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Nick Barrett & Clive Nolan - A Rush Of Adrenaline

Written by Charlie O'Mara

So, Nick Barrett and Pendragon churn out yet another live DVD, swathed in keyboards. Hang on, I'll leave that review to Classic Rock. Meanwhile, I'll actually watch this one, seeing as how I've got my grubby hands on it.

This DVD, which was originally due out last September, was filmed before a nearly live audience in Katowice, Poland on the tour that the progging boys did last year. The camera work is spot on, swooping in and out, and up and down. It's obvious why Katowice is fast becoming the Prog DVD capitol of the world. The visuals are so much better than some of the older DVD's we've all seen recently. It's just like being there. Except you're allowed to get on stage and look up Clives nostrils. Yes, both of them, ladies.

The 5.1 sound mix sounds great as well. At one point you have Nick strumming away in front of you, and Clive coming over your shoulder.

The concert, which lasts for 85 minutes, has a very informal feel, with relaxed banter in both English and falteringPolish, but, as we all know, Prog is a language that is spoken world wide, not unlike Esperanto, which has died out, unlike prog. And it features tracks which are expertly played, with real feeling, and are a magical mixture of Pendragon, Shadowland, Nolan/Wakeman and Strangers On A Train, along with Arena's (Don't Forget To) Breathe.

It's great to hear old Pendragon favourites such as Alaska, Paintbox and The Black Knight, as well as the recent Two Roads (which was premiered on this tour) and the Shadowland stuff side by side and face to face with each other in a big melting pot smorgasbord thing. Hearing Ring Of Roses once more made me want to get up and do that dance again. You know the dance... The mix of bands work well, even though it is 10:5 in favour of Pendragon.

The only fault I can find in in the placement of the track markers. The intros to songs are at the end of the previous song. Which is no problem at all if you play the whole thing through, as I'm sure most, if not all, of you all will do. But, if you do, like I did, and play the odd track here and there, well, then you get no preamble, no waffle, no jokes or nothing. Hmm, that may sound like an advantage to some of you, but if I want to hear "Mindgames" then I'd probably like to hear the introduction too. But I'm weird, I know. Mind you, Nick did say that quite a lot of the banter, and stuff like the Monty Python songs and Ricky Gervais / Jimmy Saville impersonations ended up on the cutting room floor.

The extras feature an interesting 30 minute interview with Neeeck and Clive, where they guys talk about the logic behind the tour, as well as not-quite namechecking Pure Reason Revolution. There's also biographies of Nick and Clive, along with discographies of Pendragon, Arena, Shadowland et al, a photo gallery and some desktop wallpapers.

So, I reckon that not only is this a worthy addition to Pendragon / Thin Ice fans collections, it may well garner a few new fans for the bands!

Track Listing