The Archive.
Updated 9-15-2003.
Mahavishnu
Orchestra 7-20-74.
Fortunately an
audience tape of this performance exists , with quality ranging from poor to
very good- mainly due to wind drift. Most of it is very listenable , although
it is incomplete- 90 mins.The total show ran for 100 min.
Set list
Wings
of Karma
19'
Sanctuary
12'05
Vision is a Naked Sword 30'
band members introduced 2'
Hymn to Him
38'
Thanks
to David Graham for the set list.
The line
up of the band was also probably identical to Apocalypse - which was
- John
McLaughlin -electric guitar
- Jean-Luc
Ponty -electric violin
- Gayle
Moran -keyboards
- Ralphe
Armstrong - electric bass
- Michael
Walden- drums
- Carol
Shive - violin
- Marsha
Westbrook -viola
- Philip
Hirschi - cello
- Steve
Frankewicz
- with
the addition of Bob Knapp -trumpet , flugelhorn, flute- (featured on
Hymn to Him)
- Steven
Kindler -violin
|
Photograph
courtesy of Bazza.
To
view a close up of the band click the main photo
|
My
review of the Mahavishnu Orchestra set , from memory and the audience tape
The
Mahavishnu Orchestra were as far removed from the Alex Harvey band as a rain
forest is from a desert . Whereas Harvey was theatrical ,loud and in your
face, McLaughlin's crew were otherworldly, reserved and mystical. They
were my favourite band of the day. I never was all that keen on the original
Mahavishnu Orchestra , as I felt that they were just too full on, so blindingly
fast and heavy in their approach that at times it was draining to listen to
them. This version, the biggest outfit that Mc Laughlin ever assembled, was
far more to my liking, as there was more light and shade to the playing. Rigged
out in white robes, including a section of strings, which provided very surreal
and warped phrases at times, this was a great band . The set they performed
was long and intense. Over 100 minutes- my audience tape cuts out and there's
still more of the show to come - I believe it features mostly songs from
Apocalypse - ( I still have to identify most of them )- its main highlight
was a brilliant violin /guitar duet between McLaughlin and ace violinist Jean
Luc Ponty, which received a lot of applause from the audience.
The
set began quietly with a slow build-up of strings, drums and guitar , with
McLaughlin then taking off with a lengthy solo featuring immensely fast
flurries of notes, punctuated with slow , thoughtful passages and interwoven
with occasional phrases played by Ponty and echoed by the strings . The whole
propelled along with churning staccato drum work , it built up to huge
peaks, dropped down into peaceful valleys, than roared back up to the
heights once more. This opening medley, some 20 minutes long, created a brilliant
beginning to the set and this was then followed by the epic Ponty /McLaughlin
workout which lasted for an age and flowed onto the second side of the tape
, where Ponty just blew everything away for about five minutes, playing impossibly
fast and high- the tone of his violin seeming to cut right though to the cerebral
cortex -and a gradually developing bass line pushed the music faster and faster
until the jam was all consumingly epic in its scope !. If this had been the
end of the track Ponty would have gotten a huge encore, but once again
the pace was dropped to a crawl by the strings,which were discordant and grating.
Then McLaughlin began another solo, this time using a weird tone to his guitar
which reminded me of a cross between a marimba and a electronic bee. This went
on for perhaps 10 minutes and then the strings dropped in again with a superb
ascerbic theme,
one of those typically ever ascending Mahavishnu trademarks which pulled out
all the stops. When the track came to an end , it had been about 40 minutes
since the number had begun .
| We
then got the band intros from McLaughlin but unfortunately this is somewhat
garbled on the tape. By this time 60 or so minutes had passed and
the band had only paused once .This was difficult music , no catchy tunes,
no vocals , no overt crowd appeal with scantily clad chick singers
or leather trousered groin splitting guitarists- just top quality playing
which was totally original and inspired in its concept and which made some
big demands of its listeners. |
click
to see larger image |
The
next track was Hymn to Him which featured an excellent keyboard solo and then
the band moved into another unknown track, during which bass player Ralphe
Armstrong got to strut his stuff for a minute or two and then, unfortunately
, the tape that I have cuts.
McLaughlin's
always unique guitar sound was largely a highlight of this show, but this was
not by any means just a vehicle for him to show off his prowess as an axe man,
anything but. This bands music echoed its leaders spiritual leanings
, always searching , striving to reach for a numinous , mystical state and often
succeeding, but which was also in turns funky and powerful - rarely have
I come across a better performance at a festival. There was very solid applause
at the end of this set, which was great , considering the lack of commerciality
of the entire show .
Contents
.
or you can read the
individual
Band
reviews which also contain recording details,
set list and band line up info as well as links to each artist where available..
We have been endeavoring to collect as many tapes of the artists that featured
at the 74 bash , so we can effectively review the performances, provide set lists
and band line-ups. The intention is to also display as many personal histories
of the festival as possible.
If you can contribute in any way, with tapes, reviews from the Music press,
photos or personal histories, Contact
email
Knebworth
Concerts 1974-79
Knebworth
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