NEARFEST 2006

This CD and DVD features an excellent live performance by the Canadian band FM, filmed and recorded at NEARFest in 2006. The line-up features Cameron Hawkins on vocals, keyboards, and bass, Martin Deller on drums, and Claudio Vena on violin, mandolin, and more. The band is on fire and they sound energetic and play with great passion and skill throughout. This is true progressive Rock and not merely Prog related.

The set list draws heavily from the band's classic 1977 debut album Black Noise, almost the whole of which is included here and mainly concentrated to the first half of the show. A few numbers are taken from 1979's Surveillance and one (Surface to Air) comes from 1980's City Of Fear, the latter functions as the encore and is extended to about twice its original album length. The set list also contains two brand new numbers which are not included on any of the band's studio albums. These are Planet Vega and Trial By Fire, both of which are excellent and fit in well among the older material. The low point of the concert is Shapes Of Things, which is a cover. I don't think they needed to include a cover as they have enough of their own material.

This concert is now ten years old, but the band still exists in a slightly different configuration and they released an excellent new studio album last year. I very much hope that we will see more from FM in the future and I would love to see another live release featuring songs from they new album Transformation.

If you are a fan of FM, this live CD/DVD package is absolutely essential, and for everyone else it is an excellent addition to your collection.

Highly recommended!