Gong

[beergut100]

I saw about 20 mins of Gong, after leaving Prodigy. Saw them do Oily Way and they sounded bloody great (much better than Prodigy; though I realise you can't really compare the two)! Would have stayed for the whole set, but Zion Train were meant to be starting on arcadia stage at midnight and we wanted to get a good spot- then they bloody came on over an hour late Oh well, The Egg were on when we got there and they were very good too!

[fexis]

Wasnt going to miss Gong - band of the fessie for moi, been a fanatic (ha ha) since early 70s and they didnt disappoint, the mood was set when Daevid bounced (brill for a 70 earthling yrs) onto the stage and the vibe went higher and higher........I did notice that the jam packed Glade stage was mainly populated with olde hippy types, myself included.

[The Nal]

Wasnt going to miss Gong - band of the fessie for moi, been a fanatic (ha ha) since early 70s and they didnt disappoint, the mood was set when Daevid bounced (brill for a 70 earthling yrs) onto the stage and the vibe went higher and higher........I did notice that the jam packed Glade stage was mainly populated with olde hippy types, myself included.

[whisty]

I went across after the Prodigy and caught some of the last song, pure madness!! Loved it.

And it was lovely to see so many old hippy types. “Go see Gong, they are the ultimate Glastonbury band”, as my brother told me before I left. Hes never even been.

Edited July 8, 2009 by whisty

[When Jokers Attack]

Camembert Electrique.

It was given to me by a work colleague when I was 16. Thats a long time ago. Still have it and love it.

Then the trilogy.

[fexis]

Hopefully Gong will be performing at next yrs 40th anniversary shindig - they where afterall at the 1st Glasto and still going strong....whoopee

[beergut100]

Camembert Electrique.

It was given to me by a work colleague when I was 16. Thats a long time ago. Still have it and love it.

Then the trilogy.

[Ponyegg]

Gutted I missed them, am an aging pot-headed-pixie too :-) I think it was all getting too much for me and then I found myself on the otherside of the site when Steve Hillage was on. Ah well, my own stoopid fault. Hopefully they'll be there next year, will try and catch them later in the year.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Ponyegg

[ciderboy]

Yes, finally saw them (or the current version anyway)! Gong were ok (my first ever record was "Flying Tea Pot"), but Steve Hillage on before them was incredicble. Fantastic stuff!

[Nickyboy]

cheers, will give it a listen

[shineongas]

I 'caught' Gong at Reading in '76 when they headlined on the Friday night. Thankfully the warmth of the campfire in the arena and the strength of the dope meant that I slept through most of their set. Slept in fact until woken by the litter pickers at 5:00am the following morning.

However I now regret being lured to see Blur on the main stage on the Sunday. Steve Hillage (I saw him at the Fayre in 1979) and Gong are the essence of Glastonbury, ley lines and all that.

[Martin Ashford]

Lovely to see how many people loved Hillage and Gong! My only disappointment was Steve's vocals which were pretty flat quite a few times during his solo set (sorry, muso ramblings) but the whole evening was indeed superb. Best surprise for me was the back projections - as soon as the Green symbol came up I came over all goosebumpy - what an amazing moment - lots of trippy stuff but when Gong appeared and all the Pot Head Pixie stuff began it was just perfect - probably the best Gong set I've ever seen (of quite a few since the early 80's). I loved the brand new tunes as well. To anyone that I might have freaked out prancing around in a banana outfit - my sincere apologies-it just had to be done you see

On the subject of Gong/ Hillage recordings I highly recommend the live albums Gong Live etc and Gong Est Mort (very hard to find this one) and the Flying Teapot trilogy is something everyone should seek out. Each of Hillage's first five solo albums is a tour de force and I'm very, very fond of Daevid Allen's Now Is The Happiest Time Of Your Life, Bananamoon and Australia Aquaria. One of the VERY best Gong family records is Tim Blake's New Jerusalem - the absolute essential New Age Hippy recording just about equal to Hillage's Motivation Radio - and if you can't track any of it down easily (because you won't get it in any supermarket!) all these and many more are available from www.planetgong.co.uk

[DaveMac]

Just found a bit of footage from Gong in 'The Glade' for the faithful ...

[Boris]

Saw Hillage... I was highly impressed at the authenticity of the sound so many years on... must have been fun for him to remember which FX to use etc. He also looked strangely young considering. Loved it. Gong were excellent too.... my only bummer was being very tired at this point so I watched some of it from a comfy tree backrest. Chuffed to have had the opportunity to see both of these