From Aural Innovations #12 (September 2000)
As always happens, I get stuck at work for a meeting or something on the opening day of Strange Daze in rural northeast Ohio, three hours' drive from my residence in Columbus. So I had the car pre-packed and ready to split town when I was let go, and high-tailed it up Interstate 71 to arrive at Nelson Ledges around the time of the first main stage act at 5 PM. Of course, given that I had to locate a campsite (the one with the most mud was still available I discovered), set up a tent, and then lug all my stuff down to the stage area, I half-missed out on the opening act. So oblivious was I that I failed to recognize that my west-coast buddy (and occasional AI contributor) Doug Pearson was up there twiddling the knobs of his analog synth devices that he enjoys toting around. The remainder of this unnamed impromptu act, filling the spot vacated by Bionaut (who had cancelled with just a week or so to go) included Ron Bracale on flute, a female vocalist named Aida 'Songbird' Santiago (whom I missed entirely, which was too bad as I heard her voice was exquisite) and the inimitable Thom the World Poet (host and MC of SD2K as always), who apparently put the group together. In fact, the name "Thom's Band of Absurdists" was suggested for the quartet. While this introductory sampling of both earthy and cosmic sounds was going on, I managed to say hello to a few old friends and simultaneously open my 'sales booth' of SpaceRock wares. As in years' past, Jerry and Deb had the big merchandising table all set up and stocked when I arrived, so I simply built onto that with a couple of boxes of spare space/psych CDs (mostly second-hand) that I had gradually acquired over the previous year for such a purpose. Again, there were only a couple other music vendors on site, and so I felt like it was worth it to provide such a service to those who had come so far. Nothing like coming home from a festival with a few cheap goodies that you had been searching for, in addition to all the good memories.
Strange Daze founder/organizer Jim Lascko decided this year to cut out the downtime between bands, which turned out to be a great idea. Bringing back the big canvas tent (that served as a late night venue for SD'99), it was now equipped with a decent-sized platform stage and its own PA and soundboard, and was redubbed the Cannabis Cafe. (This year's event was cosponsored by the North Coast NORML folks, so the name was appropriate.) Hence, bands were able to set up and play alternately between the big main stage and in the friendly confines of the tent, and many times the final notes of the main stage acts were still echoing through the trees as the next act powered up in the Cafe. Non-stop space rock... that's the way we like it!! New York's World of Tomorrow led off the 'indoor' entertainment, a quartet fronted by Bonnie Kane, who brought her W.O.O. Revelator trio to last year's Strange Daze. WoT offered a similar mix of free-form jazz and wild psychedelia, and it was hard to tell whether the tunes offered were pre-composed or just improvisation. A few strains of Hawkwind's 'You Shouldn't Do That' appeared from nowhere in the middle of one track, so at least some things were intentional! The four never shied away from some dissonance and general noisiness, but they always remained controlled and rarely went over the top 'too far.' The AI headquarters were a bit removed from any good viewing lines, so it was difficult to see what sort of equipment the group was using, but I imagine that Kane had her sax run through various effects pedals. Salvatore M. (G), Scott Prato (B), and Cliff Ferdon (D) seemed a well-seasoned and tight unit to complement the colorful Ms. Kane.
Back over on the main stage, the 7-piece Trans-Lunar Express was already set up and soon charged into an inspired hour-long set of high-octane (completely improvised) psych-rock jams. A Cleveland-area 'supergroup,' the Express is nearly the same as another local supergroup, that being Speaker\Cranker whose debut self-titled CD and live performances (with Gong and Bevis Frond) I've already raved about here in the pages of Aural Innovations. So in one sense, I knew exactly what to expect, but I was still blown away by their rockin' and rollin' freakiness - and how all the many voices merged into one coherent sound. New to me was guitarist Melanie Fioritto (from the band Chump), who had a knack for playing her guitar with the butt-end sitting on the floor and pawing at it as a cat would a scratching post (inverted). Interesting technique... 'feline gliss' I'll call it. The brothers Pickering (Scott on drums and Keith on guitar - both Cranker members and collectively known as Pufftube on their own) and Lee Fioritto on bass were the rhythmic heart of the TLE combo, extracting the best aspects of old 70s krautrock (e.g., Can, Faust) to lay a foundation for all the chaos above. Pere Ubu's Jim Jones and Dave Cintron (both Cranker regulars) manned the synths and tape-playback units and generally filled in all the tiny little gaps in the summer air not already filled with sound. By the end of the hour, the joy I felt from hearing these veteran cosmic rockers perform was a sign that this was going to be another stellar weekend of live music and good vibes all around.
