LIVE AT NEARFEST 2000

Well, usually We judge the grandeur- as well as the skill and powerful performance regarding a prog band- on the basis of a great execution and a remarkable "coreography" live on stage...while here- apart from the poor mix- I'm a little bit disturbed by the keyboard-player, as it seems He tries to emulate Keith Emerson only (sometimes almost stealing some sampling tunes and the typical approach at the organ by the English artist) and remain not satisfied also when the ouptut is so different from the performance at the Recording Studio. In fact, when I think of their best album "Metanoia" I'm a little perplex about their execution live, especially because They are not able to add anything new or really astonishing in the solos...probably such defect is due to the fact They don't perform so many recordings live (this is their unique album recorded on stage that I know). Instead I'm satisfied when I listen to the female vocalist (as much good as She's in her performance with Nexus within the Studio albums), even though I can't hear almost anything of what She' singing during her "act", perhaps because the bad mix of the present live recording is able to ruin her vocalims a bit!!.

Nevermind at the end, if a fun of the band can appreciate a number of classics regarding them, but in my opinion They are too much 70's oriented also in the sound, even though it could be a minor defect for the "die-hard" fans of this Argentinian ensemble...ok I prefer another South American band (especially live), called "Sagrado Coracao da Terra", which is perfect during their gigs (this time a Brazilian group), but I quite appreciate Nexus as well!!

Non-essential, but good product that should be re-mastered once again, in my opinion!!

Live at Nearfest 2000 is the last part of the brilliant Nexus trilogy with female vocals by Mariela Gonzalez. It gives us a thorough insight of how good the band really are, since in all their albums they claim not to use computer and sequencing devices to boost their playing quality. So here we can check out their true playing qualities. Well, let me assure you, that they won't disappoint you.

Recorded between their first album "Detras del Umbral" (1999) and their second album "Metanoia" (2001), this concert shows for the larger parts renditions of compositions of their first album, but it also gives a short look in the kitchen of the band, since they also play work from their second album.

The first part of the concert is entirely filled with material from "Detras del Umbral" and concludes with one of Nexus most beautiful songs "Endless Dream" (Sueño Infinito) well sung by Mariela and supplied with a beautiful guitar solo by Carlos Lucena, who proves to be a great guitarist on stage as well.

The two parts of the concerts are separated by a keyboard intervention by Nexus' main man Lalo Huber. It is a bit Emerson-like although not of the same technical virtuosity and a nice moment for the listener to lay back for a while. I enjoyed listening to it a lot.

In the second part of the concert the listener gets acquainted for the first time with music from the new Metanoia album. Title track "Metanoia" is already very close to what you will get on the studio version and this shows the great perfectionism of the band. Then it's back again to the music of "Detras del Umbral" with a great rendition of the over 13 minutes lasting "Symbols in the Sky" showing once more the improvisational talents of guitarist Carlos Lucena. The keyboardsounds are all of the same fullness and warmth as they are on the studio versions.

This live album is a great opportunity to check out the music of Nexus, that is caracterised by warm harmonies and beautiful melodies, embedded in more than excellent arrangements. I think that this live albume, like its two studio companions, should be in every true proglovers collection. The sound quality is good and the playing is excellent and so the five stars are all well-deserved !!

Erik de Beer