PURE: LIVE IN GERMANY 2005 (DVD)

There has been a trend in recent years of classic Prog bands that originally started out in the late 60's or early 70's to reunite and tour again, as well as record new albums in their classic style. Nektar is one such band that reunited in the present millennium after a very long absence from the music business. A related trend has been for bands to film their concerts and release live DVD's. Filming these old bands today, performing their classic material, utilizing modern recording technology, many bands have managed to create excellent live documents that will stand the test of time. Nektar's Pure: Live In Germany 2005 is a very good example of this trend. With this DVD, Remember The Future will always be there.

People of my own generation (I was born in the early 80's) have a special reason to rejoice since we never got to see these classic bands in their heyday (i.e. the 70's). Personally, I don't go to many live concerts in real life though, but I'm happy to buy high quality live concert DVD's like the present one. However, not just younger fans has a reason to rejoice, every fan, old and new, will recognize that back in the 70's audio and video recording technology was not what it is today. A live film of this sonic and visual quality would of course have been strictly impossible in the 70's.

The set list of Pure: Live In Germany 2005 consists of exclusively classic Nektar songs from the 70's with only one exception. The exception is The Debate from the then new album Evolution (one of the band's very best studio albums in my opinion!). We are treated to the full Remember The Future album, a somewhat distilled version of Recycled, as well as all the songs from the Tab In The Ocean album (scattered throughout the set). In addition, there are many great songs from the band's other 70's releases. I would certainly say that this represents the very best of Nektar and I don't think that any reasonable Nektar fan could possibly complain about this set list. The highlights of the show being, for me, Recycled and Remember The Future, which are also my favourite albums by the band. But most important of all, I think that many of these classic songs are actually improved in comparison with their original studio counterparts. They are performed with such energy and passion! It doesn't matter much to me that it is not the original line up, this particular band is still distinctively Nektar.

If I must say something negative about the set list, I can point out that there is a complete lack of ballads and acoustic songs in this show that makes it less varied than it could have been. However, Pure is a double DVD set and the second disc consists of a semi-acoustic set filmed the day after the main concert for some charity event. Also, I would have liked to hear more songs from Evolution. The Debate is a good song, but neither the best nor the most representative of that album. Evolution showed a more acoustic and Symphonic Prog side of the band and material of that kind would have benefited this concert. To be honest, there is also a few moments of slightly mindless jamming that I could have done without.

Still, Pure is a really great live DVD and a very nice document of the band. With this DVD out on the market, the band will surely be remembered in the future!

As a second bonus, there is also on the second disc an interview with the two core members (the "oldies", if you like) of the band, Roye Albrighton and Ron Howden.

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