Greatest live experiences

[christmu@eunet.no]

Ye Wild Oyster and Delerious Hawk Folke,
Having pondered a good long while, I thought I'd jam together something of
a set of reviews of various live performances which have left a lasting
impression on my mind over the years. Yes, I've included my second Hawkwind
show so far, so its still actually dangerously on-topic stuff, kids.
Anyway, here goes anything.....

When I saw Voivod play Oslo in 98, it was quite an awesome experience. The
guitarist Piggy played guitar with a raygun! Strangely enough I remember
moshing to Voivod's version of "Astronomy Domine", the Syd Barrett classic,
sorta getting violent with this dude whom I'd previously met at some other
show (Cathedral or Kyuss or... I can't remember). Anyway, I bought the
"Phobos" CD and a Voivod shirt off the drummer Away after the show, who
otherwise proved to be a talkative fellow. Some local blackmetal band
opened the show, they were okay, but Voivod were insane. It was a great
night and I didn't get too hammered.

I first saw Motorhead at the Stone Pony in '94, and the main event of the
night must be when my girlfriend at the time managed to get up on the stage
and kiss Sebastian Bach of Skid Row who was guesting with the band. At
first it irked me abit, but afterwards I kinda thought it was cool because
I assumed Sebastian Bach must have been one of her teen heroes as she was a
big metalhead. I'd even gotten her to mooch an autograph off Lemmy who was
playing pinball and chatting with fans before the show, and I managed to
ask him a couple of questions which he evasively answered. I must have seen
Motorhead at least 5-6 times since, and I have to say as far as shows go it
sticks in my head mostly as a "romantic" evening (the band weren't as fast
and loud that night as they've been at other shows since I've seen em,
nothing like that current superfast robotic drummer!)

When I witnessed the mighty Hawkwind play the Limelight in New York in
1995, I brought my friend and previous landlord Larry along. My girlfriend
at the time couldn't come along so just us two took the the bus to the city
out of New Jersey. We finally made it to The Limelight, and I managed to
pick up a couple of tour posters. One poster had a band lineup including
"Ron Bastard" who I had no idea was. I soon found out after a bunch of
ragtag acid jam and progrock bands opened as the band's then new singer Ron
Bastard burst on the stage wearing a psychedelic lab coat and blurting out
"Master of The Universe" at breakneck speed. It was a kickass energetic set
which lasted for a good hour and a half, though we mostly sat up in the
rafters smoking pot. The band closed with the jamming "LSD" and another
mindblowing experience had been exercised on the mind.

When I saw The Legendary Pink Dots play Oslo in 97 I went by myself because
nobody I tried inviting wanted to come along. It was an amazing show which
really surprised me as I'd never heard them before, it was a truly
psychedelic experience. Nothing like it since Hawkwind 91. Anyway I managed
to get way up front so I could zone out to the lightshow. The barefooted
Edward Ka-Spel's feet really stunk and he was really sweating out the
lyrics. I didn't know any of the songs but it kicked ass nonetheless. The
high point of the night had to be the song about Y2K (don't know which
album its on) which was very theatrically performed. The opening one-man
band featuring the drummer Ryan Moore was so over the top bizarre I almost
had multiple acid flashbacks. I left the venue after the show in a very
elated haze and have since become something of a fan I suppose.

I've been to tons of shows over the last decade or so but they have to be
some of my more memorable ones. (I usually write better written CD reviews
for space/psych zine Aural Innovations and local underground paper
Gateavisa here in Norway).  I originally posted these reviews to the
Legendary Pink Dots list, so now BOC-L got their second coming... If
there's a question, I guess it would be if BOC-L'ers could relive their
favorite live show experiences/moments,  what would they be?

Chr.

ObCD: Turbonegro tribute - Alpha Motherfuckers (still!)

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