Hawkwind Space Ritual Tour Sunderland Locarno 1972 
“This is earth calling”…….”In case of Sonic Attack on your district, follow these rules…If you are making love, it is imperative to bring all bodies to orgasm simultaneously..Do not waste time blocking your ears…..Do not waste time seeking a soundproof shelter…….Try to get as far away from the sonic source as possible…Do not panic…”
I am starting the letter H today in my bloggings, and there is no better way to start than reflecting on the times I have seen Hawkwind in concert. I’ve seen the band lots of times over the years, so please indulge me, while I write about those experiences. It will take me a week or so. I blogged some time ago on my first Hawkwind experience, which was when I saw them as one of the support acts for the post-Morrison Doors at Newcastle City Hall. It wasn’t long before I saw the band again. The Space Ritual tour called at Sunderland Locarno in 1972, and was as epic as the legends suggest. Silver Machine and Master of the Universe were great favourites at the Mecca (the Locarno) at the time; the dancefloor always filled up when they came over the PA. So when it was announced that the band were coming to play as part of their Space Ritual tour, there was a lot of excitement, and huge anticipation for the gig. This was the classic Hawkwind line-up with Robert Calvert on vocals; Dave Brock on guitar and vocals; Nik Turner on sax, flute, and vocals; Lemmy on bass guitar and vocals; Dik Mik and Del Dettmar on synthesizers and Simon King on drums. 
The gig was everything you might imagine: very loud, a tightly packed ballroom, lots of flashing lights and strobes, Stacia dancing naked, strong smells of joss sticks and dope, strong bass and rock rhythms, lots of strange noises, weird space-rock, great psychedelic light show, booming sinister vocals from Calvert, Lemmy looking cool. This gig had every ingredient a rock n roll gig should and, as a young kid, I was just blown away and totally hooked on Hawkwind. From that point on I was a fan, and went to see them again and again; although I have to admit that I did lose faith a little during the late 80s and 90s. This is one of those gigs that I would love to experience again. If only I had a time machine…Happy days and happy memories. Setlist: Earth Calling; Born To Go; Down Through The Night; The Awakening; Lord Of Light; Black Corridor; Space Is Deep; Electronic No. 1; Orgone Accumulator; Upside Down; 10 Seconds Of Forever; Brainstorm; 7 By 7; Sonic Attack; Time We Left This World Today; Master Of The Universe; Welcome To The Future; You Shouldn’t Do That. Encore: can’t really remember, but I imagine it will have been Silver Machine
Archive for the ‘Hawkwind’ Category
17 Feb
Hawkwind Space Ritual Tour Sunderland Locarno 1972
17 Sep
The Doors Sandy Denny & Hawkwind Newcastle City Hall 1972
The Doors Newcastle City Hall 1972
Support from Sandy Denny and Hawkwind
This was a pretty impressive line-up when I look back on it. I went along with my friend John, largely to see The Doors. This was post-Jim Morrison, at a point where the three remaining members were touring without any replacement singer. The line-up was Ray Manzarek – keyboards, vocals; John Densmore – drums, percussion; Robby Krieger – guitar, vocals; plus touring musicians Jack Conrad – bass guitar, and Bobby Ray Henson – rhythm guitar, back vocals, percussion. Ray and Robby took vocal duties, and they were promoting their recent album Other Voices. The advertised support act was Sandy Denny, who was touring as a solo artist, having left Fairport Convention a few years earlier. Hawkwind weren’t advertised at all, and were a nice surprise on the night. We arrived at the show not late but were suprised to find a band on stage that was obviously not Sandy Denny. At first we had no idea who they were, but were impressed by them and realised we were watching something which was quite weird and pretty special. Then they played Master of the Universe, which was in heavy rotataion at the local Mecca at the time, and we realised who we were watching. This was the classic Hawkwind, with naked dancer Stacia, Lemmy, Dik Mik, Dave Brock, Nik Turner, Del Dettmar, Simon King, and possibly Robert Calvert. There were certainly lots of them on stage. I recall great lights, a strong smell of joss sticks in the hall (the band were giving them out to the audience) and a set of great songs, which blended from one into the next. This was pre the release of Silver Machine, but I suspect the song will have featured in the set at that time. We were both blown away by Hawkwind and remain life long fans of the band to this day. Sandy Denny sat at a grand piano centre stage; I can’t remember what she played, but I suspect it was taken from her solo album Sandy which was released in 1972. The Doors were OK, but many of the songs were new and unfamiliar to us. The only old songs they played were Light My Fire and Love Me Two Times. We were both disappointed that they didn’t play Riders on the Storm. A great gig, and a great introduction to Hawkwind, who were at their height at that time. And all for 75p!
