THE REUNION CONCERTS

Self made video (but very professional) of the band's April 2007 back to back concerts-their first in just over 10 years. Interestingly edited in that it goes back and forth between 3 different elements: 1. confessional interviews with the band explaining why they got back together and lots of band history 2. the acoustic "living room" concert from a bandmember's home and 3. the single room schoolhouse electric concert at NJ Proghouse-a prog rock fixture in the Garden State. Lots of variety and never stays in the same place for long. Much information here and if you're a fan of the band you get like 6 songs not on any other video or studio album. Apparently the band wrote a bunch of songs for their eventually released 2008 album Narrow-Caster that didn't make that album but were played during these shows. Those songs are a bit less proggy and lighter fare but no less interesting. Shot in 1080i HD video and available on Blu-ray, it's a bit noisy in low light but sharp and well mixed most of the time. On hand is the YouTube clip with the most hits for the band-their rendition of Gentle Giant's "Peel The Paint" as well as a cross-section of material from their first 3 albums.

A lot of bonus footage is on hand showing the band rehearsing for the shows and goofing around with Steely Dan's "Hey Nineteen" and the like.

Also included on the Blu-ray (but not the DVD) is another short living room concert (from same living room) with a different band lineup featuring their YouTube performance of Genesis' "Me & Sarah Jane".

It's interesting how this DVD/Blu-ray predates their comeback studio album by over a year so it seems that they are celebrating the past while debuting new songs but they come off as not quite sure if this is a one-off thing or what. We know now in 2012 that their popularity has grown and have released yet another studio album (The Long Division) but in early 2007, the future was unclear.

I give it a 5 star rating because if you're into 3RDegree, this disk answers so many questions and looks and sounds top notch.