In a time where the world of rock continues to reverberate from the passing of another elder statesman, the sight of Hawkwind still blasting out Assault And Battery with such gusto is another reminder that we should cherish our legacy bands and hold them tight. Tonight, Hawkwind return to Chepstow Castle, which stands guard over the Welsh / English border, two years after a stunning show in 2023.
Hawkwind
Chepstow Castle, Chepstow – 7 August 2025
Words And Photography: Paul Hutchings
Tonight, Hawkwind host the opening night of the annual Castell Roc festival, which will see 13 evenings stretching through the rest of the month, and with a wide variety of genres and musicians plying their trade. 
It is an evening with the pioneers of Space Rock that draws in a full house, the sold-out signs posted several weeks ago as Hawkwind continue to draw in audiences that are steeped in the old ways but still embrace the new.
Their 34th studio album, There Is No Space For Us, released earlier this year, demonstrated that the band can still deliver with astonishing consistency.
As you look around the historic venue, there are younger faces alongside the grizzled old warriors who, in some cases, genuinely are standing at the edge of time. Such is the pull of this amazing band, there will be those seeing Hawkwind for the first time alongside those who cannot even remember how many nights they have spent dancing to the psychedelic sprawl that will once again unfurl.
Over the 90 minutes that the event permits, for some reason, the set is subject to an earlier-than-anticipated curfew that leaves the band perplexed. Hawkwind, led by evergreen Captain Dave Brock, transports us to another dimension.
A Hawkwind gig is never just a gig, it is a sonic journey through space and time, flying through the cosmos, tripping through memory lane and then soaring into the modern day. Lasers light the night, ricocheting off the grand castle’s proud walls, the lights dance, and underneath it all, five musicians drive through a set that combines classics with recent songs, poetry mingles with fiery hard rock.
The experience is magical. 
Whilst many would cite Silver Machine as the band’s Ace Of Spades, it would be folly to think that way. Listening to hundreds of fans singing along to Assault And Battery and The Golden Void, or set closer Spirit Of The Age, should be evidence enough.
One hit is nothing amongst the catalogue that Hawkwind can draw from.
They move seamlessly from opener Right To Decide into Changes (Burning Suns and Frozen Wastes) from the latest album, the latter with Doug MacKinnon’s driving bass thundering it forward.
Brock may need to have some prompts for the lyrics, but at 83, he is still incredibly fit and the focus of all attention. His interaction with the audience is on point, with little chat but a warmth that makes you feel that you know him, such is his presence. 
Alongside the Captain, the current line-up is as fine as any that has ever graced the good ship. Lead guitar work and vocals come from Magnus Martin, shortly to reach his decade with the band, whilst the reliable and phenomenal drumming of Richard Chadwick has been the backbone of the band for over 37 years.
Add in the swirling synths and keys of Thighpaulsandra, the local lad from Pontypridd, and Brock’s inimitable vocals and still forceful rhythm work, and you have got it all. 
Hawkwind are not afraid to experiment either, with an interesting reworked and first-ever played version of Days Of The Underground providing time to pause and reflect. Before that, we get a turbo-charged PSI Power where Martin takes lead vocals, an extended Assault And Battery / The Golder Void which has me in seventh heaven, such is its effect.
We get another gem in the return of Urban Guerilla, one of the first Hawkwind songs I ever heard as a teenager in the early ’80s, even though it was released in 1973.
It is Spirit Of The Age that wraps up another successful Hawkwind gig, and as over a thousand voices lift the Welsh night a little higher, one can only hope that this fantastic band can continue for years to come.
If you have not seen them, then now is the time. 
