From the planet Gong they say...

 Above: December 1991 The Fridge Brixton,

From the planet Gong they say.....Daevid has gone home today.  Daevid Allen has passed on. The world is a little darker for his passing, but still a whole lot brighter for him having been here. Thank you Daevid. The Gong family of bands have had a massive influence of me. For me it was the sound track to transformation, a period of change for me in my late teens early twenties which set me on the path on which I continue to tread. And one of the happiest times of my life. Through all the changes of musical styles I embraced, whether the rave scene or hay nonny nay in a crustie stylee, the Gong family have never fallen by the wayside and always remain on the play list. I saw Gong play several times, all memorable, all so full of joy and love. Several gigs though stand out. The first was in 1989, I gone with some younger friends who hadn't seen Gong before, although were well versed in their music having listened to plenty around mine. The band took to the stage, Daevid in full finery, dressed strangely and flamboyantly, the crowd roared.  Daevid got down from the stage and got the crowd to form a circle, which of course we did, then he proceeded to take us through a range of activities designed, I think, to free us from any inhibitions before the gig blasted off. Great stuff. But what sticks in my mind was one of friends there that evening, Squiffy, his face, the smile on it as Daevid properly blew his mind. A couple of years later we saw him again, this time in Floating Anarchy guise, Squif again was blown away when Daevid and Keith (the Bass) sat on the table next to us; Squif had enjoyed a large cup of tea that evening and just beamed at them, something I'm sure they were used to, whilst gibbering at us. Another memorable gig for me was Beautiful Days, where I got to expose my children to the glories of Gong live, they were blown away, I don't think they could take it all in, though they talked about it for ages afterwards. Well, it's not the norm and was miles away from their usual musical landscape, though I'm sure a seed was planted. It was the first time I'd seen Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy back in the band too, magical. Or the time we saw Gong supported by the Steve Hillage Band, or the time............ You know what I mean, all the times I saw Gong were magical times and memorable times. Again, thank you Daevid.