing his belief in the song using hand motions whilst singing it! and on a similar note I have to say I can't remember seeing the band enjoying themselves and looking so relaxed with things so much as on this tour, this is a band having fun and quite frankly they are so much better for it, but I digress. Moving on the the new material, the songs all now seem complete and rehearsed to a degree that what you are now hearing are the definitive versions, personal favourites of the new batch have to be "Greenback Massacre", so good to hear the band rocking as hard as they've possibly ever done!, "To Love A Machine", a classic in the making and worthy of a follow up single to Spirit Of The Age! and Angela Android, yes the lyrics are a bit cringeworthy but the song rocks and unlike any Hawk song before marries the bands rock and dance roots perfectly. Talking of the more, shall we say "beat orientated" end of the spectrum the two more laid back newies - "Ode To A Timeflower" and "Out There We Are" are both growing on me but have to say also have reservations about these. They sound to be just to "synthetic" for the live arena, I'm sure they'll sound just fine on the new album but to me they don't quite cut the mustard. As for the older numbers, both Psychedelic Warlords and and Angels Of Death have an unnerving way of creeping up on you, seemingly starting off quite mellow and chugging respectively but before you know it they've metamorpasised into very intense numbers that drag you in kicking and screaming whether you want to or not. The real tour deforce however was Brainstorm, especially at Cambridge, I know I wasn't alone (hi Rich) when I say the version on Friday night was as good as I've heard the song EVER, it really was that good, very edgy and very heavy.
So how did the two gigs compare, well if I'm honest London won by a canter, Cambridge was a fine gig but unfortunately it was marred by a lot of technical difficulties, when they finally got onstage at this show it came across as more out of necessity to get the set complete in time rather than the band being happy with everything, with an 11 o'clock curfew and a band and crew making the long overnight journey down to Exeter for the following days show, come 21.00 you got the impression of "lets just do it!". From my vantage point which at the time was to the left hand side of the stage there was some definite sound problems with Alan's rig and you did get the impression that the band had to work really hard to keep the show together. That said the crowd were really up for it. Have to say I was both apprehensive and surprised when they decided to up the ante on this tour by playing the Corn Exchange rather than the smaller and in my opinion far worse Junction venue which they played on the spring 2003 tour, but I'm pleased to say that there was a very healthy turn out, I'd estimate the place holds 1,200 - 1,500 and whilst I don't think it was a sell out it was well on the way with the crowd well up for a good time. I saw something that I haven't seen for a long time at a Hawkwind gig, a mosh pit at the front, albeit a small one ;-)
Well, I hear you cry, there doesn't seem to be a lot wrong with Cambridge so what made London so special. Well without making references to crap reality TV shows it just had that "X Factor", that certain something that you can't put your finger on but if you could bottle it you'd be a millionaire! Sometimes what an audience thinks is a great gig is not always shared by the band so I can't and won't comment for them but if they weren't happy with the show I'd be very surprised. This is as good a point as any to congratulate the road crew on doing such a sterling job, at all the gigs for sure but especially this one. Apparently on arriving at the gig they walked into a venue which, and excuse the technical term here, had been well and truly trashed the night before. The full story is that former Libertines member and smack-head, crack-head to boot, Pete Doherty's new band the aptly named "Babyshambles" were booked to play the previous night, trouble is, well according to rumour anyway, young Peter was unsurprisingly too wasted to appear, the band were due on stage at midnight but the gig was finally pulled sometime after 01.30 leaving the 1,000 or so audience somewhat peeved and in the mood to reek havoc, which by all accounts they did, leaving the place in a far from ideal condition to stage a further gig the following night, so well done on that front boys!
In summing up I have to say I can't believe what I'm going to write next. Although I took a sabbatical that pretty much lasted the whole of the 90's I've been following the band on and off for over 22 years now and at this point in the they have to be as strong, if not stronger than I've ever known them to be, they really are that good. I really hope they can pull everything together sooner rather than later, by that I mean the new album and single, because I feel that they are riding on the crest of a wave, with hard work, from both the fans and the band I sincerely believe 2005 can be a very successful year for Hawkwind. We can all do our bit, of course I'm referring to Chart Trek here but also we need to lose the, what I would call "Small Band Mentality" and the "Hawkwind are my little secret and that's how I want to keep it!" Forget specific genres the material the band are playing on this tour is for the most part great rock music, nothing more, nothing less, I can't believe anybody with an ounce of taste would not appreciate a lot of the stuff the band are doing, if you know somebody who fits this bill, make sure you drag them along the next time the band tour.
There really is load more I'd like to add but I think I'll call a halt so as to preserve the sanity of one and all!