Van der Graaf Generator: Present

Ninety percent (or more) of reunions I can happily ignore. But the Van der Graaf Generator one had me intrigued. I saw Peter Hammill play at the Queen Elizabeth Hall late in 2004, and I found that there was enough still going on between performer and (this) listener to keep me interested. I got the tickets for the reunion show — at this point it seemed there might only be one — at the Royal Festival Hall, and then felt obliged to buy Present so I would recognise the new songs when they played them.

At that point the General Election hadn't been called. When it was, I realised the gruelling schedule it would set me: stay up late on election night, then down to Brighton for an all-day seminar, and back for the gig. So I really should have gone to bed before 4am, but I didn't. Up at 6.30am to catch the train. Back to meet Paul D in the Kings Arms for a pint and a Thai curry. I was wilting so badly that I decided I'd better get a Red Bull to keep awake during the gig. Then again, I should have been wise enough to realise that that the combination of beer, curry and concentrated caffeine might not make a good cocktail. As I took my seat, the Red Bull was making its way through my guts and I experienced the most excruciating bowel cramps. I contemplated disturbing a whole row of seated proggers to make my way to the lavatory, but I was frankly frightened at the thought of what might happen there. So I sat and suffered. Gradually the jabbing pains subsided, but so did the stimulation from the caffeine, and I drifted in and out of consciousness. You know that thing when you're brain and eyes are trying to do REM dreams, but your eyes are still open so you're half hallucinating? I tried thinking about sex to keep myself awake, but just thinking about it wasn't enough. Was it a good gig? I don't know. I just found out that the whole performance is available on CD, so I refer you there.

The setlist says they played Any Bloody Emperor and Nutter Alert from Present, and these seem to be the immediate stand-out tracks (also the ones that got played on the radio). The second disc of instrumental jams might actually be quite good if you like that kind of stuff. I listen to late King Crimson, after all, so might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. VdGG still seem to be stretching out and playing some dirty jazz, including some squonky electronics on Homage to Teo (presumably Macero).

MusicBrainz entry for disc 1 disc 2