2003 - SPRING MINI TOUR REVIEWS

THE BANDS FIRST LIVE ACTIVITY THIS YEAR CONSISTS OF FIVE DATES OVER TWO WEEKENDS IN MAY. TWO OF THE SHOWS ARE RE-SCHEDULED GIGS FROM LAST DECEMBER, WHICH WERE CANCELLED DUE TO FILMING COMMITMENTS.

AS AND WHEN WE GAIN PERMISSION TO USE THEM WE WILL BE POSTING REVIEWS ON THIS PAGE, AS MOST OF THEM ORIGINATE FROM EITHER THE YAHOO OR BOC-L NEWSGROUPS. ALL AUTHORS HAVE GRANTED PERMISSION FOR US TO USE THEM AND THE WORK REMAINS THEIR PROPERTY.

ALL   THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE HELD BY THE MUSEUM, BUT HEY IT'S A FREE COUNTRY RIGHT, SO HAVE YOUR SAY AND SAY WHAT YOU THINK!!!!!

MAY 18TH CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION HAWKWIND + SPACEHEAD

Nick Lee

Just got back from Cambridge, so a few quick words.
Spacehead supported and provided good tight set, amongst the best I've seen from them.
Hawkwind were on great from. Line-up was Dave, Alan, Richard, Simon and Arthur.
Opened with Time Captives, followed up by Master of the Universe, Gremlin and in rough order, Chronoglide Skyway, Time Chaos and the other Arthur number they played last year (name eludes me), Steppenwolf, Spirit of the Age, Out of the Shadows, Assassins of Allah, a couple of new numbers, The Watcher, 7x7, Assault & Battery, Golden void which segued into Where Are They Now?
Encore was Paranoia and Silver Machine
Cracking tight set, Chronoglide Skyway a little shaky but the band were firing on all cylinders for the most part.
Promised some changes in the set list for future gigs (tonight's was not what the guys at the desk had!).
Splendid light from Neil, Marie et al, enhanced this time round by the addition of some strobe flowers pointing out from the stage.
Definitely on fine form and the Astoria gig should be one to remember!

Carl (A mate of Simons)

