Incase of Sonic Attack...
Manchester Academy 2 Monday 20/12/04
Hawkwind have been around for aeons, the original pioneers of space rock & all round general electronic weirdness they have released a ridiculous number of albums, had a number 3 hit single & more band members than the average crowd at Albion Rovers! Members come & go but for the last few years have centered around the nucleus of vocalist & guitarist Dave Brock (only surviving original member), bassist Alan Davey & drummer Richard Chadwick.
According to the flyers tonight is billed as a ‘Christmas Spectacular’, my head races with thoughts of special guests, long lost tracks unearthed & a mind-blowing lightshow! Alas only one of the three materialises; the lights are good as always, mixing projections with oil lamps & the regular lights all helps to create the unique atmosphere at a Hawkwind gig. There are no real surprises in the set, no special guests (unless you count long time Spacehead associate Mr Dibs!) & they finish 20 minutes early after a two song encore at the start of which Chadwick promises us “this is where the fun begins”. Fun it was with the slightly comical ‘Brainbox Pollution’ (think Chas & Dave on acid!) & the full-length version of ‘Masters of the Universe’, it’s just a pity it didn’t last longer.
There is plenty of new material throughout the set tonight & on first impressions it bodes well for the new album. Of most interest is ‘Ode to a Time Flower’ which is basically the current line up providing backing to a recording of ex-vocalist Bob Calvert (who died in 1988). Somewhat reminiscent of ‘War of the Worlds’ it was a little strange to hear Calvert fronting the Hawks again!
It takes a few songs for Hawkwind to warm up tonight & this isn’t helped by the low level of sound, Hawkwind are one of those bands that sound better the louder they are. There is a good sized audience tonight with a mixture of ages & for those new to the whole Hawkwind experience they are given a nice mix of old songs to further whet the appetite. By the time they get to the classic monster that is ‘Brainstorm’ both the crowd & the band are on the same wavelength & it is undoubtedly the highlight of the set, a thumping driving rhythm layered with the now familiar swooshes, bleeps & accompanying frenzied lightshow. Good stuff indeed.
Having seen Hawkwind many, many times over the years I have to say this wasn’t one of the best gigs but even a mediocre Hawkwind gig is still pretty good! Good, but not great.
Set List:
Spirit of the Age
Sword of the East
?
Psychedelic Warlords
Uncle Sam’s on Mars
?
Digital Nations
Assassins of Allah
Angles of Death
Ode to a Time flower (Bob Calvert voice over)
To Love A Machine
10th Second of Forever
Angela Android
Brainstorm
Brainbox Pollution
Masters of the Universe