Hawkwind - one-off show in Falmouth, Aug 2011

This is my 6th year of Hawkwind reviewing on the progarchives site!

I've said before (and will probably say again) that 2007 was a dismal low-point in the Hawkwind story. They seemed tired and unimaginative, and the accusations from people like Alan Davey that they were a karaoke-type tribute to their former selves carried some weight. The live release from that year, "Knights of Space," was very poorly received... if truth be told, lots of Hawkwind fans just want to forget all about it.

Happily, successive years saw them steadily haul themselves out of that pit, and the question has now become: when will they taper off - when will they plateau out again?

From what I saw and heard last night, the answer is: not yet.

They kicked off with "Sonic Attack," and I immediately thought that either they're taking the piss, or they're laying down a marker. Happily, the latter was the case, and they churned and swooshed through 90 minutes of blanga-style space-rock, where each track was of sufficient duration, and maintained momentum.

I thought it was their best performance for nearly 25 years. I'd have to go back to Treworgey 1989, with Simon House on violin, before I find anything I'd entheuse about to the same degree as last night.

I'll post a couple of youtube links later on, but if you'd like to pre-empt me, just search youtube for Hawkwind Falmouth, and select "uploaded this week."

Sweet thanks!