Now to Hawkwind they hit the stage and opened with a keyboard heavy and excellent track by Arthur Brown called Time Captives (my mate Phil informs me it’s from his Kingdom Come album) any doubts I had about Mr Brown went right out the window as it was obvious this guy could sing , dressed in a silver jacket with multi coloured flashing lights and loose fitting spangly trousers this reminded me of the daft get up’s that Calvert and Turner would dress in on stage. Arthur was probably on stage for just under half the gig but his contribution really impressed me, a great character. As I say an excellent number handled well by the band I’ll have to check this track out on CD or vinyl .Next up Brock straps on his guitar and pumps out the familiar riff to Master of the Universe , now I gotta say a lot has been said about Dave over the years but no one seems to mention his guitar playing !!! I love it !!!!! so basic , powerful and LOUD. Master is a track it’s easy to get sick of as it’s been played at so many gigs but tonight it rocked and Arthur did good singing it (although he forgot a few of the words !!!). Mr Brown is in many ways the best front man the band have had in a long while , he’s got a powerful voice and his costumes and zany dancing and general presence fitted in well with Hawkwind’s style. I’m sure he is only guesting on a temporary basis but it would be good if he could record with band at some point .The band played some material on the night that really pleasantly surprised me , some tracks that I’d not seen them do before one of which was The Watcher, always a fave of mine (I love the Motorhead version too) this gave Alan Davey the chance to play out his Lemmy fantasies again , he does a fair impression of Lem in voice and stance and The Watcher was the business tonight . Gotta praise Alan he’s a great bass player the best since Lemmy left and it’s good to see him back in the band I thought he was amazing tonight. Good also to hear old favourite 7by7, it’s on the old stuff like this where Davey really shines and this track sounded as powerful as ever. Two tracks from the often over looked (by band and fan’s alike) Astounding Sounds Amazing Music album also helped to make my night, these were Chronoglide Skyway and Steppenwolf , Skyway was drawn out and spacey with excellent playing from Brock and Simon House and should definitely stay in the set although the muted response at the end of the tune may mean I’m in a minority here , Brock quipped something like "ahhh total silence I hear" so luke warm was the applause , a great number to my ears though.. Arthur Brown returned to the stage for Steppenwolf in a top hat and tails clutching a piece of paper with the lyrics on and sang it beautifully especially the mid song spoken word part that Calvert did so well on the original , great to hear Dave picking out that excellent intro riff a real highlight of the set for me. There where also a couple of tunes I did not recognise tonight , they could have been new pieces ,I gotta admit I only really love Hawkwind’s old stuff (yeah I know I know charlatan , non believer etc etc !!!!!) so I could be wrong ? but they had a very trance / ambient vibe to them , repetitive drumming from Richard Chadwick and lots of keyboards and where very enjoyable. Like I say may be you know these tunes from later albums and I don’t but I think HW should do some dancy/trance type stuff on CD soon they have been a very big influence in that field of music (just ask The Orb !!!!). Assault and Battery and Golden Void sounded especially good tonight too those two tracks go so well together, praise too for a fantastic version of Spirit of the Age Simon House really comes into his own on the more spacey tracks and his non changing expression throughout a gig always amuses me but the guy is excellent and HW should maybe do a High Tide number at some stage. I’m writing this on the following Wednesday so my memories are getting sketchy now (once I go to sleep so much detail is lost for ever !!!!!) but I was shocked at the encore tonight , I’ve seen Hawkwind ten times(not many I know) but I’ve never seen the band do this number before , shock horror it was the "HIT" Silver Machine for so long an albatross round the bands neck they refused to play it but as with Master earlier in the set it rocked . Arthur belting out the words and Brock pumping out that famous 12 bar riff (Status who ????) with the band steaming away fantastic !!!!!!!.The crusties at the front where idiot dancing as if their lives depended on it ,although a guy next to me who head banged and played air guitar through out the gig (even to the slow stuff) snarled in disgust and barged passed me to leave the hall as the band started the track !!!!! I mean if ya gonna play air guitar and headbang then surely Silver Machine is THE track ???? silly boy !!!!!!!. May be he was a Hawkwind snob eh ? "ohhh the hit !!!! I’m outta here !!!!!" wanka !!!!!!. A long and varied set that was thoroughly enjoyable , it’s good to know some things in life don’t change (unlike Hawkwind’s line up of course !!!) and with Hawkwind you always know they are gonna do it their way and sod any one who don’t like it, unlike some bands from the same era these guys can still do it , bless em. Oh and if any thing I’ve said in this piece has offended you or may be you just saw it all different to me (you would you aint me are ya ??) remember this IT’S JUST MY OPINION!!!!!! (and opinions are like arseholes every body’s got one !!!!!).

Jon Jarrett

just back from the Junction, after well, one of the more variable Hawkwind gigs I remember seeing :-) Got there just in time for Spacehead, who opened with `Dark Star' and were not at all bad. But after a while the drummer got a bit tedious--Carl Anderson reckoned a machine would be a lot most cost effective and I agreed with him. Dibs's singing has improved a bit, I never caught him flat. They alternated fast and slow numbers, ending with what must have been a new one because of having lyrics damning Bush for starting the next world war, but which confused me by borrowing a chorus tune from `Astroman' so I wasn't sure I hadn't heard it before. Nonetheless, fantastic space-scape guitar noises especially from Keef, the third number really being little more than guitar soundscaping slowly kept moving by the bass which suited me just fine, and all in all pretty good bar the drummer. Dibs's vocals did seem to be producing too much feedback in places, and I assumed at the time he was too close to the mike, but this was my mistake. I should have remembered seeing this happen at the Junction before... But read on.

Hawkwind were not long in waiting, and transpired to be the following people tonight, stage right to left: Dave Brock (keys, synths, gtr, vox), Arthur Brown (vox, costume), Richard Chadwick (drums, beats, vox), Ali Davey (bass, vox), Simon House (keys, violin). No dancers (though Kris was on the merchandise stall).

First impressions: Ali has two Rickenbackers in stands on stage, I can't tell what the difference is other than paintwork (black with swirls). And damn! Dave's gear is loud, we're standing right next to the relevant bit of the stage and can only hear guitar, and just about pick out Arthur Brown. At full stage left we can get it just about balanced but the feedback problem is there with a vengeance: the high mid- range is disappearing into white noise really quite painfully. Not the band's fault either I fear, I've seen this happen at this venue before and of course it never gets sorted out because if, like the soundman, you have earplugs, you can't hear a problem... I wished I'd brought mine. I think much of what I didn't enjoy would have been fine if I could have heard the lead playing properly. So what I say below, take the sound into account, It wasn't the band's fault and I felt very sorry for them, though I didn't know if they could hear it: Simon did seem at points to be experimenting with manipulating the effect, but I wasn't sure. Simon, by the way, looked a quite unwell man (and Doug, I mean every word of that): I hope the bags under his eyes and general worn-out look are convalescence from whatever's been troubling him and not an indication that it still is. At first I wasn't sure he'd survive the set and he came back on for the encore with an unfinished cigarette which he sucked away on whilst fiddling as if his life depended on it, though Dave taking the Mickey as usual got a few smiles from him and I was able to stop worrying after a while. All the same, if anyone able to would like to send my and Kirsten's best wishes, that would be very good of you...

