PENDRAGON – Past and Presence

Cover	Release	Style
	16-04-2007	neo-prog
	Label
	Metal Mind Productions
	Website
	Pendragon
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	185’	MMP DVD 0104
	Review by	Rating
	Danny	8,5/10
nederlands	Review
Pendragon, one of the masters of neo-prog, release a new DVD, shortly after their last DVD “And Now Everybody to the Stage”, but this time it’s not a gig from a tour promoting a new album. It’s the 21^st anniversary of “The Jewel” they are celebrating. And this makes this release so special. It feels good to hear them play the older tracks again. I bet a lot of you who only know the recent releases of Pendragon will be surprised by the amount of long progressive and often instrumental material on this DVD. They play the whole Jewel album and the Fly High Fall Far EP. If you don’t own the EP, you can find the songs as bonus tracks on several of their releases and the whole EP on the remastered version of “The Jewel”, which was released in 2005. A few tracks from the early recordings albums “Once upon a time in England” and “2AM” from “Kowtow” complete the marvellous set list. It’s also a great opportunity to see (again) some older members of the band. The first few tracks show John Barnfield on the keyboards. And later, Nic Carter (keyboards) and Julian Baker (mainly saxophone) join in. If you’re missing Nigel Harris on drums, there’s a little bonus when he joined the line-up during a gig at Riffs Bar, 3 days before this DVD recording. It’s amazing how well these guys still know their parts. A pity Fudge didn’t show up or the whole Pendragon line-up history would have been on stage. So, only older material, but that doesn’t bother anyone. Although the Polish audience reacts very cool. It has a better live feeling then the Live at Last DVD, but I wonder if they shouldn’t have recorded it in Germany or Holland, so the crowd would be more spontaneous. It all seems so pre-programmed, as if someone is giving the sign “Applaud now”. ;-) But, and that’s the most important, the music, certainly isn’t pre-programmed. The musicians clearly enjoy the little reunion. This DVD is a great chance to see the early Pendragon tracks live, a period I didn’t witness before, because I didn’t know them yet. The DVD is enhanced with an interview with Nick Barrett and John Barnfield, "Behind the Scenes" bonus video footage and more! Also available in a limited digipack edition, including 2 CDs with songs recorded at the concert!
Musicians
Nick Barrett - vocals, guitar Clive Nolan - keyboards, backing vocals Peter Gee - bass, backing vocals Rik Carter - keyboards, backing vocals Julian Baker - saxophone, guitar, backing vocals John Barnfield - keyboards Joe Crabtree – drums
Tracklist
Higher Circles The Pleasure of Hope Leviathan Victims of Life Armageddon Fly High Fall Far Excalibur Please Oh Divineo Alaska Dark Summer’s Day Circus The Black Knight 2 AM Stan and Ollie Special features: Bonus Videos - interview with Nick Barrett and John Barnfield - Behind the Scenes (bootleg quality footage) - Nigel Harris on drums at Riffs bar, UK , 28th Oct 2006 Animated Menu – Band History – Discography – Photo Gallery – Desktop Images Extra Info: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Region Free: Region 0 plays in all regions Recorded at Teatr Slasky, Katowice, October 31st 2006
Discography
CD’s: The Jewel (1986) 9:15 Live (1986) Kowtow (1988) The World (1991) The Window of Life (1993) The Very Very Bootleg (1993) Utrecht… The Final Frontier (1995) The Masquerade Overture (1996) Live in Krakow (1997) Not of this World (2001) Acoustically Challenged (2002) Believe (2005) DVD’s Live at Last (2002) And Now, Everybody to the Stage (2006) Past and Presence (2007)


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