Faceless
It occured to me that yesterday was the third anniversary of my exit from Facebook which surprised me a little as I was convinced it was only two years. Time flies when you’re enjoying yourself.
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One of the earliest records I bought was Gong’s Camembert Electrique. It’s one of those that sticks with you, though these days it’s the cd that I play as the vinyl is gone. I didn’t see them at the time, nor did I see their guitarist, Steve Hillage, in his seventies heydey. I’ve kept up with their doings over the years, as Gong mutated into various outfits and Hillage, with Miquete Giraudy, ventured into dance music with the excellent System 7.
So when, in early August, Hillage announced a tour playing his seventies material, with the current incarnation of Gong as support act and also his band, I bought a ticket immediately. I’ve been looking forward to the show, which was last Sunday, ever since, watching the rave reviews crop up on Twitter.
I’m sorry to say I was really disappointed. The current incarnation of Gong are talented musicians who seem to entirely lack the whimsy and charm of the late Gong founder Daevid Allen, and go in for bludgeoning aural assault instead. Hillage started well, bringing a much-needed melodic sensibilty with his cover of George Harrison’s It’s All Too Much early in the set, and some nice versions of Ether Ships and Salmon Song. But he too succumbed to noise and, after his last tune, Hurdy-Gurdy Man, I left without sticking around for the encore (it turns out there were two of them, four songs/tunes including The Glorious Om Riff which had struck me by its absence from the main set); I’d had enough.
In fairness, a lot of the crowd were ecstatic while others were very appreciative. I suspect it might have been better if you’d eaten a handful of ‘shrooms or sparked up a long one beforehand. But it didn’t work for me. This afternoon I listened to Hillage from 1979 and also to Daevid Allen’s Sacred Geometry IV and all was well with the world again.
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