Kinetic Playground 12.12.71 Flac
01. Technicians Of Spaceship Earth 3.41
02. You Shouldn't Do That 10.22
03. Awakening 2.16
04. Only Dreaming 4.43
05. Spirit Of The Age 1.38
06. Master Of The Universe 6.27
07. Paranoia 4.41
08. Earth Calling 1.55
09. Silver Machine 5.00
10. Welcome 2.55
11. Born To Go 32.20
12. (Bootleggers sound effects ending) 0.35
Total running time 76 mins 33 secs
Band:
Dave Brock: Guitar/Vocals
Twink: Drums
Nik Turner: Flute/Sax
Dik Mik: Audio Generator/Electronics
Lemmy: Bass Guitar
Del Dettmar: Synthesisers
Robert Calvert: Vocals/Poet/Swazzle
Sound quality: 7+/10
OU Notes: This is a direct recording of a single silver disc I have entitled "Kinetic Playground" and it was culled from a gig at the Kinetic Playground Birmingham on 3rd December 1971, although all the artwork states that this gig took place on
6-12-71.
The online Hawkwind fans gig guides have it listed as 3-12-71, so I suppose you pays your money and you take your chance on that!
I purchased this disc at a UK record fair a few years ago and it cost me £14.
This is what a review in the "Melody Maker" music paper made of this particular gig:
"Hawkwinds gig at Birmingham's Kinetic Playground appeared doomed right from the start. Nik Turner misplaced his alto sax and was forced to play all alto parts on flute. Which resulted in a distinct loss of fullness of sound. Then the roadie mislaid drummer Terry Ollis - but managed to pick up a last minute replacement in Pink Fairie/Pretty Thing-Twink!
Fortunately Twink is a mate of Hawkwind from way back and is conversant with most of the material. His major hang ups occured in You Shouldn't Do That (which was taken much slower than usual) and Born To Go which disintegrated into a most enjoyable jam. To add to these hang ups the PA refused to function properly whilst guitarist
Dave Brock spent as much time encouraging his equipment to work as he did playing through it.
In these circumstances it would be grossly unfair to be at all critical - especially as the band battled on for 75 minutes without making a big thing of their problems. Many bands would have just have given up. Apart from material from their current album "In Search Of Space" they played "Paranoia" from their first album and "Earth Calling", "Silver Machine", and "Born To Go" from their next!
Hawkwinds entire act takes place in a doomy, gloomy, space age atmosphere - shadow figures of the band lit up flashing footlights.
Luminous symbols, decorating drums and speaker cabinets and a disturbingley hypnotic strobe directed at the audience.
The music is heavy electronic repetitive and compelling. The band claim that it is specifically aimed at dope freaks, certainly seems to be valid - it rather flashes past we Tizer drinkers! Jim Simpson Melody Maker 11 December 1971"
There are many highlights with this recording especially the sound quality as it is actually very very good, bearing in mind this is a 1971 audience recording (and the trouble the band had with the PA), and I would the sound rate it at 7/10 or Ex.
Also it's great to hear a very early version of "The Spirit Of The Age" which is actually a spoken poem by Calvert.
But the real highlight for me is a 32 minute jamming version of Born To Go which is worth the entrance money alone, and if you like Hawkwind this is a true must have!
Also you can sense the real power of the band crackling and radiating from the stage, and you can sense how the band one year later would blow everyone's mind with their "Space Ritual Tour"
It's also great to hear a raw early recording of Lemmy's bass guitar in full, with it absolutely assualting the ear drums, fantastic stuff I wish I could have been there!
As always share freely but NEVER sell.
Lets remember Hawkwind are a current active touring band so support them by going to gigs, buying their cd's and merchandise etc.
Check here for the bands current trading/recording policy:
http://www.hawkwindmuseum.co.uk/trading%20rules.htmYou can also find detailed info on their re-issue back catologue here: http://cherryred.co.uk/atomhenge/main.htm
Anyway please enjoy another very good sounding 70's show. My thanks also to the band for allowing fans to share recordings like this. I hope you enjoy it!
Cheers
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