“Thank you all, let’s levitate together” says an obviously well-chuffed Dave Brock after the end of the scorching opening track Levitation, the curtain raiser to this fabulous set of songs at that wonderfully appointed, cavernous, and prestigious venue, The Royal Albert Hall. This celebratory rocket ride through the mighty Hawks’ back pages took place on Friday 29th September 2023 under the banner “An Evening of Sonic Destruction 50 Years On… Celebrating the Rituals and Odysseys of Space”. Where the title perhaps gave the erroneous impression that they would be belting through Space Ritual, it certainly was a celebration. You can read Roger Trenwith’s review of the RAH concert HERE.
No doubt this recording was straight from the mixing desk, which might give it a sonic advantage over what we heard at that sound engineers’ nightmare of a venue, not that we cared on the night! When Prince Albert launched a Royal Commission to look at building a set of arts and science facilities at the site, following on from the success of the Great Exhibition in nearby Hyde Park in 1851, the thought of impending sonic attack from the good ship Hawkwind and all the other iconic rock acts that have played there over the years would not have been possible for the doomed prince to begin to imagine!
That the RAH is something of a time capsule is not lost on me, as this set does indeed cover a 50-year span, which in rock’n’roll terms is practically an epoch! Following the initial burst of levitated adrenalin rush, there is no let up as the band power through You Better Believe It and Psychedelic Warlords. Obviously, you can’t see it listening to the record, but you can sure feel octogenarian Dave’s visceral energy and joie-de-vivre coursing through every note. Arrival In Utopia, a mere 42 years young, keeps up the pace, and although you can’t hear it, again you can feel the ecstatic audience shouting along. This song also saw the unlikely figure of William Orbit walking on stage to man a second set of keyboards – see my live review for more!
We had to have a rest at some point, even Dave did, so the beginning of Rama – The Prophecy provides a very brief opportunity to get one’s breath back, before it too gets on the space-boogie horse, and old heads are shaken anew. Apologies if this reads more like another live review than an album review, but I was there and it’s difficult to separate the album from the gig, the only thing that does are the sonics of this CD. This only attests to the quality of the recording in my view!
The standard of musicianship in the current band is as good if not better than any previous line up, and keyboard player Tim Lewis with his Hammond-like fills and electric piano, as well as the essential synthesiser swooshes and squiggles, is on top form. As this relatively long lasting line up all are, of course! Maybe they don’t possess the charisma of the classic line up of yore, but what band that has lasted this long does?
Before we revisit the classics juke box, 1985’s The Beginning, after its space-symphonic intro sees Dave pick up his acoustic to kick off the song section with a time-warping interlude of busker-strumming. Sounding vaguely Beatles-like, this song is a genuine respite from the open-throttle disappear in smoke nature of the rest of the set. Back down goes the needle in that juke box, and soon this jury is jumping to, and of course, shouting along to Sprit Of The Age. I can remember when that came out back in 1977, and it wasn’t every day you listened to a song that among other things, bemoans the loyalty of a sex-android replica! It still isn’t, come to think of it. 🙂 The audience, me included, know every word and shout along with gusto. When I got this review download, this song even inspired me to pick up my too long neglected pink Stratocaster and attempt to play along, but my by now old knackered digits couldn’t keep up, I’ve gone rusty! Time for an android guitar-playing replicant, methinks.
One of a few recent songs in the set, the short but sweet Underwater City, from last year’s Stories Of Time And Space, served as another calming interlude before the throttle is opened once more as the song leads into Assault And Battery/Golden Void. “Thank you all so much for coming. So lovely to see all your lovely faces” says Dave after the roar that greets the end of this fabulous number. And so we arrive in a stationary orbit above some far off unnamed planet in some godforsaken cold galaxy, and CD1 has come to an end. Time for a cup of tea. Assam, I think…
At the gig there was no break, they just piled into 1992 single Right To Decide, which was new to me, and it fits perfectly into the general vibe, charging along at a pace. In the live review I mention that it is obvious from listening to this extended aural history that Hawkwind were and remain a huge influence on everything from punk to the rave scene and beyond, and nobody does it quite like them. Some wag…it may have been me…once referred to Hawkwind as “Status Quo with synthesisers”, but that’s damnable faint praise when you firstly consider that they practically invented a genre, and secondly when one considers all the bands that have followed in their wake wouldn’t sound remotely like they did, or do, were it not for the Mothership Hawkwind. Yeah… I know, I virtually said all that already in the gig scribble, but a worthy thought is worth repeating, innit?
