This is a return to the true spirit of the Hawk, my lords, ladeeez and gentlemen! Prepare for SONIC ATTACK!

Technical details:
16:9 widescreen, PAL, region free DVD. Running time 95 minutes. Stereo sound.

Packaging:
High quality, with a triple fold out gatefold DVD cover, a screen printed DVD and six page full colour booklet. It's especially nice to see that the booklet contains lyrics for all of the tracks. 9/10.

Video Picture Quality:
Filmed in professional quality using multiple, tripod mounted cameras. The picture is slightly grainy in places but for standard definition dvd it's pretty good and any issues do not detract from the over all viewing experience. 7/10.

Audio Quality.
Unedited raw concert recording, no overdubs have been added. It is stereo only i.e. no surround sound. That's a bummer IMO. I was hoping for at least 5.1 Dolby Digital, especially as now nearly all dvds are encoded in surround, but for a stereo mix it's very good quality and loud! 7/10

Equipment used for review:
Panasonic TH-42PZ70, full HD 1080p plasma. Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver/amp. Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu ray player. Tannoy Revolution, 7.1 surround speaker system. Panasonic GH1 camera with f1.7 pancake lens.







The Event:



Meet the protagonists:

Nik Turner (Thunder-rider)


Nik Turner (Thunder-rider), Adrian Shaw (Special guest), Ron Tree (Hawklord of Highs)


Ron Tree (Hawklord of Highs), Jerry Richards (Hawklord of Heat)


Alan Davey (Hawklord of Light)


Steve Swindells (Hawklord of Night)


Harvey Bainbridge (Hawklord Of The North)


Dan Thompson (Hawklord of Power)


Bring on the dancing girls


Review:
There are some amazing tracks on this dvd, all bathed in psychedelic swirlyness (if such a word exists).

Earth Calling, Born to go:
Ron Tree hits ignition with a subtle "Mother Fucker" at the start of Earth Calling.
It must be said, not necessarily a negative, but Ron does look slightly wasted in places. Maybe that's his normal look, I have no idea
Nik really blows his sax on this one. 9/10.

Orgone Accumulator:
Steve Swindels, Man this guy is legend and on Orgone he is rocking out on the keyboard. I think I saw him dancing at one point! 9/10

Ten Seconds of Forever:
Slightly disappointing to see Ron Tree here reading one of Calvert's masterpieces from an A4 sheet. Man alive! Ron, take a tip, use a Lectern next time Or make up the words.
My daughter made up a language the other night. It goes like this "Pleeebus Hagllag my Nagmeag is Ragn Tragag" etc. that would have been better than reading from a cue sheet. This type of music should be a free flowing, harmonistic natural existence of music and words, but this somewhat spoils the illusion. 5/10

Brainstorm:
A Nik Turner classic: he wrote it and it doesn't disappoint. Ron Tree nearly spilled his pint with excitement and Jerry Richards shows off his futuristic vertical guitar technique (a strange technique which I have never seen before). Classic. 8/10.

I am The Reptoid:
WTF! I say. This is weird alien shit IMO. Not a track you often hear live. 7/10.

Seven By Seven:
EPIC stuff and one of my favorite Hawkwind tracks. Ron glues his head back together BUT insists on reading from another sheet whilst in a kneeling position; like his legs have given way
Nik gets out his flute on this, and is pretty good. 8/10

Master Of the Universe:
This is one of the best versions of the track I have heard. "Bring on the Dancing girls" I was shouting. 8/10.

Opa Loka:
Not listed in the booklet, but then it doesn't have any lyrics! A Warrior On The Edge of Time classic and "a groovy little number" as Alan Davey says at the end. I really liked this, the musicianship is startling. Dan Thompson on drums really shows off his skills here. It's thunderous. 9/10.

You Shouldn't do that/Addicted to You:
Another favorite of mine and I cranked up the volume on this one. Fantastic old skool style. The band look like they are really enjoying themselves on this and I can't imagine any one who was there not dancing along. Alan Davey plays at the edge, his fingers pounding on the bass. TOTAL SONIC SPACE ROCK DESTRUCTION 10/10.

