Van Der Graaf live in the late Seventies…Prog Rock by the scruff of the neck

Release Date: 29th March 2024

Label: Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red Records

Format: 2LP / 2CD

The Seventies. Dim, distant and slightly damp. The period when live album – the ‘double live‘ – was in vogue. You’d need a multitude of hands to have sufficient fingers to count the classic live albums from the Seventies. However, Van Der Graaf Generator was a band that never followed any sort of trend or expectation. Peter Hammill remained resolutely opposed to the idea of recording a gig, preferring the ‘in the room’/’you have to be there’ spontaneity of the live experience.

One of the trailblazers in the Progressive Rock tsunami of the time, by the latter part of the decade, VdGG had morphed into a form where the lineup that took the stage at The Marquee in January 1978 had changed considerably from their early days. No Hugh Banton meant the absence of organ and keyboard had taken the newly rechristened Van Der Graaf sonic textures in a different direction – more raw and unrefined while the departure of Dave Jackson maybe dulled the originality. He was to return as the occasional guest as he does on these recordings on Vital, taken from two nights in the intimacy of The Marquee in January 1978. On the other hand, the strings of Graham Smith (violin) and Charles Dickie (cello) add a certain haunting sheen to the likes of Pioneers Over C in the second half.

The venue is of course, iconic; the sort of enclosed and atmospheric space that induces an electric atmosphere and with the promise of ‘no overdubs’, Vital is what it says on the tin. A record of a band in urgent form, Hamill himself skirting the boundaries of manic hysteria accompanied by an outfit more akin to chaotic Hawkwind than a measured and technically adept and refined Progressive outfit. From the off, things are fuzzy and raw and aggressive – not that Hammill would ever be anything less than committed and whilst Vital is maybe not Van Der Graaf in their best light there are many moments of clarity and inspiration – the sort of thing you’d find in live performance.In hindsight, Vital could be viewed as their response to the zeitgeist of the times. While Prog peers simply made shorter and more insipid attempts to rein in any excess, VdG deliver Prog punk with the tropes of each colliding in a unique recipe. Decades before current Prog golden child Steven Wilson flew the flag for not giving a f@@k, Hammill dared to show the way.

A few cheers and claps – sounds like a small pub crowd waiting for the drama to unfold – welcome Ship Of Fools and the wild sonic assault that Hawkind had channelled in their Space Ritual presentation and with perhaps an eye on the Punk zeitgeist of the time. A few years before, Prog Rock flagbearers ELP had already shown a fierce aggression to their live performances and here, the evidence sees Last Frame with the violin making a significant feature, more brooding and in the realms of the expected with the dynamic crescendos and ominous passages pouring out in waves.

The Marquee crowd are clearly delighted at the chance to hear part of A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers, thrown into a medley with the latter part of The Sleepwalkers and where Dave Jackson’s guest appearance sees him honking out some sax parts – his single track on the recording famously lost, forcing some element of sonic trickery to find and sellotape back his contribution. The pause at 7:26 when they head into the instrumental section just before they head into the “Tonight before you lay down to the surrender of your sleep” part is a particularly exciting and rousing passage where the rawness gives way to a band firing on all cylinders.

A setlist that’s unpredictable, avoiding the hits (ha ha) while dipping into the classic albums and veering in and out of Hammill solo territory with music that would see the light of day somewhere down the lines, Vital finds the band walking the tightrope; occasionally wobbling precariously (to the gasps of the crowd) yet making strides of steady confident progress. Still Life misses the richness of the organ, taking a wildly undulating alternative route and “A little odd – in its simplicity,” is how Door is introduced as the occupants of the song try work out where the door is – which feels very much what Vital could be about as the riff takes hold, decorated with some bubbling electronics.

Nadir’s Big Chance finds the references to bondage suits and hanging around where you can’t help but be nudged by hindsight and travel, wobbly lined, back to the era when those sneering punks would do well to actually acknowledge the influence of their forefathers. It was probably a two way process with their urgency adopted by those who might have seen to be too set in their ways. Gabriel and Hammill two whose musical doors were always open.

Essentially their swansong to the 1970s, by the time of the album’s release in July 1978, the band had broken up due to another bout of assorted difficulties. The end was far from in sight as VdGG would continue to evolve to the present day, the forefather that Peter Hammill is – never boring.

Here’s Ship Of Fools – a flat palm slap at anyone who thought Van Der Graaf Generator were pompous Prog rockers:

Van Der Graaf Generator online: Website / Facebook

Peter Hamill at Sofa Sound

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