LINK: Wonderous Songs, Wonderous Stories From Jon Anderson at the Rio Theatre

It's hard to say what made a bigger impression at Yes singer Jon Anderson's first show in Santa Cruz Thursday night at the Rio Theater, his songs or his stories.

Both were revelatory. How many other lead singers could even pull it off? Could Mick Jagger? Probably. Bowie? Definitely. Plant? Yeah. But the list doesn't run much longer than that.

Read on...

LINK: Merrell Fankhauser review

http://www.therocktologist.com/fankhauser-merrell---the-best-of-merrell-fankhauser.html

Fankhauser, Merrell - The Best of Merrell Fankhauser Review by: Daniel Pavlica

To say that Merrell Fankhauser’s career was marginally diverse would be a masterpiece of understatement. In the last four decades he tackled a truly extraordinary cocktail of musical genres, more or less successfully reaching from surf, folk rock and blues rock to spaced out psychedelia. Happily for all, compiled on a two CD set, this Merrell Fankhauser “best of” will undoubtedly satisfy anyone wanting a user friendly Fankhauser overview, as it brings joy for the more determined music collector too.

Check you secret pockets for any pills you may have unknowinglymisplaced because this is a trip where daydreams and imagination dance hand in hand. As soon as things get rolling we find Merrell Fankhauser perching on top of a weird mix of musical styles. Clearly Merrell was into everything and anything whenever the smallest opportunity popped up. Its fascinating how often this seemingly enthusiast like experimenting came up with extraordinary results. Even if extensive radio play remained elusive a good indication of the numerous possibilities was given. With “She’s Gone” Merrell and the Exiles walk the peculiar path between typical 60s R&B grooves and spongy The Beatles like tunes. “Driving Sideways (On A One Way Street)” drops in some extra acid and pychedelia, while “I am Flyin’ Home” draws parallels with a non offending Rare Earth caricature.

The MU period is presented with four numbers. Here lay a reminder of how unconventionally innovative this remarkable outfit really was. “One More Day” is a great blues inspired tune feathered with beach like lightheartedness while “The Land Of MU” dives straight into folk rock psychedelia. When going solo Merrell proves much mellower and theme focused. “On Our Way To Hana” sees him practicing hippie love, while “Make A Joyful Noise” and “Some Of Them Escaped It All” are again both folk tinged gemstones.

Disk two is a showcase of Merrell’s works from 1978 onwards. In this time experimenting with styles and moods became much more streamlined. At this point accessible stuff starts creeping in to the detriment of musical creativity Fankhauser is famed for. Much of Merrell’s personality gets lost with numbers like “Waterfall”and “Queen MU”. Here Merrell is at his best when dressing up in syntetisized colors of “Calling From a Star” and ska influenced “Alien Talk”. Notwithstanding the fact that Merrell’s style shifting may seem chaotic or at least hard to follow still the general consensus remains that surf is the best and the man’s most representative tool of trade. On “Two Vegetarians” he returns flashing some of the old surf magic. A quick dive into previously unreleased tracks proves to be a thing of mixed fortunes (just try tackling the fabricated melancholy of “When Merrell Met Jane”) except for the long running fans who will undoubtedly treasure these uncovered workouts. Speaking of those hard to come by moments, “Haiku Jam” is definitely worth checking out. “Surfin’ Prismo” may lack the spark and sparkle of his best works, but in the end still manages survive somehow as one of the disks bright spots.

6 out of 10

A review copy of this album was provided by the record label Gonzo Multimedia

EXCLUSIVE: Helen McCookerybook interview (Part Two)

Yesterday we posted the first part of an extraordinary interview with Helen McCookerybook. It was supposed to be about the rather lovely CD she has made with Daintees frontman Martin Stephenson. It is called Cafe of Tiny Kindnesses and it is one of the most delicate and beautiful things that I have heard in yonks.

But the conversation didn't end up like that at all. We spent a long time discussing our shared background in the DIY Punk scene of the late 70s and early 80s.

This probably means that I shall be returning to talk to Helen again soon, to do the proper interview. I am looking forward to it already...

HELEN: The first time we ever made any records, it was probably a good thing, there’s this promoter in Brighton who told us that we were the worst band in Brighton and he said he would always book us because we packed his venue out, which is true. I think we were quite sort of eccentric because after the Poison Girls drummer, we got a reggae drummer who was great and we actually did some reggae songs in our set as well, but then we got a drummer who was a transvestite so that was quite interesting. Our lead singer used to perform wearing a gas mask and women’s tights under a posing pouch

JON: Did you sound like Doris Day back then?

HELEN: No, I just shouted.

JON: It sounds wonderful.

HELEN: It was great actually. I mean it was great but it was controversial. We had a combination of ... I mean our lead singer was quite outspoken and people used to object to him, and people used to say to me I was singing sexist lyrics, but I couldn’t see that I was because if it was me that was singing them I was taking the mickey out of them wasn’t I? There were all kinds of controversy sort of followed us around and we kind of expanded – you do learn how to play an instrument and we kind of got a bit better at what we did and started writing proper songs and expanded into a bigger band and then the personal relationship things collapsed and I sorted of ended up with a post-punk band called The Chefs which has just released a compilation on Damaged Goods actually about two months ago or something.



JON: What was your first band called? The punk band.

HELEN: That was called Joby and the Hooligans.

JON: What a brilliant name. I wish there was some of that which had been recorded

HELEN: Well we did a radio ... we went to the University of Sussex once to record a radio show and we did a version of 'Oh me oh my'. We did a version of that and there was a dog there and it just barked all the way through so the only recording of us is doing a cover version of that song and a dog barking and so it‘s not very high quality to say the least.

JON: I think that sounds incredibly avant garde.

HELEN: There are hardly any photographs, because people didn’t .. people sort of document things madly now don’t they, everything is videod on YouTube, everything is photographed, but back then everybody was so into just doing it that hardly anybody thought to document anything unless they had secret ambitions to be superstars which a distressingly large number of the punk bands did.

JON: They wouldn’t have admitted it.

HELEN: No, not at the time, but then suddenly when you work out who has got film of themselves you think ‘oh yeah, they must have had a plan’.

EDITORIAL NOTE: I found some pictures here:

http://www.punkbrighton.co.uk/joby.html

JON: I suppose these days people have their cameras on their phones and they can carry a camera around in their pocket and it doesn’t involve any sort of effort, but when you buy a roll of film and have it developed, and make sure light is in the right way etc, it was much more of an effort.