Anyway, the set-list! For look, it's interesting!

Time Captives

Much better than last time I saw it at Walthamstow. Dave's guitar is very edgy tonight, though it's difficult to tell what's deliberate and what isn't; the whole sound is quite Hawklords, if rather heavier for the presence of Ali, and Simon's input takes a long time to become anything other than fizz. Definitely a nastier more `argh' sound than I'm used to, takes me a while to wear into it. The song is however fabulously sung and even if its simplicity becomes obvious quite quickly it's a fine way to open.

Master of the Universe

Average. Arthur has to be cued for the first line of each verse, first time by consulting with Dave before the off and second time by Ali actually singing it for him and he following on, which is quite sloppy really, it's not a hard song to pick up is it? Anyway. OK. Goes straight
into:

Gremlin Pt. 2

Arthur immediately redeems himself with a top-notch version and there is nothing wrong with this at all.

Time

The Crazy World number as on last tour, now that I know it I enjoy it more and this too is OK. Not great but OK. Dave is on keys for this
one. Goes unexpectedly into:

Prelude

Two Crazy World numbers! I honestly thought we'd get the rest of the `Fire' suite and was quite disappointed when this very riffy version of the track ended, very soon after it had begun. But my disappointment was short-lived because we got:

The Watcher

Which was just fine :-) Aliens visuals as per.

Out of the Shadows

Took a minute or two to get sorted out and then off as if there'd been no problem, I swear Richard gave them one crack of a drum-rim and they were off in perfect time, quite impressive. Lots of Dave's guitar, as throughout really, whatever Dave does is still right out the front. But he doesn't take the lead, Simon does and as we can barely hear him... I've seen better, but Alan Linsley assured me afterwards that this arrangement can work so I suppose I'm just sorry about the sound again... There is, oh dear, a techno mid-section. It is not only very poor but started off by Dave on a dirt-simple and not terribly pretty two-chord pattern on the keyboard, and he starts it off-beat and the rest of the band take several bars to adjust, points to Richard for making it sound flawless but the glitch was pretty blatant all the same. I was terribly glad when we got back to the song, though it was developed away from its initial jarring out-of-kilterness it still wasn't very good. The last few bars of real song were thus very welcome indeed.

Chronoglide Skyway

This was *awful*. All percussion programmed, Richard working his drum synth or whatever it is he uses, Dave on keys, Simon on violin, Ali barely touching the bass because a bassline was already coming off Dave's keys which was louder than he was... Now, to my mind this is a song that is made by the leads alone, but it was a while before we got that, and so we just had a boring techno-ised chord sequence for two minutes then some violin we couldn't hear and eventually a bit of lead guitar from Dave
which unlike everything else he'd done was also near-inaudible. Really pretty terrible, but again, again, I don't know what it sounded like from there, maybe Simon was flying higher than ever, though it was my impression he wasn't on form when I could hear him. Given the way he looked I don't blame him, but anyway. I think this song was a Mistake.

Steppenwolf

Arthur emerges again with the frock-coat and hat--Bob must be turning in his grave to see his props being used again! Arthur manages to make the sheet of paper he's reading the lyrics from into a prop ("I made a note of it in my log" and so on), but is still winging it. On the other hand lots of howling and some of the song delivered on all fours, so points for effort. Lots of guitar. Good. Still no real progress with making the violin audible though.

Seven By Seven

I recognised the intro, then thought it was something new when the riff started, I was so unprepared for how it would sound with this riff started, I was so unprepared for how it would sound with this line-up. By now I'm about adjusted to the sound when the white noise isn't showing through and I managed to lean back on this one and enjoy it thoroughly. More or less played as a three-piece, with Arthur again standing on still in frock-coat to read Bob's part from paper again, this gets less impressive. But otherwise really quite good.

