LIVE IN THE USA

After hearing their Strange Behaviour live CD I was looking for this DVD for a long time, guessing it might be good, since the CD had that kind of sound hinting that the show was a brilliant event. Well, all I can say is Live In The USA is much more than I expected for. This DVD shows the band at their absolute peak. Not only the group delivered a great sound but also an excellent all around performance. I mean, their show is as good in sound as it is visually and not only because Rachel Jones and Anne-Marie Helder are gorgeus women! Their vocal interplay is stunning, very delicate and subtle most of the time, and yet strong and beautiful. Very original and the highlight of the show. The girls also have a great stage presence, moving around all the time, smiling, playing and generally having a good time. They seem to be enjoying the evening as much as the audience!

The rest of the band provides a solid sound but the star of the show instrumentally is obviously guitarrist Paul Davies, with his tasteful electric guitar licks and solos, in the best David Gilmour tradition. While it is true that all the musicians are highly skilled ones, there are no ego battles anywhere. Everybody seems to be working their best for the music itself. If you pay attention you´ll notice how good everyone of them is and how they fill every possible spot with the necessary amount of notes to highlight the melody. Nothing more, nothing less. If you´re looking for virtuosity displays, look somewhere else. Here the band is playing for the music.

The sound and filming are very good, with some quite creative using of editing. The band plays so good sometimes you might think they are actually mimicking to a CD, like you´d spect from a prog group (some bum notes here and there proves they are not!). On the down side I could point the absence of extras, the short time (but they actually play most of their better material) and the sadness of knowning the band broke up soon after this tour. I can only wonder how popular they could get if they stayed together and released at least one more album with this line up (Anne-Marie Helder was only added recently, even though it seems she was forever in the group judging her perfomance here).

One of the best DVDs in my collection. Great show and a must have for anyone who likes melodic prog music with a touch of celtic, new age and folk influences. The combination of fine songs, amazing vocals, thight musicanship and brilliant stage perfomance allows me no less than a 5 star rating. A classic!