HELEN: The other thing though is if everyone is taking pictures all the time and making recordings like they are now, sometimes I don’t think they actually listening to the music, because they are so sort of frantic about making a record of it, and you just think, well back then when you went to a gig you went with a 360 degree intention of enjoying it. Being part of the crowd and listening to the music and if you had gone with a camera or something to record it...I mean I remember when people recorded things, they always seemed really nervy and you always thought well that is not a person who is going to enjoy themselves tonight because they are going to make a tape of it or something for their collection and I think maybe now that everybody is busy filming and recording things, we have become collectors rather than an audience.

JON: I had never thought of that – it is a really, really interesting idea. I publish books – that is my day job, and I have often thought that the fact that now anybody can write a book and anybody can get a book into the shops, in many ways it has de-valued the act of having a book. Once upon a time you wrote a book and you knew if it was published that it was going to be good. But now anybody can. And most of them aren’t.

HELEN: I’ve actually got a PhD which I did about 12 years ago and that is actually – was made into a book and the actual PhD took me 6 years to do and re-writing it to make it into a book took another year, so I really sweated over it ... I suppose it depends on what sort of book doesn’t it? I’m quite interested into researching things and finding out why things happen and also trying to find the truth at the bottom of things so I don’t think I would like to write about any old thing.

JON: What is your PhD in?

HELEN: The PhD was about the female – I was trying to read good stuff about people like me who play bass, guitar and drums, women who played in punk bands and nobody had written anything, and that is why I did the PhD. And the book is called The Lost Women of Rock Music and I went and interviewed people like Tessa Pollitt from The Slits, Gina Birch from The Raincoats, The Au Pairs, all kinds of people. And just to ask them why they felt they could suddenly get up on stage, and actually interviewed Vi Subversa from the Poison Girls too. Just why they got up on stage and why they stopped. A lot of them stopped at the beginning of the 1980s. It was really interesting talking to them all. Probably about twenty people I think I spoke to.

JON: I’ve got to read that.

HELEN: It came out in paperback in ... it came out at the same time as The Chefs compilation actually. Really strange sort of twist of fate. It came out in paperback about two months ago I think. It’s an academic book, but I also think .... I was doing a gig about a couple of years ago and I was talking to somebody I met about it and the next time I saw her, she had bought it, and she wasn’t like an academic person and it was really funny because I had written about the way the punk scene ended in Brighton and she said that when she got to that bit she cried, which I found completely touching because you don’t expect that type of reaction from an academic book. So I thought it must work on different layers then.

JON: That’s really sweet.

HELEN: It is isn’t it. But I think the chapter that actually talks about the Brighton scene goes into a little bit about the bands I was in at the time. It is almost like a template that you could apply to any scene that happens anywhere. I wrote about because I thought it really facilitated people like me getting into bands, because it did, you know, small town thing.

And so part two comes to an end. Part three will be with you tomorrow. In the meantime check out her Gonzo Artist pages, solo and with Martin S:

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5932/Helen%20Mccookerybookhttp://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5933/Helen%20Mccookerybook%20and%20Martin%20Stephenson

WE HAVE DONE JOLLY WELL

I am very pleased to announce that yesterday we passed another milestone in Gonzo Daily history.

We got our 20,000th hit in just over three months of being in operation.

I think we have all done jolly well. I would like to say a big thank you to the folk who do behind the scenes stuff here, especially Corinna, Graham and Davey C, and above all Rob for allowing us to do something so manifestly Quixotic as this online magazine.

Thank you all!

EXCLUSIVE: Helen McCookerybook interview (Part One)

I always enjoy working for Gonzo (I have to say that or Rob hurts me), but there are times when it is even more rewarding than others.

It is always enjoyable working on releases by artists like Yes or Jefferson Starship that I have admired since my teenage years, but occasionally I discover a completely new artist, and furthermore one who completely defies categorisation. Such a lady is Helen McCookerybook whose songs are fundementally amongst the most peculiar, and the most beautiful that I have heard in a long time.

Yesterday teatime, whilst Prudence the dog snored away loudly in the sitting room I managed to have a quick chat with her:

JON: I love the album – it’s really uncategorisable

HELEN: That’s probably a problem isn’t it?

JON: I’ve been reviewing records for the best part of 30 years and 99 times out of a 100 you can say what genre something is and you can say something like ‘it’s a heavy metal band that sounds like Deep Purple', or 'it’s a reggae band that sounds a bit like UB40', but I have absolutely no idea what yours is.

HELEN: People keep asking me what it sounds like, and I never really know what to say, because I know what it feels like because I’m the person who has done it, but I find it quite hard to tell me people what it actually sounds like

JON: What does it feel like?

HELEN: In my head, when I’m playing my songs, it’s not just a guitar and me, it’s a complete arrangement so in my head I’m hearing harmonies and I’m hearing horn parts and drums, and all kinds of things and as a guitarist I try and play those parts in my playing style, which is why I pick and I don’t strum. And as a singer, I always feel like I am battling against the fact that I don’t really feel like a singer, so I almost feel like I am speaking rather than singing, so it’s quite an odd combination of things, you know, and I don’t think I really feel like a singer/songwriter when I’m doing what I’m doing. I have huge admiration for people who work in that genre, but it’s a mystery to me how they manage to do it.

JON: I think that’s strange, because I think you’ve got a lovely voice. It’s just not a rock ‘n’ roll voice.

HELEN: No it’s not a rock ‘n’ roll voice. Quite often, if I am recording my voice the things that I listen to in it are more to do with the way you hear somebody speaking rather than somebody singing because I haven’t got that kind of rock ‘n’ roll kind of thing in it, and my ideal to sing something is to sing it as though I’ve just made it up on the spot kind of thing, so it sounds quite spontaneous.

JON: I was playing the latest one you did with Martin the other day to a friend of mine and he said that you sounded like a cross between Nico and Julie Andrews.

HELEN: That’s quite funny. In the 1980s people would say I sounded a bit like Doris Day, but that was probably because I did a cover version of a Doris Day song in the band that I was in. It was probably the nearest thing they could reach over and get a hold of, you know. But, yeah, I suppose that’s quite flattering really – to be a combination of those two.

JON: You were in a punk band weren’t you?

