GONG/OZRIC TENTACLES
“GONG DESERVE RESPECT FOR HAVING THE CONFIDENCE TO KEEP MOVING DAEVID ALLEN’S VISION FORWARD. THAT, FOLKS, IS THE DEFINITION OF PROGRESSIVE.”
VENUE O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON
DATE 18/11/2023
It’s been exactly a year since these two purveyors of pungent effulgence roamed the UK together on the aptly named Joint Tour. Since then, both bands have added to their starred discographies. Tracks that had been tentatively previewed during those 2022 shows have now been released to critical and fan acclaim as tonight’s sell-out will attest.
After leader Ed Wynne’s return to the UK and enforced solitary confinement during lockdown, it’s fantastic to have a group dynamic back in the Ozric Tentacles camp. This can be heard on latest album Lotus Unfolding and seen on his face; he clearly relishes being back onstage. The rhythm section consists of returning bassist Vinny Shillito and Pat Garvey, Principal Lecturer in Drums at BIMM Music Institute, no less.
Green Incantation may be fresh as a daisy (or should that be lotus?), but it has that classic Ozric DNA writ large across its clean guitar breaks and Eastern modes. It’s so good to hear new music of this pedigree from the Wynne stable 40 years since the troupe’s formation.
Eternal Wheel and Erpland send us back through the years to the band’s most lauded period, when tonight’s keyboardist Silas Wynne was but a young, sniffing pup. The temperature is allowed to drop a few degrees as Silas’ partner Saskia Maxwell adds haunting breathy flute to the contemplative Lotus Unfolding – Ed Wynne must surely have had one of his primary influences Mahavishnu Orchestra in mind when penning this beauty.
Perennial classic Kick Muck is accompanied by seizure-inducing visuals from Fruit Salad Lights. So much has happened to Ozric Tentacles over four decades and yet so much has stayed the same. It’s a treat to see a version of this band on top form and performing such great new music alongside fan favourites in
2023. Long may they continue.
Few acts in the prog scene can claim to have been around as long as Gong.
Yes, like the previous band, they’re also a version of their past selves but there’s no denying the signature Gong essence in set opener My Guitar Is A Spaceship from the latest album Unending Ascending. The band’s living spiritual leader, Kavus Torabi, delights in its tricksy wrongfooting riff, a devious glint seems to say “Just try dancing to this one!”
The set contains almost no tracks more than a decade old. It’s a gutsy move but wholly vindicated by songs the quality of Rejoice! and My Sawtooth Wake. The audience lap it up too. “Continuity Gong” has gathered its own momentum.
The yin-yang Ship Of Ishtar and Choose Your Goddess comprise a significant chunk of Unending Ascending. They complement and contrast one another tonight as they navigate from ethereal glissando guitar to schizoid saxblasting groove. Any leftover cobwebs from Halloween have been well and truly blown away. Wonderful stuff and a reminder that through the late, lamented Gilli Smyth, the power of the
goddess, whether it be Selene or
Ishtar, has always been integral to Gong’s ethos.
Still the highlight of many a Gong show, Master Builder starts to make its presence known.
Cheb Nettles’ ever-intensifying drumming is indeed masterful, building a tempest from a whisper.
As it reaches its zenith, Saskia Maxwell, also a student and devotee of Turkish music and dance, takes centre-stage. Her dervish dancing becomes a spiritual nexus – the visual and sonic energy combine in her ghostly spiralling diaphanous form. It would be so easy to be a Gong jukebox, relying on the past glories of others, lazily trotting out classics like Master Builder as nothing more than a tribute act. These musicians deserve respect for having the confidence to keep moving Daevid Allen’s vision forward. That, folks, is the definition of progressive.
Both tonight’s bands have announced a third and final co-headline tour for spring 2024. Billed as The Last Blast!, you’d be nutty to miss it.