Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1977
Support Bethnal 
I saw Hawkwind twice in 1977; once at the Reading festival and at Newcastle City Hall on their annual tour. The band released Quark, Strangeness and Charm, which maintained their high standards, and I would rate as one of their best albums. Stand-out tracks for me are Spirit of the Age; Hassan I Sahba; and the title track, all of which became live favourites. The line-up was now Robert Calvert; Dave Brock; Simon House; Adrian Shaw and Simon King. Adrian Shaw replaced Paul Rudolph on bass, coming from the group Magic Muscle who had supported Hawkwind on the 1972 Space Ritual tour. This was the year of punk, and a very muddy Reading festival. 
There were a few traces of punk and new wave at Reading in the form of Wayne County (who was greeted by a hail of cans), Ultravox! and the Motors. But the majority of the line-up was classic rock: Aerosmith; the Sensational Alex Harvey Band; the Doobie Brothers; The Enid (who went down a storm); Frankie Miller; Golden Earring; and Uriah Heep. Thin Lizzy were massive at the time and headlined the event. Hawkwind appeared on the Sunday on a bill headlined by, I think, Alex Harvey. A month later and I saw Hawkwind again at the City Hall. This was a great show and the new songs were fast becoming favourites. Support came from Bethnal who were a new wave band that featured an electric violinist and were pretty good too. Setlist from Reading: Reefer Madness; Hassan I Sahba; The Forge of Vulcan; Brainstorm; Quark Strangeness and Charm; Steppenwolf; High Rise; Robot; Spirit of the Age; Damnation Alley; Uncle Sam’s on Mars; The Iron Dream
22 Feb
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