THRESHOLD OF A DREAM - LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT 1970

The Moody Blues was at the top of their fame when they performed in the famous Isle of Wight festival in 1970. They had just released Question of Balance, their fifth album. Are the expectations for this DVD fulfilled? Hmm, probably, but it could be better. Technical quality is pretty good for that age, though the camera work is not anyhow remarkable. Also for the band's behalf the visual side of the show is nothing special, nor it tries to be. Even the contact with the vast audience is a bit distant. I haven't seen other MB concerts of the old times to compare this to, but in the light of the live CD's I've heard, they always sound much better in the studio albums - naturally. (That's why I'm not so keen on their shows. I was glad to see this once but no need to return to this later.)

The set contains something from all the five albums, though clearly more from the then latest album plus Days Of Future Passed ('Tuesday Afternoon', 'The Sunset' and 'Nights in White Satin') than the three others. A very unnecessary track is at least 'Tortoise and the Hare'. Otherwise the track list is quite ordinary with hits such as 'Never Comes the Day', Pinder's 'Melancholy Man', Ray Thomas number 'Legend of a Mind' and the encore 'Ride My See-Saw'. Good stuff, even if I could easily name several missing songs that might have been fresher highlights.

Approximately 20 minutes of the contents (that leaves about an hour for the concert itself) is archive material of the festival and band members' thoughts of it nearly 30 years later. An interesting moment is Mike Pinder's demonstration of the mechanics of Mellotron! Graeme Edge is given the last word; he cites the poem 'Late Lament' which ends up the debut album. The man may look much older but the voice is very much the same. The collector of the band must have this DVD, for others a one-time viewing is satisfactory, if you can borrow it from a library for example.

This DVD finally charmed me to appreciate the classic progressive rock material of this group. I have always been fascinated to see vintage performance films, giving a deeper impression of the musicians and the age of their time. First part of the film focuses to later time interviews of the group members, but skipping forward in tracks the real treasure is revealed, an uninterrupted document of the Isle of Wight concert, enhanced with nice footage from the festival area. Gig opens dynamically, introducing immediately the key strengths of the band's late 1960's & early 1970's creative phase; Strong melancholic and catching melodies, professional song writing abilities, deeply emotional approach and the Mellotrons fighting desperately to stay in tune. The song selection fitted very well to my own taste, and the romantic approach manifested in their group name and their early 1960's rhythm & blues style, had developed in these times neatly as thoughtful and warm-hearted hippie art rock. The film editor has had really good insight in my opinion, there are some very beautiful sequences focusing to the audience included. In the wonderful song "The Sunset" there are pretty poetic visions of that time generation, witnessed by the sun as they together walk towards the yesterday's tomorrow. Their most appreciated tune from the end of "Days of Future Passed" LP is given here a neat treatment, along with "Tuesday Afternoon", "Melancholy Man" and also the curious Timothy Leary song "Legend of A Mind". Like said in somewhat this manner at the interviews; "...Searching some kind of enlightenment, it's a worthy occupation of a young man". I also noted that the releaser has distributed official material from this film to YouTube. I find it pleasing that instead of banning unofficial clips they deliver fine quality promotion available from this fine and recommendable concert film to the potential purchasers.

Superb historical document

This documentary/concert video is a wonderful time capsule of The Moody Blues' performance at the Isle of Wight Festival, one of the most legendary of the counter-culture rock festivals of the day. This really is the whole package for the Moodies fan. It's a mixture of documentary and live performance. In the beginning it cuts between music and interview with band members talking about their career and memories of the gig. We get some explanation and instruction on the Mellotron and how they employed it with keyboard enthusiasts would enjoy. It begins with a recitation of Threshold lyrics against shots of the young people, while some may find it cheesy I thought it worked.

After the first section it cuts more to full songs without interruption, and as the sun sets over 600,000 people, it is a wonderful experience to kick back in your living room and take in the Moodies and the intoxicating festival vibe. They cover all of their hits of course but I most enjoyed a song called "Meloncholy Man" which they dedicated to a groupie. The sound quality is adequate for 1970 although challenged by today's standards. The video is just beautifully done, it looks like it was taken 10 minutes ago. Good shots, good vantage points, nice mixed in shots of the crowd and scene. The performance itself is a bit sloppy in places, and let's face it, a big festival PA is not the ideal circumstances to see a group as refined as the Moodies. But what gets lost from the circumstances is more than made up for by catching a classic band in their prime....youthful determination overcomes much. They commented on this during the interviews....that at that time they were not businessmen yet, no houses, families, or other things to worry about. They had each other and their music and they took it very seriously. It shows. This is why I love concerts of the great bands in their early years despite the sound quality issues. There is nothing like seeing the great when they still were a "band of brothers" as Waters puts it, when what they were doing was so much less scripted and so fresh.

