AND NOW EVERYBODY TO THE STAGE

I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy of this DVD at the Summer's End Festival this weekend, and treated myself to the Special Edition which includes a double live album as well as the 240min DVD. Recorded on the tour of spring 2006 this DVD is bang up to the moment stuff, the packaging is beautiful, really impressive. The gig is superbly shot, looks amazing,and sounds fantastic! I saw three gigs on this tour and this is a great momento, over two hours of stage performance that is gripping, and truly reflective of the feel of a Pendies gig! I find some "live" DVD's can sound sterile, but this really does sound great, it's like being there! The tracks feature a good mixture of then and now, and includes material from "The Jewel" all the way up to "Believe" and incudes the highly emotional "Edge of the World", which obviously had a huge reception from this Polish crowd! Some of my personal favourites were on the set list (Breaking the Spell, Am I really losing you?, The Wishing Well-pts2,3&4) The guys all look on top form, and shows off new boy on the drum stool Joe Crabtree in a very good way! They sound and look tight, and full of energy & passion for what they are doing! I think that this DVD should be a must for all those who were at the gigs on this tour, for all those who couldn't make it, and also as a great all round intro to the band for those of you who may harbour uncertainties. Also included as an extra is the "Pendragon Progumentary" a home filmed collection of diary shots taken during the recording of "Believe" some hilarious moments, and some sound footage......... this was previously available to stream from the bands website but to have it on DVD is great.........it's informative and really funny in parts! I am mightily pleased with this DVD, it looks amazing, sounds fantstic and will be played and awful lot! Now I just look forward to the next gig! ;-)

Prog-Chick

In the mid-Eighties I witnessed this pleasant neo-prog band for the first time in the (in) famous Dutch youth-center Het Paard in The Hague, Holland. After the concert we had a vivid conversation with the band members who were enjoying their marihuana stuffed sigarettes, a famous Dutch treat! Watching this DVD they still make the same kind of music after more than 20 years: a blend of straightforward neo-prog rock songs with a catchy beat and harder-edged guitar riffs (No Place For The Innocent, Nostradamus, The Last Waltz and Masters Of Illusion) and more compelling, symphonic prog inspired compositions with bombastic eruptions and sensitive guitar work (Breaking The Spell, The Black Night and Am I Really Losing You?). The 'setlist' spans their entire carreer: from the anti-Vietnam war song Kow Tow and the 'crowd pleaser' The Black Night (strong rendition) from the early era to tracks from their latest CD Believe (like the wonderful The Edge Of The World). The band plays inspired, there is pleasant interaction with the crowd, the lightshow is beautiful and I enjoyed Nick Barrett his sensitive, often howling guitar soli, especially the Floydian slide guitar play in some tracks. So nothing wrong with this professional and pleasant DVD, an excellent addition for every neo-proghead, this band is still 'alive and progging'!

Actually I tought I already submitted my review of this DVD, but today I found I was wrong, so here I am: First of all, the location: very nice theatre with warm lights, where our 4 musicians appear to be in good shape... The set list covers the most important songs of the band over their carreer and I believe it was an excellent choice! No words about Nick presence on the stage: his voice, his playing the guitar (how not to mention his solo on Master of Illusion?) are absolutely fantastic. Clive Nolan (probably the only weakness of this DVD is the low volume of his keyboards ) confirms to be one of the most talented keyboard players nowadays. Peter Gee is not much appearing but his bass and his keyboards are an important part of the music. New drummer, shows his talent playing this gig, like if he has been with the band for many years.. Overall this is a very good DVD, recommended to all those non Pendragon fans out there, who are looking for good music and covering about 20 years carreer, can give a good idea of what Pendragon music is.

I really didn´t know what to expect from this DVD. After all it came on the heels of a (relatively) disappointing CD (Believe) and the band, with a established line up for 20 years, lost one of their most celebrated members, drummer Fudge Smith. To top that they had released in 2001 one of the best neo prog DVDs ever, Live At Last. Could they face those challenges and still come up with something extra to offer?

Fortunately they did. The overall quality of this DVD is superior: better stage, bigger audience, more cameras, very good photography and editing. The only major let-down is the keyboards sounds that are mixed too low. Still,at least on the Believe songs, they are more prominent here then in the studio, which is plus. Besides I´m really glad to say that the Believe stuff works far better live than on CD.

