Nik Turner's Space Ritual

Space Ritual is one of Nik Turner’s several bands and from what I’ve witnessed, the Hawkwind founder member is still ‘out there’ with the best!

Friday the 13th, and the Borderline was packed to bursting point. Without doubt a good omen! Indeed, the minute Nik appeared, Space Ritual was received with cheers and applause. Clearly, the crowd appreciated Nik and his crew taking a break from their space travels and descending into central London. However, since they played the Borderline, space was not the final frontier and I wondered how all the band members would be able to move to the groove on the tiny stage!

Not only is Space Ritual on a mission to revive the lost magic and original spirit of Hawkwind, but to heal and raise spirits, promoting communication and good times, getting high without drugs (surely that’s NOT in the original spirit of Hawkwind?) and using multimedia sound/light/visual imagery to create a wild and mind-boggling experience.
It’s not easy to pinpoint the musical style of Space Ritual, too many components make for the Gesamtkunstwerk: space rock, free jazz, experimental, ambient, modern dance grooves and above all, out-of-this-world sounds thanks to Chris Purdon’s wibbly wobbly noises on dikmikator, delatron and other strange electronic apparatuses.

First number ‘Born To Go’ got the dynamics flowing and Nik was in his element blowing away on the sax, singing to fans old and new. Next tracks ‘Watching The Grass Grow’, ‘Ritual’ and ‘Otherworld’ (during which Nik swapped sax for flute and delivered prophetic words in between) added a cosmic touch thanks to rotating spotlights that made band and stage look cool (but irritated the punters). Completely unfazed, Mick Slattery and Gary Smart played hard on guitar and bass respectively. You could really feel the energy buzz spilling from the stage into the audience, shame there was barely enough space to shuffle your legs to the beat!

A special treat lay in store when the band played ‘Children Of The Sun’, for the captivating Miss Angel – dancer extraordinaire – took to the stage to perform some of her jaw-breaking moves. Dressed in a dazzling outfit that was pure exotic fantasy and with golden wings attached (presumably representing sun rays), Angel resembled a female incarnation of the Egyptian sun god Ra. She managed to swirl around stage despite the limited space and even spread her wings (make that flap both arms about) without punching some of the other players. At one point, she placed herself behind Nik (who, in comparison, looked rather toned down with his slick trousers and patterned shirt), giving the impression that he grew wings while playing sax.

‘Sonic Savages’ came next, followed by ‘Seven By Seven’ - a track from the 1971 Hawkwind album ‘In Search Of Space’. Hardly was there any song title more ironic, for Angel returned (this time dressed in a flame-red rock n roll flamenco-style outfit), elegantly manoeuvring her stomping moves from one side of the stage to the other. This couldn’t have been easy, considering all the amps, cables, musicians and what have you refusing to make way!
Then it was time for a bit of ‘Reefer Madness’ – unfortunately not a whiff around but with its Forbidden Planet-like tootling sounds and wah-wah keyboard noise created by Thomas Crimble, this number rocked even sans reefers.
Finally, the band played one of my all time fave Hawkwind songs, the utterly awesome ‘Orgone Accumulator’:

“I've got an Orgone Accumulator
It makes me feel greater
I'll see you sometime later
When I'm through with my Accumulator.

“It's no social integrator
It's a one-man isolator
It's a back brain stimulator
It's a cerebral vibrator.”

The perfect lyrics to throw at bewildered lovers or boyfriends when you ‘aren’t in the mood’…
As if the song itself wasn’t totally rockin’, Nik had the inspired idea to welcome some additional talent onto stage for this one, namely Suzi Owens (trombone) and Bev Crome (trumpet) of seedy rock n roll art-outfit The Cesarians. Equally sandwiched between everyone else was third guest, Gregg McKella (clarinet), of Brighton-based psychedelic space-punkers Paradise 9. The stage was now becoming so crowded, poor Suzi momentarily seemed unsure in which direction to point her trombone to avoid poking someone. As for dancer Angel, she had to be rescued by a member of the audience and placed on top of a huge amplifier next to the stage. Not that it stopped her going wild with moves, and the same can be said for Terry Ollis and Meurig Griffiths on drums n percussion. What a party!

Almost on a par was ‘Walking Backwards’ with its fast-paced rhythm, while ‘D. Rider’ had a cool flute intro by Nik and a generally floaty vibe.
The crowd demanded more encores, and they got ‘Master Of The Universe’. For the final number, Nik invited to a brainstorming session with ‘Brainstorm’. “Think only of yourself” he repeated over and over, like some Buddhist mantra, before introducing the band, then breaking into tune and welcoming flutist Rania Bailey, who delivered a fantastic solo. Together with Suzi and Bev on brass, the song was another totally rocking highlight.
At the end, Nik thanked his fans for coming along and asked them to “spread the word about Space Ritual” to all their friends, cheekily adding, “I will do the same”. Ah, what a likeable alien, and what a close encounter with the weird and wonderful!