HELEN: I was. I first became a musician in a punk band really, living in a really big squat just off the seafront in Brighton. I was actually just finishing an art course there and there was a bunch of guys in the basement who had a punk band, and they just played – because it was a squat it was completely unregulated so they just played from when they woke up, which was about lunchtime, till the small hours of the morning, and to get them out of the house me, and my then boyfriend, got them a gig and they chickened out of playing it, so just to kind of shame them, we decided in the spirit of punk to form a band...that was on a Wednesday, we formed a band and we played our first gig on the Friday.

JON: Blimey

HELEN: And that was like the guy played guitar, and we had another friend who played guitar and another friend who wanted to be the lead singer, and they just more or less told me that I had to be the bass player, and we borrowed the drummer from a band called the Poison Girls...he was the son of the lead singer of the Poison Girls who was a woman called Frances , who was also a guitarist actually, and their bass player leant me her bass guitar, and she’d bought that from the Buzzcocks, so my first bass which I learned how to play actually belonged to the Buzzcocks, which I was really thrilled about.

JON: Well, with both the Poison Girls and the Buzzcocks, that’s a lot of punk credibility.

HELEN: It is isn’t it? Of course at the time you don’t realise do you, you know. They’re just bands, and I suppose we liked the Buzzcocks because they came from somewhere else. I mean this was in Brighton and the Buzzcocks were from Manchester, but at the time I had no idea how important the Poison Girls were going to become or anything like that, you know. It was all just people making music.

JON: I’ve always been quite fond of the Poison Girls

HELEN: Well ... I am and it’s mainly because of Vi Subversa because she was a real catalyst in Brighton at that time. She just encouraged everybody to make music and that was their ethos and I think they just carried that on for years and years and years. She’s living in Spain now, she’s a blues guitarist. Just outside Barcelona. And she looks absolutely fantastic, I have to say – she’s aged absolutely amazingly.

JON: She’s well into her 70s isn’t she?

HELEN: That’s right. She’s still go punky hair though.

JON: That’s so cool. I knew Crass vaguely – not very well – but I was on the outskirts of the anarcho-punk era

HELEN: Were you in a band?

JON: I’ve been in various bands over the years and made various records that nobody’s ever bought

HELEN: Ah well that’s....join the club

JON: But yours are nicer than mine

We shall continue tomorrow with an interview which was supposed to be promoting Helen's new CD with Martin Stephenson, and ended up being about the ethos of feminist punk bands. Cool! In the meantime check out her Gonzo Artist pages, solo and with Martin S:

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5932/Helen%20Mccookerybook
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5933/Helen%20Mccookerybook%20and%20Martin%20Stephenson

ROB AYLING: My Brain Hurts

Our fearless leader listens to future projects before deciding they are suitable to be issued on the legendary Gonzo label.

Sadly it looks like someone swapped the demo he is listening for a Robbie Williams album.....

Newest Music by Original YES vocalist Jon Anderson.

Newest Music by Original YES vocalist Jon Anderson.

International music celebrity, and original YES vocalist Jon Anderson, is nearing completion of two new music releases for 2012. Jon Anderson’s newest music opus is titled Ever, and a second release of new music is titled Zamran.

Jon Anderson’s newest recording Ever, is a part two sequel to his 21 minute download composition OPEN, a brilliant recording he released in October of 2011. Jon is in the final stages of recording Ever, so his new release will be available soon.

Zamran is Jon Anderson’s sequal to his popular, first solo album Olias of Sunhillow. It may take more time to complete Zamran, but it’s great news to know Jon Anderson is constantly finding creative new ways to express himself musically.

New songs for a special “Earth and Peace” concert timed during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London, England are another source for new music by Jon Anderson.

The new songs are to be performed live by Jon Anderson at the “Earth and Peace” concert taking place during the Summer Olympic Games in 2012. There hasn’t been an official press release about this special concert event starring Jon Anderson, but once the concert information is announced, I will provide more details when available.

I may have another opportunity to interview Jon Anderson for the second time before long. During this interview I plan to have specific questions about the “Earth and Peace” concert and his role in relation to the Summer Olympic Games later this year, so do check back for this exclusive interview.

Visit JonAnderson.com for news and find the newest albums and songs by Jon Anderson at iTunes.com. Portrait photo is courtesy Glass Onyon PR & Big Stock Photo – Ackley Road Photos.

LINK: Michael Des Barres' Album CARNABY STREET Set for July 10 Release

Glam rock icon Michael Des Barres announces his forthcoming CD release 'Carnaby Street' on Gonzo MultiMedia, UK, for July 10, 2012.

Michael Des Barres has been in the rock ‘n’ roll scene for four decades now. A European nobleman, brought up in England, living in Los Angeles, but with an enduring love of delta blues and the rock and soul of the mid-60s beat boom, he was front man for such seminal 1970s bands as Silverhead and Detective (featuring Tony Kaye of Yes). Jimmy Page personally signed Detective to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song records in 1975. From 1982 to 1985, Michael was a member of Chequered Past, which included Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. Clem Burke and Nigel Harrison from Blondie, and Tony Sales of Todd Rundgren ('Runt') and Tin Machine fame. Michael Des Barres was also the singer with the touring and LiveAid version of The Power Station, a Duran Duran spin-off band that became one of the most iconic live acts of the mid-1980s. In 1985, Michael penned the song "Obsession", which became a number one hit in 27 countries for LA new wave group Animotion; the track has been featured in numerous movies throughout the years.

After over 40 years of recording and performing, Michael has returned to his mid-Sixties roots with 'Carnaby Street', his first new album in many years. Revisiting his youth in swinging London, 'Carnaby Street' is an aural window into rock and roll's past through the eyes and mind of Michael Des Barres. “The music I am making now is inspired by my past in the mid '60s / early '70s,” Michael explains. “As a kid I would go watch all the skinny white blues rock 'n' roll musicians in the clubs and it hit me like a hammer! I was so influenced by both the courage of these young white guys combined with the soulful rawness of the African American bluesmen, and the hybrid was so fascinating to me that it really stimulated my entire musical vocabulary. So, a couple of years ago, when I started writing songs again, I realised that I wanted these new songs to be as authentic as I had initially heard and was inspired by.”

