Latest live set sees Hawkwind plough furiously on a never ending course.

Release Date: 13th December 2024

Label: Cherry Red Records

Format: 3CD clamshell box / 3LP

Cherry Red continues to serve the Hawkwind legacy with another classy release. A shortage of live material has never been an issue for Hawkwind (the 2021 tour commemorated on We Are Looking In On You) but a landmark gig at the Royal Albert Hall certainly deserves a souvenir. They’ve been before, back in 2019 and also played other ‘Alberts’ in Manchester and Bolton in their time, but all roads lead…etc

Hawkwind retains a pretty steady line up these days. Of course Dave Brock is once again at the head of the ship with longtime band members Richard Chadwick (drums), Magnus Martin (guitar/keyboard), Doug MacKinnon (bass), and Tim ‘Thighpaulsandra’ Lewis (synths/keyboards). William Orbit is on the case too and Hawkwind friend, Arthur Brown (as in the Crazy World Of…) also pops up to provide some poetry readings (alongside other ‘visual’ deviations, or ‘cosmic entertainment’ – you had to be there).

Levitation is a great opening number – we speak with experience having had the opportunity back in Manchester in 2023 – setting off an unrelenting assault. The veering off into an immersive and wild synth solo feels like it should be the centerpiece of the set; the point where some improvisation could take them anywhere, but we’re only five minutes in. Hawkwind go on to deliver an unforgettable set, blending tracks from their celebrated 2023 studio album The Future Never Waits, along with selections from their expansive back catalogue that have thrilled audiences for decades. The live set of the day one that’s heavily into the realms of furious riffing.

It gives the event the feeling of a Space Ritual for the modern age. Indeed, several pieces of this particularly monumental performance can be traced back to that point as well as leaning on material showcased on We Are Looking In On You. The dips into the legacy see less obvious selections from Hall Of The Mountain Grill and Choose Your Masques, and when You’d Better believe It segues into the pounding outpouring of Psychedelic Warlords (“Sick of politicians, harassment and laws…” etc), the money’s worth has already been had.

There’s no arguing with the declaration “We can take you anyway, Seven different highs.” Even a brief reverie is disturbed by Arrival In Utopia; evidence that the music of the Eighties wasn;t always about New Romanticism and how you looked. There might well have been plenty of electronics and synths but not played like this, with the drama of a classical riff thrown in for good measure.

The Beginning gets a little McCartney-esque Beatle-y, but paves the way for a Spirit Of The Age, introduced by a quiveringly voiced Brock, that emerges from some celestial doodlings. And yes -one more we’re bouncing. A pretty relentless pace that barely flags – very impressive stuff.

There are some more mellow moods that provide launch pad effects. Underwater City goes all acoustic from the new material, sequenced perfectly to lead into Assault & Battery/The Golden Void, in the same way that Peace is the brief calm before the storm on Right To Decide. Save for a romp as the encore wig out? No chance – stick it in the middle of the set and keep the waves coming. Arthur Brown’s Ten Seconds Of Forever (a la Space Ritual) paves the way for another riff fest in Born To Go. One that simply goes on and into Star Explorer, the finale of which sees Richard Chadwick throwing in the sort of drum fills as if to say he’s just hit his second wind.

The ultimate final of Welcome is (a) a thought provoking conclusion after all the bluster and (b) a cataclysmic climax, accompanied by the simple”there you go folks!” Of course, over the course of Hawkwind history, there have been many warnings and portents of imminent disaster contained within their sonic musings. Same as it ever was, the song does remain the same. Can’t say we haven’t been told.

Space Ritual might have set the standards back in ’72/’73, but as a piece of evidence for the relevance and influence of Hawkwind in ’23/’24, this is hard to beat A band who on this evidence is totally invigorated. Fifty plus years on, it might be simple to be blase about another Hawkwind live album. Oh ye of little faith.It’s time to get excited again about a live Hawkwind album.

The 2CDs of the show come with a third disc of studio rehearsals. To be fair, the third disc is nice to have but superfluous to the concert content. The aural equivalent of the ‘one more wafer thin mint’ after being stuffed full of prime Space Rock. And while the word ‘unrelenting’ is on tap, this new live release follows the band’s latest critically acclaimed album Stories From Time And Space, cementing their place at the forefront of the space rock genre. Hawkwind’s new studio album, There Is No Space For Us, will be released in Spring 2025 to coincide with live shows.

Meanwhile here’s Brainstorm:

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