Many thanks to Paul Eaton-Jones for this trademark passionate review and accompanying photos
Another part of my initial reluctance hinged around the fact that Hawkwind haven’t substantially changed their set for around five or six years. As they have become consummate musicians at the top of their form so their set has become stuck in a groove. The newer additions haven’t worked too well for me though most fans love the inclusion of ‘Paradox’ and ‘Orgone Accumulator’. My problem lies in the fact that I remember the original versions which I preferred.
I travelled up from Hull and arrived in good time to check into my hotel. I decided to see just how far away the venue was so I wandered along Charing Cross Road to The Astoria. I saw Mr. Dibs chatting to a couple of guys on the steps and then walked along Denmark Street to The Angel pub where some of us had arranged to meet later in the evening.
Knowing what was where, I went back to change into my gig-going gear. Equipped with camera and note pad I arrived at The Angel and sat near the fire checking out the people who were drinking and chatting. Half of them seemed to be office workers and executives who had stepped off the Treadmill at the end of the day and were enjoying a drink before heading home. The rest appeared to be Hawk fans. The small group next to me invited me to join them and introduced themselves. One of the group is the guy who is compiling the Bob Calvert book for Clyvedon Press. When I said I’d come up from Hull someone said, “Oh you must be Paul Eaton-Jones”. Fame or notoriety? I leave the reader to decide.
I then got talking to a frequent contributor to the Yahoo discussion group, Martin Wray. He was there with his brother Paul and band mate Scott. If you get a chance to catch their band, Acropolis do so. A friend of mine has seen them and he was very impressed.
We wondered what sort of set we could expect. A lot of group talk, cryptic messages from Dave and other scuttlebutt had led many to believe we might get something very special - a space night - or even a rerun of The Space Ritual. If it was to be the Ritual we were at a very special time in the story of Hawkwind.
Around quarter to seven we began drifting from the pub and made our way to the Astoria. The talk was again of what we might be in for; great Hawkwind gigs of the past, good, bad and rubbish support bands we’d enjoyed or endured. (For me the best were Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias and the worst probably Baron Rojo.) Standing in the queue, the chat I overheard wasn’t so much about music as about the day to day domestic stuff. Holidays, the school run, a proposed move down to the West Country, letting teenage daughters stay overnight at friend's houses etc. etc.. All rather homely and in total contrast to the conversations I had with friends back in 1974-77 while waiting in line for a Hawk gig. When I went to see the band at Wolverhampton Civic back in 1974 all one guy wanted to know was would Stacia get her t*ts out. She didn’t but Richie was so blown away by the gig he didn’t notice. (Sorry, but we were naive kids at the time!)
A spotlight falls on Mr. Dibs and to the accompaniment of synths and Tim’s Theremin he recites Moorcock’s bleak poem about the loneliness of space flight. A good choice to open with and harked back to the 1974 and ‘75 tours when ‘Standing On The Edge’ opened the set. Mr. Dibs does a very good job and delivers it well against background of gently washing spacey synths and Theremin sounds. This segues into what is now a standard in the set, ‘Aerospaceage Inferno’. Dibs, Richard and Dave share lead vocals and although it’s not a stunning version it does serve to get the guys settled. The sound at the start is a bit muddy as usual and takes a while to sort itself out. The bass is boomy, the guitar rather thin and reedy but the drums, keyboards and electronics nice and clear.
Then we get a brand new song that has hit single written all over it, ‘Space Love’. Dave takes the vocals and his voice is as clear as it usually is. The song is in the same sort of vein as ‘Angela Android’ and not just the subject matter either. It bounces along quite nicely and that’s about all. It’s a nice song. However that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the ingredients to be a single release nor that it couldn’t get into the charts. (Do they still exist and does anyone care these days?) It ends to cheers and the next piece drifts out from the stage. A pleasant mix of space sounds and drum‘n’bass drums. After a couple of minutes Dibs speaks the words to ‘The Awakening’. Again not too bad.
