CANTERBURY FAYRE 2001

My experience of Hawkwind ran dry in the '80s and I was very sceptical that they could deliver the old magic post-y2k. On this night, at least, they were great, recapturing the 79-82 vibe (not least thanks to Huw Lloyd Langton). The characteristic Brock voice is still the one of old, the band gel, seem fired up, and are not too proud to dust off a heap of ol' time classics for sake of the festival. The mix and fidelity are great too. If you love Live 79 / Levitation, there's a good chance you'll like this a lot.

i was at canterbury for the whole day and seen some good acts.by the time Hawkwind came on about 9pm ish.i was feeling a bit tiered,BUT I SOON WOKE UP TO THE FANTASTIC SOUND OF HAWKWIND.i have seen them a lot over the years,they lost a bit late 80s mid 90s.but this was Hawkwind back to there best.i wont spoil it for anyone who has not got this album.if you were a Hawkwind fan 70s to 80s then GO BUY THIS CD.you will not be dissapointed.and for those who are just starting out then this album is the one you want to buy first.Hawkwind are fantastic start to finish.i went with my 2 sons who had never seen Hawkwind live and we still talk about canterbury to this day.if i sound a bit over the top,thats because Hawkwind played 110% that night.but dont take my word for it.go get the cd listen to it and you will understand why all the praise for Hawkwind.

brainstorm in my head.

This is a truly excellent live album, the sound quality is very superior and really well produced. I cannot find any fault with this album, unless you don't care for Arthur Brown singing lead on Silver Machine. Get this album, it's really one of the best.

Awesome return to form from these space rock legends. While it may not have the same vibe as the eternal classic Space Ritual, it does recall the inspiration and enthusiasm of that long past time. You have to remember that this live performance occurs 29 years afterwards. They play a great assortment of material from the classic 70's period to the obscure 80's period while eshewing their techno phase of the 90's. And while the late Bob Calvert's spirit is missed, Arthur Brown fills his role to recreate the poet's role. The other sad part is missing presence of Nik Turner, the other defining member of Hawkwind. However, all is not lost because the violin of Simon House fills that role wonderfully.

Being a fan of all era's of Hawkwind and an afficiado to the tune of 63 commercial cd's and 30 odd bootleg recordings, I can't recommend this recording enough to the people that thought Hawkwind burned out a long time ago. As was always the case about Hawkwind, they were and still are a better live band than they are a studio band. Hawkwind is an experience and is best appreciated outside the confines of the studio. This is an almost essential recording because it proves that the old bugger's can still play inspired, energetic music!

Screeching, wailing and grinding its way through the best of its catalogue, Hawkwind triumphs in a sonic attack to remind us of what can be. All eras of this legendary group are given recognition, yet the songs are played as if written yesterday. There are no dull moments here.

This show evidences a timeless band's taking the stage to drive our psyches and senses toward reliving moments of glory: some magically transcendent, others ecstatically lunatic. With the release of Canterbury Fayre 2001 we blast off from Earth on Starship Hawkwind as if it were our last chance to escape the planet's seeming madness.

All the playing is exemplary, but Simon's violin stands out as it knits together the rest of band like cosmic stitches threading and tightening this incredible song list. All of the song versions here exude spontaneous moments of power, sensation, and mystery. Canterbury Fayre 2001 is a flawless tour de force in the way best suited to the Mighty Hawks.Live!

Long lived is Hawkwind, and long may Hawkwind yet live

Canterbury Fayre is the Hawks second live album in the new millennium. While I prefer Spaced Out In London from the following year, this album will sure please more fans as it sticks closer to that good old Hawkwind sound: Brock and Davey handle most vocals, the sound is a very solid blend of drums, pumping bass and heavy and delayed guitars, and there's only a minor role for the keyboards and effects. As you will remember that is the exact formula of Space Ritual.