In nearly a repeat of the previous hour, another big outfit of psychedelic rockers from Cleveland sprung to life in the Cannabis Cafe. Einstein's Secret Orchestra features six members, with bandleader Chas Smith and Michele George providing lots of color on keys/theremin and violin, respectively. George was particularly colorful, dressed from head to toe in a smart (and snug) Harlequin costume. The one downside with the nearly-continuous music of the SD'2K format was that there wasn't time for merchandising/socializing without missing out on some of the performers. So as it turned out, most of my attention was elsewhere for a good portion of ESO's set, which was quite unfortunate 'cause it seemed like they were really kicking. I did recall hearing the words "Babies on Fire" (or at least I thought that's what I heard) and so I figured they were covering the famous Eno tune of the same name - though I don't actually know it, so how famous could it be? :) When they completed their set, I had intended to make a trip to the stage to pick up at least one of their two CD's, but I never managed to succeed in that. Luckily, Jerry found the time to track them down and so at least I should get an opportunity to give these a listen in the near future.
As night was falling, and in a typical Strange Daze bout of confusion, I noticed the guys from Minneapolis' Skye Klad setting up on the main stage. Which was weird since Daevid Allen was supposed to be up there headlining with his University of Errors (and I knew they had already played shows as scheduled earlier that week, just a state or two away). So true to their name, the UoE faculty were a no-show until 8:45 PM, just 15 minutes before their scheduled time. I guess they had the impression that they weren't to go on until quite a bit later (suggesting that schedules had been changed on them), but that was silly because everyone knows that the 11 PM main stage curfew is an absolute. So Jim had to pull a quick switcheroo, and tell the Skye Klad guys they'd have to wait until their scheduled time on Saturday after all. I have to say that they took their promotion/subsequent demotion very gracefully, and it was the right thing to do to keep to the advertised schedule, especially since it was apparent that there was a pretty big Friday night crowd growing to see Daevid Allen's newest collaborative project. With their late arrival and on-stage confusion, the U. of Errors got a bit of a late start but to their credit they were ready to go in the minimum amount of time. By this point, I had been provided the opportunity to partake of enough rum 'n' cokes (coupled with the lack of consuming a solid dinner) to put myself into (let's say) a 'festive' mood. So in the end, I enjoyed the Fri. night headliners fabulously, but I can't give you the most precise details of their performance. (Which was OK, as I went to see them in Pittsburgh the following week... see the more complete review HERE.) What stuck out in my mind was the dueling guitars of Daevid and Josh Pollock really wailing on the riff to the title track of "Money Doesn't Make It," with Daevid furthermore chanting the lyrics into a separate microphone set up with a crazy echo effect. I also recall the wonderful new tune (from the sophomore UoE effort) "Ocean In the Distance" drifting through the night air to much delight from all of us. But unless I totally went blank at the show's end, we didn't get the full set that was planned as they didn't make it to the old Gong tunes that were heard elsewhere on the tour. Or the Penis tune, for better or worse.
After the 11 PM curfew, those who were not headed out to their campsites or elsewhere were treated in the tent to a set of acoustic numbers by Willy Mac, an associate of the NORML folks. That was followed by a bizarre sci-fi film that I didn't have the presence of mind to fully absorb... it seemed all out of focus or something, or maybe that was just me. :) And I admit I was only half-listening to Willy Mac while wandering around the grounds chatting with friends and acquaintances, but it was nice to have some 'light' entertainment going on while the moon was rising. I imagine that the songs were from the psychedelic '60s era (or inspired by those artists at least) and were of the meaningful politically-charged type that were always lost on me given my sheltered and shallow 70s upbringing (not even my older brothers were drafted, though they did receive numbers). Of course, marijuana legalization is a very modern issue, given the vast numbers of Americans rotting in jail for merely possessing a baggie-full of nature's own creation. You won't find me signing a petition or joining any political organizations (and you won't find me smoking a joint either), but I entirely see the logic in decriminalizing the personal use of a substance far less harmful than those we have grown to accept, like alcohol. Speaking of which, I sure did sleep well Friday night. In fact, I only awoke when the urge to relieve myself became too severe. Rousing slowly from my slumber, I felt a little confused as I hadn't ever before experienced waking up to the strains of "Uncle Sam's On Mars" blaring through the trees. "Hmmm.... wait a minute...I *seem* to be awake, but yet I must be dreaming, or why else would I be hearing Hawkwind? Oh, yeah, this is Strange Daze - things like this happen!"