Following ‘Orgone’ came ‘Paradox’ - another updated song that doesn’t work for me. The quiet piano intro sounds contrived and although Dave’s guitar is different this time and sounds a lot more ‘punky’ when playing rhythm and very melodic when playing the lead part. However it still sounds thin. Now whether this is down to the p.a., the amps or what I don’t know. Perhaps someone reading this can tell me. The bass also has a more ‘punk’ feel to it too. The vocals though low in the mix are given more punch than previously. It still doesn’t quite work for me but it’s getting there. Drop the piano intro perhaps?
So after half an hour I beginning to think the gig is going to be a dud as I’ve not really enjoyed anything they’ve played. The backdrops are stunning as one would expect and the musicianship is exemplary but there is something missing. Then the band start to redeem themselves in my eyes. The fabulous ‘Robot’ is up next and as on previous occasions Dave sings the first verse to bass and drum accompaniment before crunching out the first set of chords. Brilliant! The parts played by Richard and Dibs in the end section where they recite the Three Laws Of Robotics and shout out, ‘Obey, obey, obey’ is not only one highlight of the song, but of the set. It’s an electric moment, chilling and thrilling. During the piece the mime artists appear dressed in what look like white boiler suits and odd tin hats(!) and perform weird jerky movements. Tim Blake meanwhile still has his guitar-shaped keyboard strapped on and uses this to ward off the menacing robots. He also waves his hand over and around his Theremin to very good effect. Things were definitely on the up. Dave plays some brilliant melodies and seems to be enjoying the antics of the dancers.
Next we had audience participation time. Now that ‘Spirit Of the Age’ has been dropped (temporarily I hope) the crowd need a song to sing along with. All join in with, ‘Master Of The Universe’. It starts rather thinly with no crescendo of space-whoosh just some barely audible guitar chords before the bass arrives. Dave handles the vocals very well and gives it more “oomph” than he has for a long time. At the end of the first verse Dibs plays the familiar ‘Anderson’ bass line before the rest of the band come in on cue. There are a lot of traditional lighting effects for this song. Dancing ceiling lights playing out onto the audience and illuminating us all; spot lights on the band; sudden darkness then all the lights coming back on.
The band have now hit the right note. At the end of the middle instrumental section the song comes to a halt and goes straight into a fantastic rendition of ‘Time We Left This World Today’. This has always been a difficult one to bring off live but this is the best I’ve heard. Dibs reaches right down into the subsonic area one moment before hitting the higher bass strings for a prolonged workout. While his bass is dominating the piece Dave and Richard sing the verse and then during the instrumental part Richard cries out the ‘Today, today, tomorrow, tomorrow’ lines. Interwoven amongst all of this are Jason’s spiralling keyboards, Tim’s Theremin and synth noises and Dave’s jangling guitar. The visuals are stunning. One moment subtle blues, pinks and yellow lights, the next a total white out as all the strobes and pure white spotlights engulf the stage and auditorium. Total sensory overload. What a pity it lasted only three minutes!! In the notes I made I’d written in capital letters: UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
Next up is a welcome return of of one of my all-time favourites - ‘Arrival In Utopia’. And it’s audience participation time again as we all join in the verse and chorus. The middle section is Dibs in free form narration. Something about high definition televisions and Armageddon all to the tune of ‘Death Trap’. He used to do something similar when he was in Krel. Speaking something just about intelligible underneath a driving, pulsing beat. Very effective. After five minutes the band revert to Arrival.... Dave’s guitar sound is archetypal Brock i.e. a solid crunchy, hand-damped rhythm that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. If I have a complaint about this number it’s that Dave doesn’t play much, if any, lead guitar on a song that demands a searing lead break. Not necessarily a Huw Lloyd-Langton one but a Dave special. I remember very clearly when I heard ‘Choose your Masques’ for the first time and was utterly blown away with Arrival In Utopia. The bell-like lead break was awesome. It was 5-6 years before I heard anyone else produce a similar sound and that was Joe Satriani with ‘Back To Shalla-Bal’ on ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’ As ever, where Hawkwind lead others are bound to follow.
