OFF: Nektar/Brainticket/Huw shows

[Elipxr5]

Tour spoiler alert. Don't read further if you don't want show details. As an all out space rock freak I couldn't help but love last night's show at B.B.'s. The crowd was respectable, but not quite a full house. Jim Lascko of Strange Daze fame handled the light show, and had obviously put a lot of work into loading lots of Nektar iconography (album covers,graphics,logos) into his visual library. The light show ran for all the bands, but was stylistically different for each act, with lots of Egyptian themed visuals for Brainticket. Huw Lloyd Langton was on first, and played an all too brief 35 minute set, solo acoustic. He did a bit of between song banter, and seemed to be trying to assess whether anyone knew who he was, or who Hawkwind was. The crowd let him know they were well aware. He played and sang great. Songs included War Is The Hobby Here, Rollin' and Tumblin' (since we were in a "blues" club), Hurry on Sundown, and in answer to my shout out a great rendition of Rocky Paths. I'm sure I'll think of a few others later. After a very short break, Brainticket was up. Joining original member Joel Vandroogenbroek, (not totally sure on that spelling) were Tommy Grenas on bass, and Len Del Rio on keys and synths of Pressurehed, Farflung, Nik Turner's U.S. Space Ritual band, Anubian Lights, The Brain and others. It was great to see these guys again, as I've always really enjoyed their brand of space rock. They were augmented by the current drummer and lead guitarist of Farflung, who's names I don't know. They were fronted by female vocalist Abby Travis from L.A., who provided lovely chanteuse style vocalizing against the spacey sounds of the guys. She had two costumes, one based on Egyptian ceremonial garb, and one more like as Asian courtesan complete with Peacock feather headress. She has a great stage presence, and a voice powerful enough to rise above the wail of the cosmic sounds of Joel and the band. Joel played synths, keys, sitar, and flute during the set. I'm not that familiar with their song titles, but I recognized material from Celestial Oceans and some other early material. Brainticket played a little under an hour. A DJ played lots of nice space rock between sets. Nektar came on at nine sharp and played until a quarter to eleven. The line up was Roye on guitar and vocals, Ron Howden on drums as always, Klaus Henatsch on keyboards, and brand new bassist Lux Vibratos, who is a member of helios Creed's band out of L.A. The new guy is a monster and totally had his parts down. In my opinion he's the best bassist Nektar's had since Mo Moore departed a few years back.The band sounded really good, although it had that first night of the tour vibe, and you can just tell this show will improve with repeated performances. I didn't take any notes but I do remember they played (in totally incorrect order) A Day In The Life of A Preacher, Kings of Twilight, Dream Nebula, Man in the Moon, Dr. Cool, Remember the Future Pt.1. I'm definitely leaving out some great tunes. I forgot what they opened with but it was a classic killer. The encore was a real treat, "Good Day." Nektar seems to be looking good in 2011, and I think the new line-up will satisfy the old fans. Roye seemed happy,excited, and very with it, and seems to still shine with talent. All in all a great night, a great tour, great music, great lights, and in my case great company..shouts to Cyndee,Jeff,the Finally Balanced crew,and the Stewarts. I'm heading out to Sellersville PA on Sunday to do it all again and I'm stoked. 





-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Henderson <khenders64 at YAHOO.COM>
To: BOC-L <BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET>
Sent: Wed, Aug 17, 2011 10:00 pm
Subject: OFF: Nektar/Brainticket/Huw shows


Hey...

Tonight was the opening night of the big US tour in NYC...Who went, and how did 
it go?  What did/How long did each act play?  etc.  Inquiring minds want to 
know...plan to make it to the Lancaster PA show this weekend.

Ciao...Keith H.  (back after a bit of a break...)