This album may quote from the idioms laid down by Wilson Pickett, Zoot Money, and The Rolling Stones, but it is no exercise in retro-stylings. This is very much a piece of the second decade of the 21st Century. It may even be Michael Des Barres’ most important work to date. The opening line of the title track immediately sets the tone of the album; “I was 19 in 1967, on the streets of London. I was in Heaven. I was Oscar Wilde in velvet jeans. Everything you've heard is everything I've seen.” He is adamant that this is not an homage to mid-Sixties music, but a contemporary album by a contemporary band presenting songs about that particular time in his life: a time when as a teenager just entering manhood the world as a whole was celebrating ‘The Summer of Love’. “The name of the album 'Carnaby Street', for me, is a metaphor for the swinging London '60s,” says Michael, “that whole youth cultural revolution that literally changed the world. So the name reflects my desire to go back to the roots, the joy and the love of the music when I first heard it.”

British born the Marquis Michael Philip Des Barres, along with his excursions into rock stardom, is also a gifted actor and is best known for his reccurring role as Murdoc on the popular television show 'MacGyver'. He has been featured in dozens of movies and television shows over the past 40 years (including Seinfeld, ALF, Frasier, Bones, Ellen, Nip/Tuck and Pink Cadillac with Clint Eastwood) and was also a featured actor in the '60s classic movie 'To Sir With Love' featuring Sidney Poitier. Michael was formerly married to GTO's member Pamela Des Barres, best known for her top-selling book 'I'm With The Band'.

Read more: http://tunes.broadwayworld.com/article/Michael-Des-Barres-Album-CARNABY-STREET-Set-for-July-10-Release-20120619##ixzz1yPzAZ9x4

CHRIS THOMPSON REVIEW

Chris Thompson is an English vocalist/musicians that was raised in New Zealand and became mostly know through Manfred Mann’s Earthband when he succeeded Mick Rogers in 1976. Chris also released several solo albums, especially during the 80s and participated in other well-known musician works such as: Gary Moore, Elton John, John Parr, John Farnham, Mike Oldfield, Alan Parsons, Bonnie Tyler, Steve Hackett & Steelhouse Lane among others.

This new work is a double CD plus a bonus DVD from a live radio concert (Radio Berlin) and a previous rehearsal and concert that took place in Aschaffenburg at the Colos-Saal. The Berlin radio concert is just as it came from the radio transmission and such is the complete concert: as fans heard it on the radio. I hadn’t heard it at the time it was on but the quality, the performances and the band’s attitude is vibrant generally. There are plenty of songs to hear (mostly) from the Manfred Mann’s Earthband era as well as a few others from his solo albums, including the hit “You’re the Voice” which he had also co-written and was firstly presented by the Australian vocalist John Farnham. The live show is as enjoyable as it can be, it has a very good sound in general and will give a clue to all those who weren’t able to listen to it on the radio back in the day.

The DVD contains only 7 tracks from the Colos-Saal and 4 with special guests Dexheim (FanCam). The whole concert was bound to be released, but due to a major problem with the digital sound of the recording only 7 songs were usable in the end. Moreover, a discovered problem with the moving camera made that camera's material unusable. The guys did their best to save what they could from this concert. They also left the interviews they had done before the show just to give a hint of what was lost in terms of songs & enthusiasm. Chris is backed by a full band which includes Mads Eriksen on guitar, Gunnar Bjelland on keys, Frank Hovland on bass with Szolt Meszaros on drums for the Berlin concert and Steinar Krokstad on drums & Dirk Naessens on violin on the Aschaffenburg Remains - Live at the Colos-Saal - material.

Overall, this 2CD plus DVD package is actually very good and I’m sure the guys that attended the show that night should have it on their collection. As for the others… if you do like Chris Thompson & Manfred Mann’s Earthband then there’s no way not to revel in this very beautiful release.

http://www.grande-rock.com/reviews/chris_thompson_-_berlin_live_live_colos-saal

Check out Chris' Gonzo Artist Page

LINK: Martin Stephenson review

http://www.the-rocker.co.uk/

MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES
California Star
Gonzo Multimedia 2012



A name I've seen in music papers since back in the days when there was no internet and a weeks reading of Sounds would leave your hands black as night, yet I don't think I've ever actually heard anything he's ever recorded, either solo or with his band the Daintees. Which considering the thirty or so albums he's been involved with over the years is quite an achievement. Not even at the height of their flirtation with the album charts. Mind you that was back in the days when my life was devoted to metal thrashing mad.

So what is this Martin Stephenson and who are his Daintees. Well, turns out to be indie folk / pop with some country / Americana tinges. Which is nice. It's not a life changing album and I doubt that anyone apart from the people who buy Martin Stephenson & The Daintees albums will be queuing around the internet to buy it. But there are a couple of really nice songs, like 'Streets Of San Sebastian' and the fairly rocktastic 'Ready To Move On'. You won't want to listen to 'I'm In Love For The First Time', though. Ever.

The one good thing is that each song does have stylistic variations [c] (which is going to be the name of my soul opera, when I get around to writing it), so you don't get bogged down in one groove or move. If you like the solo work of Mark Knopfler or even the earthier records of Chris Rea, then the folky arrangements and strong arrangements may get your blood flowing. He's on tour all the time, or you could just pop up to teuchter country and visit Ullapool for his monthly residency at The Argyll Hotel. Fact! And not an internet one.

Web type buy place link

MIMI PAGE: A self-remixed and deconstructed version of Phenomenon off my album "Breathe Me In"

http://soundcloud.com/mimi-page/phenomenon-version-2-0

Check out her Gonzo Artist Page:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6775/Mimi%20Page

REVIEW: Public Image Ltd - a brilliant new record

2012 is really proving to be the year of some great music, and it is heartening to see how artists who have been disappointingly quiet in recent years have come out onto the world stage with music which is as good as anything they had ever done. For example, look at John Lydon.

Although they were nowhere near as important on the socio-cultural stage as the Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd were my favourite of the two bands. Whereas the Sex Pistols produced four classic singles and some other bits and bobs of speeded up heavy metal, and either enthused one generation or irritated several others, Public Image Ltd were something else entirely.

When this reunion was first mooted it was widely believed that Jah Wobble and Keith Levine would be back in the fold for the first time in 30 years. This was not to be; the two of them have – apparently – teamed up to play live and possibly record. I wish them well, indeed if I manage to get hold of a recording or video I will listen to it eagerly and write about it in these hallowed pages, but as far as the new Public Image album, the first for 20-odd years, is concerned, does it matter that there aren’t three original members in the line-up? Not at all.

