HW: US Gigs

[Chris Raymond]

Hello, This is coming over a week late due to a bad case of influenza.
 I am writing a couple of notes pertaining to the Strange Daze
Weekend. I attended the Friday night Coney Island High gig, and had a
 nice time. I hope my comments do not contrast too much with
what was previously posted. The first band was Finally Balanced. They
were very good great lead guitar and spacey sounds. The next band was
the Bunny Brains. They were very crude, obnoxious, and basically the
whole set was just loud noise with lots of feedback and occasional
screaming. In short: I loved it! I could tell that most of the people
around me hated it. There was a man with a British accent that walked
out, saying he had never heard such rubbish in all his life. I told
myself _these guys are so bad, they are great_. The next band was Alien
Planetscapes; who were playing very complex songs with many different
styles. All three of these bands were very loud, my ears were hurting.
The stage was very small and Doug Walker could not even play from the
stage. I liked them a lot, but was hesitant to purchase their CD.
  When Hawkwind came on around midnight, it was sweltering in the club.
The club was packed with anxious fans. The sound in the beginning of the
set was terrible, very muddy and unclear. I could see that Jerry was
blasting away on his guitar, but could not hear him. Ron's bass was
louder than anybody else. By the end of the set, the sound was clear. I
did not write the set list down, but some of the songs were: The Wheel,
Golden Void, a full length Standing At The Edge (not abbreviated like at
Strange Daze) Sonic Attack, Assassins of Allah, Space Is Their
Palestine, Love In Space, Brainstorm, Reptile Vision, Blue Skin and
Ejection to name a few. I really liked their newer heavier sound. It was
a night to remember for sure. It was not my favorite Hawkwind
performance, but I chalked it up to the heat, the cramped space, hearing
impairment from the Bunny Brains etc. On Sunday afternoon at the
Festival, Dave and Richard walked by my campsite. I said hello and told
them that I saw them on Friday. Dave replied that they played below par
that night and that it was so hot that they could barely breathe back
there on the stage. I was relieved to hear that from him because I was
actually feeling guilty about not being blown away by the band. Looking
back though, it was an incredible experience that I will relish for
years to come. In a later post I will share a couple of thoughts about
the festival.
Chris