HW - Oz Tour :-) !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paul G Ward]

On 11 Nov 96 at 12:08, Max Wilcox wrote:

> The news has never been so darn fine, I must say. But there's a few
> questions I feel I must ask, to at least slightly clear my befuddled
> mind.

I know exactly what you mean Max!

>         What exacty did Mr Smith say?

It was a long fax about lots of stuff, so I won't duplicate it
verbatim here. The gist of it is that it's just an "idea" at the
moment ..... but I don't think Doug would have mentioned it unless
it's a real possibility. He was talking about the US tour and how
it's being organised for the end of May when he brought it up. A guy
in Perth (who I've since phoned to get some details) is "dead set to
make it happen", and Doug is "treating it with respect but will not
expect too much ... " he goes on to say that they are sending promo
stuff for his "Hawkwind Appreciation Night", where he (Danny Kuljak)
plans to raise $22,000 (that's about 11k sterling or 17-18 k USD
folks), which I think is perhaps a little bit of wishful thinking.

Doug said that they would look into the possibility of doing a round
the world deal "amortising the costs on the ticket" at the tail of
the US tour. He finishes of saying that "at least I have to give this
a shot", then mentions S.Africa, India and NZ as other potential
locations.

So, there is nothing firm at all, and there's two ways to look at
this: "won't bloody happen", or "Let's damn well MAKE it happen".
Guess which camp I'm in? ;^)

Naturally, I called Danny and asked him what he's up to, and it seems
that he's booked a nightspot out in a few weeks time for the event,
and is putting adverts in all the papers, on the radio etc. At least
that part of it is confirmed. I naturally wrote a reply fax to Doug,
where I talked about getting the ball rolling in other Oz cities, and
asked heaps of questions about getting promo material, some copies of
the Love in Space single for radio stations, etc. I also asked when
they would be making a decision, and what it will take to make it teh
one we want/need/MUST HAVE .... I think he's in Greece for the gigs
over last weekend, so haven't heard back yet.

I also mentioned the idea of getting darXtar as support (who *really*
want to come to Oz) ... darXtar naturally gushed at the idea ;^)

>         By this I mean, is it
>         worthwhile to start getting things going in the near future?
>
>        Or wait for further conformation?

Well, I'm keen to start at least getting some ideas together,
contacting venues, etc. real soon. When I get a reply from Doug with
a better idea of it all, and perhaps once we see how Danny's event
goes in Perth, it's time to jump in feet first. I know that if we
don't do something, it more than likely won't happen .... I've been
waiting for 'em to get here for 17 years now ..... I don't plan
letting it fail due to complacency! The worst thing is that anything
I organise in Melbourne can't happen until early Feb due to way too
much to do at work until then ..... but that won't stop me from
getting thing started at least!

>         On the topic of a HW appreciation night - what are some
>         thaughts on this? I'm VERY interested in organising one of
>        these (most of my parties are HW appreciation nights, so this
>        is realy just one on a bigger scale, I guess). The purpose is to
>        raise money or publicity?
>        Or both?

Both .... there's no argument that HW would lose money if they toured
Oz out of their own pockets, so any funds that can help pay for it
will make the decision so much easier for them. On the other hand,
they haven't been distributed locally here for years, so have *no*
idea what their market is from import CD sales ..... this is one way
to get some feel for their popularity!

>         This may be a little pre-emptive, but a few comments about a
>         venue.
>        Would outdoor or indoor be better? I'm thinking of outdoor,
>        perhaps at the Woodford Folk Festival site (if anyone knows
>        of this), as I know a chap that's involved in running it. I'm not
>        sure of indoor venues.

I tend to favour indoor events for the appreciation nights ... unless
we can round up some *good* HW cover bands, which might not be that
easy. Something like an alternative theatre may be better than a club
.... but I'm still thinking/talking to folk about this. Any ideas are welcome.

>         Anyway, I'll start putting some adds on the radio station
>         around here soon etc etc.

I've been thinking along the lines of putting some public notices in
the entertainment pages of the papers, as well as on the community
radio stations and stuff to get "expressions of interest" and so ....
first I have to get a PO Box though ... no wy am I giving out my
address to the General Public!!!

>         Oh, and sorry to the non-Australian people on the list, but
>         as you may well be able to imagine, we're all in a fairly heady
>        euphoric state at the moment (well, I am at least...)

Don't panic .... it's probably a refreshing cahnage from our usual
moaning about them never coming here ;^)))

Seriously though, we could probably make this private email from now
on, and just put some updates out to BOC-L as things get happening.

Paul
--
"If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research,
 would it?"                                       - Albert Einstein

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