“Here’s another one from Trisector, because we’re a modern group.” One surmises that PETER HAMMILL‘s introduction of “Over The Hill” had his tongue lodged firmly inside his cheek, and though the sparked-back-to-life VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR did construct half of tonight’s set list from last year’s mostly-excellent album, it all hung together as though the band was still in the prime of their existence thirty-five years prior. Let’s face it, progressive rock has always been the butt of jokes, decried as the death of rock/responsible for its rebirth as punk rock, and the stereotype of the typical genre enthusiast as Simpsons’ character Jeff Albertson (aka comic book guy) is unshakeable. And, the audience was predictably conspicuous in its lack of XX chromosome carriers. However, ardent fans flocked to the fourth-ever US appearance of the band (and really the only proper US tour, since the NYC show in 1976 remained a one-off), and expectations were high from early reports of the previous weekend’s NEARfest where VDGG headlined the opening night. This particular lineup lacked the sax power of DAVID JACKSON but the amazing prowess of keyboardist HUGH BANTON and especially the propulsive drumming power of GUY EVANS really carried the music.
Thick, knotty swaths of sounds were issued forth from Banton’s organ blasts, while Hammill laid down sympathetic riffs from his keyboard, and the set really got going when he left the bench and slung a guitar over his shoulder. “Meurglys III” from 1976’s World Record showed how powerful prog rock could be, much in the vein of Red-era KING CRIMSON, a massive throb shaking the room which fit the uncertain, self-questioning tenor of the lyrics. Evans in particular would lock in with Hammill’s playing, his powerful figure hunched over the drums moving like a boxer as he made judicious use of his entire kit. While Banton’s contributions were most visually noticeable in his dual keyboard playing, his feet were kept equally occupied by using the bass pedals to provide the bottom end and to create a full band sound with a minimum of people. Special kudos should also go to the sound man (and also I suppose the building architect) as the sound was phenomenally good, no hot spots and well-balanced, with the right amount of volume. Though some fans’ vocal requests were ignored (‘Guys, guys, guys..it is written. We spent hours on this” said Hammill, holding up a set list) I think it’s safe to say that the unrequited love of the the audience was finally and wholly reciprocated tonight.
Openers STRAWBS are fellow prog rockers of the mid-70s, and having RICK WAKEMAN as a member for some of their seminal records only reinforced that tag to be liberally applied to their works. However it was no coincidence that their first recordings were as a collaboration with SANDY DENNY and their sound, at least to my ears, was far more aligned to British folk than the full-on prog fantasties of early GENESIS or the like. Tonight’s lineup was billed as their acoustic mode, with lead singer DAVE COUSINS flanked by guitarist DAVE LAMBERT and CHAS CRONK on bass, guitar, and foot-driven synths (in a funny twist, in January of this year their electric lineup has featured Rick’s’ son OLIVER WAKEMAN*; I’d like to hear “Hangman and the Papist” with Oliver playing his father’s intricate keyboard lines). Beautiful ballads such as “Midnight Sun” and “Ghosts” really underscored their vocal harmonies, and the multi-part suite of “Autumn” moved easily from Fairport conventions to Floyd-esque guitarscapes with Lambert running his fingers all over his beautifully crafted guitar neck, with mother-of-pearl inlays depicting a seascape. Sometimes their sound was a bit too precious, and was noticeably lighter in tone (both musically and lyrically) as compared to the Generator’s but worked well as a foil in the opening slot.
More photos of Van der Graaf Generator and the Strawbs are on my site.
