Van der Graaf Generator - 07/07/2005

I have just realised that I forgot to post my review of the VdGG concert I attended last year.  I wrote the review as a MySpace blog and I completely forgot about it.  I've now gone over it again and have corrected a few spelling and grammar errors.  I am not completely satisfied with my writing style, but it will have to suffice.

So therefore apologies for the delay!



Van der Graaf Generator - Shepherds Bush Empire, 7 July 2005

Van der Graaf Generator fans have been waiting years for what seemed the inevitable, but, miracles do happen it seems and VdGG have reformed and are doing a mini-tour, not only that, but they have released a brand new CD with new material as well.

They announced they were playing a gig on the 6 May 2005 at the Royal Festival Hall in London, way back in December last year.  I tried to get tickets for this gig, but was very disappointed when I learned it had sold out (this was in December).  I thought I would never get to see or hear my favourite band live, until I learnt that they were going to do further gigs.  Wonderful news!

It turns out three of these gigs would be in the UK (the rest would be in Italy - where they are very big - France and the Netherlands) and one, would again be in London - this time at the Shepherds Bush Empire - so I decided this was the gig I'd try and attend.


There were tickets available still and I asked my brother if he wanted to go as well and he agreed.  So two tickets were ordered.  Finally arriving on the doorstep some time later.  I was finally going to see them!

Fast forward a few months and the 7th arrives.

Disaster strikes London as bombs are let off within the underground system, as well as on a bus.  Over 30 people are killed and 100s more are injured with various degrees of wounds.  It seemed the gig maybe cancelled, or worse, there would be no easy way of travelling to get there, due to the lack of an underground service.

I check various websites as the day goes on and it seems the gig is indeed still on; good news!

After phoning my brother and arranging meeting up, I then get ready for the train journey the next day.

I arrive at Swindon railway station and I am waiting for my train, when I discern two people who look like they are travelling to a gig of some sort… I overheard two words, Shepherds Bush.  Bingo!  They're going to the VdGG gig too.

I start chatting to the two individuals and we decide to sit on the train together.  Unfortunately, they are going to Paddington, whilst I am going to Ealing Broadway (an easier route), so I would have to meet up with them later.

I change at Reading station and head for Slough to meet my brother.  Unfortunately, I somehow get on the incorrect train and end up at Paddington.  Typical!  After some ‘phone calls, my brother decides to meet me at Paddington and then we would travel together to Ealing Broadway.

So, after much palaver, we arrive at Ealing Broadway and get onto the underground.  Finally arriving at Shepherds Bush with time to spare.  Phew!

We have a wander, find the venue and it seems we are very near the front of the queue, which is good news.  I saw the two Swindonians arrive, but they didn't see me unfortunately.

After a good time waiting in the queue and after chatting to some guys in the queue with us, we finally get into the venue.  We have to have our bags searched and they confiscate my bottle of Coca Cola, which annoyed me somewhat, but oh well, I didn't buy it anyhow!

The guys that were in the queue behind us decided to sit next to us on the second floor.  After much chatting (whilst waiting for the band to come on stage), I discover the American sat next to me, happens to be Jim Christopulos from Chicago.  Jim just happens to be collaborating with Phil Smart (web-master of www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk) on a definitive VdGG book, which will be published later this year.  So Jim was a very good person to chat to indeed.  He was a very knowledgeable individual.

I then got my brother to buy me a VdGG t-shirt, which he finally did, after we both scrimped and scraped for money.

So, the time finally arrives, the lights dim and Peter Hammill, David Jackson, Hugh Banton and Guy Evans walk on stage.  Peter addresses the audience on the microphone to adhere to a one-minute silence, due to Thursday's tragic circumstances.

Amazing, not a noise was heard, everyone was as silent as can be expected.  No coughs, no ‘phones going off, no sneezes or whispering, just a lovely silence.  Very respectable indeed.

They then move to their instruments and the familiar tones of "Darkness (11/11)" are heard.  This tune has always been a favourite of mine.  Unfortunately, the lyrics could not be heard too well at first, I think this was a bad mixing problem.  Halfway through, they seemed to get louder, so all was good.  An amazing performance!  Peter was singing the lyrics in a far punkier style than on the studio original and it was great to hear.  I actually had shivers going up and down my spine; a first for me (except Gov't Mule really).

Then followed "The Undercover Man" and "Scorched Earth" off the Godbluff album.  Unfortunately I do not have a copy of Godbluff, so I had not heard these two tunes before, so I was slightly less excited here.  Peter Hammill, for those in the know, writes very thoughtful and deep lyrics, so you need to be familiar with these before you hear them live for the first time really.  Besides, there still seemed to be a problem with the vocals, as the band seemed to drown out Peter on the heavier parts, so you could not discern what he was actually singing.  I am not sure if this was the venue, a bad mix, or some other problem.

Then, for the first time, Peter sat down at his piano, which was situated at the right hand side of the stage.  He announced "Every Bloody Emperor" and they were away.  An amazing version, I think slightly extended from the version on the album 'Present'.

Then after a pause and Peter doing some tuning on his guitar, came "Lemmings", off of the 'Pawn Hearts' album.  Again, at first, I didn't really get into it.  I recognised the tune, but it did not really hit me until halfway through, when for some reason, I suddenly heard something amazing.  After this, I was hooked!