Spirit of the Age

Pretty good! Dave took the vocals. Here, and I haven't mentioned them till now because they were nothing special, the visuals are worth a note. We started with the Metropolis robot and some stills from that film and then went into a long sequence of what started with spirals of tubing over a sort of moonscape and turned out to be either CGI-animated or endoscope footage of a sperm's-eye view of the journey up the Fallopian tubes! Good play with the ideas here, quite the spaciest gynaecology I've ever seen and so on. With the ovum pierced we were back to the DNA strands twirling over the moonscape and then more Metropolis stills, I liked this. The song was not bad either...

?

New song! Really honestly new song! Slow techno thing which I rather liked, simple beats to it and based on another simple pattern from Dave's keys but still quite organic and nicely developed, with a fabulous minimalist moment in the middle where the beats stopped and all the treble parts slowly moved round each other. Vocals were shared, first verse by Dave (general apocalyptic forecasting on a monotone but not his usual spoken pitch) and rest by Richard, who sang really quite well, far better than much of the Star Nation stuff, though I couldn't make out the words. But this is because he was high enough to catch the white-noise effect, and... But this seems good, I don't mind Hawkwind techno if it's going to be like this. As long as there's *some* rock, and lo and behold...

Sun Ray

Another new one led off by Ali and voiced by Arthur, who takes the stage with a golden Phoebus mask which he discards halfway through before it can leave of its own accord. The song is an upbeat rocker with a proper tune and everything, I liked this one too. Quite pleased  with both of these tracks, this bodes well!

Assassins of Allah/Space is Their Palestine/Assassins of Allah

As per regulation, good. The `Space... ' was surpassingly effective given how few people there were playing. Only now does Simon's violin really find a place in the mix, which place is shatteringly loud so as to be heard over Dave, and therefore distorted and generally sub- optimal but at least we can now sort of hear him. Fairly straight-ahead `Assassins' section and this seems to be the first time Ali's  managed to enjoy himself all set.

Assault and Battery/ The Golden Void

I'd forgotten how good this was live. it's been such a while since I've seen it. Very good, is the answer. Simon is not the leading feature I'd like him to be but definitely there and the way they do it fits with the way this band sounds. Fine. Visuals worth mentioning here too, nice play with flower petals whose colours and shapes were then reassembled into butterfly wings, new flowers, faces, and so on, very pretty and lots of streaming space-scapes and Milky-Way-running dimly visible beyond. And as the wander towards the Void's End opens out, instead of the techno outtro we get:

Where Are They Now?

At least I assume that's what it was because I've *never heard this before* but they sang that line a lot (Ali and Dave) and the tune was basically `P. X. R. 5'. Cor! When did they last do that? And with it closed they leave the stage.

They seem to be gone a while and at one point a roadie dives out to talk to Dibs, who has been watching out for Richard's kit all set, and nearly gets the crowd demanding he play `Silver Machine'... Eventually Dibs goes in and returns with the band, and Ali says "Anybody suffering from paranoia? Heh--join the club!" And, sure enough:

Paranoia Pt. 2

Short and to the point! Never seen this before. Basically a three-piece job, Simon can't be heard *again*. Richard did a few of the moans but soon lost interest, no other vocals. Simon's inaudibility continues when a familiar guitar part starts and we are off into:

Silver Machine

Arthur arrives on stage well after the song is underway wearing his silver jump-suit and a proper flying helmet a la Bob, as well as an oxygen mask hung round his neck which he has looped a flexible glowstick round. His first line can't be heard and he seems to be having troubles remembering the others. White noise all over the shop, it seems to be coming from whatever effects are being applied to his vocals but it's very hard to tell. A good version marred by Arthur being vague and the house sound at its absolute worst.


And with that the show is ended. I go to buy a t-shirt from Kris because they're lovely (though the only CDs on sale are Dr Hasbeen and Spacehead CD-Rs), and go home with no hearing in my left ear but otherwise pretty satisfied with the night's entertainment.

MAY 19TH NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY HAWKWIND + OZRIC TENTACLES

Neil Shilladay

An absolute blinder of a gig. I was stood behind the sound
desk, and Simon's violin sounded fine for 90% of the gig. Everyone else
sounded fine, with Dave's guitar to the fore, but not swamping the sound.
As Mark said, the setlist was pretty much the same. The new rocker that            
Jon referred to in his Cambridge review started off sounding like a Ron
Tree number - very heavy bass.

