Hawkwind — Union Scene, Drammen, Norway, 11 January 2014

Christian Eric Mumford

Wow! Hawkwind made a special trip to Norway to play Drammen, and it was a blast and a successful party or "Love-In" more than a concert. Their hotel was a 20-second walk from the venue, and while standing outside talking to other concert-goers I bumped into Tim Blake, who was on his way inside the venue. I shook his hand, and he said while pointing at his feet, "all I got is my sandals!" for the Norwegian winter. But it was not that cold as we were enjoying a warm spell this winter here up north.

I was hooking up with my best pal since we attended kindergarten in the 70s, and we share a love of krautrock and synth exotic music and share other bonds as well. He had tickets, and we went inside after I had met some people from northern Norway and Sweden from the Hawkwind Facebook group, Per Arne and his friends. Very nice!

The venue was medium-sized with about 300 to 350 people present. Beer was "cheap" by Norwegian standards, 76 NOK (roughly 12 dollars) for a half-litre glass. I drank 4 beers over the course of the night. Someone had given me a 1/4 gram of polish fairy dust I ingested in the lavatory stalls as a christmas gift. Hadn't done THAT for years, so I enjoyed the free buzz.

The concert was the band in top form, an amazing night. From what I had gathered from bootlegs I had heard from 2011 - 2013, I was not expecting it to be so energetic and punky. Mr. Dibs was the frontman and main singer of the night, Dave to the far left and only did vocals on The Demented Man and chorusing on a very punky Its All Lies.

Kings Of Speed was fantastic, so was Assault & Battery / Golden Void. But the real highlights for me were Steppenwolf at the very start, and Reefer Madness at the very end. The crowd was ecstatic by that point, and the band had a screen behind them with video collages and such but little light show. Assassins Of Allah was awesome as well. The band was tight and punky and very well "in tune". Hawkwind left the stage at midnight sharp after a blistering encore of Utopia and Silver Machine.

I met Jon Christian, from the FM radio show I host here at AI, and Pål from a paper I sometimes write for or draw comics for called Gateavisa, while standing outside where a joint was being passed around after the show, waiting for the bus home. I think I took 5 hits off it (hog!) and passed it on.

All in all a VERY successful show, and the crowd was like one huge tribe partying. EVERYONE left with a smile on their face, it was a night to remember... Mindblowing! In two weeks Monster Magnet will be at the same venue, so I might show up again there in the city of Drammen, about 1/2 hour away from Oslo. Long may they fly! Hawkwind that is.