Van der Graaf Generator Reunion

After the "classic" line-up got together and played "Still Life" at the end of Peter Hammill's solo gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in February 2003, the guys started thinking about playing and recording together again. In September, after a summer of email exchanges, they held a band meeting at west London's Novotel Hotel and planned a get-together for February 2004 at Pyworthy in North Devon.

Peter Hammill's heart attack threatened to scupper these plans but having made a speedy recovery they went ahead. This wasn't an exercise in nostalgia and no old Van der Graaf material was played all week but instead a serious amount of jamming went on and work done on several new numbers.

During the summer of 2004, Hammill, with input from the other three, worked to put together a double CD of new material for release in April 2005. Apart from the Royal Festival Hall concert of 6th May the band plan further gigs in Italy in June, and during the summer in the UK and Europe.

Described in the press release of November 29th as a "reunion" rather than a reformation, VdGG will perform songs "ancient and modern", and further recording is expected in the autumn of 2005.

Peter Hammill in the press release: "I was getting constant offers regarding a reunion, including one from the South Bank. Until then I had never taken them seriously; but now it seemed as though there might be some interest. We talked and we realised that we met more often at the funerals of former members of our road crew. So if it was to be undertaken, it should be while all four of us were still alive!"

Further information about the new album: Present.


Items from the Press
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From MOJO and Q Classic - 2005
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From Uncut - Feb 2006
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From the Sunday Times 29th May 2005
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From Good Times
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From Eclipsed
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From Eclipsed
More from MOJO - May 2005 Image WHAT GOES ON!
Image More from Classic Rock - May 2005 Van der Graaf Generator in the Guardian's Friday Review
- April 1st.
Manchester Metro
18th February 2005
(A companion piece to the one below)
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Manchester Evening News
15th February 2005
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Image Thanks to Marcelo Gobello for this piece that he wrote for "La Capital", a newspaper based in Mar del Plata City, in Argentina. The paper is dated 6th December 2004. Could this be the first mention of the reunion in a newspaper?
Reunion news in Uncut magazine.
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Reunion news in Classic Rock magazine.
Reunion news in Record Collector magazine. Image
The Guardian, 10th February: "Van Der Graaf Generator, the influential experimental rock band fronted by Peter Hammill, have re-formed. They will be releasing a double CD of new material on April 25, and tickets for their first gig in 28 years (at London's Royal Festival Hall on May 6) have already sold out, despite no official announcement."

The Manchester Evening News, 15th February: "Van der Graaf convened in an old rectory in Devon 12 months ago, recording a double album, titled Present, to be released in April."

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