Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1976
Support Tiger with Big Jim Sullivan on guitar 
It was 1976 and Hawkwind were back on the road with a new album and a new show. Robert Calvert had rejoined the fold, after guesting at Reading in 1975, but Stacia had decided to give up dancing and take up family life. Paul Rudolph of the Pink Fairies was new on bass guitar duties, replacing Lemmy who had been sacked from the band. Paul himself wasn’t to be in the band for long. The new album was Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and the stand out track was Reefer Madness. I didn’t realise at the time that this song title came from an old anti-drugs film which I have seen quite recently on TV. The tour concept was Atomhenge which was a futuristic version of Stonehenge and shrouded the stage with a myriad of lights. “Throughout the show, thousands of light bulbs within the glass–fibre structure sprang to life, giving an eerie, almost menacing atmosphere onstage.” 
Calvert was in his element and took on several roles during the show, ranging from a Biggles-like airforce pilot, through a swordsman warrior to a character resembling Lawrence of Arabia. This was one of Hawkwind’s most memorable shows, and I saw it on my 20th birthday! Support came from Tiger who featured the legendary session man Bij Jim Sullivan on guitar. I was a fan of Big Jim from his performances on Tom Jones’ TV show. The band was to disintegrate soon after the tour, with the departure of Nik Turner, Alan Powell and Paul Rudolph, leaving Dave Brock and Bob Calvert at the nucleus of the band. Setlist (obtained from a bootleg of the Newcastle show): Reefer Madness; Paradox; Chronoglide Skyway; Hassan I Sahba; Brainstorm; Wind Of Change; Steppenwolf; Uncle Sams On Mars; Time For Sale; Back On The Streets; Sonic Attack; Kerb Crawler. Encore: Magnu; Master Of The Universe
21 Feb
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