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Festival Music
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The "honor" of opening the Strange Daze '97
Festival went to Gaia Avatara. Flute, drums and haunting
vocals got the first day off to a gentle, although late
start - due to some unfortunate, minor, glitches in
the sound system that shortened their already too short
set. Next came Red Giant, a young, energetic, band playing
rock & roll with excellent, choppy, guitar. The
third band, Nucleon, was more a rock band than a space
band. Since we were late in arriving, we took this time
to set up and get all of our recording gear together.
When ST37 hit the stage, we were set up. This Texas
band was pretty good, better than their 6 yr old CD
'Invisible College'. A bit noisy, a bit clashing at
times rather than melodic, still a pretty decent set
by a large band (maybe 6-7 folks on stage). Managed
to pick up their CD for $8 after the show.
Next was Architectural Metaphor. Except for Nik and
HW, this band was the highlight of the weekend for me.
Their live set was dripping with the styles of Ash Ra
Temple and the like, with liquid guitar solos, and haunting
vocals from the percussionist. This trio is absolutely
incredible. Catch them if you get a chance, they are
better than they have ever been. Their cover of "Golden
Void" is one of the best covers by any band, of
any HW tune.
Next came F/i. They walked on-stage, and stated that
it had been a long hard trip to get to the festival,
and that they'd blown their engine on the long drive
from Wisconsin. Still, they cranked it up and cooked.
Definitely another great band to watch. Heavier space
rock with lots of bubbling whooshes. I could be losing
it, but I seem to recall a longhaired, bearded blonde
fellow in a bright orange jacket playing an electric
cello! This fellow was up all night that night :-) as
best as I can tell, since the F/i and ArcMet tents were
right near ours. I made sure to pick up their CD, and
found it even better then the live set (then again,
maybe I just wasn't familiar with their songs). Their
new CD is called "Helioscopium", a terrific
collection of space rock.
Then, "THE MAN". Nik Turner, backed by Far-Flung
with special guest guitarist Steve Taylor (from Sun
Machine). The most incredible Nik show I've ever seen
or heard (since he went solo). This man has not had
a band as good as these guys since he left HW! Nik poured
a tremendous amount of energy into his performance and
his vocals, and the band turned on a dime right with
him. Nik had broken his leg earlier in the week (rumor
was a motorcycle accident), and arrived on crutches
that afternoon. He moved slow, and plopped down on the
grass to speak to visitors and watch the earlier shows
when he got there. Nik's head is now clean shaven. Not
a good sign about the leg.
Soooo, the roadies came up with an alternate solution
for the show...
A large black box with a cloth over it was brought
out and placed in the center of the stage, right near
the mic. A spaceman dressed in white with glowing white
X-mas tree lights all over him came flowing out onto
the stage (this is Scotty the HW light man), and the
music built up into a proper intro. Then, Nik came out
of the box wearing a tan colored rubber suit with long
rubber spikes protruding from it in all directions!
The spaceman continued to dance, and was joined by a
black robed, alien masked figure wearing a glow-stick
around the neck. Together with the 5 band members plus
Nik himself, as well as a flame blower lurking at the
rear of the stage, there were 9 folks on stage several
times during the show! The songs were all great, with
a tremendous amount of energy from both the band and
especially Nik. The usual Hawkwind tunes showed up,
including Watching the Grass Grow, Dragon Rider (GREAT!),
Ejection, Master of the Universe, and Shouldn't Do That.
The show ran from 10 PM until midnight without a break.
Lots of smiles all around, some solo flute from Nik,
at least 4 or 5 songs from Far Flung's last two CDs
also found their way into the mix. The Far Flung sound
is that heavy space rock sludge played in a very fluid
manner, with loud guitars in a not-complex liquid pattern,
with a fast tempo where you just can't stop bouncing.
Tommy Grenas was laid out over a bank of MOOG synths,
and played almost no guitar. Steve Taylor was front
and center for the leads, although this band is a jamming
band rather than center-solo type of music.
Nik Turner's show revealed him in PEAK performance.
Even with a broken leg (two toes, actually) even in
his late fifties (older than Dave), even with a backup
band that was swapped at the last minute for a different
backup band, Nik was absolutely incredible.
