Spirits Burning is a music collective led by Don Falcone. The band celebrate space, prog, new music, and other genres, and have included input from family members of Blue Öyster Cult, Clearlight, Gong, Hawkwind, Van der Graaf Generator, and many other groups, as well as Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and British science fiction and fantasy writer Michael Moorcock. Spirits Burning have released 20 albums, featuring almost 300 musicians.
In 2017, Spirits Burning performed live in England at Kozfest. The lineup: Hawkwind family members Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals), Bridget Wishart (vocals, EWI), and Steve Bemand (guitar, vocals), plus Don Falcone (keyboards, vocals), Kev Ellis (Kaoss Pad, vocals), Martin Plumley (guitar, vocals), and Colin Kafka (bass). This was a rare live show, as Spirits Burning have historically been a studio project. With musicians, located across the world from the US to Europe to Russia to Japan, live shows had never been considered, making this a monumental release for the band.
As Falcone explains, “Our first live album! It captures our journey through the Spirits Burning catalog. Launching with a three-song suite with Bridget on lead and EWI and her Chumley Warner Bros partner Martin Plumley on acoustic guitar – the rest of the band providing a weaving space rock landscape. Then two rockers with me on lead vocals, followed by two driving instrumentals that showcase our rhythm section of Richard, Colin and Steve, along with some fiery guitar solos by Steve. Next is a song with Kev on lead vocals, then our cover of ‘Images,’ a song that Bridget, Richard, and Steve performed with Hawkwind on an early Nineties tour. The set concludes with two vocal songs with Kev and Bridget sharing the mic. The album includes two bonus studio tracks, songs that we performed three nights earlier in Bath, and which we didn’t have time for at Kozfest. The full story of our gig and the year leading up to it is covered in a book I’ve written – ‘One Of The Spirits Burning (A Musical Memoir)’ – coming from Stairway Press in 2025.”
This release captures the band in a unique setting and covering tracks from throughout the bands career. A must have for all Spirits Burning and fans of prog rock.
Get your CD here.
Tracklisting:
“Spirit Suite”
“The Unknown”
“The Hawk”
“By Design”
“Snakebite Serum”
“Alien Injection”
“Images”
“Live Forever”
“Stand And Deliver”
“Second Degree Soul Sparks” (Studio Track)
“Crafted From Wood” (Studio Track)