Guilty pleasures. Everybody has ‘em. One of mine just happens to be a British progressive rock band named after an electrostatic generator developed by a Princeton University physicist named Robert J. Van de Graaff. I have been listening to, and purchasing records by Van der Graaf Generator since I was 14. Over the years, the band has been assembled, disassembled, and reassembled three times. The last time they toured the United States was 1976. Although I have managed to catch solo performances by the band’s front man, Peter Hammill seven times in the past thirty years, I never dreamt I would get the chance to see the collective musical majesty of he and the band together after they disassembled for a second time in 1978. Until tonight… Reassembled for a third time — as a three-piece — Andy and I got to see VDGG perform a spellbinding 2-hour show that was well worth the wait all these years. The band interspersed brilliant songs from its latest release, Trisector, with older songs from all of its various incarnations. Hammill’s voice and lyrics and the band’s sound and instrumentation definitely make Van der Graaf an acquired taste that is not everybody’s cup of tea — but it’s one that I have been wanting to savor for a very long time. The Happy Medium Song of the Day is “Every Bloody Emperor” from the band’s 10th release, Present.
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