The next number is one which hasn’t been done for a while and when it was last aired it was murdered - ‘Damnation Alley’. I know many liked the way Alan handled it but I’ve always felt he tried too hard and resorted to shouting. This version has Mr. Dibs taking lead vocals and us on backing, harmony vocals. Dave played the melody more or less from the start and produced a pleasant light sound that contrasted well with the subject matter. This has to be the best since Calvert’s time. It was very reminiscent of the Quark version even down to the stop-start bit at the end of the fist verse before the extended instrumental. Dave’s guitar is a bit too low in the mix but when it comes through it’s a very sharp, well defined break. The ‘Armour-plated motor Pony Express’ vocal chugs along nicely; two (?) note bass, simple timekeeping drums, Brockian rhythm and tinkling keyboards. This is going on in front of Doomsday projections - Peter Sellers as Doctor Strangelove in the War Room, bombs falling etc, people running around and the 1950’s U.S. ‘Duck & Cover’ propaganda film. Towards the end Dave seemed to experience some problem with his guitar -string trouble, I think- but he hardly broke his stride. Once again consummate professionalism triumphs. Huge cheers greeted the end of the number and is one of the evening's highlights.
As an introduction to the first encore Richard informs the crowd that there’s a lot of illnesses and flu going around and then coughs theatrically before the band launch into ‘The Flying Doctor’. Lots of electronic bubbling, a stop, another cough, stumbling bass intro and we’re off. Mr. Dibs again handles the lead vocal
Where do they go from here? Hard to say really. At the top I wrote “A Return To Traditional Values - almost”. By that I meant there was less chat between songs and the stage lighting was lower than it has been for ages. I’m one of the older group of fans who remember almost complete darkness on stage and no inter-song talk at all. I much prefer it like that so I was happy with the presentation.
I’ve written previously they can continue along the same path and fast become their own tribute band by reviving old favourites, have the audience sing along with them and by being too visible on stage. We’ll keep on coming to see this type of show but after almost five years of this we dearly crave something new either new material or a new spectacle. Every time I see them I get the impression that they’re on the verge of something new. What new songs are aired hint at a different direction or concept. We were led to believe this show was to be ‘Space Night’. Well about 50% of the songs were space related I suppose but not in any coherent way. I realise this all sounds negative and carping and we should be grateful for the guys turning out year after year. But as I said above, we love to complain.
In the past when there’s been a personnel change or crisis the band and Dave in particular has risen to the challenge and used it as a springboard to something different. Look at 1976-77; 1978-79; 1989 and 1996-97. Perhaps with a new bass player and the return of Tim we WILL see an injection of new ideas. There are plenty out there. The return to the Moon, bases on Mars, commercial flights to outer space. Surely Branson’s excursions will fuel something??
And what of Dibs and Tim? I like Dibs’ playing. It’s in a different style to Alan’s - he picks the strings rather than playing it as a rhythm guitar and doesn’t have it turned up as loud. His singing is much more to my personal taste too. Whether he will write as extensively as Alan is another matter. He can write and write some good space-related songs as he did with Krel and Spacehead. But I don’t know if he can match Alan’s subtlety in the electronic/synth area but we can wait and see. However with Tim back on board maybe he won’t need to. As long as Tim leaves the vocals to Dave and the others he’ll be fine. His contribution this time was amazing. I’ve never seen him as animated or so obviously enjoying himself. The way controlled, coaxed and cajoled the sounds from his Theremin was wonderful to behold. If I were writing an early 20th century romantic novel I would say he was positively coquettish but as I’m not I won’t.
