HAWKWIND – O2 ACADEMY, BOURNEMOUTH, 4th October 2015

When I arrived in Bournemouth I wasn’t expecting to hear a re-working of a Dire Straights classic, let alone one done so seriously, but that’s exactly what we got from support act Prime Sinister as they played a slowed down and heavy version of “Money for Nothing”.

It was played in the same vein as the rest of their performance, stoner/goth rock heavily influenced by the bass playing of Sabbath and the overall style of Motorhead – even down to the Phil Campbell style guitar intro for their last song, they were a decent group and a pleasant surprise but that last song went on forever… if you want to play long drawn out tunes, then take a tip from the headliners.

Hawkwind are more than just a band, they’re a collective of like-minded musicians and with numerous line-up changes over the years those past and present, along with the road crew and additional performers, are all considered part of the extended Hawkwind family – with everyone from original members Huw Lloyd-Langton and Nik Turner to Motorhead’s Lemmy, Ginger Baker of Cream fame and the crazy world of Arthur Brown having passed through the ranks at one time or another.

Tonight’s incarnation features Dave Brock as the only surviving member from the early seventies era and the set-list draws heavily from Hawkwinds 1980’s output, starting with “Utopia” from the 1982 Choose Your Masques album and already things were getting nice and psychedelic.

Visually it was what you’d expect from a Hawkwind show, weird trippy projections that initially could have come directly from Windows Media Player before morphing into something more appealing, provided the perfect a compliment for when the songs mutated into long drawn out musical jams and there’s also the dancer with various costume changes to keep you guessing as to what she will be doing next.

Bass player Jonathan Darbyshire (aka Mr Dibs) takes to the microphone to recite lyrics, whilst Dave Brock acts as the bands conductor, often standing to the side of the stage and at times not even playing as he drifts in and out of what soon becomes a musical journey.

The pioneers of space-rock utilise the weird and wonderful effects of former Gong member Tim Blake on theremin and keytar, along with plenty of synths and keyboards elsewhere, but it’s when the old Hawkwind classic “Hassan I Sahba” that things really kick in.

The dancer returned periodically throughout the gig, looking most comfortable when suspended from the rafters to perform within the hanging ribbons and it was drummer Richard Chadwick that would interact with the audience between songs, but the cheers when Dave Brock stood front of stage was when you could tell the band still have their dedicated cult following.

Ending the show with possibly Hawkwind’s most famous tune in “Silver Machine” this evening had been a night with a great atmosphere, the current line-up having all played their part in the groups forty five year history and whilst musically there may not have been any “Hurry on Sundown” or “Master of the Universe” you certainly felt that you’d been sucked into the psychedelic minds of a band naturally feeding off each-others spiritual energy.