Highs -
7x7, which does throw you with a new sound at first, but rocks hard and
well.
Spirit of the Age - yes, the visuals are worth it in this number.
Steppenwolf - I love the way Arthur sang this. He had his notes, but
didn't seem to need them. I'd like to think Bob's spirit smiled at this.
Ass & batt / Golden Void - all time classic songs, played beautifully.

Lows-
Chronoglide - I didn't care for the techno backing to this.
Arthur messing up Silver Machine lyrics.

Overall - Ozrics played a long and very well received support, almost a
double headliner. I really enjoyed them, although I did see Night of the
Hawks on the sound man's list that never made it (maybe this was due to
Ozrics overrunning, for which they did apologise).
The Hawks were on fine form tonight, and seemed to really enjoy it. Dave
ribbed the crowd for being quiet, and introduced Simon who would play some
Paganni (sp?). The band played tight and reminded me why I love their
music so much.
Dave at one point seemed to don a pair of reading glasses as he crouched
down to make some adjustments to his gear. (I tried to make that last
sentence as free from innuendo as I could). Dave seemed to be in a good
mood throughout, so if equipment was playing up, he rose above it.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, but hey I had a *good* time
last night !

If the guy who was dressed as Gandalf (complete with real grey beard) is
on the list - great costume man !

MAY 25th LONDON ASTORIA - HAWKWIND + DOCTOR AND THE MEDICS

Andreas Stuewe

Time captains
MotU
Song of the Gremlin
Time and Confusion
Prelude
The Watcher
Out of the Shadows
Chronoglide skyway
Steppenwolf
Paranoia
The Right Stuff
Spirit of the Age
Take me to your Leader
Sun Ray
Assassins of Allah
Assault & Battery
The Golden Void
Where are you now?
Encore:
Angela Android
Silver Machine


To my ears this gig was so much better than last year´s Walthamstow gig. And
that´s mainly because of Simon´s playing throughout the set. From where I was
standing his violin was clearly audible, and I just love his playing. Nothing
against Tim Blake, he has his own great moments, but Simon added that extra
icing on the cake. I´ve never heard before such mind-blowing versions of Out of
the Shadows and the Right Stuff.This version of SotA was clearly
the best one ever! The band was really playing tight, everyone was doing his
best, and Arthur´s singing was perfect. Steppenwolf he did in his own unique
style, which is great, not just as a Calvert clone. Ok, the electronic tracks
(Chronoglide + Leader) weren´t my cup of tea, but alright. And Sun Ray was the
highlight of the gig for me, a real new song.

This was my 41st HW gig, and I´d say it ranks among the best 3 gigs of all of
them. Thanks very much for such a great night, Hawkwind et al! And a very
special thanks to Colin Allen (you know what for ;-)

Andreas

MAY 26th BRISTOL ACADAMY - HAWKWIND + UNIVERSITY OF ERRORS

Ian Ferguson

I'm gonna upset a few people with my words and I apologies for that upfront... the following is purely a personal opinion,

Hawkwind played Bristol last night .....
I have been waiting for the band to play Bristol for a good few years now, the last time was with Ron and the Robot ( isn't there some video recording of that show floating around, it may even be on video or DVD, or just a live CD , anyone care to comment !!!! I'd love a copy  anyone ? cos I certainly don't require a copy of  tonight's show

Well,  I watched the band last night and I hoped that Arthur would have bedded in by now, I let him off at Walthemstow as he was new to it... Well he's had sometime and i'm afraid to say I think Arthur is not the man for job...infact ARTHUR if your gonna sing Hawkwind songs at least have the common decency to sing them right and the way there were originally!!! , I don't care for you ability to sing, sing it right... Your saving grace was Steppenwolf which was terrific. but please, a/ learn the fucking lyrics and b/ sing it properly.

I was really really really disappointed last night, I felt that there was no continuity,   it was all stop/ start, nothing flowed, there was no great trip, no sonic 5th dimension for me last night.  come on guys you can play like gods, the 2001 autumn tour is a classic example

It was great to see Simon back playing and Chronglide was great, but with no bollocks from the PA songs like the watcher were wasted, pity cos I like to see Ali rip his plank up....

I Was with bunch of old hawkwind fans last night and they also came away disappointed in the Arthur Browns Hawkwind Experience., Come on guys play your own tunes... i'm paying for Hawkwind numbers not AB's  "try to get as far away from his sonic source as possible"

There's £50 in my back pocket and its staying there until I get persuaded otherwise ......

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