This is a very funky and dubby album, and although I am a massive fan of the original Metal Box on which Johnny and the boys first de-constructed the then contemporanious dub styles into a post-modern melange of grooviness, this offering from the current line-up, whilst superficiously the same is actually far more organic and completely different. There is a warmth to the playing which I have never heard before on a Public Image album. Add to this the various string textures from the semi-legendary Lu Edmonds make this, sonically at least, quite possibly the best realised Public Image album ever.

The bizarre thing about it is that Lydon’s voice has changed. It seems lower somehow and less confrontational, but don’t let that put you off. This is an absolutely fantastic album, and one which I am sure I will be playing for many years to come.

JON ANDERSON: With the Cleveland Contemporary Youth Orchestra and 60 member student chorus

Nice pictures of Jon Anderson with the Cleveland Contemporary Youth Orchestra and 60 member student chorus. I'm not going to tell you where I got them because it seems to be a bootleg site, and the management would quite rightly have my guts for garters. The piccies are nice though...

"Former lead singer of the rock group "Yes" shares the stage with the 112 member Cleveland Contemporary Youth Orchestra and 60 member student chorus in a mesmerizing performance that exudes joy and energy. In this once in a lifetime and inspiring performance, Jon Anderson and the youth orchestra play the songs written for "Yes" and "Jon & Vangelis" including the hits, "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "I've Seen All Good People" and "Round About."

LINK: Chris Thompson review

http://dmme.net/reviews/reviews50.html#chrthom

CHRIS THOMPSON - Berlin Live Gonzo 2012

Publish PostBlinding and spiritual, one of the best British singers finally delivers a full-blooded, heavy-on-the-hits concert album. You can't go wrong with Chris Thompson: the likes of QUEEN know it too well when inviting the man to back them, and duetting with Sarah Brightman was no mean feat either. Quite simply, the man has The Voice, and that's the title of a song he co-wrote for John Farnham and gloriously reclaims here, on German radio concert which is spread over two discs and has a DVD companion. And it's only one of surprises strewn across the set showcasing many of Thompson's successes yet relying reasonably on the hits Chris notched in the company of Manfred Mann. They're all there, from "Father Of Day, Father Of Night" to "Questions", through "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirits In The Night" and even the brilliant "Don't Kill It Carol" which the veteran didn't sing a lead on originally - all done with Thompson's charm and looseness that was sometimes missing from his old band's performances. With Norwegian players behind him now to unleash many a pleasant passage, like in "Runner", it's all about the song, not arrangement, and Chris takes off harking back to his New Zealand roots in the tribal groove of "Land Of The Long White Cloud" and gets on the edge in the funky "Wasting Time" from his latest studio work - laid down a decade before this 2011 recording. The most welcome inclusions, though, are the swaying, harmonica-oiled blues "Whole Lot To Give" from his collaboration with Mads Eriksen who has a solo spot here, and a graceful, breezy version of "Hot Summer Night" from the singer's underrated late '70s project NIGHT. Still, the emotional zenith comes down not with "If You Remember Me", a bit too saccharine ballad, but with the bare-bones "For You", a measure of the artist's dedication to his audience who's thanked, each one by name, in the booklet. One fantastic concert - long overdue and all the better for it. *****

LINK: Genre Peak reviewed

http://www.side-line.com/reviews_comments.php?id=48009_0_17_0_C
Genre Peak is back after a hiatus of couple years. Martin Birke got involved in very different projects, which might explain why he left Genre Peak in the background for a couple of years. “Redux” is a fine selection from songs of the previous 2 albums.

Read on...









Check out the Gonzo artist page for Genre Peak:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6773/Genre%20Peak

...and for Martin's sister project Hardboiled Wonderland:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6749/Hardboiled%20Wonderland

LINK: Rick Wakeman review

http://www.electronicmusicmall.com/Html/reviews99.htm

MORPHEUS MUSIC REVIEWS

STYLE: Progressive rock electronica.
In The Nick Of Time is a live album recorded back in 2003 that showcases some of the outstanding solo material composed over the decades by keyboard legend Rick Wakeman. Supported by The New English Rock Ensemble, Rick's music here takes on a massive live rock character. The drums are thunderous, the lead breaks (both from Rick on synths and Ant Glynnes on guitar) are masterful and grandiose, the vocals are those of dramatic rock opera epics and even bassist Lee Pomeroy gets to dazzle during a blinding spotlight section of the concluding Wurm. The heaving progressive pomp and unashamedly extravagant arrangements give the music a dynamic enormity firmly rooted back in the seventies.

ARTWORK
In The Nick Of Time is a jewelcase presentation with a generous twenty page booklet included. The Front cover sets a galactic tone that is expanded throughout the package with effulgent red orange nebulae vomiting out stars, planets and snaking keyboard ribbons. Rick's image hangs in the void to one side of the titles semi-transparent. Track titles are listed with times on the rear along with publishing information. The booklet opens with a five page section "Rick's Attempt at a Definition" wherein Rick explains the title of the album; thoughts on prog; something of his personal history: a bit of a rant about Yes and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and plenty of thoughts on the development of the man's music. There are numerous live performance photographs, posters, biographies of the band and a whole page of credits and thank yous.

OVERALL
Rick Wakeman is surely one of the most well known keyboardists alive - his work with various rock and pop giants (David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Yes) as well as some huge early solo releases (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth ...) establishing a loyal following that would remain for decades. In The Nick Of Time is an archival live recording that sees the maestro in fine form back in 2003 promoting the Out There album. Tracks include developments of favourite solo compositions such Catherine Parr/Beware Your Enemies and White Rock; pieces written for vocals such as No Earthly Connection; a reimagining of the Yes classic Wurm as well as pieces from the then newly released Out There album of 2003. For more information you can visit the official Rick Wakeman website or you can purchase the album directly from the Gonzo Multimedia website.

