LIVE AT 22

The Netherlands is a hotbed of prog-rock and one of the latest entries that will enter our consciousness is SANITY. Its funny, I would think that they would have named themselves Insanity to be more inline with the formula of prog-rock being out there and different from any other music, although that sounds more like a punk name so SANITY works.

This DVD/CD set shows the band performing in a small nightclub called Twentietoe. You can tell by the reaction of the crowd after each song that there was definitely not a large throng of onlookers there. I think the band was more interested in having a decent stage to perform on to cut this video than having a typical concert hall audience to acknowledge each song. This is a low budget DVD; there is no doubt about it. The camera work is average and the lighting suspect. This is not what I am accustomed to at all; I guess you could call it a demo DVD at best.

The band does the best they can with what they have to work with so I have to give them credit. SANITY is a good band, musically they are solid and tight and the lead singer Kees van Keulen sounds like Iggy Pop and Bowie all rolled into one person. His voice suits the driving punishing riffs of guitar man Jereon Hoegee. I could most certainly appreciate the timely rhythm section of Roger van Acquoy (bass) and Fred den Hartog (drums) as well. Nathan Cairo provides the necessary symphonic elements with flurries of keyboard virtuosity to take off the harder edge of Hoegee's guitar. The sound of CAIRO's fluttering keyboards smoothes out the edges to make it all sound like true metal-prog.

I like what I heard but the theatrics and imagery were nonexistent in this performance. I think if this band ever puts out another DVD, they need to work on getting some of those important elements to go along with their great music. I know it is expensive to provide all of that entertainment on stage and they are not to the point yet were they could do this on a regular basis. I think it is something to think about if they are going to go through all the trouble to make a DVD again. I would suggest listening to the accompanying CD first to get an idea of what they sound like then checking out what they look like onstage after that. Get some of your own imagery conjured up in your head so you can let it unfold inside your mind while watching them gig. They have a story to tell and the music to move it all along, they just need someone to discover them and help them push it out there some more.

My rating: 3