TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME - LIVE IN MONTREAL

"Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal" is the debut DVD of Roger Hodgson, the only so far as I can remember, and that was released in 2006. It was recorded in Canada on 28 August 2006 and it was a big success, which went to platinum in only seven weeks. The DVD reached hit # 1 in Quebec and reached the double platinum status too.

"Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal" includes a seventy-five minutes solo concert filmed live at the Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec on 6 June 2006. It contains mainly the live versions of Supertramp's songs written by Roger Hodgson plus few Roger Hodgson's solo songs. In addition, it contains over ninety minutes of bonus, features with previously unreleased solo and orchestra performance footage, exclusive interviews with Roger Hodgson behind the scenes footage, a film from sound check, fan interviews, photo gallery and various song clips from Roger Hodgson's. There was a new DVD release in September 2007 by Eagle Vision with a new cover and some new additional material.

The line up on the DVD is only formed by two artists, Roger Hodgson (lead vocals, piano, keyboards and acoustic guitar) and Aaron MacDonald (backing vocals, saxophone, keyboards and harmonica).

"Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal" has sixteen tracks. As I said, the set list includes many classic Supertramp's songs, as well as a couple of songs taken from Roger Hodgson's solo career. The original Supertramp's songs performed live are: "Hide In Your Shell", "Dreamer" and "School" from "Crime Of The Century". "Easy Does It", "Sister Moonshine" and "Two Of Us" of "Crisis? What Crisis?". "Give A Little Bit" of "Even In The Quietest Moments...". "Take The Long Way Home", "The Logical Song" and "Breakfast In America" of "Breakfast In America". "Don't Leave Me Now" and "It's Raining Again" of "Famous Last Words". From Roger Hodgson's solo albums, we have: "Lovers In The Wind" of "In The Eye Of The Storm". "Love Is A Thousand Times" of "Open The Door". "Oh Brother", which was a new Roger Hodgson's song that was never released on any solo studio album of him. There was also another song performed live, "Sister Moonshine" from "Crisis? What Crisis?". However, it seems it faded out, but I don't know why.

Roger Hodgson was, until 1983, the compositional half of Supertramp, which refined some of their most famous hits with his characteristically bright vocals. On the stage, we have his white electric piano in the spotlight, next to it a glass of water, behind it a big black grand piano and an acoustic guitar. Headlights dip the stage in red and blue light. Every now and then, the picture turns black and white. In the semicircle, you can see the shadows of palm trees and other plants in large flower pots. Now and then, Aaron MacDonald appears to complement the solo performance of Roger Hodgson. In this live show one could of course ruffle where the extravagances remain the orchestra, the fast paced image editing, the fire eater, the elephant pyramid, etc. Could you, but you would actually be not advised to do that. Because the strength of this concert recording lies precisely in the economy of the means and the intensity achieved with it. There's just this man on his electric piano, his grand piano and his guitar that sings his repertoire of well known Supertramp's repertoire, plus some few solo compositions. An occasional glimpse into the audience shows, they were also sung by the assembled audience. This is just this great musician who exudes so much joy and serenity and love, as you can imagine. And it's that simplicity that delights and that makes you just not miss any extravagances on it.

The bonus material has "Even In the Quietest Moments", "Dreamer" and excerpts from "The Logical Song" and "Fool's Overture", a conversation, a Montreal interview and Hodgson's repertoire. When I see a DVD, what matters to me is the concert. But, I like to hear a few words from the artist in the interview, a bit of backstage shots, a little something from the rehearsal and possibly some second concert bonus material. There are also statements from fans and management.

Conclusion: "Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal" is an excellent DVD that became, for me, as in one of the best and most complete DVD's I've ever seen. On it we can hear the purity and the simplicity of the music of the original songs, which sounds probably fresher and more contemporary than the original versions, without losing their original strong feeling. When I saw for the first time this DVD, I was completely amazed with it. How is it possible that only a musician with so few musical instruments and with only some help of another musician can perform live so perfectly without the presence of a band? With this DVD, Roger Hodgson proves how good he is, as a musician, and why he is considered the heart and the soul of Supertramp. So, for all what I said before, I can't give to this DVD less than 4 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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