Gong was formed in 1967 after Daevid Allen left Soft Machine, and due to a Visa complication was denied entry to the UK and moved to France where he and Gilli Smyth established the first incarnation of Gong.

They played at the second Glastonbury festival in 1971, and in 1972 they were one of the first acts to sign to Virgin Records. After spending most of the eighties in his native Australia, Allen returned to the UK with a new project, ‘The Invisible Opera Company of Tibet’ which set the stage for various Gong reunions and off shoots. In 1994, Gong celebrated its 25th anniversary with a massive festival at the Forum in London. This classic Gong line-up which hadn’t played together since 1977 consisted of Allen, Tim Blake, Mike Howlett, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Steffi Sharpstrings, Gilli Smyth, and Shyamal Maitra.