DAY 2 OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE SPACEROCK FESTIVAL
EVER
The morning opened up with Bionaut, apparently a synth
based offshoot of ArcMet.This was mellow, pleasing music,
just what was needed to wake the folks up gently.
Next came Nick Riff. Not my style really, more of a
pop singer with a rock backup band. His tunes were nice
and catchy, and I caught myself singing along with them
before his set was done. (that is usually a *bad* thing
for me).
Melting Euphoria was a band I really wanted to see.
Their first two albums are incredible Ozric like space
synth jamming and Form an American band no less! The
third album didn't do much for me, but there is a brand
new one just out in the last two weeks that may be different.
I didn't know what to expect really. M.E. came on as
a four piece, with 2 guitars + drums + synth. This band
really rocked out, with much less apparent synth than
appears on their polished production CDs. Unfortunately,
they hadn't played more than 20 mins.. when a rain came
down that caused them to stop. When the rain let up,
they were able to play maybe another 10-15 mins.., but
this just wasn't enough to do justice to this excellent
band.
Born To Go came out. Their lead singer was an English
fellow, who rapped with the audience a bit before and
between songs. Their attitude is definitely in the right
place. IMHO the music needs more of a synth sound, or
more tonality in the lead guitar perhaps, but the lyrics
are dead on Sci-Fi / technology stuff. Their influences
are good ones. Born To Go also deserves credit for having
been a vocal proponent on the net for the Strange Daze
fest. (I forgot to get my free drink from the lead singer
following their set. They did a song called "Kill
-9", and the singer offered a "..free drink
at the bar for anyone who knows what this means!".
I knew those years of college would amount to something!)
Quarkspace was a band I missed seeing, although they
sounded pretty good from where I sat out their set.
They had a more complex, structured sound, with numerous
layered instruments, kind of mid tempo. I kept wishing
could get up and go see this band I was hearing, but
my tent was full of partying people at that moment so
I missed out.
Alien Planetscapes came out and seemed to do a similar
set to the one they'd used Friday night when they also
opened for HW. Their sound is really good, with a good
mix of synths and guitars with other instruments for
accent.
HAWKWIND
They have done it again. Hawkwind has a new sound, and
it is great! The addition of Jerry Richards on guitar
and Ron Tree now on bass has pumped a fast-paced jamming-oriented
rock sensibility into this band. No more long synth
excursions, tunes from here on out are going to be hard
crunchers and pounding jams!
Ron was shirtless, covered in red paint, with two glowing
stars on antennae above his head. He is playing an ancient
Gibson bass, a monster of a guitar, center stage. Jerry
Richard is on the left side, wearing the black glow-in-the-dark
HW T-shirt for this tour. He has black hair and a short
trimmed goatee. He *does* look just like Tony Iommi,
except for a little around the eyes. Dave Brock was
on the right, behind his keyboards, his axe sitting
on a stand beside him. Richard was hiding in the distant
back of the stage, and I saw little of him.
The Hawks opened with one of the new songs, I believe
it is called "The Wheel". Unlike the never-quite-gelled
version from NYC on Friday, tonight this song coalesced
into a fast tight construction from an almost ambient
beginning. Something to look forward to on the new album.
Jerry and Ron are now a driving energy in this band.
More good stuff all around. As I knew the show was being
recorded I didn't bother to keep a set list. I remember
hearing Assassins of Allah with the Space is Your Pal
middle section. Also, there were several new songs in
there somewhere (don't remember any names I'd heard
them called).
Captain Rizz joined HW on stage for several songs.
One great moment that worked better here than in NYC
was an antiestablishment dub chant that Rizz did over
a new HW tune in the background. I'd like to have heard
Dave or Ron sing it instead, but my guess is that Captain
Rizz may make an appearance on the next HW album...???
The big question was whether Dave would allow Nik to
come on-stage during the HW set. So it was actually
a happy surprise when Dave mentioned early on in the
set that Captain Rizz would guest tonight, and that
"...a little later we might wheel Nik Turner up
here.." or something like that. Well, they jammed
hard. Nik joined them, and then sat out a song. Then
Nik joined them again, and played more sax. Then, they
played a new song which Nik didn't know, but Nik tried
to keep up thereby earning himself some strong looks
from Dave but Nik just smiled throughout.
