Prog rock legends Van Der Graf Generator to return to Edinburgh seven years on

MORE than 50 years after they formed and for the first time since 2013, prog rock legends  Van Der Graf Generator (VDGG) are preparing to go back on the road, ready to tour the UK in 2020.
Van Der Graf GeneratorVan Der Graf Generator
Van Der Graf Generator

Peter Hammill (vocals, guitar, keyboard) will be joined by Hugh Banton (organ, bass) and Guy Evans (drums, percussion), the three surviving members of the original group formed in 1968, when the band play the Queen’s Hall on Sunday 3 May.

Hammill says, “Here we are again, then. Fifty years after the release of The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other, how exciting - and daunting - it is to once again step out into the glorious chaos of VDGG live performance. Yes!”

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Darker and wilder than most of their contemporaries VDGG were known for the sprawling, dense and complex songs.

Their unique sound based on organ, sax, driving percussion and declamatory vocals saw them achieve their greatest success with the album Pawn Hearts in 1971.

Banton says, “It’s time once more to hang up my progressive techie lab-coat and entice the progressive organist back to his seat, stage left. I’m eagerly anticipating exploring the new 2020s-styled sound world of this latest VDGG incarnation.”

Evans adds, “OK, so the melting drum kit at the last VDGG sound check did cue pause for thought. Thankfully both it and yer sticks man have re-solidified. I’m so very up for this.”

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VDGG first split in 1978. Then after a gap of nearly 30 years reappeared 2005 to play the Royal Festival Hall, London.

The new tour will see them performing a constantly varying sets of shorter works, ancient and modern, not attempting to ‘recreate the exact sound and style of the original but rather to tap into its spirit and reinvent it in a twenty-first century form’.

Van Der Graf Generator, Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, https://www.thequeenshall.net