10.25
We had a busy few days ahead with three gigs in a row with the first one on a chilly Thursday night at the legendary Black Country venue, The Robin 2 in Bilston. A great mid-sized venue and it’s been a while since we’d been here.
Tonight was going to be an interesting one having seen clips of Henge on line and of course the epic atmospheric space rock of Gong. The tour is a double headliner with the bands switching over at each venue and tonight was the turn of Henge to go on first.
Henge (10) are a concept band, the concept being that they travel the universe in the spacecraft Mushroom One to bring their message of peace, love and harmony. It all sounds a bit hippy, but in fact it’s incredibly entertaining and great fun.
Captain of the ship and frontman/guitarist is Zpor from the planet Agricular, whilst on bass is the soul survivor of Venus’ apocalyptical environmental collapse, Brother Goo. The multi limbed being Nom from the planet Xylanthia is on drums, whilst all things electronic and synth based is controlled by the human Sol (previously known as Grok, but since a well known social media platform has started using that name for it’s evil A.I creation they decided a name that better suited his home galaxy was a better choice, plus you try taking a trillionaire to court!)
It’s not as potty as it sound, as I said It’s a concept and if you lean into that it all makes sense (sort of)!
As you would expect, the songs are all about far off galaxies, space travel, interdimensional astral realms etc, but fun and silliness aside the music is top-notch, full of energy and bounce, the set is fast paced taking songs from their latest album Journey To Voltus B with other fan favourites from their 10 year back catalogue.
The drums, bass and low-end synths combine to give a wall of sub-sonic sound that vibrates through the venue, often with a drum & bass vibe. Higher end synths soar above this rumbling pulsating beat, filling out the space and finally Zpor’s guitar bring it all together to create a harmonic symphony. Favourite tracks were Get A Wiggle On and the epic Demilitarise a 10 minute opus that should be an anthem to world peace!
Gong (10) are one of those bands that is more about the ethos, the collective and the legacy of an original idea. The current line-up has been pretty stable since the sad passing of founder member Daevid Allen with the extremely talented Kavus Torabi of vocals/guitar, Fabio Golfetti on guitar, Dave Sturt on bass, Cheb Nettles on drums and Ian East on Saxophone.
Tonights set was taken mainly from the era since Allens passing with tracks from the 2023 album Unending Ascending. These songs are at times heavier and very riff laden compared to some of the golden classics of Gong, but they still retain the essence of that psychedelic space rock. My Guitar Is A Spaceship and Choose Your Goddess are great examples of this. There are a few oldies thrown in, including a wonderful rendition of Master Builder, but if you came looking for a full on classic Gong set then you may leave disappointed, This is a new era in the evolution of Gong, Torabi's vocals are haunting whilst Golfetti gives us a masterclass.
It’s all a completely different vibe and pace to Henge, but equally as good. This is more atmospheric, esoteric, and thoughtful. Yes, a different vibe, the whole gig is up there as one of the best for this year.
Tonight was going to be an interesting one having seen clips of Henge on line and of course the epic atmospheric space rock of Gong. The tour is a double headliner with the bands switching over at each venue and tonight was the turn of Henge to go on first.
Henge (10) are a concept band, the concept being that they travel the universe in the spacecraft Mushroom One to bring their message of peace, love and harmony. It all sounds a bit hippy, but in fact it’s incredibly entertaining and great fun.
Captain of the ship and frontman/guitarist is Zpor from the planet Agricular, whilst on bass is the soul survivor of Venus’ apocalyptical environmental collapse, Brother Goo. The multi limbed being Nom from the planet Xylanthia is on drums, whilst all things electronic and synth based is controlled by the human Sol (previously known as Grok, but since a well known social media platform has started using that name for it’s evil A.I creation they decided a name that better suited his home galaxy was a better choice, plus you try taking a trillionaire to court!)
It’s not as potty as it sound, as I said It’s a concept and if you lean into that it all makes sense (sort of)!
As you would expect, the songs are all about far off galaxies, space travel, interdimensional astral realms etc, but fun and silliness aside the music is top-notch, full of energy and bounce, the set is fast paced taking songs from their latest album Journey To Voltus B with other fan favourites from their 10 year back catalogue.
The drums, bass and low-end synths combine to give a wall of sub-sonic sound that vibrates through the venue, often with a drum & bass vibe. Higher end synths soar above this rumbling pulsating beat, filling out the space and finally Zpor’s guitar bring it all together to create a harmonic symphony. Favourite tracks were Get A Wiggle On and the epic Demilitarise a 10 minute opus that should be an anthem to world peace!
Gong (10) are one of those bands that is more about the ethos, the collective and the legacy of an original idea. The current line-up has been pretty stable since the sad passing of founder member Daevid Allen with the extremely talented Kavus Torabi of vocals/guitar, Fabio Golfetti on guitar, Dave Sturt on bass, Cheb Nettles on drums and Ian East on Saxophone.
Tonights set was taken mainly from the era since Allens passing with tracks from the 2023 album Unending Ascending. These songs are at times heavier and very riff laden compared to some of the golden classics of Gong, but they still retain the essence of that psychedelic space rock. My Guitar Is A Spaceship and Choose Your Goddess are great examples of this. There are a few oldies thrown in, including a wonderful rendition of Master Builder, but if you came looking for a full on classic Gong set then you may leave disappointed, This is a new era in the evolution of Gong, Torabi's vocals are haunting whilst Golfetti gives us a masterclass.
It’s all a completely different vibe and pace to Henge, but equally as good. This is more atmospheric, esoteric, and thoughtful. Yes, a different vibe, the whole gig is up there as one of the best for this year.
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