Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets - Summer Fog Festival (Katowice Spodek 16-07-23)

 This turned out to be the icing on the cake after two great days at the Summer Fog Festival:

Truth be known, I've only ever really paid full attention to the Roger Waters-driven era of Pink Floyd (The Wall and The Final Cut - an incredibly underrated album, in my opinion), and the post-Roger Waters era (A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell).

Of course, I'm also familiar with Dark Side of the Moon; Wish You Were Here; and Animals, but earlier than this is a bit of a haze.

Still, I was always going to recognise Arnold Layne, Astronomy Domine, and See Emily Play.

And a bit to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the other earlier Pink Floyd material played live, especially Echoes.

Found every second of (the 23-minute) Echoes captivating.

Also found Nick Mason's amiable chats between every 1-2 tunes really interesting and illuminating, they added a lot of context to the music (e.g. how it was a real rare treat to hear Vegetable Man live).

Really happy that I caught Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets live, this kind of adds to seeing Roger Waters do The Wall at the National Football Stadium in Warsaw about 10 years ago.

An Interesting Toilet

 

Came across this interesting toilet in Katowice train station.

The book wallpaper was designed to make the toilet experience more pleasant, of course.

IQ - Summer Fog Festival (Katowice Spodek 15-07-23)

Seeing IQ at the Summer Fog Festival was a nice trip down memory lane:

First saw IQ back in the mid-1980s when they were opening for Magnum at Manchester Apollo.

Can remember IQ releasing the Tales from the Lush Attic and The Wake albums, as part of what was known as a second wave of British Prog music, with Marillion; Twelfth Night; Pallas; Pendragon; Solstice etc.

So it was good to catch up with IQ at the Summer Fog Festival in Katowice as I hadn't seen them since 2011 (in my hometown, Bury, Lancashire).

The highlight from the IQ set in Katowice, for me, was Widow's Peak, as this was the tune that the band had come on with at Manchester Apollo all those years ago.

Really enjoyed all the other songs in the IQ Summer Fog Festival set, of course, especially Frequency.

Over the years, I've seen IQ a few times in my hometown (Bury, Lancashire) at the Derby Hall ('Met'), and aim to do so again next January (the band seem to have a liking for playing Bury in January - good on them for that, of course).

O.R.k. - Summer Fog Festival (Katowice Spodek 15-07-23)

 

Had only really heard O.R.k. in passing before seeing them at the Summer Fog festival recently.

When the O.R.k. set started, I was actually still outside having a nice cold beer at a bar near the Spodek:

 But then quickly got myself inside, of course:

And wasn't disappointed as O.R.k. were excellent, they kind of reminded me a bit of Soundgarden (with tinges of King Crimson, of course).

Two tunes that stood out for me were the profoundly titled Lonely Crowd and Beyond Sight, truly beautiful songs.

Really liked the contrast of sound between the kind of deep dark (but aesthetic) existentialism of O.R.k. and the quirky psychedelia of Gong who were on before O.R.k.

The variety of Prog on show at the Summer Fog Festival was incredible.

Gong - Summer Fog Festival (Katowice Spodek 15-07-23)

After my early afternoon siesta, I strolled down to the Spodek to watch Gong open up the Summer Fog Festival:

Thought that Gong were fantastic, they did a great job of getting the Festival started.

The tunes that stood out for me were Kapital; Rejoice!; and Insert Yr Own Prophecy.

Before this, I'd last seen Gong at the Loreley Night of the Prog Festival (the Rhineland) in 2017, what a great trip that was.

To be honest, I've only ever seen Gong three times, once with Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth at the Canterbury Fayre (Kent) in the late 1990s (or early 2000s), but I've really enjoyed them each time I've seen them.

Remember at Loreley, an old English guy, in his late 70s, saying that there's a lot more to Gong than what may first meet the eye (no matter what the line-up, they're very talented).

Katowice Arrival

 I set off from Warsaw Central train station at 6.19 am, and arrived in Katowice at just past half nine.

The train station didn't look bad at all.

And very soon, I found myself in the city centre, surrounded by some interesting tall buildings:

And making my way up towards the Spodek, without needing the tram:

The gigantic black building(s) in the distance told me I was on the right path:

And very quickly, the Spodek came into view:

The waterfall was also near another kind of interesting building:

But at this point, I found myself veering right to find my hotel:

And a welcome 3-4 hours in bed before watching Gong kick off the 2023 Summer Fog Festival at the Spodek.

Gosh, that kip really did feel like a Godsend.

Steve Hillage Band - Summer Fog Festival (Katowice Spodek 16-07-23)

 

Thankfully, I finally got to see Steve Hillage.

From where I come from, Bury (Lancashire), Hillage is a legend for having played the Deeply Vale Festival in the late 1970s.

My parents saw Steve Hillage at Deeply Vale but, unfortunately, I didn't.

So, it was great to see Hillage and his fantastic band (with Miquette Giraudy and the guys from Gong) at Katowice Spodek (a concert hall built like a flying saucer).

Quickly into the set, it was brilliant to be finally listening to All Too Much (Beatles classic) and The Salmon Song live.

And the film backdrop, often showing Hillage album images/motifs, worked perfectly with the music.

Green was the first Hillage album that I heard, can remember somebody on (BBC) Radio 1 playing tracks off it when it first came out in 1978. 

In between songs, it was nice to listen to Steve Hillage talking about living and writing songs in Canterbury (Kent) in the early/mid-1970s (much later in time, I lived in Canterbury for a few years).

Yeah, it was fantastic to finally see Steve Hillage live.

Mid-Summer Bloom

 All kinds of flowers in mid-summer bloom.

With Warsaw becoming a brighter place.

And many red flowers shining around a statue of Our Lady:

In what looks like a Celtic Cross.

Vintage Trouble - Warsaw Hydrozagadka (9-07-23)

 

No better way to greet a Sunday evening (and upcoming week) than with a fantastic gig.

Must confess that I only first came across Vintage Trouble a couple of months ago but immediately took to their kind of Retro musical style.

 Right from the opening tune, Run Like The River, this gig was a dynamic treat.

 

Great songs like Holla and Knock Me Out went down nicely with ice cold Kozel, a Czech lager that tastes like a bitter (the Hydrozagadka is a bit of a sweatbox).

So glad I checked the Internet the day before this gig, as it was switched late on from the Proxima to the Hydrozagadka (this kind of thing occurs sometimes in Warsaw).

 Overall, this gig had a great retro feel, as, while waiting for Vintage Trouble to come on, I listened to All Right Now - Free, Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits etc. I'm 2-3 years short of 60 so this kind of musical atmosphere is much appreciated.

And of course, a massive thanks to Vintage Trouble for providing a great Sunday night's entertainment.

Vietnamese Green Tea in Warsaw

 

Love the Vietnamese Green Tea served in the Vietnamese/Chinese places in Warsaw.

The utensil below is great because it stops the green leaves going in the mouth:

And of course, the tea itself is fantastic, especially for keeping a healthy stomach.

Big Chess Pieces

 

The big chess pieces immediately caught my eye.

They reminded me of a big chess set that I'd seen at Cropredy Festival the previous year.

But this big chess set was in a shaded, residential part of Warsaw:

Next to an outside gym:

Where there are chess (and other board game) tables too:

The outside gym, itself, is very rarely used:

It offers peace and quiet, just a stone's throw from a busy main road: