Planet Gong live at Camden Dingwalls June 28th 2007

This was billed as the last time this band will play.  It might even be the last time we see any type of Gong incarnation as their last gig a few years back was cancelled and Daevid Allen, the captain of spaceship Gong said he was getting too old for touring.

 

So tonight we have space punks Here & Now opening, then returning to the stage later to back Daevid as the Planet Gong band.  Planet Gong was a later Gong line up, with a more spiky sound.  Still creating the same kinda anarchic mystical/political comments as Gong do, but musically quite different.  There's no Bloomdido Bad de Grass on sax, no space whispering Gilli, just Steffe Sharpstrings on guitar, a bass, a drum and Gywo Zepix twiddling various knobs along with Daevid's glissando guitar.

 

Here & Now are a litlle too pedestrian for me, their Gospel of the Free cd from 20 odd years ago is a cracker, screaming psychedelic guitars along with mantra type vocals, but now, it's much more subdued to a dub rock kinda bag.

But at least when they return with Daevid, we get the full on Planet Gong experience of Floating Anarchy. Daevid has a song book that dates back to the early 60s.  A founder member of The Soft Machine, he then formed Gong to mess with our heads a little more, and tonight he treats us to Banana Moon numbers It's The Time of Your Life, and Stoned Innocent Frankenstein. Like Hawkwind, they managed to straddle the gap between the hippies and the punks as their anarchic anti establishment was quite plain to see, so we have a coming together tonight of crusty spiky haired punks, ageing organic hippies and ardent Gong fans, collected and connected together....when Daevid sings 'Steam Train!' they all shout 'Woo-Hoo!!'

 

A brief breather as he recites 'Poet for Sale', time to calm down and have a wee rest, well, he is getting on a bit now.  Then we're off into more exploration of Daevid's song book and the outer reaches of our minds with tunes from New York Gong and pot head pixie classics from the Flying Teapot era. Plus, Change The World, Teeth, Astral Alien and the psyche spin out Allez Ali Baba...

 

It's great seeing how someone can survive, morph, change and adapt through the ages and still keep the vibe going with fresh ideas.  Daevid never stops relesing material, from poetry, glissando guitar, to his numerous band projects and side projects.

 

Tonight was a little reminder of a time passed...a time of Stonehenge festivals and anarcho alternative lifestyles.  But remember, as he says 'Violence is caused by Governments... Armies....Police Forces...' and in a word of defiance...'You Canit Kill Me!....'

 

I beleive Daevid and his work will live on for a long time, maybe not on earth, but certainly Planet Gong!!