When you get a new live DVD, most of the time you watch the whole concert right from the start. However, this time I would like to advice you to move to the extras first. It is probably the best way to get into a good mood for a special happening. First, you get a black and white documentary from behind the scenes introduced by Magenta’s web master Stephen Lambe. You see sound engineers and roadies building up the stage. As soon as the band members enter the stage, everything turns into living colour . Nice to witness how female singer Christina Booth tries to play the drums while the others are nervously fooling around. The less interesting parts in this feature are the interviews with fans. I think that nobody wants to know how many times fans have seen the band performing live. Next on the menu are several tech-talk interviews. The first one is with Chris Fry , showing his way of playing an acoustic guitar, followed by Tim Lewis who was responsible for the live sound recording. He explains that he recorded every instrument separately without any side effects of the audience. Guitar player Martin Rosser explains the effects of his guitar synthesizer. He plays several parts from well-known Magenta songs to show what he is able to do with his instrument. His demonstration makes clear that he was not just an extra guitarist in the band. Wás, because he left Magenta after the DVD-recording together with drummer Allan Mason-Jones. The final extra, besides the usual slide show, is the Speechless video. Most people probably watched it at You Tube. It looks like the video was shot in a white room in which all members are dressed in black tuxedo’s, except Christina. She wears a red dress and she looks rather angry into the lens, playing her part very well. Speechless was also the first song performed at The Point venue in Cardiff Bay back in November 2007. At that time, they recorded a complete live performance in an old church, which reminded me of Paradiso in Amsterdam. You can enjoy the results of those recordings on the fantastic double album Live At The Point 2007, released a couple of months earlier than the release of the DVD with the same name. The soundtrack from that concert already was awesome, but with the images added, my heart even beat faster. I really enjoyed The Gathering, Magenta’s first DVD, but the quality level of this one really is excellent. Anyone who saw the band perform live knows how well Magenta plays. The band is in a great shape; everything is shot at close range with fine close ups of the instruments played by the musicians. If you buy this fantastic DVD you surely get value for your money. By the way, there are no songs from the bands latest album Metamorphosis on this release. It had not been released at the time of this recording. You get a large part of the Home album instead plus a selection from the band’s first two records Revolutions and Seven. With this release, Magenta proves to be on top of the progressive rock scene nowadays. Both Live At The Point 2007 and The Gathering are highly recommended DVD’s for everyone calling himself a prog head. ****+ Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