Jason seems perfectly at home now and I hope he is a fixture. I wish his synths / electronics were higher in the mix as it’s very difficult to pick out his sound except his piano parts which are decidedly non-Hawkwindian and detract rather than enhance.
Richard is becoming more of a force within the band taking lead vocals more often as his voice is getting stronger and is almost a lead vocalist. I don’t mean that unkindly but his vocals weren’t always suited to the songs he used to sing. Now it doesn't seem out of place. His drumming is still vibrant and inventive when it needs to be. I see him as Simon King Plus.
As for Dave, well he doesn’t change too much which is a good thing as we need a steady hand on the wheel and all the troubles both personal and business never seem to affect his stage performances. His playing is still punchy, punky, melodic, spacey, and at times searing. Whichever song is being played it isn’t too long before we get the trademark Brock rhythm, the crunching chords and figure of eight right hand pattern that marks out Hawkwind from the rest of the pack. His singing is still very good and as he’s got older he’s pitching his voice around half an octave lower and makes songs like ‘Lighthouse’ stand out. I’ve always felt that as a vocalist he is very underrated and we all know that as guitarist and writer he’s been dismissed so many times as to be laughable. But WE know differently don’t we children? I think I can safely say that we love the man.
This might not have been a classic Hawkwind gig as the first half hour put paid to that but from ‘Robot’ on they were brilliant. The backdrop complimented the songs and the lighting enhanced the songs and projections. While they’ve produced duff albums I have never seen a duff gig. I know artists are often hypercritical of their performances but we see and hear what we see and hear and are never privy to the demands the artists set for themselves. In a recent documentary about The Pink Floyd Dave Gilmour said he was very pissed off with a fan who came to the dressing room and congratulated the band on a wonderful gig. Gilmour told him to fuck off as they had played, in Gilmour’s opinion, a poor set. Not what I’d have expected from a cultured man like Dave Gilmour no matter how annoyed he felt with his performance or whatever difficulties he may have been experiencing in his personal life. As far as I’m aware Brock or any members past or present have never been that rude to fans even when they have in their opinions played poorly. I know Calvert used to set very high standards for performance and Dave in interviews never seems totally happy with shows. But as I’ve written here before Dave is a very seasoned professional and deals with on-stage problems without outward panic. He just shrugs his shoulders and laughs. If rumour is to be believed he may use the 40th anniversary as a point to call it a day. Why? He’s said he’ll keep going for as long as the fans want to keep coming. Well Dave we’re still coming and show no signs of deserting you. As long as he is health and not infirm there’s no obvious reason for him to quit.
So we didn’t get a rerun of The Space Ritual even though the side pieces of the stage set hinted at it. The outer designs were the double-headed Hawk from the 1974 Ridiculous Roadshow and the inner ones were the Space Ritual Leopards. Even the opening projections on the backcloth looked like interstellar engines. What we did get was a very good concert full of energy, commitment, fun, vibrancy etc. For me it was spoiled by a ropey first 30 minutes or so. Not crap by any stretch of the imagination - more rough and ready, unfinished. As I’ve said above Dave’s guitar sometimes sounds reedy as though he’s playing with thin strings. I realise that may sound ridiculous but as I’m not a guitarist it’s the only way I can describe it. It may appear unfair to pick on these small things but I want Hawkwind to excel and mentioning my concerns amongst other fans is legitimate. Being a Hawkwind fan of course means that we never talk to outsiders of what we perceive to be shortfalls in a gig or album. Hawkwind is ours and is to be defended against the rest.
The Hawkwind crew continue on their own chosen path seemingly unconscious or untouched by fashion and the slings and arrows of media and rock industry criticism or indifference. Quite right too! It’s one of the reasons we love them. All we want now is THE BIG IDEA with some oldies thrown in where appropriate and we’re off again into uncharted space. It can’t come soon enough for this space cadet. Onward flies the bird.
-Paul Eaton-Jones
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