Review – Ozric Tentacles & Gong. 02 Academy, Birmingham. 29th Nov 2022

To quote one of my other fave bands – “We’re living in a day and age….“

We most certainly are. With so much shit going on around us, it’s like living in a perma-crisis, so more than ever we need an escape from it all and our music serves that purpose very well.

On the evening of the 29th November 2022 we witnessed two incredible bands at the height of their game, performing two 90-minute sets for the paltry sum of only £28 !!!

Ozric Tentacles have been around since 1983, enduring multiple line-up changes and tonight, for the first time in a while, we had a full band. It was awesome to see Brandi Wynne back on bass, laying down some mighty stellar funky basslines and new drummer “Tim” together, wielding a rhythm section so tight you could split hairs. Silas and Saski on synths and flute completed the ensemble, a winning ( or should that be “Wynning” LOL) formula held together by the incredible guitar of Ed Wynne, plus a decent sized crowd, many of whom were totally feeling the groove and there was plenty of shape-cutting tonight from a VERY appreciate audience, feeling the groove man !!!!

If you’ve never heard of or experienced the Ozrics – check out their Wikipedia page: Ozric Tentacles are an English instrumental rock band, whose music incorporates elements from a diverse range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, space rock, jazz fusion, electronic music, dub music, world music, and ambient music – say no more !!

Among tonight’s selection we had Erpland, Kickmuck (everybody lost their shit !!), Dub Jam (which took Ed’s guitar to another level I have to be honest), Blooperdome, to name but a few. As their music is ALL instrumental they call it whatever the fuck they like – song 1, song 2, song 3 – it is irrelevant, all I’ll say is – you SOOOOOO need to see these guys live and you never know, you may just feel like dancing (and Leo Sayer – you can fuck right off !!)

Absolutely blew it out the ballpark, what a band.

After a short break, the mighty Gong took to the stage. No original members, but what the hey….

Kavus Torabi – a man of manic stare and crazy hair (Knifeworld, The Utopia Strong to name but a few) has so took on the mantle from Daevid Allen and like Edgar Froese and the current line-up of Tangerine Dream, carries the mantle of this immortal band of gypsies to another level. Formed in 1967 and like the Ozrics, a revolving door of musicians, Gong have spearheaded the Psychedelic Rock genre from the offset, I reckon it’s safe to say – Daevid can rest easy that Kavus wears the crown with pride. He was totally bowled over with the reception tonight and tbh, the band reciprocated and took the performance to another level…..

Focusing on more recent additions to the band’s discography, we had some killer live versions of (among many others) Rejoice, Forever Reoccurring, Master Builder, My Sawtooth Wake and a totally KILLER version of The Glorious Om Riff which literally blew the fucking roof off the venue with the beautiful Saski joining in the dance and a manic strobe to boot, topped off with some freakout guitar which literally sent everyone over the edge – totally bloody awesome.

I have to be honest, we had to leave a little early so didn’t catch the tail end of the set, but with two incredible sets, some stunning visuals at the back of the stage and an atmosphere that totally and utterly oozed love, peace and happiness – I think it’s safe to say that LIVE MUSIC IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE and what better way to rejoice in its glory – Long may they reign, miss them at your peril……………

Steve Gould