But that does not make this album irrelevant. Hawkwind live always starts from the bare essence of their songs and then improvises around them for as long as they have fun doing it. That's a good way to keep things interesting. On top of that, the track list is entirely different here and doesn't share one song with Space Ritual. It more or less revolves around a best of the Levitation and the Warrior on the Edge of Time albums. And the sound is crisp and forceful. What more do you want?

Hawkwind's best live album?

This live album contains many of Hawkwind's best ever songs including four from my favourite Hawkwind album Levitation. Angels Of Death, Spirit Of The Age, and Assault And Battery/Void Of Golden Light were best tracks from their respective studio albums and Assassins Of Allah is another live favourite. I'm not a big fan of Hawkwind, but this set of songs is reasonably compelling. It far outshines the overrated Space Ritual which I find noisy and sloppy. The performances here are not perfect, but much better and quite good in their own right. I would still recommend to start with the Levitation studio album, but this live album is a good second purchase.

Recommended

Hawkwind - Canterbury Fayre Live (2001)

Yet another high rated Hawkwind live album. This time I must admit that I was a bit dissapointed. As a power-trio the band sounded very tight and professional, but with this enlarged cast the band functions less good on stage. I must however admit that the sound is even more all-over-the-place and the band uses it's change to do things it couldn't do as a trio. For instance; A bass, a guitar, drums ánd keys. Sometimes even the violin is added. On the song Silver Machine we even get to hear Arthur Brown on vocals, which is very nice. Some instrumental passages are brutal and heavy and there are lots of guitar solo's. The tracks presented are the known tracks from throughout their long career. A sort best of on stage.

Still the un-tight sound of this live album is problem for me. Already in the opening track the bass-amplification goes wrong and there are many unlogical guitarsolo's and bad transitional moments. Even the vocals dissapoint me at times. Perhaps it's just my liking, but I prefer the Love in Space and The Business Trip live albums. The idea behind this prestigious Hakwind album is very good, but the band wasn't ready for this recording in my opinion.

Conclusion. Heey.. ofcourse this is still a very good live album, but just not as good as some other Hawkwind live albums. Hence I will not give the four stars rating, but the thee star rating. Very recommend to fans and perhaps even to those who want to have a kind of best of Hakwind through the years.

I have to be honest and say that I am not sure just how many live Hawkwind albums I have listened to over the years, but this is one of the few that has been released with a strong sound quality. In fact, it is probably their best live release for many years, with a line-up of Dave Brock, Simon House, Keith Kniveton, Alan Davey, Richard Chadwick and even a special guest vocalist on "Silver Machine" of none other than Arthur Brown himself. The double CD kicks off with the gentle laid back introduction of "5th Second Of Forever" but this is just a ploy as Alan riffs his bass as if Lemmy was back in the fold and the band start to take off.

It must be twenty years since I last saw them in concert, but this album brings it all back as if it was only yesterday. From here it is just a short step to a nine minute version of "Levitation", and the band is in full swing. They have a unique sound, even after all of these years, and with the space rock in full flow there is no-one to touch them. They may have replaced the sax with the violin but all this has done is give them yet another element to their sound.

It may not contain "Brainstorm", but with classics such as "Spirit Of The Age", "Motorway City" and "Hurry On Sundown" as well as a full version of "Silver Machine" there is more than enough here for any Hawkfan to want to have this album. A goody.

Originally appeared in Feedback #73, Jun 03

A pretty decent live set giving a particular spin to the group's late 1970s-to-early 1980s material, plus a dip into "Silver Machine" with Arthur Brown guesting on vocals previewing closer collaboration between Brown and his fellow space rock pioneers in subsequent tours. With Simon House offering the connection to the late-1970s years and Huw Lloyd- Langton doing the same for the early 1980s, this time around Dave Brock's bridge crew benefit from familiarity with the material, but the overall sound is an interesting blend of those eras with the band and more modern efforts. The end result is a solid live album from a period when Hawkwind weren't doing so hot in the studio - it's certainly more interesting than the Hawkwind-in-name-only release Spacebrock.