TAKE A BOW
We partied the night away at Space Rocks in London and Flying Colors in LA, and we’ve also been to see Magma, Euroblast Festival, IQ, Justin Hayward, The Reasoning, Iamthemorning and more…
VENUE INDIGO AT THE O2, LONDON
DATE 21/09/2019
It’s during A Natural Disaster when Anathema’s Vincent Cavanagh asks the audience to hold up their glowing mobile phones. He wants to recreate the starry cover of live album Universal, and the twinkling effect is made all the more breathtaking by the various spacecraft on display around the auditorium. As hundreds of lights illuminate the crowd, we’re stunned into silence by Lee Douglas’ velvety vocals and mournful violin from special guest Anna Phoebe. This isn’t just any headline slot, this is Space Rocks 2019.
Now in its second year, the Prog Awardwinning festival of science and culture has found a welcoming audience among fans of experimental sounds. Anathema are one of four progressive acts performing alongside a programme of TED-style talks from a stellar cast, including astronaut Tim Peake, science author (and daughter of the late physicist Stephen) Lucy Hawking, rocket scientist Kate Underhill, and sci-fi actors Dominique Tipper (The Expanse) and Jason Isaacs (Star Trek: Discovery). Diversity and climate change are recurrent themes with plenty of opportunities for all ages to learn something new. There are also bonus space talks in the Space Lounge, as well as the chance to buy chunks of meteorite and bag essential mouse mats and posters from the
European Space Agency.
Former Trans-Siberian
Orchestra violinist Anna
Phoebe provides a musical interlude during the second session of seminars. She’s premiering Between Worlds: There
Is No Planet B, a haunting trip hop-influenced piece inspired by a keynote ESA speech on climate change and environmental destruction. There are a few technical problems but these are almost forgotten once the musician’s trademark electric violin soars over the electronic backing track, harmonising beautifully with Anil Sebastian’s vocal harmonies. The duo are decked out in astronaut-inspired copper foil couture, and behind them is a film edited from the
ESA’s Earth Observation archives, which includes satellite imagery of Greenland’s melting ice caps. Such current and heavy topics deserve to be accompanied by powerful music and, although the performance still feels a little like a work in progress, the violinist has plans to expand the piece into a work for a choir next year.
The evening’s entertainment begins with Voyager, who rip straight into the explosive Hyperventilating. The Aussies’ heavy riffs and huge choruses are just what’s needed to launch the day’s final session into the cosmos, and the sci-fi fans are clearly having the time of their lives onstage. There’s a pick’n’mix selection from their last few albums
that showcases their hi-octane prog sound perfectly. Ascension’s catchy melodies segue into the 80s vibrance of Brightstar, and by the time the anthemic Colours closes the set, the audience are fully warmed up and cheering for more.
Despite all the space tech displayed in the room, Sel Belamir’s pedal board could still be the most complicated gizmo here. Amplifier are stripped down to a three-piece tonight – guitarist Steve Durose couldn’t make this one-off show – so they focus on their more chilled-out material. They’re not short of appropriately themed tunes to choose from either. Laidback opener Departure Lounge, from 2009’s Eternity EP, proffers a different side of the band and this peaks with the cosmic explosion that is Supernova. There’s excitement when the audience hear the opening notes of oldie UFOs too. The closing track is taken from their eponymous debut, but could be on the creepy soundtrack to a cult space flick. The only disappointment is that it’s over so soon.
Anathema pull out all the stops for The Space Between Us, their final gig of the year before they begin work on their next album. Not only do they return to a six-piece, with Jamie Cavanagh back on bass, but they’ve teamed up with multimedia artist Kristina
“NOW IN ITS SECOND YEAR, THE PROG AWARDWINNING FESTIVAL OF SCIENCE AND CULTURE HAS FOUND A WELCOMING AUDIENCE AMONG FANS OF EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS.”
Pulejkova for some breathtaking visuals created from previously unseen ESA footage. The stunning imagery complements their dreamy sounds and Anna Phoebe even makes a guest appearance on a couple of songs, including a powerful rendition of Day One from Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar soundtrack. It could have been composed for them as it works so well with their ‘greatest hits’ set, which includes a punchy rendition of Can’t Let Go with dual drums from Daniel Cardoso and John Douglas.
Distant Satellites is pure perfection, Untouchable Parts 1 And 2 are given a new poignancy with a video tribute to Helen Sharman, Britain’s first cosmonaut, and their cover of Pink Floyd’s Keep Talking provides a final swirl of space rock before the buzzing crowd files out to the strains of Bowie’s Life On Mars.
Space Rocks 2019 will definitely be a very tough act to follow.