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5982/Rick%20Wakeman

MICHAEL DES BARRES: In the L.A Weekly

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Glam Rock Icon Michael Des Barres Returns To His London Roots With 'Carnaby Street'

Posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 8:24 PM

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Los Angeles, CA - There is much excitement within the music press and fans alike around the world about the news of the return of glam rock icon Michael Des Barres and his forthcoming CD release 'Carnaby Street' On Gonzo MultiMedia, UK. Michael Des Barres has been in the rock ‘n’ roll scene for four decades now. A European nobleman, brought up in England, living in Los Angeles, but with an enduring love of delta blues and the rock and soul of the mid-60s beat boom, he was front man for such seminal 1970s bands as Silverhead and Detective (featuring Tony Kaye of Yes). Jimmy Page personally signed Detective to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song records in 1975. From 1982 to 1985, Michael was a member of Chequered Past, which included Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. Clem Burke and Nigel Harrison from Blondie, and Tony Sales of Todd Rundgren ('Runt') and Tin Machine fame. Michael Des Barres was also the singer with the touring and LiveAid version of The Power Station, a Duran Duran spin-off band that became one of the most iconic live acts of the mid-1980s. In 1985, Michael penned the song "Obsession", which became a number one hit in 27 countries for LA new wave group Animotion; the track has been featured in numerous movies throughout the years.

After over 40 years of recording and performing, Michael has returned to his mid-Sixties roots with 'Carnaby Street', his first new album in many years. Revisiting his youth in swinging London, 'Carnaby Street' is an aural window into rock and roll's past through the eyes and mind of Michael Des Barres. “The music I am making now is inspired by my past in the mid '60s / early '70s,” Michael explains. “As a kid I would go watch all the skinny white blues rock 'n' roll musicians in the clubs and it hit me like a hammer! I was so influenced by both the courage of these young white guys combined with the soulful rawness of the African American bluesmen, and the hybrid was so fascinating to me that it really stimulated my entire musical vocabulary. So, a couple of years ago, when I started writing songs again, I realised that I wanted these new songs to be as authentic as I had initially heard and was inspired by.”

This album may quote from the idioms laid down by Wilson Pickett, Zoot Money, and The Rolling Stones, but it is no exercise in retro-stylings. This is very much a piece of the second decade of the 21st Century. It may even be Michael Des Barres’ most important work to date. The opening line of the title track immediately sets the tone of the album; “I was 19 in 1967, on the streets of London. I was in Heaven. I was Oscar Wilde in velvet jeans. Everything you've heard is everything I've seen.” He is adamant that this is not an homage to mid-Sixties music, but a contemporary album by a contemporary band presenting songs about that particular time in his life: a time when as a teenager just entering manhood the world as a whole was celebrating ‘The Summer of Love’. “The name of the album 'Carnaby Street', for me, is a metaphor for the swinging London '60s,” says Michael, “that whole youth cultural revolution that literally changed the world. So the name reflects my desire to go back to the roots, the joy and the love of the music when I first heard it.”

British born the Marquis Michael Philip Des Barres, along with his excursions into rock stardom, is also a gifted actor and is best known for his reccurring role as Murdoc on the popular television show 'MacGyver'. He has been featured in dozens of movies and television shows over the past 40 years (including Seinfeld, ALF, Frasier, Bones, Ellen, Nip/Tuck and Pink Cadillac with Clint Eastwood) and was also a featured actor in the '60s classic movie 'To Sir With Love' featuring Sidney Poitier. Michael was formerly married to GTO's member Pamela des Barres, best known for her top-selling book 'I'm With The Band'.

Recently, Michael Des Barres reunited with Silverhead for the first time in 38 years and performed to sold out audiences in Japan in April 2012. The reaction from the Japanese audience was electric! Michael is still very active acting and was featured in the US FOX television show 'The Finder' on May 4, 2012. A recent guest appearance on the new season of USA Network's 'Suits' will air sometime this summer. He is also featured in the movie 'California Solo', in which Michael plays the manager of Robert Carlyle's ex-rocker character, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on January 25th. In support of Michael Des Barre's new album release, several live shows are currently being scheduled. “The majority of the people that have come to see us play, and we've only played perhaps a dozen shows, has been 80 percent a young audience, early and mid-twenties, who consider us an indie band, ironically,” says Michael. “The music we are playing is below the waist rock 'n' roll, and I think that the audiences are kind of starved for a carnal, sensual, sexy blues music. There's nothing ironic about our music – there's nothing angry or apologetic about our music. We are there to make people happy and joyous and fall in love.”

In closing Michael Des Barres has this to impart to his followers of the past four decades: “The message that I have to say to fans and friends, and I don't think of them as fans, I think of them as friends – and they are friends. We should all be friends, and really my belief in connection and engagement and letting people into your life... and I say it in the briefest possible way – LOVE EVERYONE NOW!”

Michael Des Barres 'Carnaby Street' CD release date July 10, 2012

For more information visit Michael Des Barres official website: www.desbarres.com
'Carnaby Street' website: http://www.mdbimmedia.com/

To pre-order Michael Des Barres 'Carnaby Street' CD (Special Edition):
http://www.gonzomultimedia.com/product_details/15483/Michael_Des_Barres-Carnaby_Street.html

HAWKWIND FOUNDER MEMBER DIES

Cleopatra Records has released the following statement:

With great sadness we wish to announce that John Harrison, founding bassist for legendary space rock band Hawkwind, passed away in his sleep on May 26, 2012. John had been suffering from Huntington disease, having been diagnosed with it in 2005. At the time of his death, John was being cared for at Garden Crest clinic in Los Angeles. His caregivers there reported that he passed peacefully at approximately 8 p.m. John would have been 70 on May 28.

Read on...

MICHAEL DES BARRES: On the the Internet Movie Firearms Database

It truly doesn't get much more peculiar than this...

"Michael Des Barres can be seen using the following weapons in the following films:"
http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Michael_Des_Barres

THE McCOOKERYBOOK BLOG

I am rapidly becoming a big fan of the lovely (and apparently, massively eccentric) Helen McCookerybook.

Not only are her songs excellent, but check out her blog. Anyone who can write blog entries like:

Was That Mick Hucknall In McDonalds?
Was that Mick Hucknall I saw in McDonalds in Barnet as I walked plast the other day? Oh no. It wasn't him.

...is the sort of woman who should definitely be encouraged, and I am very much looking forward to interviewing her sometime this week.

Check out her Gonzo artist page:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/5932/Helen%20Mccookerybook

NEWS: Jon Anderson the Accrington Ambassador

A WORLD-renowned rocker is set to become an ambassador for Accrington Stanley Football Club.

The town’s most famous musical export Jon Anderson, who found fame with the progressive 1970’s rock band Yes, has agreed to help spread the word about the League Two club on the international circuit.

