Soft Machine are a strange proposition. They were at the epicentre of the Canterbury scene, which looks ever more unfathomable and strange the further we hurtle away from the late 1960s. At the start in 1966 the Softs were defined by very charismatic and singular talents – Robert Wyatt, Daevid Allen and Kevin Ayers who are better known for what they did next – led by their keyboard mangling pal Mike Ratledge who held out til 1976 – but in a delightful way they all set the course for what follows long after they exited the stage. If you find a way in – you may well get hooked on the evolving Soft Machine. In my case, the way in were some clues left for me – samples on ambient dub records in the 90s by the likes of Ultramarine or name checked by curious bands like Gorkys Zygotic Mynci.

Add to that, mentions of them being part of the counter culture scene in the late 60s with Syd’s (The) Pink Floyd. Delving into their confusing back catalogue which veers from quirky psychedelic oddness, to Kevin Ayers-era cheekiness, to Eno tape loops, proggy jazz rock noodling – even proto-Balearic disco (try Soft Space).

They inspire curiosity and if you can handle some stylistic shifts, some tricky time signature changes and a lot of fuzzy organ noodling there are moments where they are suddenly roaring and thundering like Can or Faust or locking into a proto-Stereolab groove.  

Line-up wise they are the ultimate ‘triggers broom’ band (apart from maybe the Canterbury adjacent Gong), or as I prefer to look at it, the longest running baton relay in weird jazzy Art Rock history. Approximately 35 members have come and gone and it’s long been established that Soft Machine is an ever changing collective of musicians and has been so for 60 years now. Current holder of said baton/broom head is guitarist John Etheridge – who has been with the Softs on and off since 1975 – and he describes them tonight as ‘an organism’ and he’s right. The Soft Machine is a living thing. 

Whatever it is, there is still very much an audience for this thing called Soft Machine and it’s standing room only in BOTW, a venue the band has returned to many times. There’s obviously a certain demographic in the room but there are younger folk here too. There is a steady stream of visitors to the merch stall run by a lovely chap who has been a fan since the beginning and now loves helping keep them on the road. It helps that they have just released ‘Thirteen’ – which not only returns to the numbering system they maintained up to 1973’s ‘Seven’ – but sounds like a record informed by the entire history of the Softs – complete with gestures to Daevid Allen and Robert Wyatt and sounds vital, powerful and alive in 2026.

There are some new bands taking inspiration from the Softs such as Plantoid and caroline, you can hear their DNA in artists such as Alexis Taylor. They’re probably cooler than they’ve ever been since the 1960s. As the audience take their seats the pre-gig music is a mix of Robert Wyatt’s solo work – a nice touch. 

Etheridge is joined by the very safe hands of Theo Travis – a mere 20 years into his Soft Machine career but with a firm pedigree of working with Gong, Robert Fripp, David Sylvian, and neo-prog legends like Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree – he provides the dizzying mix of flute, sax and the all important keys. With his shades, cap and loud shirt he wouldn’t look out of place in the 1967 line-up. On bass is Fred Baker who has previous with Canterbury allumni Phil Miller of Matching Mole (look that one up!) and has worked with Etheridge since the 1980s. He’s got a fuzz pedal and he’s going to use it. Powering the drums is the remarkable Asaf Sirkis – and wonderfully his CV includes working with Robert Wyatt which is another lovely little connection back to the past. The band are lined up across the stage which is great (never understood why the drums always have to be at the back) – I find myself watching Asaf a lot – he has a lot of complicated things to navigate and he makes it look ridiculously easy and fun. 

There are two sets tonight, and as ever Etheridge is our avuncular guide, providing a few laughs and making sure this doesn’t become an austere recital and guiding the audience through the set and a bit of history. The first set is mostly taken from the excellent new record apart from the wonderful, hypnotic ‘Tales of Taliesin’ from ‘Softs’ (aka ‘One over the Eight’) written by Karl Jenkins (who caused a stir being the only Soft Machine member at the coronation of King Charles).

The new material is really striking live. Inevitably there is a lot of soloing from Etheridge and he does like to play incredibly fast runs on the guitar which is not something entirely to my taste but, to be fair, he did have Jimi Hendrix as a fan and in many ways he does on the guitar what Mike Ratledge used to do on the fuzzed-up keyboard as the signature of the 70s Softs. Importantly he can also do very economical playing too and knows when to sit back and provide the bed for the rest of the Softs – using effects to replicate strings or horn parts from the older songs. 

They start the 2nd set with ‘Out-Bloody-Rageous’ from ‘Third’ with Theo providing those hypnotic ambient tape loops for the intro before it morphs into what Etheridge warns is in 15/8 time, so beware anyone tapping a foot to it. ‘Third’ is an album which I think critically is being seen as the key work for the Softs and for me, a truly extraordinary record which seems to sound different every time I listen to it and hearing some of this live is an absolute treat. It’s followed by a detour right back to the first 1968 album with ‘Joy of a Toy’ which, they point out, is essentially a piece for bass guitar and gives Fred his moment in the spotlight. A medley built around some mid 70s Softs deep cuts and a mighty drum solo – (of course) ends the set but the band stay on for a most definitely called-for encore. We get Backwards/Noisette from ‘Third’ – and, not for the first time, we’re not in ‘Jazz Fusion’ land at all but in the world of King Crimson, Henry Cow or latterly Cardiacs – psychedelic sax fuelled wig outs – rock in opposition. Otherwordly and Fantastic. 

Purists may disagree but for my money, Soft Machine were in the room tonight. They did it again – they did it again…