After a pinkfloydian intro (a flick that reminds me of Floyd´s Take It Back) the band hits the stage with power and passion. Their stage movements are much more fluid and natural than on Live At Last and this is more so of Nick Barrett. Nick´s voice is definitely not in his prime, but he makes that up by doing some great interpretation of the repertoire. He definitely never sounded or appeared so natural and convincing on stage (watch Am I Really Losing You, the concert´s final number).

Newcomer Joe Crabtree may not have Smith´s charisma, but he´s got the chops. The guy bashes his drum kit all the way through the show and does a fine job, injecting an extra punch to the group´s performance. He is really good and you don´t miss Smith as much as I thought. In fact, by the end of the DVD I found myself not missing him at all.

Sure I´d like to have some more old songs included here and some others already available on Live At Last deleted, but you really can´t satisfy everyone. However I´m pleased they included Kowtow (from the much maligned album) and a superb version of The Black Knight. I only wish they played Sister Bluebird in full, instead of only a verse in a medley of Not Of This World songs during the encore.

Conclusion: a great DVD by a great band. An excellent companion for the Live At Last DVD and a must have for any neo prog fan. Highly recommended!

This is my first and sadly last foray into Pendragon. I recently started buying cds/dvds from noted neo progressive artists and am sorry to say I will never, ever purchase anything by Pendragon again. Firstly, I have to say that Nick Barret cannot sing, he sounds like a cross between Bob Dylan [who I also consider a bad singer] and Phil Collins [who I actually like] but poor Nick Barret's almost drunken sounding delivery immediately put me off. Secondly, the songs themselves were simply boring, meandering tracks that went nowhere fast, there were no catchy hooks, riffs or keyboard solos. And speaking of keyboards, if you have a talent like a Clive Nolan in your band, let the man shine, I could barely hear him as he was mostly drowned out by screeching guitar and too loud bass and drums, at least that's how it sounded on my dvd player. It's certainly head and shoulders over the music that's played on mainstream radio, but it's not my cup of tea.

I really haven't extended my neo-progressive investigations much beyond Marillion, who I really like, and IQ, who I absolutely adore. However, through the miracle of youtube, I discovered a complete recording of this DVD and played it a few times.

At first I was pleasantly surprised: the band have a very fine keyboards player (Clive Nolan) and a singer/guitarist (Nick Barrett) who plays guitar very melodically and with plenty of skill - he doesn't tap or use advanced techniques like Mike Holmes, but he plays some lovely solos. The rhythm section is solid and inventive, Pete Gee conjuring up some dynamic and interesting bass lines and newcomer Joe Crabtree showing off some really excellent chops. Nick Barrett's voice is a bit of a conundrum; he isn't the most tuneful singer and his delivery is a bit laid back, but he has lot of emotion and his style grows on you. Clive Nolan sings very well on backing/harmony vocals

Not being familiar with much of their material, since I've only really listened to a few of their albums once or twice, it took some time to get into their songs, but they clearly show influences of Genesis and Camel and that can only be good. By about the 4th play, the sheer quality of their music began to shine through, so I bought the DVD. The Wishing Well, Dance of the Seven Veils and Paintbox are all excellent, but the material gets even better towards the end. From the brilliant Breaking the Spell onwards through the encores, the band make some of the finest music I've heard, and I began to really like Barrett's delivery. They're not as arty as IQ but Nick Barrett's songs are melodic and at times almost anthemic. The Polish crowd are extremely enthusiasic and Barrett knows exactly how to interact with them.

Down sides: Barrett's stage dress is basically surfing gear, which wins no prizes for sartorial elegance, and Clive Nolan's keyboards are slightly low in the mix. And it's going to be expensive, because I now have to buy all their CDs too.

Other than that, I love this DVD. There's a lot of extra material but I don't bother with it much. The main DVD has kept IQ and Camel off my DVD player for a week and anything that can do that must be 5*.

Unhesitatingly recommended.

You call it neo-prog? I call it pop. The only thing in common with prog is songs length. But prog has: 1) roots in classical music 2) instrumental prowess 3) tempo changes 4) odd measure/beat 5) cultural aura 6) deep-meaning lyrics 7) charm. Pendragon have nothing of the preceding. As prog, it's zero stars. As pop, as long as this music doesn't disturb my ears, it's listenable. But, as someone already wrote, nothing remains in my head. No real listening pleasure. Well, let's take a look at Barrett: he's a good chap, let's have a pint with him, but: his singing is....ehm, average, his playing is average, his lyrics are awful, his songwriting skills are mediocre, and his trousers are HORRIBLE!!!