Gong, Ozric Tentacles

The chance to hear the swirling, sonic extravagances of two of the finest practitioners of spaced out, trance infused rhythms on the same night felt almost greedy, like breaking into a second box of chocolates when the first had already given you a sugar rush.

by David Vass · Photo: Lee Harper 1 December 2022

Can you have too much of a good thing? I found myself wondering this as we approached the third hour of the Ozrics/Gong double bill at Epic Studios. Hats off to the bands for wanting to give us value for money, but time was getting on, and we all had homes to go to. The trouble was that Gong were so good, there was no way I could bear to sneak off early, even if my head was, by now, full to bursting with the swirling, sonic extravagances of two of the finest practitioners of spaced out, trance infused rhythms currently doing the rounds. The opportunity to see them both on the same night almost felt greedy, like breaking into a second box of chocolates when the first had already given you a sugar rush. It felt a little unworldly too, something you might expect to hear in tent in a field, rather than Magdalen Street. Nicholas Parsons must be turning in his grave.

First up on our night - do they flip a coin before hand - were Ozric Tentacles, thrillingly showcasing a full band line up. I saw them earlier in the year in the Magical Sounds tent at Bearded Theory in a slimmed down version and thought Ed Wynne and his son Silas Neptune did just fine on synths and guitars.

I was intrigued to see, and more importantly, hear what the difference would be. “Significant”, would be the operative word, largely due to Brandi Wynne's accomplished bass playing that pushed and pulsed the music forward with a momentum far removed from the tripped out, ambient noodling of the earlier recordings I'd been listening to in the car on the way up. This was a resolutely live band, helped in no small measure by the excellence of their brand new drummer. In a kaleidoscopic set that featured dub bass, tantric rhythms, space rock, jazz, and even hints of reggae, there was barely a dull moment. Granted, my mind occasionally wandered, but I don’t think the Ozric's would have minded. As Ed Wynne repeatedly, and sweetly, emphasised, we should enjoy the music as best suited us - he was just chuffed we'd all turned up.

Judging by the way the crowd thinned out after Ozric's marathon 90 minute set, many of the audience turned up for just them and discreetly left afterwards. It's unclear to me how you can like the Ozric's and not want to at least give Gong a go, but many clearly felt that way. Perhaps the first set felt so much like a headline gig they simply forgot there was more to come. In any event, they missed a treat. Gong, for me, edged it on the night, with a dynamic performance that not only eclipsed the Ozrics, but arguably their outing at the Arts Centre earlier in the year. Granted, they had the personable Kavus Torabi as frontman and lead vocalist, so this was bound to be a more immediate and engaging experience, but nonetheless this was a cracking turn.

Some of Easter Island statues that had been watching the Ozrics with studied earnestness sprang to life, loon dancing as Gong seduced as with a surprisingly (for them) raw sound. I only saw Daevid Allen perform once with Gong, and on that occasion the inestimable Steve Hillage was also in attendance. The experience was more akin to worshipping at the temple, and I still like the idea of that Gong, for all its twee tendencies. In all honesty, though, I much prefer this iteration, paying respect to Allen with the magnificent Rejoice, I'm Dead, nodded to the past with the likes of Master Builder, but in all other respects, going their own, raucous way.

I had fanciful hopes that the evening might close on some sort of extraordinary collaboration, but it was not to be. We had Saskia Maxwell guesting with the band, as she had done earlier with the Ozrics, and a bit of flute and dancing goes a long way. It proved a fitting close to a gig that now seems an odd, but rather lovely, dream, best summed up by something, someone shouted into my ear in between acts.