HW: Canterbury

[Alastair Lee Sumner]

Ok, for me this gig was one of the most enjoyable of all the HW gigs that
I've ever been to and I'm usually quite critical of HW gigs. I picked a
great position to stand, about 3 rows back dead center, and fought to keep
it all night. Where I was standing the sound was superb, best I've ever
heard.

My state of mind was clear as a bell and I was 'right there' for this gig,
and the Hawkwind sound was right in front of me with some of the best
contributors in the history of the band in my opinion.

The sound was tight and the band seemed fresh to me. Levitation and Magnu
were my highlights. I was 'in' those songs. I think all of the set was pre
1982.

The light show was fairly simple but very solid and colourful with some
cool oils and computer graphics. Wicked stuff!

>From my perspective it looked as if they were really enjoying themselves.
Some of the set seemed spontaneous with some jamming going on. After the
encore someone said that there was time for another and they came back on,
something I personally have never seen them do before, and played Ejection.
Ace!

The festival itself was not full but there was enough people there and many
were Hawkfans. There was no hostile atmosphere and many families were
there. I had a really good day. Top stuff!

I didn't care about the other bands, I was busy preparing myself for
Hawkwind. I'll have to listen to Porcupine Tree another time.

The only thing I disagree with is that Dave and Kris said goodnight to us.
I think that by then the others were hallucinating ;)

It wasn't a perfect gig, there were moments when the jamming seemed to
trail off and come to nothing. But all in all it was one of the most
memorable gigs I've been to and my first with other proper Hawkfans. Good
to see other people from the list to.

What a day,
Alastair.


On Sun, 19 Aug 2001 18:38:03 +0100, Moonglum <moonglum at DREAMWORKER.CO.UK>
wrote:

>Set list is about right.  Great gig, on a par with Croydon for me, others
>thought "best ever" - but we talked to one bloke who didn't rate it all.
We
>were right down the front & could hear Huw perfectly.  And Simon's violin -
>in fact the sound seemed to great to us, we all agreed it was maybe the
>clearest sound ever.
>
>The location was great, rolling green hills in every direction, good
>festival atmosphere, not too many people.  It rained on and off but even
>that was enjoyable when not too heavy.
>
>I talked to Keith Kniveton before the gig, and asked if Jerry would be
>playing.  He said "Jerry's not here tonight - and neither is Ron" in a way
>that made me think neither of them are in the band any more.  Pure
>speculation on my part, though!
>
>The band were firing on all cylinders, every single one of them played a
>blinder.  Dave's guitar was well to the fore and the version of Silver
>Machine was stunningly good.  Arthur Brown was superb -what a voice!- and I
>took about 15 photos....to follow, hopefully....
>
>Caravan were AOR.  Porcupine Tree were pretty good.  Missed all the other
>bands.
>
>We (Mooongluum/Steve, Linuxchaos/Ben, Ormuzd/Nick, Electronic_No1/Ali) had
>the pleasure of meeting other list members like Jill, JJ, Colm.  And as we
>waited for a taxi afterwards, Dave and Kris drove out & said goodbye to us.
>The whole thing was utterly brilliant!
>
>Steve
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Dave Bottomley <merlinas at DIRCON.CO.UK>
>To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
>Sent: 19 August 2001 14:43
>Subject: HW: Canterbury
>
>
>> For those that couldn't be there, some quick Canterbury thoughts:
>>
>> Thoroughly enjoyable day & HW set. Sound not always perfect - sometimes
>hard
>> to hear Huw - but a lively performance.
>>
>> Surprise no 1 - No Jerry
>> Surprise no 2 - No Ron
>> Surprise no 3 - 5th Second of Forever as set opener
>>
>> Line-up: Brock/Chadwick/Davey/Lloyd-Langton/Kniveton/House (+ Arthur
>Brown)
>>
>> Set-list:
>> 5th Second of Forever (!!!!)
>> Levitation
>> Spiral Galaxy 28948
>> Solitary Mind Games
>> Angels of Death
>> Spirit of the Age
>> Magnu/Dust of Time
>> Motorway City
>> Hurry on Sundown
>> Assassins of Allah/Space is Their
>> Silver Machine (w/ Arthur Brown)
>>
>> Encore 1:
>> Assault & Battery
>> Golden Void
>>
>> Encore 2:
>> Ejection
>>
>> Feels like it's 1982.......... ;@)
>>
>> Approx. 1hr 45mins
>>
>> My recollection of the song order between AoD & Assassins may be somewhat
>> unreliable.......
>>
>> Have I missed anything?
>>
>> Anyone know the score with Ron & Jerry? Was it simply that they couldn't
>> make it yesterday or is there more to it?
>>
>> Dave
>>