Steve Hillage – Paris Bataclan 1979: Album Review

By Mike Ainscoe on 7th March 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

Classic seventies Hillage. Period.

Release Date: 16th February 2024

Label: Madfish

Format: 2CD

Et maintenant…the year of ’79 in the life of Steve Hillage continues its documentation. Having had the release of the Dusseldorf show from the end of March ’79 and more recently the ’79 Glastonbury Experience, we head to the December show at Paris’ famous Bataclan.

And if the question of why another ’79 show happens to cross any minds, Steve himself offers up a sound enough justification: “The level of musical performance is pretty astonishing and my lead guitar performance is definitely at a peak – totally scorching in places.” Enough said.

Any further evidence to convince the naysayers is in the inclusion of a chunk of material from the Open album, released in October of that year; there’s even a slight nod to the artwork on the cover. Add the fact that for completeists, the set starts with the only version from the Hillage archive of Open’s finale, Earthrise amongst the 19 song set and a visit to the Bataclan is a no brainer.

So, Earthrise quickly dusted off, joined by fellow Open piece in the cool The Fire Inside (with its bass slappingly funky “now our love is gonna shine“!) there’s a warm comfort that late ’79 Hillage still delivers joyous and spacey psychedelia as some of that scorching guitar leads us into a two-minute feral punky blast through 1988 Aktivator. Never one to follow fashion, once again, slipping into the zeitgeist, the required sneer of the “wanna have a party” part of Getting In Tune along with the urgent thrashing of the delivery might endear himself to the contemporary vibe.

He even sticks to French in the banter – translations for those of us whose schoolboy/girl French is a bit rusty these days as the first set piece sees us heading towards The Glorious Om Riff. A bit more Open- including on Day After Day, what sounds like the Music For Chameleons bassline that Alan Partridge dances to in his caravan in series 2 of I’m Alan Partridge – before the Zype is unzipped on New Age Synthesis. Listening now, there’s a real hint of Prince funk that reappears in the brassy swing of Unidentified (Flying Being) with Miquette adding some lead vocals before Steve rips into a solo that trades places with funky bass and some celestial textures.

The Not Fade Away/Bo Diddley bounce in Open partners the Rock and Roll with a finale that sees the timeless Hillage stalwarts of the glistening hubble bubble of Searching For The Spark, a pacey It’s All Too Much and The Salmon Song. The latter sees its signature glassy riff weaving and circling its way into and around the roof of the Bataclan.

The doorway to a higher world? A grand addition to the wealth of late Seventies Hillage live goodies that followed in the wake of Live Herald.

Here’s Searching For The Spark – presumably, they found it in Paris – from the album: