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content="the hawkwind museum, a fun and informative site covering all things hawkwind, includes some rare photos of hawkwind" name="Description">

It's that time of year again! no not Christmas but the month of December so another Hawkwind UK tour is upon us. Although only taking in eight dates their scheduling means that the jaunt lasts most of the month. Have to also mention that I'm proud to say that on this occasion I think I've got the first review to be published on the internet at large, so another first for the Museum! (sorry Steve but you did pretty much have a free reign on the October dates due to me being otherwise engaged on holiday in Las vegas ;-))

Anyway as ever I'm on the lookout for more of this kind of stuff so feel free to put your own thought forward. With the ongoing Chart Trek project a new review makes for an ideal update as it not only keeps things interesting and a bit of variety but if you write it, transferring it onto the site takes a matter of minutes, want to have your say, then please do by

Here we go again, standing on the runway waiting for take off, and did we take off? Saturday was the first night of Hawkwind’s winter tour and the new stage show of ‘Take me to your leader’. The show was at the Journal Tyne Theatre, alias the Opera House, Newcastle. Earlier this year, I had seen the band in both Manchester and again in Belfast. Without doubt in my mind, the Belfast gig was pretty special. Of course, it may well have been all that Guinness that Dave (a fellow Geordie that I met there) and I had drunk; oh by the way it was quite a smoky room and at times I felt a little dizzy!

Anyhow, back to Saturday and most people met in either the bar next door or in the venues own bar. The stage set up was quite a bit different to previous with an almost circle in the centre of the stage but with lots of room all around. The band came on stage to a grand reception, even though the place still had a few empty seats. Dave, Alan and Richard were joined on keyboards by Jason from Captain Rizz. Unfortunately Mathew Wright was not able to get to this gig due to his TV commitments and in his place stood Mr. Dibbs, at least for the recitals. Dave even took the opportunity to taunt the crowd about the 4 – 0 defeat of Newcastle at the hands of Chelsea earlier in the afternoon. The opening number was the ever-impressive Spirit of the Age, immediately recognisable and not a great deal different from previous renditions. One of my all time favourites, Sword of the East came next. New numbers were added between the good old faithful and included Psychedelic Warlords and a brilliant version of Uncle Sam's on Mars. Richard then produced a fine performance of Angela Android to a superb reception from the crowd and this was followed by Space Invader. Needless to say, Assassins of Allah always goes down well in Newcastle and this time was no exception. Angels of Death was, in my opinion one of the weaker numbers although in fairness the set was one of the best I’ve been privilege to see in a good number of years. Very tight and excellent sound quality. Captain Dave introduced a message from beyond the grave with another new number called Letter from Robert, including the background voice of the inimitable Mr. Calvert. An excellent light show and two large robots enhanced the stage at either side of the stage. Unfortunately, the dancers were not always co-ordinated in line with the songs. One of my favourites from the new album came across loud and wonderful, To Love a Machine. I think possibly the best number of the night was Brainstorm with its terrific riffs and almost manic lyrics, the best version I’ve heard since 72, that good! However, the encore was still to be enjoyed and again Dave took time to make football references and how poor Newcastle were which was taken in great jest. Brianbox Pollution came at you like a 200mph hurricane, fantastic. Master of the Universe was something else, a thundering bass starting the song and reminded me very much of the Space Ritual days with vibrant drumming pausing in the middle, it was enhanced as always by Dave's equally vibrant vocals. Sadly and all too soon the final number was thundered out and what else would you expect but Welcome to the Future. All in all, a brilliant gig with a good and well balanced mix of old and new songs, the lads got it spot on. The band played as if they were possessed but only in a positive manner, they were tight and very together. This really has set the standard for the rest of the tour. I for one, cant wait for my trip to the Astoria.

Just got back from the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank (scene of an
excellent Calvert show back in '86) where we saw the Philharmonia do a kids'
Christmas show with lots of audience participation. Good but rather soon
after and completely different to last night which was .......

Awesome !!! Last night's version of Uncle Sam was superb and To Love A
Machine produced goose bumps on my arms.

Sound-wise, had to move around a bit to avoid ear damage from the bass drum
(very apparent at one side), but the sound in front of the middle of the
stage was excellent (if a little heavy on the sub woofer).

The stage was 'king huge. The plain sports hall walls provided an excellent
backdrop for the Chaos Illuminations which were most apparent to the left of
the stage (looking from the audience) and for some reason ended up on the
side wall and ceiling on the other side which pushed the effects out another
2 dimensions, which was good.

Dave, Alan and Richard really rocked and, as Jon Jon said, seeing Dave do
the biz up front was excellent. Dibs was spot on for Tenth Second of
Forever and other contributions. Jason's sound works superbly on some
tracks (Brainbox Pollution and MoTU spring to mind immediately), but I'm not
sure about some of the others (I think it was during Brainstorm that it
sounded like he was playing along to a completely different song).

