LIVE AT PROGDAY 2009

Here's a little band from New Jersey that have the same amount of DVD'S than CD'S. A band that resurface from the prog scene after 12 years when they did their Reunion Concert in 2008, that contains earlier materials and tracks from the acclaim Narrow-Caster's CD. The band is centered around the vocalist-keyboardist George Dobbs, who's voice reminded me of Ray Weston from Echolyn, as the music at times. The band offer a good variety in their set list here, with some ballads songs, other much heavier songs, and a little jazz influence. Some vocals performance shows a Gentle Giant's influence; the song "Dancing Over Scarlet Mist"

It's impressive to see that this independent band has present this show on a Blu-Ray with a nice picture quality and a good stereo sound. It's a outdoor show in front of a bunch people, unfortunately. There is not light show, only the beautiful "light of the day" and the surrounding trees. They played a 90 minutes concert covering their 3 CD'S and a nice cover of "Me and Sarah Jane" from Genesis.

I enjoyed the performance in general, but not all songs, my favorite tracks were "Apophenia", "Free For All" for the catchy groove, "Live this Forever" and "13". I was surprised that the band didn't played one of their best song of The Narrow-Coaster's CD, "The Last Gasp".

In conclusion, without breaking any new ground in the progressive rock music scene, 3rdegree deliver some nice music and i am happy to know that they have already some news tracks done for a new CD coming in the near future.

It's worth 3.6 stars.

While less "interesting" than their 2007 The Reunion Concerts DVD/Blu-ray, LIVE AT PROGDAY 2009 marks a high point in the history of 3RDegree and because of their success in "landing" this particularly important yearly concert festival, it's no wonder they captured it in a multi-camera shoot with a mobile recording truck handled by Orion Sound Studios' and ProgDay regular, Mike Potter. The set list features a debut of 3 tracks 3 whole years before the studio album (The Long Division) they eventually ended up being on. They also play Genesis' "Me & Sarah Jane" announcing it in a very humorous manner, telling the prog rock crowd the song will be from the much maligned ABACAB album where the crowd is understandably cool but is then reassured from the stage that it would be a good song from that particular album! Since the band presented at this show was a quartet, not the 5-piece band on THE REUNION CONCERTS 2 years earlier, the sound is a bit rawer but well recorded and played with good spirit. A passionate performance by lead vocalist George Dobbs is a highlight.

If you've been to the 15 year+ ProgDay in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this DVD/Blu-ray is a very good example of a set from that concert festival. Crowd is subdued and shown sparingly. Camera shots capture the show quite well. One camera is fixed on the drummer and another camera is handheld on stage getting up close and personal. A few angles from the crowd round out the presentation.

I give a 5 star review to this video because it is well recorded and well edited and since it's an outdoor concert it is very clear in its 1080i HD fidelity. The band is obviously very happy to be there and play a sincere if not perfect show.