HW: Hawkwind news/SD'99

[Keith Henderson]

Chuck asked...

>In a message dated 99-08-20 09:35:33 EDT, you write:
>
><< Nik Turner is currently on
> tour on the West Coast of America >>
>
>---No kidding?? Well, I know he's at Strange Daze at the moment...are he and
>Farflung coming out west after that?? Please, just one L.A. date!

Well, there were *supposed* to be west coast dates prior to those in this
part of the country, but they were cancelled because Nik thought he had some
commitments in the UK to honor then.  As it turned out, he ended up being
'free' all of last week, and regretted having to tell Tommy to nix 'em.

So there were three shows...Illinois, SD'99, and the post-SD'99 party in
Lakewood, OH last night (I think I was the only listmember there?).  I think
Nik goes to Chicago today to return to the UK, but Farflung is flying back
to LA tomorrow from Pittsburgh (hence the show there tonight).  So don't
expect to see Nik tonight!

Anyway, the show last night was excellent!!!  45 min. of Anubian Lights, 45
min. of Pressurehed, and 90 min. of Hawkwind tunes (as Dan said).  I didn't
expect to go to this show as I knew I would be burned out already, but I
*had* to, because I have absolutely no recollection of Saturday night's show
whatsoever (despite being 'awake' and vertical the entire time).  Somebody
said something about dancing alien girls on stage...I have no clue what he
was talking about.  I vaguely remember Scott Kuti coming out as the Spaceman
again, but I probably remember that more from a similar appearance last year
with Pressurehed.  That'll teach me to mix rum and space rock!!  (I *do*
remember yelling out 'D-Rider' during Nik's solo jam, and being surprised
that he said, 'We've already done that one'.  I thought, What?  Really?
Damn, I missed it!!  What else did they play?  That was the beginning of my
return to active consciousness!  Thankfully I was mostly aware of Canis
Minor's excellent trance out in the tent, but it wasn't until Bob L. nudged
me that I realized Nik was playing with them as well.)

And nothing but 'Free Fall' came back to me upon seeing the show again.

Anyway, what a near tragedy since my brain virtually missed the SD show
entirely! I'd only seen Nik on the '94 tour here in Columbus, a terrible gig
mainly due to the abysmal sound.  But last night was stellar.  D-Rider just
rules.  And Free Fall...how cool was that??  Note:  Tommy did the vocals,
not Nik...and he did them straight from Calvert's performance on Sonic
Assassins EP. And he did them very well!  Nik played flute bits here and there.

Oh, I'll come back with a full review later.  I'm going through multiple
aspects of withdrawl right now.  (Normally, I'm a rather well-behaved
type...I'm not quite sure what happened!?)  :)

Hello to everyone I met (again).  And sorry for those who I didn't.  (Larry,
man, I apologize profusely for not tracking you down after your excellent
set.  I went into the pool just then, and couldn't find you afterwards.)

Oh, and this was better IMHO than SD'98.  Fewer people, but a stronger
community feel, NO DOUBT.

Keith H. (FAA)