23 Dec
Hawkwind and Arthur Brown Newcastle Academy Dec 19th
Hawkwind and Arthur Brown Newcastle Academy Dec 19th
Will and I went to see this great double bill at the Academy last Saturday. Hawkwind are celebrating 40 years on the road, and Arthur Brown has been treading the boards for more than that.
We knew the gig was set to start early (the ticket said 6.30 start) so we left in plenty of time to make sure (we thought) that we were there to catch Arthur. We arrived at around 7pm and Athur was already on stage. He’s still a great showman with some mad dancing all over the stage, and great costumes including a sunflower. He did a wonderful version of Fire, backed by a guitarist and keyboard player.
A short break and Hawkwind took to the stage at around 8pm. They have obviously put a lot into this stage show. The lighting is super-psychedlic and the two girl dancers had endless costume changes, starting off as robotic androids, becoming grim reapers for Angels of Death, and transforming into sea creatures in another song. There were many more costumes changes, so many that I can’t remember them all! Hawkwind are playing better than ever these days, with Dave Brock and the band really seeming to enjoy themselves. The set was a mixture of old and new, including old favourite Silver Machine. A few more old favourites would have been welcome (I wanted Master of the Universe and Will wanted the full version of Space is Deep), but hey you can’t complain; its great that the band are still gigging and playing as great as this.
set list: (something like; may not be exactly right) : Lighthouse; Fahrenheit 451; Sentinel; Space is Deep (spoken); Angels of Death; Silver Machine; Green Machine; Wraith; Prometheus; Warriors; Magnu; Tide of the Century; You’d Better Believe It; Levitation; Right to Decide; Spirit of the Age; Encore: Hassan-i-Sahba
website Hawkwind: http://www.hawkwind.com/
website Arthur Brown http://www.arthurbrownmusic.com/
I hate print-out tickets
27 Aug
Hawkwind 40th Anniversary show London 29 August 2009
Hawkwind 40th Anniversary Happening Porchester Halls London 29 August 2009
Marie and I spent our August bank holiday going to see Hawkwind at their 40th anniversary show in London. The gig was in Porchester Halls near Notting Hill, just a few streets away from where they played their first ever gig as Band X 40 years ago. The concert had been billed as an all day “happening” with special guest.
We travelled down to London the day before and spent the Friday evening having a walk around Notting Hill; having a drink and something to eat.
On the Saturday we went along to Porchester Halls at around 1pm, to find out the running order for the day. As we entered the hall we were presented with a great goody bag which contained a CD produced for the day and other items. We pleased to see that Hawkwind were doing an early acoustic set, in additional to their main set which was going to close the day. We watched this set and then decided to return later in the day. We spent the afternoon having a walk around Hyde Park, and returned to the Hall around 7.30pm. Huw Lloyd-Langton was on stage performing an acoustic set which included Hurry On Sundown and a few bluesy songs. After a short break the main avent, Hawkwind, took to the stage. The current line up is led by Dave Brock, the only constant after all these years. Marie and were standing at the side of the stage close to the front. The show was great. Hawkwind really seem to back on form these days. I went to all of their tours throughout the 70s, seeing them many times from 71 onward, but lost faith somewhere in the 80s and have only started going to see them again in the 2000s. This was classic Hawkwind at their best; a mixture of classic tracks, including Silver Machine played better than I have seen it for years. Great lights, great dancers, friendly crowd, what more could we ask for? Perhaps a few more of special guests as promised? Who cares. Its great to see the band playing as well as this. Roll on the Newcastle Aacedemy in Deecmber!
setlist: intro / warriors / assault and battery / golden void / where are they now /
lighthouse / space is deep poem / angels of death / wraith / green machine /
spirit of the age / silver machine / sentinel / lord of light / poem / magnu
/ brainbox pollution /you’d better believe it / right to decide / hassan i sahba / jam / hassan i sahba / fahrenheit 451
website: http://www.hawkwind.com/
ticket
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