The Stormcock Community

These days I don't really get to as many gigs as I should. I love live music and always travel home really bouyed up by the experience, promising myself that I'll get to more gigs. However I don't live in London any more, don't enjoy the late train ride home, and have a busy life. Nevertheless there are some concerts that are a no-brainer and one of these was Van Der Graaf Generator's one in London last night. The gig had been announced a few months ago, along with a forthcoming new album, from this trio of 60-year-old men who probably should know better.

Peter Hammill, the front man and lyricist of the band, has had a remarkably prolific career both as a member of VdGG and as a solo artist. I discovered VdGG in the 80's long after they had ceased to function as a band (imagine my absolute delight when the news broke in 2005 that the band was reforming. At last I would be able to see my heroes live! This was something I had never dared hope), and bought their entire back catalogue and eventually that of his solo output as well. The solo stuff is good and sometimes excellent (in the latter category, a bunch of "dark" albums from the 70s such as "Chameleon in the Shadow of Night", "In Camera" and "The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage") but the VdGG stuff is really where it's at for me. Such complex, thoughtful yet unpredictable and dangerous music. And yes, it is definitely progressive, in the real sense of the term such that it pushes the boundaries of the art and heads into unknown territory and always has a sense of potential disaster if they push the experiment too far.

The new album is one of two halves; there are a number of fairly simple standard songs that to my ears sound like Hammill's solo stuff but accompanied by 2 of the best musicians on the planet. Then, in the last few numbers, the old VdGG feeling comes in and it goes into overdrive. The band is a lean machine these days, having lost their wind instrument player David Jackson, who added a lighter musical texture to the playing. It's transformed into a hard hitting and at times almost thrashy/punky outfit. Not bad for 3 guys that are near to drawing their pensions.

I arrived at the QEH last night and, yes, it was swarming with middle aged men like me, with a preponderence of grey hair and the odd beard here and there. I felt like I was among friends and that we all shared a secret, of something wonderful but ignored by most. Then, promptly at about 7.45 (after all, we are all old and have homes to get back to later) the concert started and I was transformed. The set list was as follows:

Interference Patterns
Scorched Earth
Nutter Alert
Lemmings
Lifetime
All That Before
Merglys III
Over The Hill
We Are Not Here
Man-Erg
--
Childlike Faith in Childhood's End

Not many songs, you might think, but remember that this is prog, and thus most songs are rather long. I think the concert lasted about 2 hours. A large number of new songs were played (Interference Patterns, Lifetime, All That Before, Over The Hill and We are Not Here) interspersed with some old favourites. Happily they all merged into the VdGG feeling that I was hoping for, and gave me a better handle on the new material - as I've written elsewhere, live music is where it's at for me and this concert made the new songs "gel".

The 3 of them were so obviously enjoying the music and played so beautifully. This is no reformation band going through the motions one more time to pay the bills. This is a trio of musicians who love playing together and, later in life, have refound the spark that helped them make such classic albums all those years ago.

Long may it continue, and thank you to Peter, Guy, and Hugh, for giving me such a wonderful evening. The memory is precious.