you'N'gong    -Saturday 15th February 2003

Kohinur Hall, just outside Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia.

    The setting for his gig was perfect. At the end of a long winding and probably damaging road to my fragile van, just as I was sure I was totally lost there was a light. In the middle of the rain forest a gathering of vehicles surrounded a timber hall with leadlighting....As I parked the van sounds of eastern beats were filling the air and the (almost) full moon hung in the sky above. The beautiful people of Northern New South Wales had come out in a united spirit following an anti war march in Lismore earlier in the day.

   As I approached the front door, I saw the gig flyer advertising the band as GONG and I realised that I was finally going to witness a Gong gig virtually on my own doorstep. As I entered the hall there was a board advertising some great veggie food and there was already a good vibe building. I took my spot on the steps at the edge of the dancefloor after grabbing a watermelon daquiri. After about 30 minutes some crazy looking guy with an Evil Dead t-shirt strolls on to the stage, picks up the guitar and with the aid of several effects starts this strange rhythmic distorted loop. Now this guy isn't just standing there strumming his guitar, he is like a man possessed (probably a suitable t-shirt he was wearing)strutting around the stage like he has just discovered someone has put a cactus in his shorts and he is bashing his guitar. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Mr Josh Pollock.

   I realised at this stage that this would be no ordinary Gong gig, running through all the old stuff. As I hoped, this was to (mostly) all new. Josh carried in this fashion for several minutes and then the bassman, Dharma applied some sanity to the proceedings by somehow incredibly finding a bassline that totally fit in with what Josh was playing. And so it went on. Next up, Orlando Allen on drums starts building on the rhythm. Gilli followed soon after looking as gorgeous as ever and putting her unique space whisper over the top. After another few minutes of this, with a gangly stride up steps Mr Divided Alien and promptly plonks himself on the front of the stage and starts chanting into the mic whilst twiddling an array of effects like wah wah and delay. Now we were off and flying, although no one knew what to expect. Its hard to say what this sounded like, which isn't a great help when writing a review I realise, but to my ears it was like a bent version of Iggy and the Stooges, very raw and manic. Unexpectedly this morphed into a reggae dub jam and so after about 20 minutes the first number ended. Whew !

   Next up was the familiar riff of You Can't Kill Me. However, thats where the familiarity ended as the tempo and playing styles changed several times during the song. Foolfare/Zeroid followed , again different to the usual version as it was much faster with a backbeat through most of it. An unknown jam rounded off the first set which clocked in at about 45 minutes.

   Time to re acquaint myself with the nice young chap who insists that I should have several more dacquiris, so I dutifully oblige. The intermission is taken up by some great poetry readings and improvisations and a beautiful girl in a red spiky wig and space suit telling us the brief history of Gong and promising not to break into song, which she does shortly after.

   I decide its time to leave my comfortable perch at the edge of the dancefloor and to enter the fray and give my best impression of an ape with a balance problem looking for a dropped banana (this is how my wife describes my dancing technique). I unwisely take a spot right next to the speaker as the Acid Mothers Temple duo of Kawabata Makoto and Cotton Casino strutt onto the stage looking very funky all in black with big hair and equally big joints. The diminutive synth player is demanding more volume and rightfully gets it , as does my left ear about 20 cms from the speaker. After a couple of minutes of wailing the rest of the band comes back on after a break of about an hour. I take my spot on the dance floor impervious to any strange glances that might come my way once the ape impersonations start.

   This second set ran for about one hour and seemed like one long jam. There were hardly any breaks. One good factor though all the Gong line ups is a great rhythm section and Orlando and his mate Dharma certainly bring a youthful energy and sense of fun to the occassion. Orlando had a massive grin on his face most of the night as he kep building on his funky drumming. I'm afraid the review is going to loose some subjectivity as basically I was having a ball down the front and couldn't give a fig for detail. The dance floor was full and the band was cooking. I do remember version of the Om Riff with 3 guitars ! Kawabata was setting about his Strat with a big screwdriver, glissando style with lots of delay while Josh was playing in his unique style. It was at this point a also realised that he play his guitar upside down. He is left handed, but the strings are also upside down as if he's just picked up someone else's right handed guitar. I've never seen the University of Errors, but this guy blew me away. The Om Riff went for about 15 minutes. Also in there was New Age Transformation, the Planet Gong number, again only barely recognisable from the original version.

   In summary, it was raw. It was mesmerising, very danceable thanks to the funky rhythm section and there was lots of jamming. There was huge energy and this definitely is a unique Gong line up. Miss them at your peril when they tour later in the year as this was superb for a first gig.

   I took a few piccies with my old Brownie camera and will post some on to the Planet Gong and Gilli's website shortly.

   End of transmission.

   Jon Ward