Northern Kin Festival has been running for several years now. From the website: “created by a dedicated team of live music enthusiasts, determined to bring more live music to the North East, and a festival that truly represents this wonderful area, Northern Kin is perfect for lovers of Folk, Blues, Rock, Ska, Punk, Pop, Prog, Indie, Soul and much more, with an eclectic mix of the finest live music and a few musical surprises thrown in for good measure. There’ll be more than 40 bands and artists on 3 big stages, with lots of things to see and do, all in a beautiful rural setting, that is completely secure for all campers and a friendly atmosphere, for all ages.”
I attempted to go to the festival last year, but we arrived at the site only to be told that it was very muddy, and they advised us not to try and enter as they were having to tow cars out of the mud with tractors! The organisers kindly refunded our money. This year Kin Festival moved to a new site and one of my favourite bands of all time, Hawkwind were headlining Stage Two of the event. The Waterboys, another favourite band of mine were headlining Stage One so sadly I had to choose between the two bands. I decided to follow my long-time heroes Hawkwind and head for Stage Two.
The walk from the taxi drop off point to the festival tents was quite long and bumpy, but nonetheless Jan and I soon located the tent which housed Stage Two. We had timed our arrival to catch Hawkwind. Luckily for us we were soon up on the wheelchair platform and in time to see some of Cast’s set.
Cast were formed in Liverpool in 1992 by John Power (vocals, guitar) and Peter Wilkinson (bass) after Power left The La’s and Wilkinson’s former band Shack had split. Now I regret never having seen The La’s as I love their song “There She Goes” so to catch their descendant band Cast was a bonus. Indeed, Noel Gallagher of Oasis once described watching Cast live as being like a “religious experience” (from Wikipedia). Cast sounded really good, with the obligatory Liverpool twang.
Anyway, after a short break, Hawkwind took to the stage. Now, Hawkwind were one of my favourite bands in the early 70s. I have seen them many times over the years from the days, before they hit the charts with “Silver Machine”, and Stacia danced naked with them on stage. Recent Hawkwind publicity material guides us through their complex history: “One of England’s most enduring hard rock bands, Hawkwind were formed in London during the late ’60s, just as art rock was coming into its own. Though lesser known than contemporaries like Pink Floyd, the band is widely hailed as one of space rock’s early pioneers, thanks to seminal albums like 1973’s live opus Space Ritual.
Their potent mix of psychedelia, prog, straight-ahead hard rock, and lyrics steeped in science fiction — particularly the themes and imagery of author Michael Moorcock, who also became a member at various points — and drug effects helped define Hawkwind and separate them from the competition. The group’s history has been marked by a series of confusing lineup changes, as members began an almost revolving-door relationship with the band virtually from the outset. Throughout their many decades and incarnations, founding guitarist Dave Brock has remained Hawkwind’s chief steward, while notable players like Lemmy and Ginger Baker have also enjoyed stints with the band.”
As you will have gathered from the above, the line-up has changed many, many times over the years, the one constant being bandleader Dave Brock. Well, Captain Brock led his family through a selection of Hawkwind tracks old and new including favourites: “Spirit of the Age”, “Spirit of the Age” and “Silver Machine”. This was a very different Hawkwind to the one I witnessed only a few months earlier at Newcastle City Hall. On that occasion Dave Brock took a backseat in some of the songs and was not present for the encore (I believe it was said that he was backstage having a cup of tea). They also did not perform “Silver Machine” that night, so I was delighted to see it return to the set this time. Also, Dave Brock was very much up front leading the band through a classic Hawkwind performance, like only they can deliver at a festival. The light show was outstanding, and the choice of songs was also excellent.
Getting back to our taxi was something of an adventure. The ground had obviously been muddy earlier in the weekend and Jan and I bounced our way over bumpy terrain and rocks which made the journey across the fields somewhat scary. We even had two strong guys holding each side of my wheelchair to make sure I didn’t topple over! Nonetheless, nothing could spoil a great event with another opportunity to see one of my all-time favourite bands. Roll on Kin 2025.
Many thanks to Jan for the photographs, for braving the bumpy ride across the site with me and Chris for manipulating the site.
