Daevid Allen of Gong – a special kind of madness

Lunch with Gong this afternoon – recorded during the Manifestival in Los Angeles, held at The Embassy Concert in DTLA on May 12, 1979.

I believe this was the only concert appearance by Gong on the West Coast. I don’t recall them coming to L.A. or even San Francisco during their watershed days in the early 70s, a time when Progrock was gaining a strong foothold in America via underground FM Radio.

Gong were a whole different kettle of fish – a sort of Genesis meets The Bonzo Dog Band – whose marijuana-drenched Hippy ethic propelled them into hardcore Psychedelic territory while maintaining a certain loopy aura of mysticism in their music. Guided by Daevid Allen, who began as one of the founding members of Soft Machine, a band initially as strongly grounded in Psych as they were Prog – another band that proved to be profoundly influential in the late 1960s all the way to the late 1970s.

Allen left Soft Machine shortly after the release of their debut album, settling in France and hatching Gong while living the communal life. If anything, Gong followed in the footsteps of early Soft Machine (and to a degree, King Crimson). Both bands sported musicians of excellent talents and hardcore experimenting – Gong also was something of a proving ground for musicians and was considered a revolving door of serious artists.

So once you get past all the druggy homages to “Pothead Pixies” and oversexed cats, you find a group of wildly dedicated musicians, actively embracing journeys to uncharted territory, coming back with pieces of brilliance.

Despite the death of Daevid Allen in 2015, the spirit and dedication of Gong continue; further evidence Progrock had and still has much to say.

If you missed the 70s or never heard of Gong in the first place, here’s a good place to start.

The Manifestival was a one-off, featuring so many bands of the early 70s reuniting or carrying on. In some cases (as it was with the legendary Dutch band Supersister) it was a last hurrah before final curtains. It was an unmissable event – just like this concert was.

Crank it up and enjoy.