The 67-year-old lead singer has even promised to play a gig at the Livingstone Road stadium at some date in the future.

He will join former player Mike Ferguson, the most well-known face of the 1962 squad, who also went on to have a glittering career with a host of big name clubs, as the 2012 ambassadors.

Accrington Stanley chief executive Rob Heys said: “I think a lot of people would be very surprised to learn Jon Anderson was born and went to school in Accrington.

WAKEMAN AS HE IS SPOKE

I first read about English as She Is Spoke many years ago in Stephen Pile's Book of Heroic Failures. Wikipedia has this to say about it:

English as She Is Spoke is the common name of a 19th century book written by Pedro Carolino and falsely additionally credited to José da Fonseca, which was intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent. Carolino added Fonseca's name to the book without the latter knowing about it. Fonseca had written a successful Portuguese-French phrase book, which Carolino adapted.

Now, I couldn't resist printing this translated version oif a Rick Wakeman review that I was sent recently. It is actually not a terribly good review, but the translation software has made such a marvellously peculiar job of the translation from German that it has its own literary beauty.

Any review that starts off "Rick Wakemans oeuvre is enormous", and continues, talking about the "Mostly white Tony Fernandez", deserves to be broadcast to a wider audience. The Queen's English has never been so poetic. Roll over Chaucer, Pinter, and Shakespeare, and tell this un-named reviewer the news.

http://www.ragazzi-music.de/rickwakeman12.html

Rick Wakeman And The New English Rock Ensemble, "In The Nick Of Time - Live in 2003" (Gonzo Multimedia 2012)

Rick Wakemans oeuvre is enormous.

Only albums under his own name - and among them there are several typical rock.With the New English Rock Ensemble, he shall, after another.In 2003 he was again to exit from its (then) growing up - band Yes, with his own band on a promotional tour for his album "Out There" on the go. Classic Wakeman, Yes-song parts and pieces are then landed on the current CD, which is just a snippet of the concert repertoire. Long played versions, apart from "White Rock", which is very short with 3:15, and "Dance of a Thousand Lights" (5:48), all the pieces in the track area Long (8:06 to 13:17) . Wakeman, Rock Band and Choir (partially) be heard. Stylistically, the band works between keyboard rock and melodic rock with influences from symphonic rock, hard rock and metal.

The theatrical acting singer Ashley Holt has tremendous voice with which he prevailed over the keys to heavy and bombastic, pompous-working band has what it works well to secure melodic vocal lines. The band makes it crash, sometimes a bit simplistic, as if the basic rhythm is permanently asleep on the bass drum and keyboard and jubilant strings can work hard as they want, the song can not come from the black hole.

Mostly white Tony Fernandez to avoid the kind.Keyboard fanatics will have their great joy, the trumpets and drums, the melody of bliss and the dramatic bombastic action is in full swing. And so is known to play non-stop in between and some lesser-known songs and song fragments from. Good to hear that Wakeman and the band the songs already voiced countless times. Of the original (studio) arrangements hardly anything is left, everything has developed and changed, yet everything is as usual. Celebrate thunder, lightning and magic classical epics lush symphonic as they can only come from the wakemanschen spring. 7 tracks on the CD, not on it even more fit. So light the material on the CD, so hard their content.Wants the voluptuous sound between lyrical ballads, virtuoso keys and melodic bliss bombastic hard rock so well crafted and technically he played brilliantly, has a lot of weight and brake force that can oppose the band like them. They will not fight it. At the highest momentum, these epics are just whipped up in the early seventies, when the workmen were on the instruments hungry teenagers.Today, it sounds as if the band is on it, but the trash is too small, the sound builds up to full size."Dance of a Thousand Lights" for example sounds like it came from a parallel universe, could not be understood here and played. Mordspompös, hard thick and sweet, languid works of Vivaldi and sticky which in itself is not unattractive thing. Instrumental surprises and exquisite radical rides are rare. And even when the band rocks and shoot at the best moment - so it's never quite alive. Good band, the New English Rock Ensemble, the helpless sweet a Wakeman-Songs and melted butter into the mountains, so much rage and plow the guys. Not least, sounds like Rick Wakemans placed buttons work and tired. The whole arrangement is a shot in the oven. In the concert will have its size, delivered on CD, the domestic investment, has the dull and tired concerto grosso. Despite all the good ingredients. rwcc.com

ALBUM REVIEW: Kevin Rowland, like Michael Des Barres, is still a Young Soul Rebel

For those of us of a certain age, Kevin Rowland is undoubtedly somebody upon whom the appellation “unpredictable genius” can be justly bestowed. It has been over 30 years since the first Dexy’s Midnight Runners album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, burst onto the public consciousness. Right from the beginning it was obvious that Dexy’s (named after a well-known type of amphetamine sulphate) were something special. Rowland and his posse, stylishly clad in donkey jackets, thuggish woolly cap, and work boots, which made them look like they were hanging around the docks trying to punch a case of Benson & Hedges, set out their stall with a striking manifesto which channelled the spirits of Van Morrison, Otis Redding, and Magic Sam (amongst others) into an instantly recognisable and totally cohesive whole.

A couple of years later, looking like nascent New Age travellers before the term had been invented they were channelling Van Morrison again with a fiddle led slice of kosmic roots boogie, spearheaded by the almost perniciously catchy 'C’mon Eileen'. Personally I like the stuff that they did between these two albums, much of which was never recorded and is only available on bootlegs.

Later in the 1980s they produced their third, and final, album, which I loved, and everybody else hated. That’s probably not fair, because it attracted somewhat of a critical re-examination in recent years, but the change from New Age traveller to yuppie in a business suit was too much for the fan base to take. And then there has been only a few sightings to satisfy the hard-core Rowlandwatcher. There have been peculiar solo albums, at least one of which features him in unconvincing drag, and the occasional unfounded rumour in the music press. Now, at last, the rumours have been proved correct. There is a fourth Dexy’s album (the second two words of their moniker have seemed to have disappeared into the Celtic twilight). So, what is it like? Is it worth the 20-something year wait?

The headlines all read ‘Rowland does it again’, but does that mean that he has made another peculiar, but underwhelming solo album, or does it mean that – at long last – there is another bona fide slice of Dexy’s genius?

