Hawkwind live at Eastern Haze festival 22nd July 2006

Hawkwind live at Eastern Haze festival 22nd July 2006

Thanks to Dr.M for this review, and cheers also for the pics - all photos (c) Melissa Joseph 2006 & used by permission. Below L-R Alan Davey, Richard Chadwick, Dave Brock, Jason Stuart

Despite having had to repeatedly run a gauntlet of over-intrusive security guards to enter the main festival arena, Saturday saw a relaxed Hawkwind crowd at Eastern Haze Festival in Suffolk. Hawkwind came on at about 9:15 pm and played until 11:00 pm. The set featured unusual golden oldies such as Lord of Light, Upside Down and Paradox, with only a sprinkling of more contemporary numbers like Greenback Massacre, Out There We Are and Love in Space.

Left & below: lightshow by Chaos Illumination

The set kicked off with The Right Stuff, which was only marred by the sound balance. The overall mix didn’t improve for the first 20 minutes, though a decent enough sound was maintained for the remainder of the gig. The Right Stuff still appears to include an extra instrumental section, which I’ve always thought to be unnecessary and disruptive to the flow of the song. This was followed by the Alan-lead Sword of the East and Greenback Massacre, which then made way for 7 By 7. It’s great to see them play this one, as it is the ultimate live track, with Mr. Dibs doing a good job of the spoken section and finishing with a great piano line from Jason Stewart. Out There We Are provided a bridge to another non-studio track – Uncle Sam’s On Mars, which is as allegorically true and pertinent now as it was when Bob Calvert penned it nearly 30 years ago. The irony of Bob’s lyrics was highlighted by fusing on The Iron Dream as an outro, before continuing the astral theme with Love in Space. Dave has been playing more guitar recently, which stood out the most during his solo on Love In Space. The visual spectacle of the lights and projected backdrop was enhanced at intervals by a dancer with wings, her faerie/alien persona anchored firmly to the stage by overlarge boots, which appeared to only let her stomp up and down, while waving a fluorescent, spiky rubber sphere about while wearing a simpering smile.

Left: ...and clothes, of course. Below: Richard

Love in Space was followed by the triple treat of Lord of Light, Paradox and Spirit of the Age. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Hawkwind play the first of those live, so that was excellent to hear. Paradox has apparently been updated and featured some very pleasant piano from Jason in the intro and a screaming guitar solo from Dave. Spirit of the Age was as crowd-pleasing as ever, though I couldn’t help but notice Dave missed part of my favourite couplet: “….you’d rejoice in your uniqueness and consider every weakness something special of your own”.

Left: headgear in honour of the Norfolk location?

The late ‘70’s era continued to be revisited with the very welcome Psi Power and Hassan I Sabha, where Jason tackled Simon’s signature violin riff with atmospheric assurance. Hassan I Sabha continues to be split by Space is Their (Palestine), which has a certain hypnotic quality, but I think I like the title more then a raver-pleasing interruption. A typically muscular Brainstorm followed and then the set was finished off by the unorthodox but apposite choice of Upside Down and Brainbox Pollution. There must have been something in the air, as all in all, it was the most vibrant Hawkwind gig I’ve seen in ages. It was especially great to see them in the middle of a field doing what they do best.

-Dr. M.

Above: not mentioned in Dr.M's review was this incident, when the Faerie Dancer stuck one on Mr.Dibs, which garnered some surprising applause from Dave Brock. Quite uncalled for.