Hoaxwind at The Fighting Cocks

Hoaxwind are one of those bands that I see whenever that I can so it was disappointing to have not seen them for almost two years (is that true!!).

At least this time they were at a local venue, The Fighting Cocks, and I could walk there.

I got there as the support band, the Resuscitators were in full swing. They were a young band dressed rather like the bad lads in The Simpsons with black t-shorts and beanies. They also had their guitars down around their knees as is the fashion.

So not the sort of thing that I go for but they did what they do with much enthusiasm and, as far as I could tell, some skill.

I found myself liking them and was pleased to tell them that afterwards.

Then it was time for Hoaxwind.

As usual it took them a little while to set things up because there were so many of them to fit on to a small stage and they all had equipment to squeeze on to. But they've played there before and know where they all fit.

The last job they had to do was to put on their traditional outfits. These guys like dressing up for the show even though only two of them, Julian and Phil wore something that had anything to do with Hawkwind. But then they are not Hawkwind and I like that they have their own look.

They have their own sound too and that is quite different from what Hawkwind sound like these days and more like what they did in the late 70's. This is when I first got in to the band seriously so it is a sound that I know and love. That sound is largely due to the line-up with the guitars supplemented by a saxophone (dropped by Hawkwind when Nik Turner left), keyboards and twiddly sonics.

The set-list reflected their sound and relied heavily on the albums of that period, albums that Hawkwind have largely forgotten.

That meant tracks like Angels of Death, Kerb Crawler, Hassan-i Sabbah (on the set-list as Hassany Sabha) and Urban Guerilla.

There was also a lovely Assault and Battery which, sadly, was not followed by The Golden Void, as it is on the album.

There were a couple of old classics too, Orgone Accumulator and Masters of the Universe, and it is always good to hear those.

This was, I believe, the best that I have heard Hoaxwind play and I enjoyed their set immensely. It helped having a good crowd there with many familiar faces among them.

Hoaxwind really need to get out and play more often. They owe it to the world.

Three Local Bands at the Fighting Cocks

I really like to see local bands play locally and so I was not going to miss the opportunity to see three of them at the Fighting Cocks.

Even better this was a fund-raising gig in aid of a campaign to protect the NHS which needs protecting from this pernicious government.

Scud Penguin were the organisers and the headline act.

I had only seen them once before and that was for only part of their set, though I had also seen the lead guitarist in his previous band, Random Acts of Blindness.

One of the reasons that band split was over whether to concentrate on covers or their own material and Scud Penguin play all their own stuff.

They have a classic power-trio line-up and play some classic power riffs though this is not all that they do and they are not heavy in the way that, say, Cream were heavy. They are also often funky, and often in the same song. These mood changes are a distinctive feature of their songs which, on a first listen, sounded just a little to similar for comfort.

Scud Penguin impressed by closing with two brand-new songs that were both delivered with the same casual professionalism as the rest of their set. These are really good musicians playing accessible rock made all the more interesting by being their own songs.

I will see them again.

Nutloaf I had seen before.

They play just covers and, as with any covers band, what I think of them tends to come down to whether I like the original songs or not. That is especially true if, as Nutloaf do, the band keeps fairly close to the originals.

Hence my mixed feelings about Nutloaf.

I was not stirred by some of their material, particularly anything vaguely redolent of 80's Hair Rock. Things like Whitesnake's Fool for Your Loving.

The two songs that really lifted me where The Osmonds' Crazy Horses and Python Lee Jackson's In a Broken Dream. Familiarity breeds contentment.

Nutloaf seem to be the most active of these bands locally so I am sure to see them again before too long.

Unclaimed Item in the Baggage Area opened the show.

They were completely new to me and were a very pleasant surprise. They were loud, raw and guttural. It was like a scream of anger set to music, in a good way.

For a young band their choice of music was surprising, not that I recognised much of it through the brash arrangements and coarse vocals. I did catch Iggy Pop's I Want to be Your Dog from 1969.

I most certainly recognised Hawkwind's Hassan-i Sabbah, from the 1977 album Quark, Strangeness And Charm, which was my highlight from their too-brief set. The energy and noise were infectious and almost got me dancing.

