‘The Gromit Light Show’ worked around east London clubs mostly during 1968 – 1973.
We did regular gigs at The Greyhound, Chadwell Heath with bands including Groundhogs; Yes; Edgar Broughton; The Roundhouse (not that one) in Barking, London, including, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Mott la Hoople, Slade, King Crimson, Rory Gallagher; The Stratford Arms, Stratford East – known as Azgaard, above a pub next to Maryland Station London, including Steam Hammer; and various one-off events such as at Eel Pie Island in 1969 where Black Sabbath were performing; Clacton Town Hall with Free and other events.
We even spent 3 months in a basement club in Koln, Germany during 1969.
We started by buying a Magic Lantern projector red box from the Psychedelic poster shop in Angel Camden Passage London in 1966 when we were 15 years old.
We went on, after attending the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream event at Alexandra Palace and Christmas on Earth 1967, to aspire to do our own light show.
We used Rank-Aldis 1000W projectors and a unique mix of chemicals, coloured inks, fluids and well known use of 2” glass slides and an adapted overhead projector.
‘Gromit’ were and still are Paul Doherty, Kaz Janowski and Ivor Hay with past credit to John Gale.
Since 2005 we have domestically “re-formed” for a few ‘analogue’ events onto digital format, filmed and edited. This has been done, but deliberately not on U Tube, by Max Morris-Doherty of ‘Fields of Mischief’ and Riley’s Bar near Hackney.
We have between us a large store of projectors, rare bulbs (to make them work), even rarer glass slides and several unique liquid light devices, designed or adapted by Ivor Hay.
Our quality equals and exceeds much of the Boyle lights era (such as shown at the ‘Summer of Love’ Tate Liverpool exhibition) and we know how to.
We are reluctant to be drawn out of our family lives as we are all 60 something in age as well as era, but will occasionally be enlisted to one off indoor events which we have time to plan.
Paul Doherty - February 2012 |