As usual though, my second wind came early given the excitement of the day's lineup to follow. I found the time to cook up a particularly lousy batch of pancakes (it would have helped if I had a skillet more than 6 inches in diameter), rehydrate somewhat, and mosey on back to the stage area. Jerry and Deb had relocated under a small grove of trees, which not only kept us out of the hot sun, but also gave us better viewing of the tent stage. Most everyone seemed to survive the previous night and spirits were high for another full day of SpaceRock heaven. And some lucky folks managed to stay up until past 3 AM and get a rare view of the Aurora Borealis! I admit I was jealous... I've been quite near to the North Pole on two separate occasions, but have never seen the Northern Lights (it doesn't help when you go far north in the springtime when there's 24-hour daylight!). The tent stage was the first to power up as John Hartman, the president (?) of the North Coast NORML chapter played another set of acoustic guitar & vocal numbers, sprinkled amongst some commentary. Around noon, Drumplay took over the Cannabis Cafe, and did their usual thing as an all-improvised percussion orchestra... although saxophonist Chris Burge joined them for awhile and gave the unit a more traditional lead voice. And then Thom came out and offered his own voice also, rapping his poetry along with the flow. Somewhere in the set, what seemed to be the droning sound of a foghorn made me get up from my seat and take a closer peek, only to discover that they had pulled out a couple of conch shells to 'play.' That was a new one. James Onysko (xylomarimba) and Warren Levert (congas) are the true foundation for the combo, and they're sharp enough to interact well with the frequent guests they invite up onto the SD stage each year. I think I liked it better when they filled the late night chill-out role, but I still enjoy hearing Drumplay perform each time.
As they did in 1998, ST 37 earned the long-distance travelling award by driving in all the way from their Austin, Texas home. And we once again appreciated their dedication! Some of us felt that a band of this caliber deserved a higher-profile evening slot, but I later learned that they were planning to start heading back later that afternoon, so perhaps that's they way they wanted it. Anyway, they really got things going in the 1 PM slot, by really cranking out a lot of crunchy space! The newest "I Love to Talk..." album was well-represented as I had hoped. Carlton Crutcher provided the rant-style vocals on numbers such as "Acetone" and "Whistling in Hell" as well as the swirly synths. Scott Telles took over the vocal role for the fabulous "Discorporate," throwing in a trebly bass solo to counter the grimier fuzz-bass with which he began. Then, after some really inspired space jams (perhaps the crowd's favorite part), they launched into a wildly experimental version of "Concrete Island" (from Spaceage), with psychedelic noises and effects liberally applied. Mark Stone's screamin' wah-guitar was another highlight, especially during "Whistling in Hell" (I think it was). It was a real treat to have ST 37 return again, and I was happy that I procured one of their cool glow-in-the-dark T-shirts in trade for some CDs with drummer Dave Cameron (only the 'Will Play SpaceRock for Gas Money and CDs' sign was missing). I also learned from Dave that the weird-looking image on the new album cover is the inside of a green-plastic child's playhouse that resides in an Austin mall. I can't tell you the hours I'd spent trying to figure out what the hell that thing was.
