Sasha in HK - 19/1/2015
by Nick the Bookman

My life is analog. Random chaos. Well at least since 27/12/2014 when Dick died. Start of Clockenflap 2014 and on for the rest of the year. Random chaos. Like living in the swirling sonic dervish diaspora that is The Grateful Dead doing drums/space. Or verse/vicer. A head full of the finest chemical concoctions. Put together by Augustus Stanley Owsley 3rd. Aka "The Bear". His LSD was reputed to be better (and more widespread) than that made by the CIA. The trips were up there in the mythos cloud with Albert Hofmann's immortal bicycle ride through the streets of Basel during World War Two; Apr 19, 1943. The war that brought us both Acid and the Atom Bomb...

Anyway, random chaos. Not the digital life when all is precise progression. Like Kraftwerk in concert. I've seen them twice in HK and they are spell-binding. But all the machine music is ordered. Layered. Structured. Random is not a factor. If I'd been a little bit more digital, I would have written a much different review for The Dickstock (and Sue) Memorial Gig at the Pak Kok Amphitheatre. Basically, Roz gave me a big metaphorical botty smack for screwing the pooch that night. No, I'm not confessing to canine carnal congress. It's a term for a major fuckup that I first came across in Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff". That was me, so hereby apologies and let's get the record revised and remixed.

I arrived up there as Oz, Clive, Roz et al were playing. Oz was on djembes, although congas would do in a pinch. Clive was tootling on his flute. (Got that bit right at least). Roz was playing ukulele. Not guitar. As was Rose, who was singing lead vox. The song was "Ripple" by The Dead and not "Country Roads?". Clive wrote a tribute verse for Dick which was printed up on a big white board. Held by Amanda. He graciously gave me the new lyric and here it is... "So, goodbye Dick, Godspeed your journey. Be the place you've gone, filled with love and laughter. You know the way. With love you travel home..." And an extra chorus. "Dickstock, you're still with us/ When there's something to drop. Or weed to blow..." Clive told me his name for the group was The Stoned Roses. (tittery tee-hee!)



I'm also remorseful at failing to mention Anna and Lolita - the sultry swoonsome Swedish songstrelles who came all the way from Stockhom to pay their respects to Dick. Anna was once Dick's girlfriend. They sang three songs in Swedish. Including a Johnny Cash cover and they crushed it. So glad you were here, lassies. Wish I'd been able to talk to you! And give you a longer paragraph. Never mind. At least it's quotable!

Also a huge Dead heads-up to Harry for his stunning poster. The Lamma Power Station trio of chimneys with R.I.P. written down them. The beautiful royal purple and lilac colour sheen. Signifying The King Is Dead. The fantastic skeleton/dove skull/roses figure of Death. Beautifully re-imagined from original Grateful Dead artwork. And from prior Dickstock Festival tee-shirts. The lettering for the event and all the bands. Pure Rick Griffin. See his cover for "Aoxomoxoa" - the palindromic title for The Dead's second release. The album that drove engineer Dave Hassinger mad because he couldn't grasp the concept of recording "heavy air". Dave Hassinger also master minded some of the greatest tracks by The Electric Prunes, but that's a whole other trip. Other cool psychedelic artists of the Sixties were (Stanley) Mouse and (Alton) Kelly who worked together on some of the greatest psychedelic music and surf posters. Covering the spectra of concerts, gigs, happenings and events. And let's not forget Gilbert Shelton (the mastermind behind "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers") who drew the cover for the Dead's "Shakedown Street". Plus Robert Crumb (who immortalised "Fritz the Cat") and did the artwork for "Cheap Thrills" by Janis Joplin/Big Brother & The Holding Company.

The last mention is for Dan who quietly and with gravitas opined near the end of his set with The Bastards that Dickstock is A Great Idea And Shouldn't Be Allowed To Die. So, here's hoping it's gonna be a perennial fan favourite...

Anyway, enough of that. This story is meant to be The Sasha Review. Karina got me on the guest list for his 5th(?) HK appearance. I've seen him thrice. The previous gig was in 2013 when he wasn't that good. Not that he was bad as such. This man, once christened The Son Of God by some music magazine (which pissed him off enormously. Who needs that pressure?) was also described as "being able to play(ie remix) your record collection better than you could". This time he delivered a set that could have been elevator/spa music with huge occasional whooshes of sound. He seemed a bit distracted afterwards. Grudgingly signed a CD mix of his for me. I gave him two of my mixes. Numbers 14 and 21 if you're interested. Jim Open Space has posted them on the Mixcloud. Search for "Nick The Book" and hopefully, there you are. Anyway, I digress...

This time he had some heavy opening talent to gee him up. The show was put on by Bump and took place at G/Fl. 18 Lyndhurst Terrace. There seemed to be so many people on the guest list, I wonder what the profit margin was. Anyway, putting this delicately, everyone in the room seemed to be having a splendidly good and high old time. Dee Montero, a DJ chum of Karina's. did a dark tribal twisted set. Lots of interesting drop ins and weird noises. Full of hues and shades and tints of electro, prog and trance tech. Sasha came on at about 0100 and did about three hours. It was a masterclass. Lots of long tunes - about ten minutes or so. Plenty of layering. Lots of beats like old clanky steam-punk noises. Like Giorgio Moroder's music for "Midnight Express". The section where all the loonies are walking round the pillar and Billy Hayes (the drug smuggling anti hero) walks against the flow to piss them all off. He wasn't quite as up as when he used to DJ Space in Ibiza. When "Expander" was the mindmelting dogs bollocks tune of the day. Or as tough as his "Violater: tour of Southern China which was possibly in 2006(?).

Karina told me she knew all the tracks he played. Mostly taken from two releases when he remastered and remixed interesting songs from other groups and acts. His segue from Dee's last tune into his opener was seamless and he didn't really relax from there. Although, he seemed to be suffering from a dodgy dai pong diet and kept making strategic retreats to the men's room at brief intervals. Basically, a fantastic cutting edge music night. Memories vanquished from his last show I saw. Once again Sasha was The Man Like...

After meeting some very excitable and interestingly mellow people from my checkered past, I was able to get the first ferry home. Accompanied by Amy from Pak Kok. This was Good News. I could escort Amy home like a gentleman and drop in on Parksy and Get My ID Card Back! Lost it at the Dickstock Gig. But a lot of other people lost shit up there too. Parksy found it and posted the good news (with my card) on Facebook. So, the world pretty much knows I've just turned 60. Not that I was hiding it at all! Anyway, about ten people told me the day after the D.M.G. that Parksy had my card. So I wasn't worried. We'd meet up and I'd get it back. It took six days and some missed opportunities...

Got to his place with refreshments and said I'm here to get my card. Have you got it? He said NO!!... Then he said, he'd called me the night before and left it in the till at Cath's Bar. I'd just missed his call, but was able to get to Cath's Bar on the way home and - Voila!! A Happy Ending. Lamma people get things done, but at their own leisurely, lazy lope. So my card and I are reunited and that seems to be a nice note to end this story on... ntb

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And for all of those people who've been chasing Nick (and me) for his Clockenflap review:

It went online a little while ago:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/29619809420/permalink/10153066153509421/

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Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.