Steppenwolf:
OMG!? WTF is the mime guy doing on stage. It reminds me of Coil's amazing fluffy white suit period. Harvey really kicks it with his synth blasts on this and Adrian Shaw is pure lounge music class. TOTAL SONIC SPACE ROCK DESTRUCTION 10/10.

Silver Machine.
Not too much to say here. Classic stuff. 8/10

Overall:
EPIC. TOTAL SONIC SPACE ROCK DESTRUCTION. 9/10.
A fitting tribute to the late great Barney Bubbles. RIP

"Barney Bubbles Memorial Benefit Concert" DVD is now available to buy via Paypal (hawklords@hotmail.co.uk).
The DVD is £19.99 plus postage: UK £1, Europe £1.50, USA & rest of the world £2.

Note: All images are presented for educational and review purposes. This review is copyright Jamun & spacerocktrading.
A big thanks to Hawklords for providing this DVD for review.

Excellent review

Its nice to hear I am the Reptoid but the rest is all average IMHO. You have a loosely connected group of musicians who have been in HW but who didn't practise together and are just going through the motions. What their motivations for doing these gigs as the "Hawklords" (which is a misnomer), are I wouldn't like to speculate on.

Its probably a good sales idea to send out free copies to boards etc., but those who pay for the DVD might not be so generous in their assessments of the product.

The problem is that there are a lot of talented people going through mediocre versions of HW songs without much enthusiasm. I would also like to know in what way in 'benefits' Barney Bubbles?

Ouch. Very negative vibes from Jonathan. Lets be clear; just because a band sends me a cd/dvd for free, for review, that in no way influences the result of the review. It took me, quite a few hours to do the review. I listened to the dvd on two systems, took photos and wrote the review etc. A free 20 quid for lets say 5 hours work, LOL, are you joking?
And I would say to all other forum members, post your own reviews. Take some pictures of sleeves etc and write a critic.

OK-- fair point about the free copies etc, but I don't think it was worth the money I paid for it, although I'm not sure that listening to music is 'work' if you enjoy it! I also thought that it was cheeky too advertise as 'available' before it was-- that's a pre-order, something else.

As for negative vibes, that whole project is hardly short of those. They are not the "Hawklords" anyway, but it could be said that everyone who might buy it knows that, so it probably doesn't matter.

I actually really like some of Nik's pseudo-Hawkwind bands, especially the ones dome with Pressurehed/ Anubian Lights. I bought them all. I like am partial to Helios Creed and Anubian LIghts. Having that weirest of the weird psychedelic musicians Genesis P-Orridge playing with hem is a highlight for me-- although I bet not for most HW fans. I didn't quite work but combining Psychic TV with elements of Hawkwind is a very interesting idea!. Best of all was a concert with the amazing Spaceseed but sadly only available as a very poor bootleg. Space Ritual was a good effort, but it must have been the much maligned Dave Anderson who help t together. I saw him numerous times playing bass with the Groundhogs and enjoyed every gig.

I have listened to it once only and have too much new stuff to listen to to bother with it again. Frankly its just boring and pointless, but I admit I should have guessed that before ordering it. I also admit there are worse live Hawkwind albums, but I don't listen to them

There has been too much said about Hawkwind politics already on the web, but I think those who want to support ex-hawks should buy their solo albums. I loved the MOAB album and wish that there was more -- even Bajina was not bad. "Last Wish" by Alan Davey/ Bridget Wishart is excellent and Loius Davey's album is pretty good too. Harvey's album on Atomhenge was pleasant enough as well. Much of Alan Davey's solo work is well worth buying (the less said about Gunslinger the better but some might like it).

Had there been new songs on the "Hawklords" DVD I would be much more positive, or even a slightly more imaginative selection which highlighted the original contributions of the ex-hawks playing....