LITMUS & SPACEHEAD
STANDARD MUSIC VENUE, WALTHAMSTOW
09.01.04
So the countries space rock proceedings got of to an early start this year with the appearance of these two established acts at the well known north London venue. Originally it hadn't been my intention to attend the gig as family commitments meant I would have to get someone to sit with my daughter ( I won't say baby-sitting as she's 13!). However my interest in the show did increase dramatically when it was announced that former and it appears now sometime hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd langton was to be guesting with Spacehead and so a quick call was made to my dad and I'd got my "night out pass". I decided to drive as I'd had a mare of a journey back from Walthamstow after the Christmas party gig at the nearby assembly hall in 2002 and whilst it's not my preference these days to do gigs "straight" (only alcohol mind!) it actually made for quite a pleasant experience, I was home within the hour and I didn't wake up with a throbbing headache this morning!
Anyway enough of my ramblings, what of the gig itself. On arrival the main hall had yet to open so I joined a few other Hawkfans in the pub next door. I don't know if it was my arrival or the doors opening but shortly there was just three of us left finishing our drinks but this actually proved to be a bonus as who should walk in but Mr Lloyd Langton himself!. We had a chat with him for a few minutes as he looked at some pictures that Nick Lee had kindly donated for future inclusion on the museum web site, he fondly remembered gigs with the Lloyd langton group at the Marquee saying it should have never left the site in Wardour Street (here, here) as well as recollecting some of the more bizarre gigs he'd done over the years such as one I mentioned at the Pink toothbrush in Rayleigh, Essex which as well as me was attended by approximately 15 other paying punters, it was a reasonable sized venue as well, you get the picture!, he also recollected about trying to find a venue in Leeds that no-one including a bloke in a local music shop who was going to the gig knew where it was. Before getting inbroiled in this little trip down memory lane he did offer us a game of pool but we all got side tracked and it was soon time for him to show his face at the venue proper So we also made our way down, the only difference was that on arriving at the door we had to pay whilst Huw managed to get himself inside via a set of nods and winks!
By this time Litmus had already began and although the crowd was not large I'd describe it as respectable with maybe 150 in attendance. I guess at this point it's only fair to note that I really don't have a lot of form on either band. I think I've mentioned previously that as much as I love Hawkwind and therefore space rock, I also love plenty of other bands and with time often a premium I must confess as to have never really got around to exploring a lot of the other acts in this genre, with Litmus and Spacehead being no exception. On first hearing Litmus appeared more than competent but if I'm honest I find this stuff just too derivative of Hawkwind to really move me. That said they got a good reaction from the crowd with a fair bit of "interesting" dancing from the floor but they definitely left the best till last. Joined by Mr Dibs and Keith Barton from Spacehead they launched into excellent versions of "You Shouldn't Do That" followed by "Master Of The Universe". The first track especially was stunning with the band and it's guests faithfully reproducing this classic from 1970. Add to this an excellent sound mix and I doubt in all honesty that there's ever been a better version, including Hawkwind themselves, I know it sounds a bit over the top but in my opinion it really was that good and a fine and fitting way to end a set.
A relatively brief and efficient change over and Spacehead were onstage at around 10.30, again not a lot of form, for my sins I decided that Guinness was a better option at Cambridge when they supported Hawkwind last year so as with Litmus it was again my "virgin" experience. I have to say that their own material wasn't really my cup of tea, nothing wrong in essence but to my mind a bit drawn out, but on saying that the vast majority of the crowd seemed to enjoy their own particular brand of space rock. After about half an hour main man Mr Dibs announced that they'd shortly be joined by a "guest" and then proceeded to recite the piece from the Alien4 album that is Abducted. Again I'm afraid to say that this didn't move me but then again neither did the original so it's certainly not a dig at the band tonight. As this came to a conclusion a door opened at the rear of the stage and out walked Huw Lloyd langton to a great response. Having donned his Guitar (a sun burst Gibson Les Paul, plugged into a Laney amp, I think!) and acknowledging the audience he and the rest of the band launched into a guitar heavy version of "Waiting for Tomorrow", this included a long jam passage in the middle before the song once more regained it's structure. It took a mere matter of minutes before a smile had enveloped the tiny Guitarists face and it looked as he was having a whale of a time with Spacehead soon becoming his backing band for the night. As Waiting For Tomorrow finally ground to a halt this was replaced by the track Space Is Their Palestine, a strange selection in my opinion as it certainly isn't the sort of number that was written with the axe in mind. Huw basically added some jammy, spacey sounds over the top of the song as it gradually built up steam before morphing into a segment of Assassins of Allah or is it Hassan I Sahba, quite an ironic twist when you think about it as Hawkwind usually do it the other way around with Space being slotted into Hassan, anyway after a relatively short snippet of the aforementioned Assassins further development of the songs patterns and before you knew it the band were playing the Bob Calvert classic The Right Stuff. You got the general impression that there was a fair bit of "winging it" in tonight's performance which was all but confirmed to me at the end when 'Head and sometimes Hawkwind guitarist Keith Barton kindly posed for a picture before saying words to the effect of "I didn't have a clue what we were playing!", far from detracting from the performance I thought it actually added to the excitement of the gig. Overall I felt that the emphasis was on fun rather than a technically proficient musical performance. As the Right Stuff came to it's conclusion this signalled the end of the main set and the band and Huw exited the stage but were soon called back for the obligatory encore at which point Mr Dibs thanked Hawkwind for their support over the years, a sentiment that was also echoed by Litmus incidentally. The music then continued with a run through of the 1977 title track of the album Quark, Strangeness and Charm which was dedicated to "Bob" (Calvert I presume), again a fine version and a very accurate reproduction of the original and thankfully nothing like the version that appears on Hawkwind's Business Trip album. As the track reached it's conclusion this really was the end of the nights entertainment and the various members took leave of the stage. The star of the show for most had clearly been Huw and was literally mobbed if that's possible by a small number of young and not unattractive young ladies. Once he managed to release himself from their clutches (I don't think he tried that hard!) he happily posed for a picture for me before shaking my hand and then handing me the plectrum he'd been using, what a bloke. It's strange how your memory can dull things over a period of time, I'd forgotten what a massive stage presence he has as well as huge charisma he has about him, I Know he's had his ups and downs over the last couple of years but he really seems to be returning to top form.
So overall a great night, with everyone including those on stage appearing to have a thoroughly enjoyable time. Thanks must go to Colin Allen for getting the whole thing together. One thought to finish, how about a space rock roadshow, with maybe Hawkwind headlining and a number of bands such as those that played tonight supporting. The hawks still seem to get good attendance's wherever they play whilst other bands of their ilk seem to struggle, with obviously a lot of the casual audience who make up the numbers at Hawkwind gigs, unaware of the existence of similar acts, so how about a tour of Astoria or university sized venues with maybe 4 or 5 bands on the line up rather than the obligatory Headline and support act. I have no experience of putting on bands or the logistical problems that are undoubtedly associated with such such matters but I would have thought that it would be a way of giving the UK space rock scene a "kick up the backside" as far as attendance's goes.