fan reviews

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Got back yesterday from Hawkfest a little too shattered to write anything much…

What a wonderful weekend! Great weather, great music and good times. Great to see so many friends, old and new, and put some more faces to names.

Building on last year’s blueprint the organisation this was spot on things appeared to be running very smoothly.

Soon after arriving I managed to catch an impromptu Spacehead rehearsal, the first time they’d played together since the Hawktour and Dibs had decided to drop a new song on everyone! Had a wander about and chatted and met a few more people before catching the end of a strong sounding set from Litmus and then Mr Quimby’s Beard who delivered one of the best sets I’ve heard from them. Didn’t catch too much of Tarantism as I was busy chatting outside the mainstage but what I could hear sounded pretty good. Big Amongst Sheep next I was hearing for the first time and really enjoyed. Following was a great set from Arthur and Instant Flight, difficult to believe that they’d not played together. The set featured a lovely version of ‘Fire’ (complete with flaming head-piece) and Arthur’s showmanship shone through all the way (at one point mimicking the techno from the near by rave tent by dangling the mic to the floor and stomping about the stage).

Over to the barn stage next to catch Little Big Men (Man?) with Richard, Steve Bemand and Keith K. Had to wait a fair while before they got started and unfortunately they hit the curfew after only about 30 minutes of playing. The set consisted of some pretty mellow techno with some nice guitar and synth floating over it. Not a million miles from the likes of Banco De Gaia Speaking to Richard later he explained that it was the first time he’d done this live and they’d had a few problems setting up and had been pretty nervous about. He also mentioned that this was to be his next big project and was hugely enthusiastic about the ideas he’d got planned for it. Maybe a support slot on the Hawktour later this year?

After another scorching day the Moonloonies were the first act on the mainstage (though quite a few of us were lucky enough to have been around during Hawkwind’s soundcheck and caught versions of Coded Languages, Magnu, Utopia and Green Finned Demon), featuring Agent of Chaos and some-time Hawk Crum. I’d been meaning to track down some of their stuff for a while and will certainly be making sure that I do now. A good opener to the Hawk evening. Relentless up next were certainly that. A bit like instrumental Anthrax is about the closest comparison I can draw, didn’t seem to be to some people’s taste but as it was quite a diversion from the spacerock that surrounded. Also it featured some the most irresponsible guitar playing I’d heard in a while. Kinda fun to see Martin get up and have a sing too. Managed to miss the beginning of Spacehead as I’d popped back to the tent to ready myself for the evening and got a bit distracted but I returned to find Dave and Keith K joining them for a cracking version of Quark (heavier, but much closer to the album version than the 90s version, which was pretty much a new track with the old words). The two Hawks stayed on stage for the rest of the set closing with Choose Your Masks.

Next up we were expecting Harvey but got pretty much a full contingent of Hawks playing Coded Languages. This was followed by a relaxed set from Harvey joined variously by Huw (for Waiting for Tomorrow – two versions) and Dibs. The lightshow really started to kick in here and the footage of the sky-divers falling straight you (I was very near the front by this time and the screen was angled almost above me) was amazing and completely filled my field of vision - that’ll be 6000Lu of video projector for you!

Plenty of folk have commented on the HW set already, for me it was stunning. Everyone having a whale of a time and, as far as I was concerned, playing beautifully. I’d rather hear Alan than Dibs admittedly but this was a party for the band and crew as well and who’s to begrudge Dibs and Keef getting to share a bit of the limelight after all the hard work they put in behind the scenes. For at least one song Keef was the only HW guitarist on stage – how’s that for a fanboy fantasy come true! Could have done with more personnel on stage for Spirit of the Age, it did need some lead from somewhere be it Simon’s keys or violin or guitar from Dave as on the tour. A good long set it was with welcome returns for tracks such as Utopia, Magnu and Green Finned Demon. Highlights were Hurry On Sundown, Brainbox Pollution, Assault & Battery/Golden Void/Where Are They Now and Master of the Universe. The lights were, literally, stunning throughout. The aforementioned beast of a video projector accompanied by an arsenal of a dozen or so projectors/Optis with strobeflowers and strobes mounted at the stage.

I did wander over to the barn afterwards to Catch Tribe of Cro. They seemed to be playing well but it was one of those HW performances after which other music seemed, well, irrelevant. Chilled for a while then hit the sack.

