Hawkwind: Space warriors help raise cash for Eco-warriors

Graham Inglis reviews The Elves of Silbury Hill, playing a one-off fund-raiser event at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 3 May 2013.

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When five members of Hawkwind (all members except Tim Blake) and one member of Technicians of Spaceship Hawkwind (Steve Bemand) get together for an eco-warrior fund-raiser event, it's not surprising if they sound a lot like Hawkwind.

However, they sounded more like 70s Hawkwind than they have since, well, the 70s. And that surprised some of us but pleased many if not all of us!

They turned the space rock blanga control up towards 10 at this one-off fund-raiser event in Portsmouth. Right from the grungy chugging riffs of "You Shouldn't Do That" they were in the groove and entertaining the crowd at this Sea Shepherd eco-warriors bash.

Sea Shepherd is an offshoot protest group from the rather more pacifist Greenpeace, who generally frown on the sometimes-violent tactics used by Sea Shepherd against people like whale-hunters. Govenments too have criticised Sea Shepherd's rather stern brand of Direct Action, going so far as to label them "eco-terrorists".
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Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms was the venue and lots of stuff on sale as I wandered around this particular terrorist hotbed. I browsed the T-shirts and alternative-lifestyle type stuff, the Lush cosmetics company stall (pictured left), and even organic "cup-cakes with a conscience" as the stall leaflet described them!

I bought a nice Sea Shepherd long-sleeve (which I'll wear with pride when out shopping in the future) and I'm sorry to say I didn't buy a cup-cake. Instead, I made tracks for the bar, and tried a pint of the weirdly-named but very nice Doom Bar ale.
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Anyway, let's skip the shopping; what about the gig?

Pappa Jones' Moonshine Band probably won't be insulted if I compare them to Lonnie Donegan, if any of you remember that 50's outfit.  Lonnie Donegan had a hit with a song called "My Old Man's A Dustman," which I did like when I was a kid, I remember. That was long before I became a Hawkwind fan, though...

I seldom take much heed of Hawkwind support acts, usually, but I did watch that lass slapping her double bass, and comparing the sounds to those of Mr Dibs' electric 'cello.

Anyway, back to the Hawkwind gig - or the Elves of Silbury Hill, as they were called tonight.

..It was only a couple of weeks ago that "#HawkwindHQ" announced on Twitter that Dave Brock would be joining in, and on the night he took to the stage for the centre part of the set only.

Thus, Brock wasn't present for quite a few Brock tracks, such as "PXR-5", "Brainbox Pollution", and the wonderfully historic "It's so Easy," and also "Web Weaver" - those latter two from the "Hall of the Mountain Grill" album era.  They proceeded just fine in his absence, but naturally there's a stir of interest in the audience when The Captain finally walks on stage.

This being Hawkwind, though, there's no follow-spots to highlight the entrance, and no particular fanfare.

He appeared after "Valium 10" was finished, holding an acoustic guitar. So, what's the next track going to be? "Hurry on Sundown"?  "We took the Wrong Step"? No, "Uncle Sam's on Mars"!  Now, that's a surprise.

He stuck around for the next few, including "Psi Power," which of course works well in strummity-strum mode.

Mid-set we also had "Green Finned Demon," which was done as a fund-raising download for Sea Shepherd a couple of years back, and "Mirror of Illusion" - a song dating back to the very dawn of Hawkwind but now enjoying a rather bouncy arrangement in its newer "Electric Tepee" format.

Mr Dibs confidently handled the wolf-howls that preluded "Steppenwolf," and his vocal performance throughout the gig showed he's stepping up to the plate - as that rather odd cliché has it - and is perfectly capable of putting his detractors to flight. And a few years ago there were quite a few, after he replaced long-standing Hawkwind member and respected "bass monster" Alan Davey on bass guitar and vocals.

Staying with vocals, Richard Chadwick, being the invisible drummer, sometimes finds his microphone's not switched on - but tonight we could hear his gruff, somewhat barking counterpoints to Mr Dibs.  He likes singing "Silver Machine," but tonight they didn't do that one.

Steve Bemand was the surprise presence for me. He's done Hawkwind duties before - Jon Downes and I first saw him with them at the Treworgey Tree Fayre way back in 1989. He's not a widely-known Hawkwind crew member, though. I gather from Mr Dibs' stage comments that he did some synth work but Dead Fred (deadus fredicus?) was also doing some, inbetween his violin duties. He's another of these sometimes-present Hawkwind people; he first played with them in 1983, I believe.

Niall Hone is the lead guitarist for Hawkwind these days, and sometimes he'll cut loose on the wah-wah pedal effects - like during "You Shouldn't Do That" - but he doesn't do that often enough, and some gigs hardly at all.  Grrr.

He'll sometimes swap bass duties with Mr Dibs but I don't think he did that this time. I opted for the overview this time, and stood at the back instead of the front. You miss the nuances when at the back, but get the overall flavour, so to speak, and also the light-show - but it can leave one a bit vague on who was doing what at any given moment.

Anyway, Niall used to be in a band called Tribe of Cro, which I've enjoyed seeing before, and they were on the bill for this gig, according to some posters. However, I can never enjoy seeing or hearing any other bands after hearing Hawkwind, as they interfere with the Hawkwind afterglow, as it were - and a stage announcement said (warned?) a DJ was on next, so I buggered off pretty damn sharpish, I can tell you, and I don't know whether or not the Cro's played subsequently.

On the visual side, the unusual absence of backdrop projections was well made up for by the strobe effects. I've always enjoyed strobes. They hadn't brought their stage dancers along, this time and Hawkwind fans are mostly so bloody old and knackered that they just stand and watch - and a stage remark on the absence of their dancers, Steff and Laura, was accompanied by the hint: "Tonight, it's you!"

Whereupon some did move around a bit to "Ejection"....

The finale was "Brainstorm" - with strobes - and I saw a few wiggly dancing activities during that one!  But Mr Dibs didn't crowd-surf the audience, though!  And when they started clearing the stage and an announcement said the DJs were on next, I went out for a cigarette and then decided to head back to my hotel.

This was my 48th Hawkwind gig and I'd say the best I've heard for literally decades. I didn't do any slam-dancing, though. I must be getting old!