Skye Klad did get their opportunity to play for us (twice as it turned out), and they didn't disappoint! At the stroke of 2:00 PM, the five shot right into a blistering version of Can's "Mother Sky." An appropriate track, since despite an uncanny resemblance to Billy Corgan, singer Adam Backstrom is far more predisposed to the breathy-scat singing style of Damo Suzuki. The next couple of tracks surprised me, as they were fast, loud, and almost 'stoner rock.' But the band was extremely tight, and the dual guitar approach was spot on. Jason Kesselring was exercising his fast and nimble fingers on the fretboard during numerous lead lines, and Erik Wivinus was more prone to the droney e-bow and wah-pedal guitar work on his semi-acoustic. We got treated to more of the latter during the slower, more shoegazery numbers ("Ionosphere" and Low's "Sleep at the Bottom" I'm guessing), and I grew to love Skye Klad's multivariant form of Space Rock. Oddly, the group goes without a full-time keyboard/synth player, but they did pull out a Theremin and drummer Matt Zaun appeared to have a loop playback unit at his disposal. By set's end, Kesselring had proven to be pursuing the "Jimmy Page Guitar God" status with his violin-bow demonstration (I was waiting for the lighter fluid to appear next), but I couldn't criticize what I was hearing, and that's the main thing. To be frank, Skye Klad *looks* like a mega-star MTV alternative band, but they the sure don't sound like it! Skye Klad Set No. 1 closed out with the delightfully fun and shagadelic "Mind's Eye," where I got the pleasure of watching Orion Studios' engineer Mike Potter show off his version of the Twist. There were a few problems with the sound (especially with the vocal microphones, which continued through most of the day), but you couldn't deny that Skye Klad really impressed the die-hard fans who packed into the tent. ST 37's Scott Telles ended up next to me and said he'd been listening to them from across the way and just had to come by and see who these guys were. High praise indeed.
SD regulars Born to Go were up next on the main stage, and kicked off their 90-minute set just after 3 PM with the familiar uptempo 'blanga' number "Propulsion." What was different this time was that daughter Arianna to bassist/vocalist/bandleader/Papa Marc Power was going to be on stage as co-vocalist for the entire set, as opposed to guesting for just a single song (i.e., "Radio Calvert") as in years' past. Assuming the title "Galaxy Girl," the 14-year old Power unit was bedecked in a fringed silver lamé dress and performed some dancing and twirling, and made matching silver 'flowers' to pass out to the audience. Her hemline being a tad on the short side, I took a quick look around the audience and didn't see Humbert Humbert anywhere, so I guess it was ok. Musically-speaking, I'm not so sure that the dueling 'gruff, middle-aged man' vs. 'uncertain adolescent soprano' was the best choice for a number of the more aggressive rock numbers (like "Steel," "Meet the Blanga," and "Robots on the Rise"). But on the positive side, I heard some unfamiliar tunes ("Overmind," "Papillon," and "The Day I Said No") so it looks like Born to Go is still composing new original songs, preparing for that long awaited debut CD (hint). And the band finished up really strong with "Kill -9" (guitarist Greg Florko showing off his Eddie Van Halen-style fingertapping prowess) and then the killer 15-minute "Orgone Accumulator" that was such a hit at SD'99 Friday. This time the elder Power recited a history of Wilhelm Reich's life which was an interesting addition... and then as a finale, synth-wizard Carl "No-Muzik" Howard ended up dragging his keyboard off the front of the stage (not a cordless mind you) and wailing on it while standing amongst us civilian space-rockers. Howard's partner Louis "Professor Electron" Boone valued his dignity and maintained his original station. :) A memorable moment, and a perfect salute to RN Calvert.
Due to illness, Alien Planetscapes were forced to cancel their Saturday appearance, so a bit of schedule reshuffling was undertaken to fill the extra hour. (The good news is that Doug Walker and Richard Orlando have since recorded their new suite of Martian Music (that they were set to perform live) in the studio back in New York. But everyone really missed Dr. Synth's presence at the Ledges... get well Doug!) So at 4:30, we were treated to another half-hour of Skye Klad in the tent. And they were ready for it! Right out of the blocks for igniting their Stage 2 rocket was "Astronomy Domine." And despite a hint of hesitation here and there (suggesting they were doing it from distant memory), their version was so cool it made me less disappointed that I had gotten stuck in Toronto traffic and missed the first ten minutes of the Pink Floyd concert ('95 was it?) when they opened with this very tune. For the final twenty minutes, a diminutive-looking Doug Pearson joined the group from behind the stage platform with his analog modules laid out on the raised floor. And together the six threw together another batch of excellent spaced-out stuff that sounded like anything but time-filler. We were also treated to an appearance by the Jazz-Horse, which returned later on to be donned by bassist Moon for a late-night interview session videotaped for prosperity. Finally, the Quote Of The Weekend goes to... Adam Backstrom: "OK, who was it that was up screaming all night? I want to talk to you."