Didn’t catch much on Sunday until Alien Dream having had a trip to Garstang for lunch. I’d not heard any of Mike Blackman’s own stuff before and was rather impressed, ably assisted as he was by Tom Byrne, some of whose own pieces were also played. Very enjoyable synth/guitar stuff.

Assassins of Silence (Mk II) were up next. It’s a pretty tall order for a HW tribute band to play a HW festival, especially after such a strong HW show but they played a pretty good set. New guitarist Kevin and the sax player seem to have slotted in well. Strong versions of Orgone Accumulator, Brainstorm, Demented Man (great vocals as ever from their drummer, Rob, here). The vocals on their version of Hurry On Sundown didn’t quite come off though.

Caught most of Bruise over on the mainstage next. Not bad but a bit poppy for my tastes, would’ve like to have heard their version of Silver Machine again though.

The acoustic Levellers were up next and gave us a very entertaining 90 minutes or so of pumped up folk, complete with a couple of dancing Teletubbies!

All in all a hugely enjoyable weekend and I didn’t want to leave come Monday morning, and nice lunch in Garstang put off the event, but unfortunately reality beckons.

Massive thanks all around to all those who made this possible and I do hope that the numbers were there to make next year a viable option (it looked pretty busy, but its so hard to tell). A big hello to all those I met and chatted to (too many to list). Great to finally meet and put more faces to names.

Looking forward to Hawkfest 2004 already, lets make it happen!

Nick

Ah - was it only 3 days ago I struggled out the door with a large rucksack and tent? Today I struggled back in again and now, with the material reminders of a Festival scattered over the floor, tent drying in the spare room, two treasured unique CDs and some fantastic memories this is just to say thank you to Kris and to everyone who organised the weekend.

There were: showers in cubicles (but remember to take your 20p in with you!) flushing toilets (and a special thank you to whoever went around replenishing the loo rolls whenever they ran out) a nice field to camp in with parking space and lots of room to spread out safely (no camp fires allowed though - for safety reasons), a huge field for all the entertainments including a completely roofed and enclosed marquee for the main Tent Stage (thank goodness - on a baking, broiling, seething hot Saturday afternoon the absolutely best place to be was sitting inside the cool of the tent listening to a Hawkwind soundcheck), as well as a Barn Stage (although the acoustics there meant the best place to listen was sitting at one of the tables outside the building - Tarantism ?spelling? sounded phenomenal from that position). There were clothing stalls (I forgot to take a sunhat but thankfully there was a splendid collection of hats to choose from when I went in search of one!), two large restaurant tents - one with tables, one with large carpets of coir matting to sit on (both selling vegetarian only - so hungry carnivors could be spotted peering at the menus trying to decide which vegetable dish most nearly resembled a meat meal). I have to say both the meals I tried were excellent - Thai curry, cauliflower and broccoli pakora - but some kind friends (thank you kind friends - you know who you are!) also fed me meat dishes on a couple of occasions. There were some other stalls, and even a Holistic Therapy Centre appeared and set up camp.

Merrick and Julie's place was an oasis of calm (thank you both!). The childrens' play area was well-frequented (how on earth can kids play with such energy in that heat not to mention hard work for the adults supervising them!) and the only real irritant was the Rave place beat which was somewhat persistent and endless even though it was over at the far side of the field.

Friday we got there latish (and I missed Mr. Quimby's Beard -curses) Saturday was intensely hot - though by 5pm it cooled a bit and I had a pleasant stroll around the network of public footpaths criscrossing the whole area, Sunday started with a thunderstorm which cleared to a very pleasant day - went for a pub lunch (and missed Mr Quimby's Beard again - I keep doing this??) and Monday started with another thunderstorm which was a good excuse for a leisurely departure after taking refuge in the Restaurant tent and eating a splendid cooked breakfast.

Most people seemed to tidy up after them - neat piles of rubbish collected up at all the bin points and very little trash on the fields (perhaps due to the people with black bags I saw wandering around keeping it all under control).

And - oh yes - there was some excellent music...... but I will let others talk about that - I just really enjoyed the Festival atmosphere - unhurried, friendly (loads of nice people to chat or just say hi to - and it was great to meet up with people from the list - and to see Arin and Rich again - good wishes to you and a safe journey home!).

I'm sure the organisers had loads of hassle to cope with and vast amounts of problem solving to sort out but they must have done so because I had a fantastic relaxed time - and everyone I spoke to was having a great time as well, so I hope they did - eventually! So to Hawkwind, to all the organisers, and to everyone else (the stewards, the people who run around with wires connecting up things to other things, the laminators of plastic security passes, the tent builders - who were still dismantling it at 2.30am on Monday morning!) - not forgetting the yellow fairy complete with wings.

