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Hawkwind Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2004
It was 2004 before I saw Hawkwind again. I realised that it had been remiss of me to go so long without going to see the band, and decided I needed to put that right. So when they came to the Newcastle Tyne Theatre I persuaded David to come along with me to the gig. By now the line-up was a core three-piece of the captain of the spaceship and old-timer Dave Brock, with newer (but by this point in fact not so new) members Alan Davey on bass, and Richard Chadwick on drums. The band were augmented by various guests on record and at some gigs, including Arthur Brown, Simon House, Lene Lovich and Lemmy, all of whom featured on the album of the time Take Me To Your Leader. Incredibly Take Me To Your Leader was Hawkwind’s 23rd studio album. It featured a re-recording of classic track Spirit of the Age, and some new tracks around the traditional space age theme. The live show was pretty impressive with android dancers, the band in white coats, and the stage set a cross between an operating theatre and a space craft. David enjoyed the show, even though he was not at all familiar with any of Hawkwind’s material. Interestingly David saw lots of links to modern dance music in Hawkwind. They started with the new version of Spirit of the Age, which was a great opener, and the set also included a few old favourites such as Psychedelic Warlords, Angels of Death, Brainstorm, and for the encore Master of the Universe.And a new favourite in Angela Android. Great stuff. It was just like old times, and it brought home to me all of the reasons why Hawkwind were so important to me at one time. Why did I ever stop going to see them?! I guess I grew a little tired and life, work and other things got in the way and were more important at the time. Anyway, it was like being home again in many respects, and I have tried to see Hawkwind regularly since then (although I have missed once or twice  ). Setlist: Spirit of the Age; Sword of the East; Greenback Massacre; Psychedelic Warlords; Uncle Sam’s On Mars; The Iron Dream; Out Here We Are; Digital Nation; Assassins of Allah; Angels of Death; Ode To a Time Flower; To Love A Machine; Angela Android; Brainstorm. Encore: Brainbox Pollution; Master of the Universe; Welcome

Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1981
Support from Mama’s Boys 1981; another year and another line-up for Hawkwind. Ginger Baker left the band after his short spell in the drum stool, to be replaced by Martin Griffin who joined Dave Brock, Huw Lloyd-Langton and Harvey Bainbridge. The band released a new album Sonic Attack and embarked upon their traditional end of year tour of the UK, calling at Newcastle City Hall in October. The title track, was a re-recording of the Space Ritual spoken piece with a new electronic backing. The album also included Angels of Death, which is one of my all-time favourite Hawkwind tracks. I was to see Hawkwind the following year when they appeared halfway up the bill at the Donington Monsters of Rock extravaganza. I lost faith in the band around this time. I remember going to see Hawkwind at Newcastle Mayfair in the late 80s or early 90s, and the line-up was I think a three-piece with Dave Brock taking on most of the lead vocals. It wasn’t one of the best times I have seen the band, and I didn’t go to see them again until 2004. I’ll blog on that gig tomorrow. Setlist for the 1981 tour (something like): Angel Voice; Motorway City; Angels Of Death; Psi Power; Coded Languages; Golden Void; Magnu; Dust Of Time; Virgin Of The World; Psychedelic Warlords; Shot Down In The Night; Sonic Attack; Brainstorm; Silver Machine; Master Of The Universe.

Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1980
Enter Ginger Baker
I remember being quite excited when I heard that Ginger Baker was joining Hawkwind, replacing long-time drummer Simon King. The line-up for the 1980 Levitation tour was Dave Brock, Huw Lloyd-Langton, Harvey Bainbridge, Tim Blake and Ginger Baker. Support came from Vardis, who were a high-energy NWOBHM rock band from Yorkshire, fronted by Steve Zodiac (his name taken from the lead character in Fireball XL5) who sported very long blonde hair, and played bare chested and with bare feet. Vardis had the bottle to play a version of Silver Machine as part of their set, and were apparently booed for doing so at some of the concerts on the tour. I remember Ginger Baker having a massive drum kit, sitting towards the front of the stage and belting away at his drums. Ginger fitted into Hawkwind well, and all credit to him for taking the job on. This was a great show as usual, and a very successful tour, so much so that dates were added to take the tour well into December. However Ginger’s stay with the band was to be short-lived, as he left after the 1980 tour. Tim Blake also left the band during the tour after a fall-out with Dave Brock. So by the start of 1981, Hawkwind were down to three members: Brock, Lloyd-Langton and Bainbridge. Typical setlist from the tour: Levitation; Motorway City; Death Trap; Shot Down In The Night; Spirit Of The Age; Psychosis; World Of Tiers; 5th Second Of Forever; Dust Of Time; Space Chase; Prelude; Who’s Gonna Win The War; Psi Power; Brainstorm; Silver Machine; Master Of The Universe

