Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Rock 'n' Roll Diaries: Curved Air


Back in 1972, British prog rock was at its peak. I was an undergraduate student and and heavily involved with my university's Rag and Entertainment Committees.  A perk of these duties was that I got to see many great bands and meet cool and interesting people. One of the standout groups that we hired for a Students' Union concert was Curved Air.  They were a genteel bunch of classically trained musicians who could rock like a hurricane  Now fast forward 43 years. The band is still going strong, albeit with a few personnel changes, and hasn't forgotten how to boogie. I was fortunate to find them performing in a church (of all places) in the heart of stock-broker belt Surrey a couple of months back. The years had not diminished them one bit and they gave a fantastic performance. Here's a few pics.

The band is fronted by founder member Sonja Kristina. That Washburn guitar has the best paint job ever.
Sonja's voice has matured and lost none of its crystalline clarity over the years.
Yehudi Menuhin school alum, Paul Sax, plays a demonic Zeta electric violin.
Chris Harris on bass. On this occasion he really held the band together as founder drummer Florian Pilkington-Miksa was taken ill and couldn't play.
A church seemed like an odd place for a gig but actually worked really well. 
Paul and Sonja look pleased and relieved to finish the set without mishap in the absence of  their drummer.