Cleveland's own Nucleon continues to evolve into something special, still jettisoning some of the extraneous testosterone they had three years ago and now settling into a very interesting space-doom-metal hybrid that really doesn't fall into line with the current trends - Highly commendable. (If they were *really* smart, they'd become another Monster Magnet/Kyuss stoner-cloner... God knows there are so few!) Anyway, they tipped off their hour with the excellent "Supergalactic" from their debut CD Hyper-Emitter (now available), and it's impressive the way that leader Paul Resnik plays his 'space-bass' key-tar with the left hand, the regular keyboard with his right, and sings all at the same time. "My Life" was another highlight, the keyboard parts leading me to think of it as a SpaceRock version of the Who's "Baba O'Reilley." But two new tunes (not on the CD) were very exciting... the first was titled simply "Strange Daze 2000" I think and included a long buildup with great spacey keyboards and guitar-gliss, before eventually slipping into the slower, crunchy space-doom a la "Supergalactic." The next tune was a long space instrumental piece (didn't catch the name) and it was really outstanding, as if they'd taken in some of the ideas of other SD bands they'd seen over the last few years and incorporated those into their own style. Guitarist Rich Troha put forth a really heavenly space-guitar solo that wound itself around the other instruments fabulously. Their most-recognized tune "Green Acid" closed out the set, and what seemed their lone top-notch composition in 1997 now sounds just average. This trio (paced by M.L. on drums) sounds tighter each time out, and the songs continually get better.
Boston's Architectural Metaphor got the dinner theatre slot in the Cannabis Cafe and took us through another astral journey with a nice mix of old and new tunes. And best of all, they brought along CD-R's to sell of their amazing performance at Quarkstock 2000, including their transcedent version of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" and their own epic space trek "Kairos." The latter of which was featured again as the finale ("Welcome to the Future" notwithstanding) and continues to grow on me each time. The 'intro' section featuring Paul Eggleston's looping synth textures and Greg Kozlowski's eerie space-slide guitar now goes on about a full 10 minutes, before eventually launching into the song itself. This is SpaceRock as it was meant to be. The trio also offered up the brand new "For A Few Moments," a leisurely, dreamy stroll of a tune with Deb Young's vocals taking center stage. It was great to have ArcMet perform once again at SD and it was fortunate that everyone made it to the Ledges as rumors had it that one bandmember had been stranded in Canada. I only wish they'd had the time to do "Echoes" once again... so if you weren't at Quarkstock (and where were you?!), I recommend getting a copy of the CD-R... it's called 'Viva' and you can write to arcmet@yahoo.com to get yourself one.
Speaking of Quarks, the host band of that excellent event (uh... that would be Quarkspace) took the main stage at just after 7 PM. Having seen the band play numerous times, I find that without a good man behind the mixing board, the Quark crew usually end up a bit mired in their own swirliness... i.e, the upper registers. So I was pleased to hear Chet Santia's rumbly rhythm-bass nicely cemented in the mix to give that pyramid of sound a solid foundation. "Fairienot Space" was the killer track of this set... a real no-holding-back space jam extravaganza, with twin guitarists Dave Wexler and Stan Lyon (over on the 12-string) dogfighting it out and Jay Swanson's electric piano also getting a workout. "Somebody Else's Dream" brought things down into a more laid-back dreamy state, and I liked Chet's vocals here a lot more than the way they came out on the studio album (The Hidden Moon) on this one. The five then brought out an 'oldie' "I See the Water Wash Me Away" and reworked it superbly, following up the signature 'spacescape' guitar of Wexler with a piano solo from Jay and then an e-percussion solo from Paul Williams. Quarkspace closed out with the CSNY "Ohio" piece, with attached slow space groove, and saw the ever-ready Thom the World Poet guesting at the mic with more insightful poetic commentary. I think we'll see something like this on a future album given the late night Quarkspace-Thom recording session back in May.
