Gong
1975-08-23
Watchfield Free Festival
Watchfield
Oxfordshire
England
UK
01. Invocation
02. Master Builder
03. Jam
04. Solar Musick Suite
05. Isle of Everywhere
06. Flying Teapot
07. I Never Glid Before
08. Improvisation
lineup:
Steve Hillage - guitar, Vocals
Micquette Giraudy - vocals, synth
Patrice Lemoine - keyboards
Didier Malherbe - sax and flute
Mike Howlett - bass
Laurie Allan - drums
"The begining of the end for |the great"peoples free festivals" What had begun
with a bunch of hardcore anarchists (led by Mick Farren)at the ilse of wight in
1970,germinated in the queens "garden"at the unforgettable Windsor festivals
culminating with a "friendly"police skirmish "friendly" when you compare it to
the much overfantisiesed battle of the beanfield in the early eighties ,not
being into having my head caved in by anybody as well as being a pacifist it was
obvious what was on the horizen when in 1981 i forsook the annual trek to
stonehenge after having arrived 2 weeks prior to the summer solstice ,spent a
joyous 10 days "tripped out"whilst the likes of GONG--HERE AND
NOW--THANDOR--HAWKWIND==LEAGUE OF SONIC DISORDER (sic) etc....would kjick up a
jenny' in the middle of a field and jam the night away (enjoying themselves)
only to allow people ,10s of thousands of people to worship at the alter of
HAWKWIND etc..A week or so later as they took to the gargantuan stage
erected for this sole purpose .In disgust I LEFT and mosied on down to the
newly ressurected GLASTONBURY FAYRE in direct opposition to the polisce who had
made it physically impossible to access the anuall meeting ground at PRIDDYPOOL
by digging a ridiculously large trench,ergot MICHAEL EAVIS (yeah the same
capitilalist dude we see today)invited the PEOPLE to use the PYRAMID stage that
had stood unused in a field of his for a decade,a nice gathering of a few
thousand people witnessed the likes of TIM BLAKE ,crystal machine and lasers in
tow ,i think we were all happy to donate the token one pound fifty pence
requested,And that ladys and gentlemen is where the story ends,that is also
where the great PEOPLES FREE FESTIVAL ended .......Nuff said.
This recording comes from almost 10 years earlier at Watchfield,where you paid
if you could ,if you couldn't no problem somebody else would take care of that.
A truly historic document which sadly lacks in it's sound quality Whether or
not DIDIER was there or not i cannot remember although i do remember NIK TURNER
being in evidence as does the person who originally posted this set "somewheres
else (honestly cannot remember where@!
Yes it is lacking in aurral sonic capabilities yet it is a true piece of
ENGLISH UNDERGROUND HISTORY."