Congratulations and thank you. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

And now back to the humdrum business of earning enough money to get to
the next one 8-)
jill

Well I thought that it was fantastic. The festival was excellently organised, just the right scale, good layout and plenty of space. I enjoyed my "veggie crap" from the cafe (sorry carnivores), they did well to keep the food going all weekend. I was also particularly impressed by the big inflatable phallic lighting system nearby.

Beautiful part of the country too. I went on a 30 mile cycle ride on the Saturday morning, nice scenery and FLAT! And did everybody notice the names of the 2 villages down the A6 from the site? "Brock" and "Barton"! Good omens there I think.

Best non-HW music for me was Arthur Brown and Instant Flight, who played a superb set of 60s-style psychedelic pop on Friday night. Nice to see Arthur doing his flaming headset routine. Astonishing to think Instant Flight had never gigged with Arthur until then. Big Amongst Sheep were also pretty good. Didn't see much of the other bands, except some pretty indifferent stuff from Relentless and Little Big Men.

Nice to see Dave joining Spacehead for a cracking version of Choose Your Masques, and then we were treated to one of the best HW performances I have ever seen. With Harvey's set featuring 6 other Hawks we effectively had more or less 3.5 hrs of HW music, and damn good it was too. Setlist for those interested -

Harvey Bainbridge set (approx 8:30 - 9:45)
------------------------------------------
Coded Languages (w. Dave Brock/Alan Davey/Richard Chadwick/Huw Lloyd Langton)
Waiting For Tomorrow - instrumental jam version (w. DB/RC/HLL/Dibs)
Waiting For Tomorrow - with vocals this time! (w. DB/RC/HLL/Dibs)
Mutation Zone (w. Martin Griffin & Dibs)
Dreamworker...
....(sounded like) Stonehenge Decoded....
....Freefall
(I think HLL came back for Freefall but I can't remember)

Hawkwind set (approx 9:45 - midnight)
-------------------------------------
Arrival In Utopia
Time Captives
The Watcher
Magnu
Chronoglide Skyway
The Right Stuff
Wings
Hurry On Sundown
Brainbox Pollution
Spirit of the Age
Green Finned Demon
Abducted
Angela Android
Assault & Battery
The Golden Void
Where Are They Now?
Assassins of Allah
Master of the Universe

Particular memories and favourite moments -
Dave telling us after Arrival... that our Utopia was here, one of the best versions of Magnu I've ever heard, Kris & Tone taking a well-deserved on-stage bow somewhere in that set, scary overheard projections of blokes jumping out of planes during Freefall, Dave bringing on a chair during Wings to sit on but pushing it away coz he just carried on standing up and thrashing that guitar for us (yeaaayy!), Dave taking the mick out of Simon for nipping off to the toilet before he was due to play Chronoglide Skyway, the Submarine Magician Returning To His Home for the first time in years, Where Are They Now? going from strength to strength and all 10 of them onstage at the end for an absolute belter of a version of Master of the Universe. Who needs Silver Machine eh?

Spent Sunday loitering around the site chatting to other Hawkfans too numerous to list, waiting for our free CDs. Then went home early, just felt that any other music after that HW set would be just too much of an anti-climax. Hope those of you that stayed had a great Sunday night with the Levellers.

The only gripe I can think of was that blasted dance tent - too loud and too often, Hawkestra foyer all over again in my opinion.

Thanks for the organisers for a great and very memorable event, well done, and thanks to all the people who took time to chat, it was great to meet you all. Let's hope we get another Hawkfest next year.

AL

KEVIN PERRY

First, a few words about the festival overall. Apart from a little bit of organisational chaos when we arrived, and the fact that you needed a JCB to get your tent pegs in (can we have it on softer ground next year please?), it was well done: I'm not a camping fan, but I survived it for 3 days, which is 1 day longer than I've ever managed before without storming off in a huff, so something must have been right. The atmosphere was very friendly throughout, with none of the silly behaviour or aggressiveness that can sometimes ruin large events like this: as to why everyone was so friendly and nice, well...what could i possibly say :-)

