Short Reviews [Alan Davey's Psychedelic Warlords - 2019 - "Hall Of The Mountain Grill Live"]

The first paragraph of this review is the same as that for ‘Captain Lockheed & The Starfighters Live’ but is worth repeating in case you haven’t seen the other one. The Psychedelic Warlords were formed by ex-Hawkind bassist Alan Davey and named after the lead off track from Hawkwind’s fifth album, 1974’s ‘Hall Of The Mountain Grill’. The band comprised singer Craig High, keyboard player Zoie Green, guitarist Simon Wilkins and drummer Billy Fleming (who worked as Motorhead’s drum tech for 12 years). Apparently Lemmy told Davey that ‘Hall of the Mountain Grill’ was his favourite Hawkwind album, and as 2014 was seeing the fortieth anniversary Davey thought it would be a great idea to perform the album in its entirety as a tribute. Given that Robert Calvert’s seminal ‘Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters’ was also released in 1974, and was a Hawkwind album in all but name, he decided to hold a concert where both albums would be performed in their entirety. The concert was recorded, and some five years later, was finally made available, and this section of the gig has now been released as ‘Hall of the Mountain Grill Live (London 2014)’. Every Hawkwind fan has the original album in their collection, battered from many years of being played to death. It is the classic album from the classic line-up of Dave Brock, Del Dettmar, Nik Turner, Simon House, Simon King and the one and only Lemmy. During his tenures with both Hawkwind (twice) and Hawklords, Davey would have played most of not all of these songs, some of them every night yet here he is able to provide us with his take on the full album. From the first notes of the songs from which this band have taken their name to the closing rumble of “Motorhead” (which wasn’t on the album but is a fitting closer to the other nine), here we have a band who are determined to bring back those classic days. As always, the bass is front and centre, with the chords being riffed as if it was a rhythm guitar in trademark Lemmy style (strange to realise that Davey was in Hawkwind far longer than Lemmy himself). “D-Rider” crunches, but it is when they really let rip on songs such as “You’d Better Believe It” that everyone comes to life. The sequencers are joined by the bass, then the hi hat, then the guitar, and all of a sudden, we are off, and it sounds like the rumble being created really is an engine going at full bore. This is a classic album being treated with respect and being blasted out to fans who are eagerly awaiting to be pummelled into submission. I remember seeing Hawkwind at an outdoor festival in 1982, and being amazed I had hearing problems afterwards given it was in a stadium (okay, so I was pinned against the railings at the front) and if I had been in London that night in 2014 I am sure I would have been deafened again and drenched in sweat. As with the other album, this is essential to any Hawkwind fans and all power to Davey and the label for them finally becoming available.