THE FIFTH SEASON - LIVE IN CONCERT

In the late Nineties I witnessed a gig by Polish progrock band Quidam, my strongest memory about that concert is the wonderful version of Genesis their masterpiece Firth Of Fifth, say no more! I won't consider that I didn't like Quidam but they did not make music that managed to keep my attention.

This DVD (recorded live in Poland, 2005) is another story, perhaps because of the fresh blood in the line-up? Anyway, the first track Hands Off showcases Quidam their new sound: a wonderful balance between dreamy parts (with warm vocals, sensitive electric guitar and flute) and more bombastic pieces (howling electric guitar and fluent work on organ and synthesizers). The neo-prog sound is blended with progressive poprock bands like U2 (guitar sound) and Talk Talk (especially the vocals). My highlights are the Led Zeppelin cover No Quarter (fine Fender Rhodes piano sound, flute and then a kind of 'symphonic rock Camel turn' to the original quite raw and dark climate), the long and alternating titletrack (halfway a jazzy piano solo along fat guitar riffs and a propulsive rhythm-section) and Everything's Ended (first dreamy, then more and more lush and bombastic delivering howling electric guitar). The song Jestes contains Polish vocals and the final track Not So Close has a final part with the vocal harmonies from Hush Hush by Deep Purple. This DVD also contains lots of many extra's like recording sessions, video clips, festival and concert reports, an interview and a biography, discography and photo galery.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the high level of Quidam and their tasteful and inspired modern progrock sound, along with the extra DVD value (beautiful lightshow, pleasant images and nice crowd participation) this DVD is highy recommended!

DVD/A THE FIFTH SEASON **** 1/2 STARS Excelent Audio!!!!!!!

Well as many other Quidam prog-heads I was very sad and upset when Emila`s left the band. I thought -this is the end for Quidam-.In additon when I heard about SurRevival I though they were kidding - a male voice- it`s was like Emerson, Lake and Powell....but Emila`s it`s not a well trained drummer it`s a previlage voice maybe we won´t find a voice like her in the next female fronted-band generations....so this was the END? NOT YET!!!!!well i didn`t heard SurRevival, but this album is full of power, the voice of our new male singer it`s simply excelent...and the musicians has mature from the past albums, now they are at the top of NEO-Prog musicians i guess, wowwww!!!!! the beggining of Jestes with the introduction of Morte MAcabre´s Lullaby almost makes me cry....the sound is excellent and the interpretation overpass the expectaions. In Resume it`s nice to have Quidam´s back but i still miss Emila....I hope she still continuing in the misic bizz , well this DVD encourage me to seak for Quidam next gigs. At least,

............................................................................... not everything is lost!!!!!!!

I must say I have mixed feelings about this concert. On one hand this DVD is extremely well recorded and performed. The songs from SurRevival gain some extra punch and life, specially the opener Hands Off. On the other hand I saw their bootleg DVD recorded live in Mexico. While the latter is clearly an amateurish affair, the band sounded much more progressive and original when Emilia was the lead singer. This is quite clear on the new DVD too: when the band plays the old material they sound much better than with the new stuff (and get much more response from the audience, by the way). New singer Bartek Kossowics is obviously very good, still he has a lot to proof and stepping into Emila´s shoes is not an easy task. She not only had a great voice but was also very charismatic and quite responsible for the Quidam sound we all know and love.

Actually Quidam´s future is not really on his hands (or voice). It´s the main songwriters decision to go more alternative sounding (like on the album) or to stick to progressive music that hangs in the balance. Since I´m not a big fan of the former style, I really hope they choose the prog path. At least they gave us some great moments, like their beautiful debut CD. No wonder their most enthusiastic received songs on this DVD are their past tunes.

So, in the end, this DVD is kind of an enigma. An excellent performance of a band which we really don´t know where they´re going to. Emila´s ghost and their past progressive work still weights a lot on them. They´re still good, but there´s still some things missing here.

If you enjoy neo prog with symphonic touches, then Quidam is for you. Influenced by both Marillion and Camel, this band elegantly blends rhythms with a rich instrumentation (many flutes and recorders parts). Those who already know Quidam will enjoy how the band could manage a difficult evolution after the departure of the beautiful Emila (Quidam's former singer). The new singer (Bartek Kossowicz) is a gifted musician with a voice full of emotion sounding a bit like Mark Hollis (Talk Talk). But the main characteristic of this DVD is Quidam's professionalism. This is especially evident in their reprises: Led Zeppelin's 'No Quarter' for instance is awesome. This DVD captures the concert given by the Polish band in their home country in 2005. Around 215 minutes of pure pleasure. This document shows a great band is born, no less. Forget the deception you had with "SurRevival" and buy this DVD without delay.

PS: the DVD also features various bonuses including two video clips with former singer Emila and the mini I concert they gave at the legendary venue in Verviers (Belgium), The Spirit of 66 during the ProgResiste Convention. Another reason to buy this DVD.