There's something quite surreal about waking up, poking your head out of your tent, and seeing Dave Brock cycling past you, with Arthur Brown doing Tai Chi in the background, while Martin Griffin waxes his moustache outside the next-door tent. But that was one of the things that made it such a friendly event I think: the 'stars' were camped down just the same as everyone else, and could be seen wandering around the site as if they were there as normal punters - no huge egos here which was lovely to see. As a good example of the general friendliness and helpfulness of all the people there, one of our party woke up on the Sunday morning and realised he'd lost his wallet; of course, he couldn't remember where he'd last had it (to be honest, he couldn't remember much about the evening before at all!), so off he set wandering round site looking for it; eventually, he talked to one of the security guys about it, who mentioned that someone on the Legalise Cannabis stall had said something about a wallet being left there (now are we beginning to see why he couldn't remember the Saturday evening?) so off he went, and there was his wallet, sitting there totally untouched and waiting for him to collect it - how many festivals in the UK would that happen at?

And so to the review of the Hawkwind set itself. I'll try to put this in perspective: I'm a musician and actually play with a Hawkwind tribute band (no names!) so bear that in mind - I'm likely to be more critical about details than a lot of people. And I'm critical at the best of times anyway!

The first thing I noticed was that Alan didn't have his bass on, but instead Mr Dibs was on-stage with bass at the ready: I assumed that Alan had hurt his arm and couldn't play, but no, as the evening progressed, we were treated - if that's the right word - to the alternating bass playing of Alan and Dibs; now I like how Mr Dibs plays bass, and he's a really nice bloke, but I wanted to see Hawkwind play, and to my mind, Hawkwind he isn't. Maybe bring him on for a guest slot, or for the encore alongside the rest of the band, but he's not someone I expect, or particularly want, to see playing with the band. I can understand when it's old members (Huw joined for a few numbers for example), but he isn't, and so in my opinion shouldn't have been playing with them at all. The same goes for Keith Barton who was playing guitar on quite a few numbers - he didn't seem a bad guitarist, but again, he's not a member of Hawkwind. To add insult to injury, there was one number where he was the only guitarist on stage - when you have people like Dave and Huw around and who have played with the band since the beginning, it just seems crazy to have a random person up there playing with the band.

The music then: there was some good and bad. I've been going to see the 'Wind for nigh on 15 years now, and this was one of the worst performances I've ever seen them give, if not the worst. It's not that they were beset by some of the technical problems I've seen them face in the past (anyone remember the mic problems Alan had at the Motorhead concert in Wembley last year?), nor that they were uninspired - they all seemed to be enjoying themselves and having a good time (well, maybe Alan didn't - he stormed off stage a couple of times after his bass slot and didn't look particularly happy, but, as you may gather, I can sympathise with how he might have felt). No, rather there were too many mistakes in the playing, and some of the arrangements were awful. Spirit of the Age, for example: a great, almost sing-a-long, song; the last time they played it when I saw them (Astoria, London, earlier this year), it was brilliant. The version at the festival was beset by obvious errors (it's a two chord song guys - it's not a difficult one to play) and was possibly the worst I've ever heard it played. Richard's new song Angela Android is an abortion of a song and should never have made it out of the studio: the words are banal - it's the kind of lyrics a manufactured band like Hear'Say would sing - and, sorry Richard, but you've got a dire voice. Dave's and Alan's may not be as 'technically' good as, say, Arthur's (who has an awesome voice), but they've got character and have had years of practice to evolve a style that works. Stick at the drumming where you're - in my opinion - one of the best drummers I've ever heard. The Watcher was another song that was littered with mistakes: I love what Alan has done to it compared with the original, and the last few times I've heard him play it, it's been a cracker, but it was shambolic this time.

The set list was also stale: the Hawks have over 30 years of material to pick from, but apart from Where Are They Now? (yes, I'm ignoring Angela Android because it's so bad), there's nothing original in there. I don't mean truly new songs, but just a selection of different tunes would be so nice: how many times have we heard Assassins of Allah, Master of the Universe, Spirit of the Age? The way that they've dusted off some older tracks and revitalised them (Mask of the Morning springs to mind) shows that they don't have to play a track the way they did 25 years ago, but can reinvent and reinvigorate, but I haven't been seeing this.

To be fair, there were some good moments: Where Are They Now? seems to get better each time I hear it, but there's very little else that sticks in my mind at all. Well, good old Angela Android does, but for the wrong reasons entirely. The atmosphere in the tent was great though - everyone there was fully behind the band and it was a great experience. Just not a great musical experience.