The spiritual malaise of Amerikan consumerism was symbolically present each night with the heavy fog and dampness that rolled in from Lake Erie, making the campfires of the followers seem miles apart. The efforts of the camp "villagers" in preparing a monster campfire for the drum circle was easily lost in the separating haze, but awarded the curious a wonderful sight as the 25 foot tall flames resolved themselves from an unidentifiable apparition into the welcoming circle of the tribe, shadowed by the hypnotic figures of the dancers.
In the day, the Sun burnt away the fog for the performances. Most of the working spacerock bands in the United States were present, though the symbolic haze seemed to remain with them, as they treated each other like competitors for the dollars of the crowd of 400. Happily, nearly all had newly released material and the well heeled shopper could take home hours of quality music. Little trading of materials between bands was seen to happen, as most seemed stressed from the rigors of traveling to the site. In this regard, they all seem to have failed to learn the lesson of community needed to keep such a slender thread alive.
Nik Turners performance with Farflung was the capper for day one. Nik continues to be an inspiration to all, and truly seemed to be the only one who still "gets it". Of course, Nik is the creator of the original space ritual, the continuation of tribalism into the modern day. Sadly missing was Del Dettmars synthesizers providing the "electronic campfire", his electronic surging and swirling replacing musically, the hypnotic dance of the flames. Tommy Grenas' work, while admirable, was too schooled in the "urban" dance club style for the primitive setting. Nik proved his role as tribal Shaman by keeping the crowd glued to the stage with impromptu saxophone playing, long after the band was forced to retire by the noise curfew.
Day two began early with us finding our lunch with Bionaut, while being harassed by "naked man." Dave Brock pillaged the remaining Starcrusier supplies while Richard Chadwick videotaped the Research & Development Mobile Laboratories, after being lead to our secret site by HawkUS leader Bob Lennon. Melting Euphoria's set was interrupted by a UFO flyover, which caused an atmospheric disturbance that looked a lot like rain. However, samples of the phenomena are still being analyzed for radioactive content at our reverse engineering facility somewhere in Nevada.
At this point the apparition of sub-genius Reverend Ivan Stang transcended into our consciousness bearing many sacred objects o' Bob. Surprisingly, with no unobtanium changing hands, many sacraments of slack were exchanged. Clearance was granted by Sub-command for an F/i pre-flight briefing on X-day, before for the arrival of the pleasure saucers. "There ain't no gig like the Apocalypse."
After much anticipation, Alien Planetscapes took the helm. With F/i providing massive logistical support, AP turned in an outstanding set. Doug Walker's presence was sadly missed at the inaugural demonstration of the Wiard Modular synthesizer system, performed on an ongoing basis on the campgrounds. As much as we enjoyed Doug's presence on stage with us, his crew's presence was also sorely missed at the base campfire.
Hawkwind's set looked like a city burning on the dark horizon, no doubt
due to the historic presence of Thunder Rider (Nik Turner) who performed
with Hawkwind for the first time in 20 years. Hawkwind demonstrates that
only in excess will you find genius. On special note we have to mention
the quality of the canteen which made the whole experience worthwhile.
That's where we met Ron Tree in the morning, fueling up for his next gaseous
encounter. We look forward to seeing everyone next year.
Rocky and Brian
freaking out.
Jeff
Chase and the almost-patented Electcello
Rocky channelling
intercepted alien broadcasts
No.1 Dick Trickle
fan and ritual dancer Steve Schrank
Dr. Rick Hake, rockin' for Bob!
Grant Richter prepares
another potent sub-sonic slack attack