GOING OFF ON ONE

A very good concert of one of prog´s most insightful and talented songwriters with a stellar backing band. How could he go wrong? Andy Tillson may no have one of the most stage presence in the world, in fact he rarely faces the crowd while playing and singing, but that does not mean he is not capable of a great perfomance. In fact, it is amazing how he can handle such difficult keyboards passages and still sing those long and elaborated lyrics without messing up now and then.The man is truly a genious.

But The Tangent also has some of prog´s best musicians nowadays including solo artist like Guy Manning (acoustic guitar and vocals) and members of The Flower Kings, past and present: Jonas Reingold (bass) and Jaime Salazar (Drums). Newcomers Krster Jonsson (electric guitar) and Theo Travis (Flute and Sax) may not be that famous, but they can handle pretty well the parts done by such prog legends like Roine Stolt and Hgh Jackson. This is no small feat.

The show was recorded in a small club in England, which gives the intimate enviroment required for a dedicated audience of fans that were lucky enough to be there at the moment. The band delivers a briliant performance. Big, epic songs like In ?arnest, with its 20 miinutes of many changes and shifting moods are done like the group was playing forever. It is very pleasant to see those guys doing live as good as they are in the studio. The Tangent functions as a big whole unit, with no ego trips and everybody seems to be doing it for the music. And the music is elaborated and eclectic (Yes being the obvious influence) and still they are smooth and accessible. One fo prog´s best symphonic bands of the new millenium now has a fitting live DVD. Highly recommended!