Nik Turner's Hawkwind w/ Helios Creed
January 28, 1994
Fastlane, Asbury Park, New Jersey
By: Kenneth Lang
----------------------------------------------
It is worthy of note that the only other Hawkwind member in this band was
Del Dettmar. One guitarist was Helios Creed, a Californian who in addition
to having his own band by the same name was/is also a member of Nik Turner's
Sphinx. The other members of the band were also from Sphinx/Helios Creed.
The show began with two lasers intersecting on stage (they would periodically
flash on and off for the duration of the show), and a background movie of
oil blots. Three members hammered out a tribal drumbeat, while Turner danced/
walked his way through the crowd to the stage. He was dressed in a glow-in-the
dark body suit, with a skateboard helmet painted with a flurescent brain on
each side, a pair of big, striped sunglasses also flourescent, and a thin,
straight tuft of hair sticking straight up through the helmet. He was carrying
glow-in-the-dark maracas and some other percussive instrument, shaking them
to the beat.
He then launched into a set of Hawkwind classics (D-Rider, Masters of
the Universe, You Shouldn't Do That), a few Sphinx songs, and some spoken
word poetry. Each song featured Turner jamming away on sax and/or flute,
with his band backing him up. The band played much heavier than older
Hawkwing, but it was just as effective. Turner let Creed take over on
some Helios Creed originals, while Turner ad-libbed on sax. Helios Creed's
stuff is more akin to spacey metal. During the whole show, Turner danced
around, doing some robotic movements in front of strobe lights. Very
bizarre. He also removed the helmet and glasses, eventually. He was completely
bald, except for that tuft of red hair in the front, a red tuft on his chin
(a goatee of sorts). His head was also painted up with a lightning bolt
painted on the back of his head. (Does he walk around like this during the
day, too ?)
Del Dettmar was onstage the whole time playing this thing that looked
like a electronically wired axe. He explained to me after the set, before
the encore, that it was a "double-edged woodaxe" attached to a box with
alot of knobs on it, with which one could control modulation, and alot
of other terms that I didn't understand. Friendly guy, though. He said
that he was"kind of an expert having been playing the thing for nineteen
years."
Before the encore, Turner said he'd been asked where Dave Brock was. He
replied that "Dave Brock's not here, but we are. This the soul of Hawkwind,
anyway." They then played a song that I didn't recognize and ended with
Silver Machine, with the crowd singing along.
A fantastic show, in my opinion, although it made me long for a real
Hawkwing reunion, so I could experience the actual band. It made me realize
how much bands like Ozric Tentacles, and Helios Creed owe to these guys.
I picked up Helios Creed's CD at the show and Hawkwind's Warrior At The
Edge of Time, yesterday. Reviews of these albums will be posted soon.