The fleeces are excellent (embroidered tour logo on the left breast) and
HUGE. I normally go for XL t-shirts, but the standard Large fleece is big
on me. And having tested mine out thoroughly today, I can confirm that they
are warm. Have only played the single once and it'll need a few more goes
before I can decide if I like it all or not.

Loved that venue. Good sound, plenty of room, more than adequate free car
parking immediately outside so no need to trek across town in the cold. Not
sure they'd have us all back, though, given the (presumed) damage to the
sports hall floor.

I believe the Exeter venue is quite small so will be completely different.
I'm looking foward to it. I'm sure the Astoria gig will be special as long
as I can find the ticket that I've lost somewhere in the house .....

Cheers. Rob.

Just got back to wolverhampton from Swindon, and here are my thoughts on the gig.

Those of you read my Oakengates tirade will already know that I was less than impressed with the evening, and so it was with trepidation that I trudged the mile or so out of Swindon town centre to the Oasis leisure centre.

Fairly easy to find the venue - it is a large dome like structure which can be seen a fair way away.

On entering the building, I was a little perplexed. Oasis leisure centre is exactly what it says it is - swimming pool, kids dining area and the smell of chlorine in the air.

I wander through to the gig room. Oh dear - a sports hall! Well I could always shoot a few baskets while I wait!

A cheer goes up and Mr Brock and co begin the proceedings. Mr Dibs reads his poetry and Spirit of the age kicks in. This is more like it! Despite the cavernous room, the sound is far superior to Oakengates.

The band play the same set list as Oakengates pretty much. Stand out tracks for me were spirit of the age, uncle sam, angels of death, to love a machine and a highly worked Master of the Universe, which was particularly excellent.

The band were in good spirits. Dave was taking the mick out of Alan's sequencing, who at one point feigned to hide what he was doing from Dave to stop him commenting. Dave appeared to hand a newspaper to Richard, so that he would have something to read during a preprogrammed part of the set.

Great to see Brock 'out front' with his guitar, I was reminded all over again exactly how good he is.

Dumpy did not appear for the encore - so I still couldnt work out who supported - anyone out there know?

One small point - the venue had not got a lighting rig - just spots set into the high ceiling. The lights are IMHO an important addition to a hawkwind show. The projections were used though and were as usual, excellent.

Oh - and the fleeces have been put up in price to Ł25 - didnt I hear Dave say that money was the root of all evil last night? :-) Only kidding - they are still a bargain.

Yes yes yes !

Dave Brock out front like he should be, giving his guitar a good
thrashing....

What a cracker of a gig, fantastic stage set, with a wonderful back
drop, lots of twinkley lights & some really good dancers. Topped with a
great light show that washed everything with some enormous oil wheel
patterns. This was a Sports centre gig & the bubble wheels shrank the
whole space and made it far more intimate, Well done to all the crew there.
Great to see Arin, Rich, Rob, Alan L & Alan Day ( how bizarre was that
bumping into you man )

Highlights for me were Psychedelic Warlords with a great Bass solo and a
classic straight down the line Dave Brock guitar sound, swirlling round
the building. In fact Dave was playing the guitar much more and was
great to see him Solo'ing as well.
Ode to a flower ? with a Bob Calvert backing track was just superb, and
the dancers did a really cool job on this as well.
The new material was fantastic and all adds more light & Shade to the
procedings. To Love a Machine is my fav. Some really good Drum & Bass
was blasting out during a number I can't remember, I was getting
disorientated with the sound shifts across the stage.
Brainstorm rocked & the 50's throwback special Brainbox Pollution got a
great pummelling.

So, single & Fleece in hand , I skipped home thinking up a cunning plan
on how I excuse a hotel room on the C/card to see the Astoria gig, I
wanna go again now please !

Well....I have read different views of previous gigs and so here is my
view on Exeter and Astoria.....

Exeter worse gig I have ever seen Hawkwind do!! and someone agreed
with me! Not loud enough and I hate to say this but apart from To Love
A machine, the new tracks are just boring!! To me the band seemed to
be going thru the motions, I know its a small gig but......

Astoria ... bloody excellent!! The band really gelled and again my
only gripes being Out Here We Are and Digital Nation, to me they just
drone on and of course ode to a Timeflower, hated this on the last
tour still cannot stand it!!

Spirit of the Age is good but is it a set opener?, Uncle Sam ...pure
genius, Sword of the east and Greenback Massacre are just sublime Alan
davey moments, Assassins of Allah is still brilliant but was
disappointed that Brainstorm did not follow 10 seconds of forever
(although do like Angela Android) but Brainstorm when it did appear I
really do believe it was the best version since the early 80s,
Brainbox Pollution caused even more idiot dancing and Matsre of the
Universe with Dumpy ...superb!!!

