Archive for the ‘space music’ tag
The Steve Hillage Band Live at the Gong Unconvention
The Steve Hillage Band Live at the Gong Unconvention
When Steve Hillage made the surprise announcement that he was getting his old band back together to perform at the Gong Unconvention, he hadn’t performed in this particular configuration since December 1979. In the interviews that follow the DVD’s concert program, Hillage confesses that he and his mates had to relearn all their old parts. “Do you remember how to finger that bit?” They had to listen to their old recordings slowed down and over and over again to learn to play their own songs.
Dude! Cool. Proof, once again, of what the Hawai’ian red dirt shirts claim: Old Guys Rock.
The concert is marvelous, in part because, as Hillage says in the interview, he had decided to play the Unconvention a year or so before announcing the fact and spent that time practicing the 25-year-old songs. The hardest part, and alas, the weakest bit of the 2006 Gong Family Unconvention performance, was the vocals. Then again, Hillage’s voice was never more than a utilitarian herald’s tool. You could hear him loud and clear at his peak in the late 1970s, and you can hear him just fine in 2006. Read the rest of this entry »
