HENGE
ARTS CLUB, LIVERPOOL
(17/04/2025)
There was a lot of Henge virgins amongst the lively, packed crowd, tonight, having been dragged along by friends who’d seen this band of intergalactic ravers before and promised them a gig unlike any other, as the band consists of a human, an android, a Venusian, and an amphibian.
The house lights dim, then a pre-launch safety announcement prepares us for the wild ride ahead as we are about to embark on a journey aboard ‘Mushroom One’, travelling through the cosmos to the planet, Voltus B, many light years away.
A countdown starts, Nom’s pounding drums, Goo’s bass, and Grok’s whirling synths then blast us ‘Ascending’ out of Earth’s atmosphere, after which, the plasma-globe hatted frontman, Z’Por, informs us we are to ‘Slingshot’ our way out of the solar system and into deep space.
The lively Liverpool audience does not stop dancing, or smiling, as the band sends them into a whirling, hypnotic ‘Altered State’ frenzy, with a setlist of lucid techno-tales of microscopic ‘Tardigrade’ creatures, new ‘Exo’ planets, a malfunctioning robot, and the sun god ‘Ra’, before we eventually arrive at our destination to the rousing fanfare sound of, ‘Welcome to Voltus’ (the final track, tonight, from their excellent new album). Then on to an oldie, the jaunty ’Monolith‘ which segues nicely into the thumping end section of, ‘Get Outta Ma House’, causing yet another mini mosh pit to erupt down at the front. But now we need to ’Get a Wriggle On’ and return to our home planet, hopefully in time to repair the climate problem we’ve caused.
The final one-two of, ‘In Praise of Water’, extolling H2O’s life-giving properties, and the big singalong crowd favourite, ‘Demilitarise’, demanding that we stop constructing weapons of war and unite to explore space together, brings this fun night to a close.
Then it’s time to disembark, passing through the little gift shop to pick up souvenirs of our wonderful voyage, and begin our (shorter) journey homeward.
John Stone
