BBC ROCK GOES TO COLLEGE: LIVE 1979

I found this DVD through browsing over amazon. I was really surprised when I knew about this DVD which I thought it would be impossible to see. I was really happy with this release an I right away clicked to have my order placed. It arrived to me at relatively quick shipping time of just two weeks, altogeteher with Symphony X "Paradise Lost" cd. Once I received it I then spun this DVD because I was so curious to see how this legendary and best line-up would perform their classics on stage. My expectation was that this would be a film of The Bruford Tape which was released in 1979. But it's not. This is the original line up of Bruford - Stewart - Holdsworth - Berlin plus Annette Peacock. It's basically the line-up of Bruford's first album "Feels Good To Me".

The gig was delivered in front of college students - as the name implies - and it was performed excellently with high confident level. Even when the opening track "Sample And Hold" was performed, it reminded me to the Bruford Tapes live record where the guitar player was The "unknown" John Clark. The music was delivered excellently with no flaw at all. I like the way Bill plays his drum in a relax way even though his drumming was very dynamic. It then continues with another uptempo music with jazz rock style "Beelzebub". The band plays it excellently, flawlessly. When I listened to the studio album "Feels Good To Me" and also "One of A Kind" I was imagining how the members of the band would play it live and now I watched them play it beautifully. Wow! It's really entertaining. All members of the band do not seem to perform actively in terms of stage act but they deliver the music flawlessly. It's awesome. To tell you the truth I was so amazed the members do not seem to play their instrument so complicated but the music they deliver is excellent and complex. This is unbelieveable!

The "Sahara of Snow" is presented under part 1 and 2 as per studio version. Right before "Back To The Beginning" was played, Bill Bruford did some conversation with the audience and introduced Annette Peacock to come on stage. She is a truly a jazz-rock vocalist with cold expression. His voice is as excellent as studio album where she delivers a lot of accentuation to her vocal line. Her conribution continues to "Goodbye To The Past". The final track demonstrates Jeff Berlin's slapping techniques for his bass. It's cool.

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW