Original_To:  BITNET%"allmusic@auvm"
Original_cc:  MCINTYRE
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Mon, 5 Oct 1992 13:27:00 EST
From:         MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET
Subject:      Tim Blake in concert

Yesterday afternoon I found myself at Alvin's Deli and Twi-light Bar
on the infamous Cass Corridor in Detroit along with twenty other
people to see Tim Blake in concert.

Brief history note for those unfamiliar:  Tim Blake put in a long
stint as Hi-T Moonweed, the keyboard player for Gong, one of the
more extreme examples of psychedelic music and substance abuse the
seventies produced.  He then served a brief stint with Hawkwind,
one of the more extreme...  You get the picture.  He has three
solo albums to his credit.  _Crystal Machine_ is all instrumental
electronic music, leaning towards the Berlin school.  _Blake's
New Jerusalem_ and _Magick_ have his wispy vocals and lyrics
straight out of the Gong songbook; e.g. "light the lasers in your
heart".

He put on an excellent one man show.  The backing tracks were
sequenced while he played synth lines on a Yamaha portable
keyboard and sang.  We got there early enough to catch the sound
check with Tim improvising lyrics and trying to instruct the house
sound man how to set the echo delay on the voice.  He also tried
using harmonica, but that proved to be an exercise in (unintended)
feedback.  Alas, he didn't bring along the large display screens
of fractals that are featured in his videotape, but what can you
expect for a $5 cover?

He opened with an instrumental that he later said was a tribute
to his friends in Hawkwind and followed it up with "Lighthouse",
a song of his that Hawkwind used to perform.  The set was mostly
from _Blake's New Jerusalem_ and _Magick_, but there were quite
a few new pieces including a couple reggae numbers.  It's interesting
how different a reggae tune sounds when you don't have the guitar
chiming in on two and four.  He tried to get a sing-along going at
one point, but as he was unable to sing the lyrics the same way twice,
it didn't get too far.  Still for only twenty people, we were enthusiastic.
He played for a full ninety minutes and seemed to be enjoying himself.
He came out for an encore and said it was request time.  Did we want to
hear something old or something new?  It was obvious he was hoping for
"new" but it was also obvious the audience was calling for "old".  So
he compromised.  While the promoter went off to soak the harmonica
reeds, Tim played "New Jerusalem".  The audience appeased, Tim got to
show off his harmonica playing.  The time spent on the soundcheck
payed off, the feedback was minimal, and the song made a good encore
piece, being quite different from the rest of the set.

They were selling CDs of _Magick_ at the door.  I already have that one,
but my friend bought one, and Tim was gracious enough to sign it after
the show.  Really a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The strange thing (besides the sparseness of the audience) was that
Tim Blake was the opening act.  The headliners were the guitarist and
keyboardist for Wigwam.  Touring under their own names, but the band
is from Finland and I would mispell their names horribly, so I'll just
call them Wigwam.  The promoter guessed wrong as to who should open
and who should headline.  For Tim Blake, everybody was up close, while
for Wigwam, half the crowd retreated to the bar.  Also, with his
backing sequences, Blake had a very full sound.  The keyboard player
for Wigwam was using a Yamaha DX7 but restricted himself to electric
piano sounds, and the guitarist was just playing a Les Paul into a
small amp.  His biggest effect was flipping the pickup selector switch,
so their sound was a bit thin in comparison to Blake's.  And it took
Wigwam about half their set to warm up, whereas Blake was up from the
opening.  (Well, almost.  Tim bounced up on stage only to discover
the power to his computer had died.  Once the reboot was completed, he
was off to the spaces.)

Wigwam started with some oldies.  I didn't recognize the first song, but
the second was "Nuclear Nightclub".  Then the piano player/singer said,
"This one's for John", and they played a nice little version of
"Strawberry Fields Forever".  It seemed a nice touch until they followed
it with "Happiness Is A Warm Gun".  And "A Day In The Life".  And
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps".  Four Beatle songs in a row?!?  And
they followed that with the Band's "The Weight".  At least that seemed
to complete the warmup.  They played another Wigwam number next and let
the guitarist off his leash.  Definately the guitar was the high point
of their set, but then again, I am not fond of piano.  So they did
redeem themselves in the second half, but it was a slow start, and they
should have been the opening act.  They were gracious enough to end their
show with an invitation to join them at the bar, but I opted to get started
on my two hour drive home.

Looks like a good month for dinosaurs.  Tim Blake and Wigwam yesterday.
Moody Blues and Chicago tomorrow.  Tangerine Dream in two weeks, and
Jethro Tull two weeks after that. 8-)  A quick $100 for tickets. 8-(

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Dept
Michigan State University
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU