LIVE IN RIO

Not very long ago I wrote a review about Brasilian five piece band Apocalypse their live CD from the same concert (Rio, 2005) as on this DVD (that contains the same track list as the CD plus two bonustracks). Here's my CD review in order to get an impression from that concert with additional comments about the DVD.

The concert starts with Floydian inspired guitar work but then it's early Marillion as the main source of inspiration, especially the English vocals are mighty close to Fish his distinctive vocals like in the songs Cut and Tears. Most tracks sound fluent and catchy featuring a strong rhythm-section, lots of flashy Minimoog flights and powerful guitarplay with many howling licks. I am impressed by the crafted musicians and the tasteful and dynamic compositions but some songs tend to sound a bit too similar. My highlights are Refugee (wonderful flute play, sparkling keyboards, powerful Hammond organ and expressive vocals), Waterfall Of Golden Waters (pleasant work on Hammond organ and Minimoog), Tears (alternating with beautiful intro featuring twanging guitars and choir-Mellotron and flashy synthesizers and fiery guitar) and Coming From The Stars Medley (from compelling to propulsive with howling guitar, again strong work on Hammond and Moog and a warm band presentation). So what about the DVD? Well, it's nice (and sometimes a bit hilarious) to watch the singer (he also plays decent flute) who is so obviously inspired by Fish: his voice, his gestures, a black-and-white mask, his enthousiastic attitude and his warm interaction with the crowd, this man's looks like the Brasilian twin-brother of the huge Scottish neo-prog hero! The lightshow and sound are OK and Apocalypse looks inspired and the band is playing with their soul. The extra's on the DVD are backstage shots, an interview (via the menu you can use the programm for English subtitling), a photo gallery, a biography and finally a discography, a good service to the progheads.

If you want to watch a pleasant DVD by a lesser known neo-prog band, this is one to discover! My rating: 3,5 stars.