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

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

Hawkwind The Reading Festival August 1975
Had the Hawklords sold out? Here they were headlining the Friday night of a mainstream festival. What about the hippy free festival ideals? Why weren’t they playing outside while we all stormed the fences? No worries, Hawkwind were still as anti-establishment as ever, and anyway why shouldn’t they have headlined a rock festival?
A group of us went to Reading 1975 which took place over the August bank holiday weekend. The festival boasted a strong line-up with Hawkind, Dr Feelgood and UFO on Friday; Yes, Supertramp and Thin Lizzy on Saturday; and Wishbone Ash, John Mclaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Soft Machine on Sunday. Hawkwind headlined on the Friday night, taking the stage after a storming set by the Feelgoods. The Hawklords rose to the occasion and brought the cold Friday to a fitting close. Robert Calvert rejoined the band for the evening, and enjoyed it so much he decided to stay on and woudl return to the fold for the next year or so. I found the following quote of a Feelgoods fan site. It comes from a review of the time andsums things up better than I can: “Midnight on Friday. Hawkwind shambled offstage amid amplified exhortations to “smoke plenty of good dope” having blasted the wax out of every ear for miles around. As they strolled backstage – Nik Turner wreathed in orange hair and smiles, Simon House deadly serious and toting a small child – the audience at the first night of the Reading Festival turned their collars against the sudden cold, shivering.  The temperature, never particularly high during the whole day, seemed to have taken a sudden plunge as the last rumbling notes of “Silver Machine” died away.  Camp-fires were being stoked into life here and there.” Setlist: Mind Journey; Assault And Battery; Golden Void; Ode To A Crystal Set; Psychedelic Warlords; Wind Of Change; The Awakening; Paradox; Spiral Galaxy; Sonic Attack; Magnu; Opa Loka; Master Of The Universe; Welcome; Brainstorm; Silver Machine.

Hawkwind Ridiculous Roadshow Newcastle City Hall 1973
Hawkwind wanted to draw a line under the hugely successful Space Ritual tour, and this new outing in late 1973 was named The Ridiculous Roadshow tour. The tour called at Newcastle City Hall on 11th December 1973 and I went along with a group of mates. The linne-up at this time was Dave Brock; Lemmy; Simon King; Del Dettmar and Nik Turner. I’m pretty sure that Stacia was still dancing with Hawkwind, and that there was a second dancer. The set was drawn from Space Ritual and from their first three albums: Hawkwind (1970), In Search of Space (1971) and Doremi Fasol Latido (1972). Hawkwind had some classic tracks, which looking back, were really quite groundbreaking and fore-runners of modern dance music. Songs such as Brainstorm, Time We Left This World Today, and Master of the Universe are just great and still stand up today. I bought a Hawkwind ‘best of’ CD at Sainbury’s and have it in the car, and when no-one else is there I can be found driving around with Master of the Universe playing at full volume. How times have changed. Back in the day, Hawkwind were the rebels, the outsiders, the hippies, the proto-punks, and very clearly anti-establishment. And now I buy their CD in Sainsbury’s. Not sure what that tells me! Setlist: Coming Of Hawkwind; Brainbox Pollution; Wizard Blew His Horn; Lord Of Light; Only Dreaming; Standing At The Edge; Brainstorm; Seven By Seven; It’s So Easy; You’d Better Believe It; D-Rider; Sonic Attack; Watcher; Warrior On The Edge Of Time; Master Of The Universe; Welcome To The Future; Silver Machine; Seeing It As You Really Are. And all for £1!