The more things change, the more the Space Ritual stays the same
Hawkwind - Manning Bar, Sydney University, 11th March 2011

The first gig I ever saw in the UK was Hawkwind, at the Colston Hall in Bristol on the 25th November 1979 (some shows were recorded and later released as the ‘Live Seventy Nine’ album).

Over the years I bought every album and attended many Hawkwind concerts in various parts of Scotland and the UK, but as time went by my forays into the world of Hawkwind became fewer until I stopped buying the albums (new material was few and far between), then stopped going to the concerts.
There were opportunities to see them in 2009 and 2010 but, for various reasons, I didn’t go.

Early in 2011 my wife and I emigrated to Australia and almost as soon as we landed I was firing up Bandmate, an iPad application which scans your iTunes library and finds out if and where those bands (and similar ones) will be playing.

There, at the top of the list for Australia, was Hawkwind.
Was it an omen, or was it a reward (or punishment) for purchasing ‘Blood of the Earth’ (their last album)?
Who knows, but I ended up buying two tickets at the extortionate cost of A$75
(about £50) each and a few weeks later found myself in the heady atmosphere of the Manning Bar on the campus of Sydney University wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into.

As always a Hawkwind gig is a mix of, shall we say, more mature connoisseurs of the genre, along with a younger element.
Plus, in this case, a pile of students wondering what the fuss was all about.
Poor buggers, I don't think they knew what hit them.

The support band was a Melbourne bunch called The Night Terrors who, I'm sorry to say, didn't do anything for me.
Maybe thirty years ago I'd have enjoyed their Theremin based death prog but tonight I was more concerned about getting a pie and a pint from the bar (and I never did get my pie).

And then it was time.
I had no photo pass so there was no need to battle my way to the front so my wife and I sought a good vantage point at the back of the hall.
The lights dimmed, the band appeared on stage, loaded up their sonic weapons - sorry, instruments - and to raucous cheers from the crowd kicked into 'Assault and Battery.'

From the first chord I found myself travelling back in time to more than thirty years ago (I had hair back then), the brain cells rejuvenated and the words to the songs coming back as I, along with the rest of the crowd, sang along as loud as we could.

The band then segued into 'Golden Void,' which was followed by a couple of tracks unfamiliar to me.
Being Hawkwind it wouldn't be the same without some dancers doing all sorts and they had a couple of girls - of lesser stature than the legendary Stacia - in various getups (including stilts!) for a few of the songs.

Founder member and ever-present Dave Brock, who becomes a septuagenarian in August, never missed a beat all through the gig and doesn't look all that different from when I chatted to him and his girlfriend back in 1981 at the Glasgow Apollo (the git).

Alongside Brock (vocals, guitar and keyboards) were Mr Dibs (vocals, bass), Niall Hone (guitar, keyboards), Tim Blake (keyboards, vocals) and Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals).
There was some of the usual band banter to the crowd but they mainly just played, which was what we wanted.

And then it was over.
Lights up, time to go and the realisation that I'd forgotten just how much I used to love this band - something I never even realised was missing had been put back in its rightful place.

The set list included: Assault and Battery, Golden Void, Flying Doctor, Star Cannibal, Spirit of the Age, Sentinel, You'd Better Believe It, Angels of Life, Psychedelic Warlords, Hassan I Sahba, and Silver Machine.

They won't be played as much as they were decades ago, but I can see more Hawkwind tracks being added to my iPod playlists...

John McGuigan
Sydney, Australia
March 2011