Just had a great couple of days catching the band at their Malvern and Newark
gigs.

The Malvern appearance ended up being a free-entry show in the bandstand in
the Priory Park there, and was the first time this had ever been used to host a
rock
gig. A marquee had been erected some 20-30 yards back from the stand, mainly
as a precuation in case it had rained beforehand, and I was somewhat nervous
beforehand as I was the one who had put the band in touch with the organisers.
But my fears, on this occasion, were to prove groundless as mother nature - or
should I call her Urantia? - gave the band a huge kiss of approval by sending us
the hottest day in May that Britain has seen since 1953. It also helped that
the
local weekly paper (the Malvern Gazette), which came out on the day of the gig,
had included a 3" x 3" feature about the gig including a colour photo. So when
I
arrived slightly early to help out with stewarding there were already a fair
number
of people ensconsed upon the grassy slopes of the park having undoubtedly been
enjoying the warm afternoon. It was also great to see Alistair, Sal and Ash,
and
local Karnataka fans Tony and Anne Pease come along, as well as a number of
my own friends from Malvern.

My friend had also laid on a local band, K'Aliens, who played for about 45
minutes as support, and then Ashtar were on with at last the chance to play the
best part of two hours' set. By now the slopes were well occupied with a good
few hundred people. As well as their best tracks from their first album, Ashtar
also played a number of new songs, some traditional celtic covers, one Loreena
McKennit song, and even a version of Renaissance's 'Ashes Are Burining'. This
eclectic mixture was well appreciated by the crowd. At the bottom of the slopes
there was a level, rectangular area, directly between the bandstand and where
the
marquee (with mixing desk) had been erected, and as the night wore on a number
of people started to come down and dance to the music, some inspired by the
traditional celtic passages and others by the metallic passages of Ashtar's own
songs. I, of course, was waving the camera anywhere and everywhere - photos
coming soon.

At the end, Ashtar were given raptuous applause by the crowd, who even wanted
them to continue playing beyond the 11pm curfew that was set. Another local
friend, who is a bit of a freelance reporter, then asked me if I she could do a
short
interview for a local podcast, so I introduced her to Luis, who was naturally
happy to oblige. Meanwhile, Sal had kindly volunteered to man Ashtar's merch
stall and managed to sell a worthwhile quantity of CDs, shirts etc.

So in the end it a good time was had by everybody. My thanks in particular to
Alan Turnbull and all his volunteer assistants at Floating Lotus, Malvern
Theatres
for helping with equipment, Sal and Ash for taking care of the Merch, and of
course Ashtar for being there and playing so well and so enjoyably.

The following morning (yesterday) I drove over to Newark, where Ashtar were
headlining the beer festival. Again they were able to play a decent length set.
This time I had left the camera at the hotel - apart from beer and expensive
SLRs
being an unwise mixture, so I deemed, this also gave me the chance to appreciate
the music more fully. Fernanda's voice seems to get better and better - I
wouldn't
be at all surprise if she wins the CRS Female Vocalist award before too much
longer. The others were all in fine form too, and on both occasions I felt the
longer set allowed them to get much more fully in the groove and deliver some
storming performances towards the end.

Unfortunately, by the time they had finished playing this time all the beer had
run
out! :O So I didn't, in the end, have quite as much to drink as I had been
expecting. But who cares when you've just spent the last two evenings at great
Ashtar gigs!

Ashtar now fly back to Brazil tomorrow, but they are hoping to come to the UK
and Europe again next June/July, so here's hoping they will be better still by
then.
In the meantime, they will be working towards another album. This time they
have been selling a 'mini-CD' called Soaring with four good pre-production
numbers on it, this is more than a tasty appetiser for the next full offering!

Keep shining
Adie

"Thou art God!" - Robert Heinlein
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Adrian the Rock <http://www.roscalen.com>
Horsham, Sussex <adrian@...>