HW: Brighton

[Krishne]

Excellent gig tonight. First and only time I'll be able to catch them this
tour. I was a little apprehensive, some of the on-list comments re.
previous dates were lukewarm, and the setlist had a rather familiar look
about it, but this gig definitely exceeded expectations. Concorde 2 must
be the smallest place I've seen the band play I think, certainly the
smallest stage- it looked a bit cramped up there, but the lightshow and
projections worked a treat in such a confined space. Very up-for-it
crowd too.

Line-up was DB/Alan/Rich/Tim, plus Arthur Brown. No Huw, no
Simon- dunno what the story is. Anyway they didn't *sound* short-
staffed and Tim did a great job, playing synth as more of a lead
instrument than usual. I still don't like his solo stuff but he's playing well
in HW. Arthur Brown is a born entertainer, excellent singer, and even
seems to have learnt the words now. The 2 Arthur Brown numbers were
OK, but didn't really sound at home in the set IMHO. But interesting to
see HW try something completely different, although it does seem an odd
move. Even more surprising was the new mid-section in Hassan I
Sabbah, with all manner of programmed drum wizardry taking it into
trance techno territory- maybe not everyone's taste but I loved it. When
you see the same old songs appearing on the setlists, you tend to forget
how much these old faves can mutate from tour to tour.

It took a while for them to completely hit their stride, but things seem to
take off with Lighthouse (not normally one of my favourites but hypnotic
and cool tonight), then a blinding rendition of  The Watcher, which really
slinks along evilly these days. The absolute highlight: You Shouldn't Do
That, with the Seeing It As You Really Are coda and a snatch of what
might just be a (gasp) new song to round it off. You Shouldn't Do That is
one of the ultimate HW songs, but the only time I've heard it live before
now was at the Brixton Hawkestra. It was just brutal tonight, astonishing,
and mixed with the barrage of strobes to truly mind-altering effect.

So- overall a very good gig, perhaps not one of the very greatest but
certainly there were some serious highlights in there. Enjoy
Walthamstow, those who are going.
--
Nick Medford