Then came the surprise track for the evening - "La Rossa", off the 'Still Life' album.  The first time they've performed this in 30 odd years.  This tune has never been of huge interest to me.  Certain parts of it really excite me however.  This live version renewed my interest in this track and now I really do love it more than before.  Wow.

This was followed by one of my favourite tunes by VdGG, off of my favourite album, 'Still Life' and this was the album closer, "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End".  Oh, this was another amazing version.  Jaxon was amazing as ever and he was on top form all evening, playing beautiful flute passages, as well as some superb saxophone work.  Outrageous!  The amount of times he played both saxes together was too many to count.
They didn't disappoint.  Hugh was excellent on keyboards and Peter's voice could not be faltered.

Then another surprise came, this time being "Killer" off of the 'H to He Who am the Only One' album.  A surprise, because I thought this would be used for the encore.  Surely this wasn't the whole concert finished?  Certainly not!  After an amazing rendition of a firm fans favourite, up came another one of my favourite tracks, "The Sleepwalkers", again, off the 'Godbluff' album (I have this track on MP3, hence why I know it).  Oh my word, this was simply sublime and I was really by now getting into the whole concert.  I think I was slightly headbanging for a while.  I was most definitely tapping my fingers on the wall-shelf in front of me, as well as singing along (never a good thing, I might add).

Then came one of the highlights of the evening "Nutter Alert".  I never felt this was the strongest track by VdGG, but somehow, this live version blew me away and now I really estimate this track higher than I did before.  There was an extended keyboard solo by Hugh in the middle, which greatly added to the whole tune.  Beautiful.  I hardly had time to concentrate, when the best experience of the night occured.: "Man-erg"!  The crowd went wild.  This is probably one of the best tunes VdGG have ever recorded and it is certainly a firm fans favourite.  They quite simply performed it as one would expect; quite amazing.  By now I was getting more excited by the minute.  This was their "last" tune of the night.

Having seen the previous setlists, I knew they would probably play two encore songs.  Now, the two likely candidates have already been played, i.e. Killer and Man-erg, so what else is left?  Well, I could think of one.  After much stomping of feet, cheering, shouting and clapping, the band responded and re-entered the stage.  Peter sat at his piano… only one thing could be played at a time like this!  Yes, "Refugees" off the 'The least we can do is wave to each other' album.  Jaxon plays his flute beautifully and Guy plays his drums as great as ever.  Hugh also plays some keyboards and bass pedals, as he has done for the whole night.  A wonderful rendition of a beautiful song!  What next then?  Well, Peter stood up and started pumping his hands in the air and started to wander off...
"Theme One".  Irony really, as Peter never had anything to do with this track, so he just wandered around the stage.  So Hugh, David and Guy played their hearts out and finished off in top form, with the only cover track the band have ever performed.  A great farewell track to round up a great evening!

I had had an amazing evening and I remember, I was very excited about the saxophone solo in “Man-Erg”, as it iss one of the most beautiful, heart-wrenching solos of all time.

Phil and his friends were heading off to the Leicester De Montfort and then onto Liverpool Philharmonic next.  He hadn't slept in 24 hours, so I hope he got some valuable sleep the next day.  I wish him well.

So now all I had to do was get back to my grandparent's house on the underground and this was the easy part.

I am currently listening to the Royal Festival Hall gig from the 6th May 2005, so I can refresh my memory of the gig just past.

James.



Edited by Geck0 - September 17 2006 at 22:32

Great one lucky James... how ì`d love to see them in concert (as well as many other bands) ... since VdGG is your fav band, i can imagine your excitement... but only you know how you felt ...

you didn`t have a copy of Godbluff then hahaha... now you know what was about Undercover Man and Scorched earth... wooow...

Strangely i saw Van der graff generator in Swindon many many moons ago...I cannot recall the date but I'm certain and anorak would be able to confirm this date. This too had a bomb scare connection but in this case it resulted in the audience having to get up and leave half way through the set to return later once the security checks had been made. I cannot recall much about the set other than the fact that Hugh was having some problems with his setup and was being electrocuted at times. At this stage I believe I was twelve VDGG were a completely new band to me and the music seemed strange. I later at 14 feel head over heels in love with this strange and compelling band. I do recall they played a number which was probably octopus-squid but it had a very extended and very Gothic sounding middle section. I also caught P.Hammil at Oxford many years later with Chris smith on violin and Jaxon on sax of course this gig I recall far better and they played a stunning version of still life. Despite having no bass and no drums it was still a very tight and interesting set. Sadly i have not seen vdgg in its recent incarnation , having two boys prohibited such wanton self indulgence. Vdgg were not a very well supported band during the 70's and thankfully it seems that their profile is now much higher and finally they are getting the kind of fan base that they truly deserve.

Yep the wyvern hosted a few great bands util cracks started to appear in the stage after the strawbs played an unbelievable load gig there. There was a gap of many years before they allowed rock concerts again. Now sadly it is closed temporarily hopefully due to an asbestos scare. I will have to recall that strawbs gig at some point as it was a corker

this refreshes memories of May 6th last year and the RFH gig. perhaps I should write a review of this too, although it has been over a year meanwhile

I was at the Shepherds Bush VdGG gig last year, and I certainly do remember meeting James out front before the gig, and then sitting next to him, front row in the second balcony. It was a great night. As James wrote, I went and saw the next two nights in Leicester and Liverpool. What struck me was how different all three nights were. All three were brilliant, though (and Still Life and When She Comes, both in Leicester, were mind blowers).