My buddy RCD and I went to this show featuring Nik Turner of Hawkwind, or Nik's version of it anyways.. My friend RCD is a huge fan of the British prog rock band Hawkwind, so I knew I had to go to this show with him. I myself own a few of their albums but am nowhere near the fan he is. I have to say though, I was really looking forward to the show, as Hawkwind or any assimilation of them rarely play North America. This show was at The Brixx, so a small club with two other bands on the bill.
The first band of the evening was an Edmonton band called Zebra Pulse. A band I had never heard of, and now I know why. They were awful, I don't know what you would call their music, if you could even call it that. It was a bass player, a drummer and two guys turning a bunch of knobs and using pedals and processors to make a bunch of noise. Not my thing at all, and didn't look like the few that were at the time were digging it either.
Zebra Pulse.
Next up was a prog rock band from San Francisco called Hedersleben. The band is lead by founding member Nicky Garratt formerly of the English punk band the of the UK Subs. Again this was band that neither RCD or I cared for. At least this band had members that actually played instruments, but they did nothing for me. I found them to be on the boring side. And this is the band that would be backing up Nik Turner, we were starting to think this show was going to be a bomb. The crowd was getting a little bigger, cause until then there were very few people at the show. But we weren't holding out a lot of faith on this show.
Hedersleben.
Next up was Nik Turner's Hawkwind backed up by the band Hedersleben. Nik Turner was a founding member of Hawkwind playing in the band between 1969-1976. Nik not only sang but was also the flute player and saxophone player for the band. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but my expectations were blown away.
Not only did Hedersleben do a great job backing up Nik, but Nik Turner was fucking awesome. At 77 years old he sounded great not only his voice (ok it was a little rough) but his sax playing and flute playing was stellar. He looked to be having a blast up on the stage. He came out on the stage wearing some funky glasses with tentacles sticking out of them. I wasn't familiar with all the material he did, as he also has a new solo album out that I believe he did a few songs from. But the classic Hawkwind songs sure got the crowd going, songs like "Brainstorm", "Master Of The Universe", "Silver Machine" and "Sonic Attack". There were a few times during the show that Nik had to resort to some sheets of paper with the lyrics, but you have to give the guy a break, he's an old acid head and he is 77 after all. All and all I thought the show was amazing. Way better then I was expecting especially after the first two bands.
My buddy and I had got the chance to meet Nik and get an album and poster autographed. He was a super nice guy. If you look at the poster it says "Stay High". I had to laugh at that after we got out of the venue and was having a closer look at his autograph. A great show! Good times!!!
Nik Turner's Hawkwind at The Brixx.
No comments:
Post a Comment