HW: Canterbury

[Nick Medford]

In message <002201c128d5$b5c339a0$ece52ac2 at wznhfnxm>, Moonglum
<moonglum at DREAMWORKER.CO.UK> writes
>Set list is about right.  Great gig, on a par with Croydon for me, others
>thought "best ever"

Definitely up there among the best. The line-up of
DB/Huw/Alan/Simon/Rich, plus Keith, felt like the most authentic HW I'd
seen for some time. Didn't honestly miss those who weren't there (no Jez or-
hurrah!- Rizz in addition to the rather more noteworthy absences of Ron
and Jerry) which is not to do them down but just a reflection of how well
the band played. The intensely powerful sound of recent times was
augmented by Huw, who played a blinder- forget his Brixton nightmare, he
was great- the guitar sound a little less metal than of yore, mixing with the
music better than in the past I thought. Huw was HW through-and-through
last night, making matey asides to the crowd, wisecracking to Alan and
generally looking like he'd never been away.

Only time I missed Ron was on Spirit of the Age which was just about the
only number not to catch fire i.e. it was merely good when all else was
great. Best ever versions of Levitation, Solitary Mind Games (now a 10
minute epic with plenty of jamming), Ejection, and Silver Machine with
Arthur Brown's irresistible showmanship- and voice- bringing the house
down. No new material whatsoever- nothing post-'82- which presumably
reflects Huw's unfamiliarity with more recent stuff, but some of the set
changes may well be here to stay... especially *if* the line-up has changed
more than we all thought...

Other memories of the day: Great setting, laid-back atmosphere, intriguing
to finally put some faces to boc-l names. Was a bit disppointed to miss
Osibisa who sounded interesting. Then again, I was sure I was gonna like
Caravan after all I'd read about them- and I didn't, not at all. Occasionally
they sounded exciting but mostly they were complex-but-bland bad prog
mixed with unpleasant AOR vocals- apologies to caravan fans on the list.
Porcupine Tree were good, although Arthur Brown introduced them by
saying they were going to play a few familiar songs but also try "an
experiment"- whatever the experiment was I missed it, as it was basically the
same set as the recent tour with a different running order and a few numbers
omitted (no acoustic set thankfully). Highlights for me were 'Tinto Brass'
and 'Up The Downstair', was it just my imagination or was Steve Wilson
upset about something- he had an unnecessarily prissy go at people who
were shouting for songs and generally looked a bit fed up by the end, and
the predictable 'Radioactive Toy'  encore was going-through-the-motions
stuff.

But who cares- it was Hawkwind's night. I see there is already (!) a neo-
quark tree but will anything official be forthcoming?

--
Nick Medford