I am very pleased to say that it is the latter! One Day I’m Going to Soar is quite possibly, a masterpiece. The thing that is most obvious about it, as well as – in many ways – the most surprising is the deft light-handedness of approach. Whereas one was (or least I was) expecting a big production number with all guns blazing, a surprisingly large proportion of this album is just acoustic piano and vocals, and when the other electric instrumentation is brought in, it is done surprisingly subtly. This is a remarkable understated album and it works all the better for it. For the first time, Kevin Rowland actually sounds humble, and there isn’t a single occurrence of the swashbuckling self-aggrandisement of some of the previous records. His duets with the massively soulful Madeleine Hyland are breathtaking.

The two singers establish a real dialogue and the songs about the progress of a romance from beginning to end, from seduction to abandonment (as Stephen Troussé describes it in a recent issue of Uncut) is both touching and genuinely soulful in a way – chronicling the ordinary day by day ups and downs of what happens when boy meets girl (or, to be honest, middle-aged bloke meets middle-aged chick) is disarmingly honest. The nearest I can get is the way on her album before last Aerial, Kate Bush drew exquisite beauty from an otherwise banal chronicling of day to day events.

This album mines similar scenes of mid-60s soul-rock as does the forthcoming Carnaby Street from Michael des Barres. I wonder whether anybody else has noticed that. They are going to be the two most important albums of this summer and I urge you to listen to both of them as soon as you are able.

Hawkwind rescale their early heights

Graham's slightly-belated Gonzo review of the Southampton Hawkwind gig - apologies for the delay...

Yep, I tell it like it is, when reviewing Hawkwind.

I gave them a savage panning on Prog Archives back in 2007, for instance; however, I've been increasingly complimentary ever since. Which brings us to 2012............

Southampton  "The Brook" -  June 2012

At Southampton, I sometimes had a feeling of cosmic energy from them that reminded me of their golden age of the 1970s. And that is something that I just haven't said about them for the last thirty years.

One could almost see the power of the band pulsating from the stage and washing over the audience in cosmic waves.

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Hawkwind 2012: Tim Blake (seated), and behind him is Dead Fred on keys, Mr Dibs is the guy in the hat and kilt. Richard Chadwick's spent over 20 years on that drumstool, and Dave Brock is towards the right. Nial Hone is out of shot in this view.

(Screenshot courtesy Lostjohnnie, who's put several excellent video clips of this event on youtube and said I can copy his stuff. Cheers, man.)

 

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Things got off to a good start earlier, necking back some jars, and with Huw Lloyd-Langton playing solo strummity-strum support.

Solo... except that Dave Brock joined him on stage for a while. 

Huw had some sound problems, so Dave turned roadie for a moment and brought over another microphone, to some cheers from the audience...

(This is a frame-grab from my videoclip of the event)



...and he soon played harmonica too.

Huw also did stuff like "Outside the Law" and "Hurry on Sundown" and I divided my attention between these and a couple more pints.

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(the intermission)

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I'd met a friend from previous Hawk-gigs, Julie - and we spent much of the intermission discussing the Hawks and also our plans for refreshments, and I was well refreshed by the time Mr Dibs started his electric cello noises for the start of the narrative "The Awakening".

This Bob Calvert space poem dates from the very early days and the next track, "You'd Better Believe It" isn't much newer - it first surfaced on vinyl on "Hall of the Mountain Grill".

Not that I object to old numbers, of course... they're a bit like the slippers one wears when drinking one's cocoa at night - familiar and comfortable.

The next few tracks were considerably newer, being from the "Onward" album released earlier this year. New shoes can pinch a bit until one's walked around in them for a while, but the Hawk-meisters still have ideas, and don't just want to sit back and rest on their laurals, so that's ok.

At Bridport a week previously, I'd been hoping they'd do their new track "Computer Cowards" but tonight I wasn't expecting it, as Hawkwind seldom vary their main setlist during a tour.

My personal theory is that they thoroughly reherse a core group of numbers and then basically stick to that list.

On that list for both Bridport and Southampton was the mid-set cluster of "Hassan-i-Sahba", "Love in Space", "Sonic Attack", and "Cities". The last-named, a new one, reminds me of "Brainbox Pollution" crossed with "Back in the Box" and which also contained the main "Brainstorm" riff towards the end, for good measure.

Being able to hear Dave Brock clearly in the mix makes a BIG difference, and I could hear DB really quite well, both at Bridport and at this gig. Hooray!

I think it was during "Sentinel" that Julie went off on a trek through the mosh-pit area for some reason that I can't now recall. I soon got left behind, and eventually went off to the bar and then the balcony. Looking at the gig clips on youtube, I must have ended up standing right behind Lostjohnnie, but of course I didn't realise that at the time - then, he was just a bastard whose head was in the way!

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This is a wonderous vid clip by Lostjohnnie, who's caught Hawkwind at a point when they are, well, fairly charged with cosmic energy.... it's "Sonic Attack" followed by the new track "Cities".

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Anyway, the Warrior album was getting a look-in by the time I had got a fresh pint at the upstairs bar, with "Assault & Battery" / "Golden Void". And "Damnation Alley" was the closing track of the main set.

After some foot-stamping for the encore, the band returned for an excellent "Psychedelic Warlords" and then drummer Chadwick revealed that the only reason he joined the band was so that he could sing "Silver Machine"...! He was in luck tonight, then, as that was what the band performed. They didn't do that one at Bridport, a week earlier.

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Outside the venue, I sat on the pavement and had a few cigarettes as I lazily watched people coming and going from the tour bus. After a while, my concert-going friend from previous Hawk-gigs rejoined me, and told me she wanted a photo of Dave. In fact, Julie ended up getting a photo of herself with Dave, and posted it on Facebook. Nice one, that lass!

At one point, Mr Dibs called out a greeting to us lot from an upstairs window, and Nial also came over and had a chat. I was too incoherent to say much, but I was pleased to see a new Hawkwind fan, who's only 18, joining in the fun and hanging around that side-street to see a few members of the band.

I know him from the Hawkwind forum and from previous gigs, and it's great to see youngsters still getting into a band who were first attracting fans over 43 years ago. I was at school when I heard "Silver Machine" get in the charts and I never imagined then that I would be a Hawkwind fan for all of my adult life.

There have been many good years and the odd few shite bits, but generally there's nothing to match it, when Hawkwind roll into town and kick some cosmic ass. And they sure kicked ass in Southampton 2012.

-Graham, aka Sonic_Hawk on Dime