Unclaimed Item in the Baggage Area is a band that I really must see again. They opened the show and the stole it with a raucous riot of sound. Wonderful.

Here&Now at the Fighting Cocks

My main interest in going to the Fighting Cocks on a Thursday evening was to see the support band, INdisciplineD, and so it was a bonus to also have the much heralded Here&Now headlining.

Their fame had escaped me but not many of my friends and I found myself in a room full of familiar faces.

Wikipedia tells me that they were formed in 1974 and have been associated with Gong so it is even more surprising that I had not come across them before.

There sound is reassuringly psychedelic and spacey with the electronic whoops and tweets brought to the attention of the masses by early Hawkwind.

There is also a surprising (to me anyway) dollop of reggae/ska, The overall result feels like it was birthed in the late 70s from Hawkwind and The Specials. And that's a parentage to be proud of.

I recognised the sounds that they were making but none of the songs. And that was enough familiarity to get me jigging  little if not actually dancing (I don't actually dance).

Other audience members were less restrained, including some I previously though to be "ordinary" people, and it got a little manic on the dance floor, in  good way.

I really loved the music, the way the longer songs were constructed, and the techniques used to produce them. In the top picture the lead guitar is being played with an Allen Key!

The last impression of the evening is of fun. The fun I had listening to the band, the fun they seemed to have playing and the huge amount of fun that the audience clearly had.

Researching Here&Now has proved to be difficult and even had me sending them a friend request on MySpace! I need to find where they hangout on cyberspace to make sure that I learn about future gigs because I definitely want to see them again.

INdisciplineD at the Fighting Cocks

Some forced line-up changes meant that secondSight took a break for a while before re-emerging as INdisciplineD.

Annoyingly their first few concerts clashed with things that I could not get out of and my first chance to catch them was also the most convenient being at the Fighting Cocks in Kingston.

Technically INdisciplineD were the support act but they were the main reason that I was there so I made sure to arrive promptly, which meant leaving the office in Cardiff around 3pm to do so.

That was a good plan as their set started soon after I got my first beer.

INdisciplineD is 2/5 of secondSight, Chris York on vocals and Nick Loebner on bass, with the addition of Barry Woolard on guitar and Sam Dunthorne on drums. The biggest change from secondSight is the absence of a keyboard player which given that most of the bands that they cover had one sounds as though it ought to be a problem, but it isn't.

The sound might be slightly different but the song remains much the same.

This was a shortened support set, it lasted about an hour, and in that time we got some Jethro Tull, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Porcupine Tree.

This was connoisseurs' prog rock with just a few greatest hits (e.g. Pink Floyd) strewn among lesser know songs.

Their version of King Crimson's Epitaph was my highlight of the evening though the one that I sung along to the most was the crowd-pleasing closer Comfortably Numb.

I missed secondSight and now with INdisciplineD I have a new band to follow. Let's hope that our diaries do not clash as badly in 2013 as they did in 2012.

Hoaxwind at The Fighting Cocks

Hoaxwind's long overdue return to The Fighting Cocks was a triumph.

The venue seems to have improved, since I was last there, or perhaps Hoaxwind just use it better.

This was demonstrated by the richness of the sound and the intelligent use of lighting.

The downside, and let's get that out of the way now, is that the space is an odd shape making it difficult to find a good spot to view the band, particularly when a couple of lively men dominate much of the centre with their boisterous dancing.

I was feeling a little meh anyway so rather than fight for my usual spot front and centre I retired quietly to one side and concentrated on the music and my Guinness.

The Guinness was so-so but the music was excellent.

There are no surprises from Hoaxwind, I'm fairly certain that there were no new songs, but I was not there for surprises.

What I wanted, and got, was solid versions of some of my favourite Hawkwind songs, such as Spirit of the Age and Hassan I Sahba.

Hoaxwind are increasingly putting their mark on these classics with arrangements that are very much their own and make best use of their large and mixed line-up.

I was not clock watching but it seemed a very short set, possibly just over an hour, before the venue curfew dictated that all good things must end. The fleeting time is as much a testament to the quality of the performance as it is to the time allowed for it.

The next time I am due to see Hoaxwind is in December when they play either side of Hawkwind but in a neighbouring venue. Then I am hoping that the venue and my mood will be a little better but the music remains the same.

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.