On the next song Nik played sax very loud and up front
and when the band attempted to bring the song to an
end after 5 or 6 minutes old Captain Nik wanted to keep
playing. He went into a big solo and thus forced the
band into extending the song a bit more. Finally, the
end of the set and the single encore, which I believe
included "Ejection". The band wrapped it up,
promised to come back in the future, and split.
The crowd chanted for 10 minutes, then the roadies
came out and started tearing down the stage. At the
first sign of the crowd's disappointment at not getting
a second encore, Nik Turner appeared at center stage
wearing his sax. He broke into one of those little ditties
that he does, and the crowd started cheering. When he
finished, he played another one. Then, he took a request
to play "Master of the Universe" I think it
was, which he proceeded to do for 10 min. By now the
sweat was dripping off of him, and a mic had been brought
out for his sax. Meanwhile the roadies continued to
do their work right behind him, and all stage lights
were on. Finally, Nik played a last tune and called
it a night. Total time for HW was around 90 min. including
the encore and Nik played another 30 min after that.
Summing it Up...
Summing it up, Hawkwind has a great new sound that
pumps more energy into the band. Their new album is
looking really good, based on the live shows. Nik clearly
knows what it is that the people want, and he wants
to give it to them. Nik is a master showman, whereas
Dave continues to focus on the music first, in a structured
format. Hawkwind now have a heavier sound than they've
had in many years. Jerry Richards plays fast and furious,
as does Ron on bass. The new songs are going to be more
jam-oriented than any Brock has written in quite a while.
The future is glorious...!
The entire festival went off on schedule, with all
bands starting and stopping close to the published time.
There was absolutely no police or security presence
at the fest, just a lot of well behaved hippies having
a tripping good time. I witnessed not a single fight,
there was a food stand selling (ONLY) veggie burgers
and tea, there was a real bar selling booze and beer,
and you could buy a wheelbarrow full of wood for a campfire
for the measly fee of $5.
The weather was warm during the day, with a brief rain
shower on Sat morn and late Sat afternoon, and wet fog
on Sat night. Temp seemed to drop into the low 50s F
(maybe hi 40s?). Most bands camped out at the festival,
and the guy on stage was frequently the guy standing
next to you when the next band came on.
Band members from all bands appeared accessible throughout
the event. HW arrived late in the day on Saturday, and
were seen walking around the area checking things out.
Supposedly Dave wandered past each and every campsite,
to see what was up and how things were. My guess is
that he was impressed by the American take on throwing
a camp out hippie festival. Dave is reported to have
volunteered to come back again and play future Strange
Daze type festivals, if they become regular events.
On Saturday afternoon a Militant Nudist on Acid was
spotted yelling and ranting "Take off your clothes.
You must be free!". He was tripping VERY hard,
and (from earlier discussions) appeared to be a nudist
down for the camping, without any background on Hawkwind.
Reportedly he ran up to Dave during his wandering, until
Dave was able to escape him. Eventually this fellow's
girlfriend showed up, calmed him down and dressed him,
and tucked him away in their tent.
There was a large bonfire and drum circle on Saturday
night following the Nikwind show and another on Sunday
night. Naked pagans and stoned hippies clustered around
the "wooden Stonehenge" area where the huge
fire was burning, trying to warm themselves and dance
out their trips. Drumplay from Cleveland started it
off . Way cool, with several HW members observing.
There were at least 4 video cameras going at all times,
and scattered tape recorders all over the place. Absolutely
no effort was made to restrict any recording of any
kind at the festival. There was a large truck containing
a 24-track recorder dubbing the Hawkwind set, and probably
the entire show. Good chance that there might be a CD
coming out of this event.
I never did see the fellow giving away copies of the
"Space Rock Manifesto" which I'd heard advertised.
Wonder what that was about..? Bob Lennon was distributing
copies of Hawk-U.S. #6, which came with a floppy containing
a dozen JPEGs of HW from the 1995 tour (I believe) and
a small color photo of a freaky looking space rock terrarium.
I picked up a 'zine called "The Hipster" that
contained an interview with Dave Brock this past winter.
The new HW album has been completed and mixed, except
for one song and finishing the artwork. I didn't get
a title, but the band played a tape of it to some of
the folks at Lascko's house following the Ohio show.
The release date is supposedly in October '97.
Thanks to all the great folks that I met during the
festival. You know who you are!
-Captain Cloud
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