Good old Arthur Brown comes on for the Bob Calvert role, one he carries off with aplomb, and narrates the space poem 10 Seconds Of Forever (here retitled 10th Second Of Forever, unless it’s a typo!), and then we briefly delve deep into the Space Ritual, with Born To Go, a headbangin’ classic from 50+ years ago. I love this tune, and in all its brutal simplicity it is irresistible. This latest line up do it solid justice, and it’s as ‘eavy and ‘umble as it ever was. The version on Greasy Truckers is even better than the version on Space Ritual, if you ask me. Which you didn’t… 😉
Cleverly inserted into the middle of Born To Go is a song written 50 years later, (or thereabouts, before you get all trainspotter on me!) Star Explorer, again showing how easily it all fits together. Then… back into the time machine, we emerge in 1972 and the Ritual is continuing. We now find that we are subjected to a Brainstorm! Pass the red pills Alice, it’s getting trippy in here. Some great synth work flies around the speeding riff, and the muscular rhythm section, tight a locknut drive this song through walls, nothing will get in its way.
“SPACE!”, loudly intones Arthur, from somewhere down the Black Corridor, before the band engage all rockets to escape the unfeeling impersonal blackness of the void, which does not live and does not die. Hawkwind are the Masters Of The Universe, the obvious banger of a set closer before we come in gently (well…sort of!) to land with Welcome. This band are so good, and they were definitely in the groove this autumn night in London. The sound on this CD is as good as can be, and it is yet another triumph for Cherry Red, Masters Of The Reissue! Gush, moi? 🙂
The third CD in this set contains six songs played in rehearsals that were not on the eventual setlist and is a nice bonus. Featuring a couple of songs from the new album Stories From Time And Space, along with four other more recent numbers – if you can call 1992 recent?! – the highlight is the near quarter of an hour space-drifting Practical Ability, a song that that meanders along effortlessly, as if in a geo-stationary orbit. There’s some great drumming and synth work on it too.
The comprehensive booklet by Rob Goodwin that accompanies this set is up to the usual superlative Cherry Red standard, and whether or not the world needs yet another Hawkwind live album is moot, but I can’t recommend this set highly enough, whether you’re an old fan or someone new to this alternate spangly universe.
While Dave Brock has his health the good spaceship Hawkwind will keep on keepin’ on. As Dave sings in Lost Chances “Look to the future, forget the past.”
TRACKLIST
DISC 1
01. Levitation (7:10)
02. You’d Better Believe It (7:35)
03. Psychedelic Warlords (9:42)
04. Arrival In Utopia (8:52)
05. Rama The Prophecy (7:48)
06. The Beginning (8:46)
07. Spirit Of The Age (8:22)
08. Underwater City (4:08)
09. Assault And Battery (2:50)
10. Golden Void (6:50)
DISC 2
01. Peace (1:28)
02. Right To Decide (7:00)
03. 10th Second Of Forever (5:40)
04. Born To Go (7:35)
05. Star Explorer (6:34)
06. Brainstorm (5:28)
07. Neurons (2:33)
08. Black Corridor (7:34)
09. Master Of The Universe (6:01)
10. Welcome To The Future (2:24)
DISC 3
– Rehearsals
01. Frozen In Time (7:45)
02. Practical Ability (14:29)
03. Lost Chances (2:30)
04. Second Chance (5:28)
05. Underwater City (3:14)
06. Mask Of Morning (10:44)
Total Time – 168:00
MUSICIANS
Dave Brock – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesisers
Richard Chadwick – Drums, Vocals
Magnus Martin – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Doug MacKinnon – Bass
Tim “Thighpaulsandra” Lewis – Synthesisers, Keyboards
~ With:
William Orbit – Keyboards
Arthur Brown – Spoken Word
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 13th December 2024
LINKS
Hawkwind – Website | Facebook | Info at Cherry Red Records | X | Instagram
