Sometimes it snows in April

I don't feel I can let 2016 go on any longer without commenting on the sad losses music has had to endure this year. Starting off with Bowie in January, every few weeks it seems someones passed away. Glenn Frey of The Eagles, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airship, the tragic suicide of Keith Emerson, theres been a couple of country stars too and now just a couple of days ago Prince. It feels like a reaping of the great and good of music.

Bowie was a shock, he did at least almost make it to his three score years and ten, but Prince I still cannot quite believe and at only 57 too. The man had so many years of producing great music in him.

I recall the very first time I became aware of him. Sheelagh and I were full of cold one late winters night, huddled in the small bedroom of my flat in Jesmond, there was to be an Old Grey Whistle Test special, a live concert broadcast from Syracuse. Bursting on to the small (15") screen came this boundless ball of energy and colour, launching in to Let's go Crazy, Prince and The Revolution had arrived. The highlight, a near 20 minute version of Purple Rain, I was hooked!

The output from Prince during the eighties was unmatched and perhaps unsurpassed for pure creative output, albums, tours and movies followed in quick succession, why oh why did I never go see the man? It's now become one of my biggest regrets that I never saw him play live.

I have the music, though Purple Rain is proving a tough listen. Tracks like Raspberry Beret, Little Red Corvette, Cream and Sign o The Times still make me smile and if I were ever to get up and dance, it's going to be to a Prince song!

Musicians come and go, gaining and then losing popularity and sometimes regaining it once more, for me, popular or not, Prince was always going to do something new, something challenging. I didn't like everything he put out.  But what I did like, I REALLY like. I'll be playing many of his albums over the next days and weeks not as some sad remembrance but a celebration of a unique talent.

RIP PRINCE Rogers Nelson 1958 - 2016

The Machine Stops at The Sage

Hawkwind returning to form with a new album and a classic show at the Sage on 18th April 2016.

No support act or onstage dancers/theatrics but a much improved lightshow from last time I saw them and a much better sound, though that's probably down to the excellent acoustics in The Sage.

With a set list that relied heavily on the new album, The Machine Stops, which is based around EP Forster’s dystopian classic,  the band have not sounded this good since their Space Ritual pomp as they take you into their own unique world.

The music they play tonight is mesmerising. Their new bassist is a great find and does all those great Lemmy style bass runs that were so key to the band’s Space Ritual era. Some of the songs stretch out in to long, 10 minute jams, ever changing and evolving with Dave Brock's churning rhyming rhythm guitar at the heart and soul of this performance.

Hawkind 2016 sound like they are on a mission and for a set that is new song heavy and has rare moments of old material like a pulsating Orgone Acculamator and encores, You better Believe It and Silver Machine, this was a very well received playlist from a band that is still pushing the boundaries as well as sounding fresh and relevant.

EM Forsters cult classic is available as a free download if anyone wants an alternative vision of the future!