So in short bad Exeter and good London... but.... fans in Exeter so
cool and friendly , London crowd too many assholes who can't hold
their drink!!!

if we could transplant Exeter fans to Astoria ...heaven!!!!

So there you have it ...what a band...felt let down in Exeter then
Astoria blew me away!!!! Not too happy with Out here we are and
Digital Nation but Greenback massacre and To Love a Machine are
classics in the making.

Now to tell the wife I bought T-shirt (good quality too), CD single oh
yeah and a fleece!!!

Those of you who read my opinions regarding Oakengates and Swindon will know that I was not impressed with Oakengates, and found the Swindon gig better than satisfactory.

The Astoria gig? Well, this was one of those 'I was there' gigs. Awesome, absolutley awesome. The set was the same as per previous gigs on this tour, but this time the hawk was flying majestically through space.

I missed the V's - yet again but caught Dumpy's set. He quipped about making some Christmas present drops whilst he was in London (with a beard like that, he had to say it before someone else did) and went on to play a 20 minute set which was well received, although I thought not as good as Cheltenham.

There was a definite buzz in the air tonight that was missing at Oakengates and Swindon - one somehow just knew that it was gonna be good. The hawks characteristically take a while to warm up as they progress through a tour, which may or may not explain why they were not so good earlier at the 2 forementioned gigs. However, I am more inclined to blame the soulless venues at Oakengates and Swindon rather than the band.

A cheer goes up as the band take up position and Matthew Wright begins to read a piece about cloning, and the band kick into Spirit of the age. The audience enjoy the singalong and the band sound great.

I wont go into a song by song critque - others do it better - but what I can tell you is that I have been watching the Hawks countless times over the last 24 years, and they have never been better than tonight. I get the feeling thet there were alot of newbies around in the audience but then again to be fair I am rapidly becoming one of the oldies - so things are bound to appear that way to me as time goes by!

Highlights of tonight were Angels of Death (slow and heavy), Sword of the East (pounding, soaring) Assassins of Allah and MOTU.

The standout out tracks off the new album are Greenback Massacre and To love a machine whilst the slower numbers off the new album work less well I feel.

Dave was out on his own playing guitar tonight, as he has been all through the tour - and believe me, he is worth watching. I have always known he was good, but watching this guy over the last 2 gigs has convinced me that he is without doubt one of the most underrated rhythm guitarist in the entire world. His playing just oozes class.

Match Brock's guitar with (again the underrated) Davey and you have the honour of watching 2 very fine musicians. Alot of people compare Davey unfavourably with lemmy - IMHO they should start thinking the other way around here. The news is ....wait for it....Davey is BETTER. His singing and bass guitar on psychedelic warlords was sublime.

Team these 2 up with the very excellent Mr Chadwick, and I would say that we have possibly the tightest, most talented line up that Hawkwind have ever offered.

There are those who will be able to make more accurate comparisons between the current line up (which has been together for years) and those of the 70's and 80's - but beware! They may be doing so with rose tinted spectacles whilst muttering ''I was there at the Space ritual gigs''

Believe me, ''I was there in 2004'' and it never sounded better.

jon

Ok; a few thoughts to add myself. Good to meet a couple of list people for the first time last night - they know who they are. Talked to a few people outside at just after 8pm. They were left without tickets so it was a lock-out not just a sell-out. The venue itself used to be a transport museum and a couple of trams used to be parked up where the band was playing on stage last night. Given the popularity of this venue with everybody I spoke to, perhaps we could nickname it the Hawkwind Museum (hello Dave). It's a long time since I have seen a bar so packed but fair do's to the staff the waiting time was remarkably short. I really enjoyed the show. Dave Brock out front was reminiscent of the 70's and early 80's while Alan and Richard rocked away like a rhythm section with power worthy of Motorhead (apologies for the too obvious comparison). Jason looked out of place enough to be a true Hawk rather than a guest. He added a lot with the live keyboards. No dancers at Birkenhead; I heard they went for a quick swim in the Mersey and never came back. Musically, I thought the highlight was Brainbox Pollution where Jason's keys really added something extra to a tune that is already superb. Last night it was a classic. Brainstorm, MOTU and Angela Android ran it close. I also reckon Richard's singing voice has got stronger than when I last heard it. Dumpy joining in for the encore was superb. It would have been good to see him on stage a bit earlier. God knows what Brainstorm might have been like with MR Dunnell on board. My only gripe is the Computer generated interludes. I could have dropped a couple of them in favour of a Paradox or a Down Through the Night. This line up is strong enough to do justice to any of the classics in the back catalogue. Last mention must go to the crew who did an excellent job from lighting through stage to merchandising. In particular, Mr Dibs who didn't look out of place when he was out stage front. I thought he did best of all on Uncle Sams... I can't make my mind up about the lab coats and clipboards though. It made it all seem a little bit like Blakey off On the Buses relocated to a laboratory. MARK