As night was falling, the tent came back to life with a bunch of characters that we had all seen milling around the audience for several hours already. This was Solar Confusion, a 7-member fledgling space crew from Chicago with an additional two female crewmembers (Gigi and Annie) on board for visual enhancement (the light saber battle was interesting). The story goes that some of them had come to SD'99 and been inspired to start their own group. And from the looks of things (with three guys manning keyboards/audio-generators and the twin drummers), they used mid-70s Hawkwind as a model. In the tightness department they have a'ways to go, as the drummers didn't always play together and I didn't care for guitarist/frontman Keith Pacut's voice. And his yelling-like style made the already squirrelly microphones cut out half the time. One could argue also that after the fourth trip through the audience with his black Les Paul (contrasting against his all-silver outfit), he went from 'connecting with the audience' into 'begging for attention' territory. Still, it was the gamely spirit of the lot that endeared them to quite a few and I see no reason to introduce 'talent standards' on Strange Daze performers. We're uniters, not dividers, after all! And plus, they put forth a pretty decent reading of Hawkwind's "Psi Power" to close out their set, and you won't find me arguing about that choice. Late in the set as the darkness was encroaching, we were also treated to the SD debut performance of the General Chaos lightshow, based in Toronto and handled by my long-time acquaintances Steve Lindsay and Eric Siegerman. Throwing together a hodgepodge of their own and borrowed equipment, they did a commendable job in the liquid projection mode.
With the unfortunate cancellation of Star Nation, the transatlantic Hawkwind spinoff with Jerry Richards and Richard Chadwick, that made Harvey Bainbridge the obvious choice to headline Saturday night. Of course, the long-time Hawkwind bassist-turned-synth player was working alone, so his set was atypical for a headlining act since it was more-or-less an electronic/ambient performance. But given that he had only a pair of keyboards, a tape-playback unit, and another black box device with a bunch of knobs, there was plenty of open space along the rear of the stage for the Solar Fire lighting crew to go to work. So the visual aspect was ideal... instead of just never-ending rotating patterns lapping over a drumkit and amplifiers, Jim and Brian were able to mix together all sorts of fabulous space stills with many other visual enhancements (the mirror-ball projecting askew across the screen worked nicely) without interference. Musically, Harvey presented an revised and extended version of the show I had seen the week before in Columbus. Swapping between his knobs/tapes/keys and the microphone, he brought forth a number of familiar tunes from his Hawkwind days. "Dreamworker" was a no-brainer, but "Mutation Zone" was an interesting choice. With only the electronics at hand, it sounded very little like the original version on Xenon Codex. Same with the finale, "Freefall." With the signature bassline pumping out of the e-gear, Harvey spent most of his time at the mic doing the lyrics. Not quite the same self-consuming passion that Bob Calvert had way back when, but it still came across pretty well. All in all, Harvey's set was a good way to chill out and top off an excellent day's worth of spaceborne rock 'n' roll. And it did actually get kind of chilly by 11 PM.
So there it was! Strange Daze 2000 had pretty much wrapped up by the time Harvey's synths had gone silent. No one was much interested in running more sci-fi films in the tent, and so most everyone headed out to their private party sites scattered around the lake. Also, Jim had decided to accelerate the event this year and eliminate the Sunday music as many folks were forced to leave that morning (such that it wasn't fair to the bands to have them play to so few). I was ok with that, but still it seemed over a bit soon and there was so much music to absorb so quickly that it was nearly overwhelming. I guess maybe I'd like to see an hour-long dinner break on Saturday at least. But I think this was the best organized and executed Strange Daze yet. The sound in the tent did suffer at times, probably because of insufficient power-handling capability. But the main stage sound was spot on, and the crew (whoever they were) were very efficient about getting everyone on and off at the right times so that everybody got their allotted time. The weather was pretty excellent, quite mild for the normally sweltering mid-August dog days. But best of all (as usual) the coolest thing was the kindred spirit that the collective community of SpaceRockers shared once again. Sadly, the Saturday crowd didn't pick up from the decent showing Friday night and I think the total attendance was on the order of 500 (which, given the 150 or so non-paying performers, support crew, and vendors, isn't that many). So Jim and Strange Trips are in the red once again, which absolutely should not be the case. Strange Daze weekend is the highlight of every summer for me, and I can't see why that isn't true for thousands of others. I can tell that some 'borderline' fans do look to see what's on the schedule and if it doesn't bowl them over or something, they decide not to bother to show up. But really, it's the new discoveries of bands you may never have heard of before (What did *you* think of Skye Klad? Pretty hot, eh?) that make it so fabulously rewarding to attend. So, I hope to see all of you back at Strange Daze 2001, wherever it might be held (a new location is a distinct possibility). And bring a friend (or two) if you can, and open some new eyes (and ears) to the rhythms, the words, the images, the insanity that is SpaceRock in the new millenium (for sure next time). Over and out...
For more information on the Strange Daze festivals and the Solar Fire Lightshow you can visit the Strange Trips web site.