About this Event
Hawkwind were a one-band revolution in the 1970s. While the rest of the British rock scene was stuck in a dead end of pseudo-classicism, macho-mystic posturing and reheated versions of the recent past, Hawkwind tirelessly travelled the country to spread the good news of the counterculture – long after it had been declared dead by the supposed tastemakers of the media. They animated the provincial underground and became a rallying point for heads and freaks everywhere.
Aggressively flying in the face of music industry convention, Hawkwind valued raw energy over technical proficiency and displayed a bloody-minded desire to do things their own way, both qualities that would be taken up in the middle of the decade by punk – as far as Stephen Morris (Joy Division/New Order) is concerned, “Punk rock started because in every small town there was somebody who liked Hawkwind”.
The story of Hawkwind’s first decade reveals an alternative narrative for music in the 1970s. Figureheads of the free festival, avatars of the underground, and heralds of punk, it portrays a band offering an active means of resistance to both mainstream music and society. At the height of their artistic and commercial powers, Hawkwind channelled and amplified the era’s psychic tenor via a science fiction sensibility, mind-blowing visuals, and their unique brand of deep space psychedelia.
Days Of The Underground is a decade-long trip into the music of Hawkwind. It explores the ideas and concepts that fuelled the band during their classic 1970s period, and speaks to the crew that manned the ship.
Voted one of the top ten music books of 2020 by MOJO, Uncut, Prog and Shindig
Event and Discounted Book combo tickets are available (UK carriage included) as well as Event only options - attend in person in Manchester or join our livestream wherever you are around the globe!
There will be a dedicated Book-Signing event immediately afterwards. For Attend In Person tickets, books will be available for collection at the event.
NB: The book’s cover is illustrated by Hawkwind artist John Coulthart
Joe Banks is a music writer. He is a regular contributor to Prog, Electronic Sound, Shindig! and The Quietus. He has also written for The Guardian, MOJO and Rock & Folk. 'Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground' is his first book and was voted one of the top ten music books of 2020 by MOJO, Uncut, Prog, and Shindig!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
INNSIDE Manchester, 1 First Street, Manchester, United Kingdom
GBP 5.00 to GBP 26.00