Probably not an essential DVD for most proggers, but certainly a no-brainer for Moodies fans.

'A pioneering Mellotron sound.'

The UK Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970 was an exciting answer to the USA Woodstock Festival in 1969. Because the line-up featured many great bands that didn't perform on Woodstock, including a bunch of excellent progressive bands, from ELP and Jethro Tull to Procol Harum and The Doors. Also interesting was the flood of formations from the socalled Early British Progressive Rock Movement: Black Widow, Pentangle, Gracious!, Fairfield Parlour and Supertramp, performing their debut LP. But the top band in 1970 was The Moody Blues, with their many Top 10 singles and albums. They were announced as 'one of the best bands in the world!', and indeed, artistically and commercially The Moody Blues were at their peak, promoting their new album entitled Question Of Balance in that year.

The Moody Blues were one of the pioneering progressive rock bands in the late Sixties, along with The Nice, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd, Colosseum and King Crimson. They delivered a serie of top notch albums between 1967 and 1970, all with high rankings. One of the prime movers was Mike Pinder: he had worked 1,5 years at Streetly Electronics, the Mellotron producing factory (for quality control and as test driver). He introduced this legendary vintage keyboard in the sound of The Moody Blues, from that moment the Mellotron could be used as a solo instrument. Like the Hammond organ with the Leslie speaker and later the Minimoog synthesizer with the pitchbend button, legendary and unique sounds! The Mellotron also delivered an extensive 'palet de sonor' for The Moody Blues their music, with the brass -, flute ' and violin-section. So The Moody Blues were pioneers with the Mellotron its unique and varied sound, since their album Days Of Future Passed from 1967 (till Pinder left in 1978). Soon many bands and artists decided to use or buy a Mellotron. Especially famous bands, like The Beatles and their legendary flute Mellotron notes on Strawberry Fields Forever. And the Rolling Stones with eerie sounding violins on the psychedelic 2000 Light-Years From Home. But The Moody Blues will always be remembered as the first band that fully used the Mellotron as an instrument. And this live DVD is an awesome registration of the omnipresent Mellotron in The Moody Blues their sound in the second half of the Sixties.

It contains 20 chapters, the first 8 chapters (at about 20 minutes) feature stories from band members about the early days, memories of the festival, 'flower power' and the Mellotron, embellished with nice early footage. A colourful intro to the registration of a memorable gig, according to the band 'perhaps their best live performance'. As I stated in previous reviews 'the best bands sound even better on stage', and indeed, The Moody Blues sound more powerful, dynamic and raw than on their studio-albums, this gives the music an extra dimension. Especially the Mellotron shines with its distinctive and majestic sound, it's also awesome to watch that wonderful mahogany, furniture-like keyboard named the Mellotron Mark II.

On that legendary night the atmosphere was electric, this had fuelled The Moody Blues their inspiration and generated an unique chemistry between the musicians. They presented their wonderful and varied blend of styles, layered with the unsurpassed Mellotron. From fragile with twanging acoustic guitar and delicate flute work in the tender Tuesday Afternoon to swinging rock with their distinctive vocal harmonies in Tortoise And The Rare. And from a catchy rhtyhm guitar with halfway emotional vocals and Mellotron in Question to psychedelic in the Mellotron drenched Sunset (embellished with beautiful images of the festival and a real sunset). The excellent rendition of their worldwide hit Nights In White Satin features powerful and emotional vocals, and the band plays in the dark of the night. And the tribute to Timothy Leary entitled Legend Of A Mind delivers strong vocals and flute work by Ray Thomas, along layers of The Mighty Tron.

But my absolute highlight is Melancholy Man (dedicated to festival manager Rikki Farr): great shots taken from the backstage area, on Mike Pinder playing his Mellotron and in the background the massive crowd. He does also a very good job as the vocalist with his emotional outbursts, perfectly matching with the moving atmosphere. This is topped by Pinder his use of the pitch control of the Mellotron (see my avatar), evoking a mindblowing psychedelic sound, goose bumps!

The 'encore' is the cheerful and dynamic Ride My See Saw, the images are taken from the festival performance and a wide range of gigs between 1965 and 1993. Really a very fine compilation and goodbey from the band, the crowd loved it.

On this DVD it's not about visuals and stage antics, no lasers, Boeing landing lights, pyro-technics, screen projections or flower masks and painted faces. In fact The Moody Blues are very close to their R&B roots, with the focus on purity and emotion, feeling honoured to be on the festival and eager to please the fans. That is a simple and honest attitude, you can feel it while watching, five skilled and inspired musicians, enjoying to be on stage and sharing their music with the crowd. For me a very moving experience, also due to Mike Pinder his omnipresent Mellotron work, breathtaking.