PINK FLOYD REVISITED

My first run through this DVD was corrupted by various annoying interruptions and assorted boring priorities, so I remember the Floyd covers as being quite interesting but little memory of their own material. Two 2 hour plus concerts on seemingly the same day in the summer of 2004 is obviously a feat that requires some initial respect. I finally gave this 2 CD set its respectful due and shut the outer world off completely, cranked up the volume (Live prog is especially horrendous in muted volume situations) and let the impressions blanket me in comfort. Renditions faithful to the Pink credo were somehow anti-climactic, the missing link being the super clash of egos but Mostly Autumn did a great job with slightly different versions of classics such as "Echoes" "Run Like Hell", "Comfortably Numb" , "Hey You" and "Another Brick" , displaying obvious reverence to their inspirational mentors. Truth is Heather Findlay is a gorgeous woman, extraordinarily seductive and its comes as no surprise that between song yells from the predominantly male (Duh.) audience are variations of "Heather, will you marry me?" Not only does Heather Findlay possess a unique voice but she is some kind of visual treat ,sensually catty, smilingly beguiling but when she gets down, she is a hot babe. No wonder Fish flipped his rather imposing gills over her. Lucky bastard! Without needing to give a "blow by blow" account, suffice to state that the overall impression emanating from Mostly Autumn's live greatest hits, is one of acceptance that we are in the presence of some interesting, unique and quite enthralling progressive music. The celtic-folk touches are greatly enhanced in such a rockier live environment , with their classics "Evergreen", "Mother Nature", "Another Life" "Heroes Never Die" and "Simple Ways", all given the full proggy bliss blowout, replete with some thunderous lead guitar by leader Bryan Josh, whose white Fender Strat never looked more imperial. The crown jewel here is the magnificent "Distant Train", a brilliant piece off the Passengers album that hooked me within the first seconds, an evocative symbiosis of electronica and pure orchestral symphonics that receive a "Metropolis" (Fritz Lang's famous B&W movie) visual arrangement displayed on the overhead Floydian circle screen. This is a prog masterpiece, as raw powered strings raise the roof on a bewilderingly beautiful melody. Hackett would be proud and jealous! The ace crew is led by keyboardist Ian Jennings, who excels in this live setting with some inventive passages both on piano and synths, his presumed brother Andrew on drums ("Found in a scrap yard" is some kind on internal joke), the steady Andy Smith on bass, Liam Davison on rhythm and atmospheric guitar, Angela Goldthorpe on flute, keys and vocals. Finally, the show ends with a simple version of Genesis' Afterglow, a title that is most appropriate to end the night. But the best song, "The Night Sky" from the same marathon concert, is actually a bonus track (?) featuring Troy Donockley of Iona fame on traditional Irish instruments (pipes and mandolin) which is positively riveting, basking in torrents of gushing emotion , slashed by some gut wrenching Bryan Josh leads, scorchingly beautiful. Why it was not included on the set list is beyond my comprehension, perhaps pearl in the oyster syndrome! This DVD closes the proggier chapter of MA's career as they have chosen a different path. Not too sure that it will work but..after the cold winter, hazy spring and a hot summer, maybe there will be a mostly autumn again. 4 ladies of the lake