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The last couple of years, members of the Arena fan club “The Cage”
have been treated to some free CD’s, containing unreleased material.
This alone more than justifies the membership fee. “Radiance” is the
fourth CD released by the club and it contains an unplugged concert
by the band (here limited to Clive Nolan, John Mitchell and Rob
Sowden) of 7th November 2002.
The band start with two songs from the terrific album “The Visitor”,
but they soon jump into some tracks from the new album “Contagion”,
which -at the time- wasn’t released yet. They were played live here
for the very first time. Even in these ‘naked’ versions, it soon
becomes clear what a fantastic album “Contagion” was going to be.
These songs sound beautiful, even though the band doesn’t exactly
appear to be over-rehearsed. Rob Sowden in particular makes a few
slight mistakes here and there. It’s easy to forgive him, though.
For me, the intensity the band put into their songs is unequalled
and it’s quite impossible to destroy songs like “Skin Game” and the
lovely “Mea Culpa”.
While the band may sound a bit insecure during the new songs, as
soon as they start playing the classics, the atmosphere is suddenly
a lot less tense and there’s even time for some jokes and banter.
Clive Nolan –always the joker- tries very hard to distract the
others and it’s no wonder they strike a false note now and then.
“The Butterfly Man” even turns into something that approaches
complete chaos. Luckily, the band is professional enough to compose
themselves and soon sound like their old selves again.
These recordings would probably not be suited for a commercial
release, but for those who were there, this will be an irreplaceable
souvenir and as a bonus for the fans, “Radiance” is definitely worth
while.
This CD is not for sale, but as long as stocks last, new “Cage”
members get it for free. |
