Excellent Hawkwind Tribute Concert

The prospect of a concert of Hawkwind music was always going to be tempting but when it is held in a pub a mile down the road then there is simply no excuse for not going. The venue was The Fighting Cocks in Kingston which, for some reason I had never been to before, which proved to be a lively pub with a decent pint of Hobgoblin.

The evening started with a short set by Xenon Codex who played a medley of, I guess, their own material and culminating with Spirit of The Age. The crowd were duly warmed up ready for the main acts.

Next up were local band Hoaxwind featuring the engaging Eugene on sax and with Julian dressed in best Bob Calvert style flying suit and helmet on vocals.

Hoaxwind were a lot of fun and played mid 70s Hawkwind with enthusiasm and gusto.

The Hawkwind albums from that period, such as "Hall of the Mountain Grill" and "Amazing Sounds, Amazing Music" are my favourites so I really loved their song selection.

Sadly the strict curfew at the venue meant that Hoaxwind had to finish when still in full swing to allow the main act their full time

The Assassins of Silence ended the evening with a very professional rendition of more Hawkwind classics; the bands had discussed set lists beforehand to avoid playing the same songs.

For some reason, the whole band wore Dave Brock style white coats which while a clear homage to Hawkwind was a little odd as there is clearly only one Dave Brock in the band.

Assassins of Silence seem to understand that visually they do not offer very much so they employ the distracting charms of a dancer, as Hawkwind often do too.

But the music is the main thing and they played an interesting selection of Hawkwind greats, i.e. not just the obvious greatest hits, and they played them well changing them enough to make them more exciting but not too much to miss the point of being a Hawkwind tribute.

The 11pm curfew came all too quickly and the music had to end. It was a cracking evening much enjoyed by the packed hall and I hope to go to similar gigs in the future.