Hawkwind Setlist: Arrival in Utopia; Frozen in Time; Lost Chances; Underwater City; Assault and Battery; The Golden Void; Levitation; Contemplation; Psi Power; Spirit of the Age; Silver Machine
The evening started with a massive and welcome surprise. Jackie, my carer for the evening, enquired of the steward “what time does the concert finish and is there a support act?” I was so pleased and surprised when she returned and said “there is a support act and they are called 
Man continued through various line – up changes, the one constant being the excellent guitarist Micky Jones. When Micky sadly passed away, his son George took on the mantle of lead guitarist and the band continued with original bass player Martin Ace and long-time keyboard player Phil Ryan. I saw this version of the band at the New Roscoe pub in Leeds and they were excellent.
Somewhere along the road, there was a split in the band. Bass player Martin Ace continued his version of the band, inheriting the name Man while Micky Jones’ son George Jones formed his own version of the band Son of Man. Confusing or what! And it was this band, the one and only Son of Man, who were supporting 
George has assembled a great band around his fantastic guitar playing, including an excellent vocalist. They played music from their latest album and also some Man favourites including “Spunk Rock” and “Bananas” which has the amazing lyric: “I like bananas, because they’ve got no bones; I like marijuana, because it gets me stoned”. He even mentioned that the last time one of the songs was played in the City Hall was when Man performed there alongside John Cipollina from the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service. I remember that particular concert well! And you can probably find a review on my blog somewhere. A great start to the evening.
Could things get better? Yes of course they could. Hawkwind were also one of my favourite bands in the early 70s. I have seen them many times over the years from the days, before they hit the charts with “Silver Machine”, and Stacia danced naked with them on stage. The current tour publicity material guides us through the complex history of Hawkwind: “One of England’s most enduring hard rock bands, Hawkwind were formed in London during the late ’60s, just as art rock was coming into its own. Though lesser known than contemporaries like Pink Floyd, the band is widely hailed as one of space rock’s early pioneers, thanks to seminal albums like 1973’s live opus Space Ritual, and its 1974 studio follow-up In the Hall of the Mountain Grill.
Their potent mix of psychedelia, prog, straight-ahead hard rock, and lyrics steeped in science fiction — particularly the themes and imagery of author Michael Moorcock, who also became a member at various points — and drug effects helped define Hawkwind and separate them from the competition. The group’s history has been marked by a series of confusing lineup changes, as members began an almost revolving-door relationship with the band virtually from the outset. Throughout their many decades and incarnations, founding guitarist Dave Brock has remained Hawkwind’s chief steward, while notable players like Lemmy and Ginger Baker have also enjoyed stints with the band.”
As you will have gathered from the above, the line-up has changed many, many times over the years, the one constant being bandleader Dave Brock. Well, Captain Brock led his family through a selection of Hawkwind tracks old and new including favourites: “The Psychedelic Warlords Disappear in Smoke”, “Spirit of the Age” and “Brainstorm”. No “silver machine” and Dave Brock took a backseat in some of the songs and was not present for the encore (I believe it was said that he was backstage having a cup of tea) but, hey, who cares, this was still Hawkwind at their best.
A marvellous evening spent with two fantastic hippie/psychedelic bands. It doesn’t get much better than this. Many thanks to Jackie for the photographs and to Chris for manipulating the site.
This extravaganza had everything a Hawk fan such as myself could dream of; the band played a set of classy psychedelic rockers which spanned their entire career coupled with a new concept album The Road to Utopia, an orchestra conducted by super Womble 
longtime drummer Richard Chadwick, Old friend and wizard Tim Blake on keyboards and theremin, along with (relatively) new members Niall Hone on bass and Magnus Martin on guitar and keyboards. So we are treated to some of my favourite Hawk tunes including “Spirit of the Age”, “Born to Go” and of course “Silver Machine.” For the encore we wind back 50 years to the first album and “Hurry on Sundown.” Then another of my all-time favourites “Master of the Universe”, by which time we are on our way out, panicking and waiting for the taxi with 10 minutes to go for our train. The taxi arrives just in time! Then it’s a quick dash along the platform in York station, having navigated lifts down and back up again, and two friendly guys are waiting with a ramp to get me back onto the train. Although they are arguing a little as neither have been “trained to use the new ramp!” They managed to use it and we take our seats on the train for the short ride back up to Durham, where our friendly Station taxis guy awaits us. A short ride to pick up Chris and I am helped back to bed after experiencing another wonderful night with my hawk heroes. Happy days are here again. 🙂
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