Gong Uncon in Amsterdam

"Why this is very midsummer madness..."

Gong 2006 present
[SIZE=+3]Gong Family Unconvention 2006[/SIZE]
a joyous conspiracy

Friday 3rd, Saturday 4th, Sunday 5th November
full moon weekend
doors open 4.30 each day - till plenty past late

The Melkweg, Amsterdam
the main auditorium (for the bands) and the old hall (a green room/planetgong cafe for all)

3 nights of musical magic - a melting feast of fooles?
So, so many things to see, hear and experience
And most importantly of all - You - having the grandest of adventures - with us.

Gong
daevid allen, gilli smyth, steve hillage, miquette giraudy, tim blake, didier malherbe, mike howlett, chris taylor + guests

Steve Hillage Band
steve hillage, miquette giraudy, mike howlett, chris taylor

'Waterfalls in Space'
tim blake & jean philippe rykiel
System 7
steve hillage, miquette giraudy
daevid unplugged
daevid allen, pepe milan, graham clark, mark robson + guests

Hadouk
didier malherbe, loy ehrlich, steve shehan
Glissando Guitar Ensemble
daevid allen, steve hillage, steffe, brian abbott, fabio golfetti + others tba
Mother Gong
gilli smyth, didier malherbe, orlando allen, gwyo zepix, tim hall + guests
Acid Mothers Gong
daevid allen, gilli smyth, josh pollock, kawabata makoto, higashi hiroshi, yoshida tatsuya, atsushi tsuyama
University of Errors
daevid allen, josh pollock, michael clare, warren heugel
Kangaroo Moon
mark robson, david williams, elliet mackrell, jerry bewley, ian campell, nick marshall
Here & Now
keith tha bass, steffe, steve cassidy, joie hinton
House of Thandoy
mike howlett, steve higgins, steve cassidy, w/theo travis
Eat Static
merv pepler, joie hinton
Toolshed lite
graham massey, graham clark,
Slackbaba
jonny 'baba'
Purusha
chris turner
Zorch
gwyo zepix, basil brooks
Sacred Geometry
mikey 'micro' cosmic, daevid allen + guests

plus
Harry Williamson
Cyndee Lee Rule
Kim Ray
Jackie Juno
Thom the World Poet
and more
Switch Doctors
venux de luxe, david id, pete 'skan', giles isaac
Illumination + Projections
colour sound experiment, antonio
Decor
liquid elf

Tickets are £99.00. Prices are inclusive of VAT, credit card fees and postage - there is nothing else to pay.

Loads information on all the artists, travel & accommodation - all you wanted to know about Amsterdam and more in fact is on the Planetgong web-site http://www.planetgong.co.uk.
Note: If you have already ordered a ticket your confirmation number will be along shortly - we are a bit behind - sorry about that.​

Transmutation - Gong style - or how to get from there to here (& now)

Everybody seems to have a bit of Gong 'his/herstory' about them - Gilli Smyth views this unique state affairs as, "a family of souls sailing along in a large Gong boat, you board when you choose, travel far as you wish, then disembark and wonder what 'that' was all about?". Daevid Allen just says with a mischievous twinkle, "Whatever Gong may mean to you, it well possible that it means the very opposite to someone else". Whatever Gong is, a band, a state of mind or even a real invisible luminous Green Planet that exists in super-space and due to materialise in 2032, there's always been precious little to grab hold of and 'sell' in the modern commercial music biz sense - which, despite the 'hardships' that may bring, we generally consider a blessing.

In 2001 after 61 gigs in 79 days the members of Gong were, well...dazed, and as often happens, mildly dissatisfied with our attempts at trying to transcend the 'regular' rock gig ambience and paradigms. Our close community of hermits dispersed across the world once more, with no plans to reconvene - possibly ever.

Then in 2004 a young, enthusiastic Gongster, Chris Cambridge, contacted me about putting on a Gong convention. I laughingly advised there was little conventional about Gong - call it an 'Unconvention', and said I was there to help in any way that I could. With the willing aid of many others, and headlined by old Festival stalwarts Here & Now and current festival stalwarts Kangaroo Moon, the select gathering went ahead in the Glastonbury Assembly Rooms in Oct '04 and a high old time was had by one and all.

Sparked once more by young Mr Cambridge we decided to do it again in 2005. But as the somewhat chaotic plans unfolded and Chris got carried away booking too many bands there was definitely 'something else' in the air and I urged him to leave space in the schedule. Being a two day event this time we also needed someone with a deeper knowledge of organising events, in case what I thought could possibly happen, did. Chris Hannam was just the man. During his decades of experience in the music industry one job he did for years was stage-managing the main stage at Glastonbury Festival. In fact Daevid Allen, Chris H. and myself had spent many a happy hour wishfully 'planning' an ultimate Gong Festival - removed from many of the usual paradigms of the music biz.

Sure enough the space was needed, almost at the eleventh hour original Gong members Tim Blake and Didier Malherbe came on-board to join Mike Howlett for the 2005 Unconvention, Gilli Smyth decided to travel from Australia (you can't keep a good woman down-under), and Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy, booked to play with their wonderfully uplifting System 7, decided to stick around for the second night, and Steve said, "as there are so many ex-members of Gong - wouldn't it be good to have a jam?" - and it was so. I think the old Assembly Rooms levitated. It was an almost transcendental celebration of the essence of Gong, whatever that is - and of course completely different for every person there.

So to this November and the Gong Family Unconvention at the Milky Way (Melkweg) in Amsterdam, scene of many an uniquely odd Gong experience. As Mr Hillage said, "How can a band that never really formed, never broke up, and have always been together energetically have a reunion?" - so it ain't that. However with Daevid Allen coaxed from his poetry writing, drawing existence in Bryon Bay, Australia, (not hard as he is always up for an adventure), the 3rd Gong Family Unconvention promises to be something quite extraordinary indeed.

All the pieces are in place for full Planetary interface between Gaia and the luminous Green planet Gong. The Octave Doctors have established contact, musical vibrations seldom attempted in the modern era and sights and sounds the like of which have not been seen nor heard for many a long year will almost certainly occur, and most importantly of all the family, new and old, artists and audience (or art-activists as Daevid prefers), can gather together for the grandest of adventures.

So whether you can be a part on the Uncon or not, and you know you don't have to be there, to be there, and whatever you attend this year - enjoy with consciousness and heart, it's how we have always transmuted 'troubled' times into golden days.

a joyous Solstice to you,​
Jonny
-- 8< :^) >

G.A.S.
PO Box 871
Glastonbury
Somerset
BA6 9FE
UK

tel: +44 (0)1458 833 040

email: [email protected]

url: http://www.planetgong.co.uk
 
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