LIVING IN THE MOONLIGHT

Whatever one might say of COLLAGE, there is little denying that they energized the Polish and international prog scene in the mid 1990s with their "Moonshine" album, the booming over reverbed echo of which we can still hear a quarter century later. I'll go further by reaching back before COLLAGE to say that, while they were certainly influenced by the MARILLION axis in addition to the classics from the 1970s, they actually co-opted the neo bands' strengths and magnified them, while dispensing with the froth. True they replaced it with their own overwrought take but at least they knew how to concoct a memorable melody that you might hum all the way home and still remember the next day, and the day after that, or 25 years later.

"Moonshine" apparently came together in some magical way that no band members can really explain, and was a decade in the making. While touring to promote the album, they had been a support gig for bands like FISH and SHADOWLAND, but when the latter stood arms folded backstage after a COLLAGE set, forced to choose between humiliating themselves onstage or offstage, it was clear COLLAGE had attained headline status. The "Living in the Moonlight" DVD chronicles the group transitions and much much more, in 240 minutes which, while not all required viewing, represent a momentous slice of the all too short but savory COLLAGE history.

The main event is a television concert recorded in April 1996, featuring two tracks from their debut "Basnie", one from their John Lennon tribute album, one from the "new" disc at the time, "Safe", and EVERYTHING from "Moonshine". The band is largely able to reproduce their massive studio sound on the stage, though some of the fat is naturally melted off. The main players from a visual perspective are vocalist/acoustic guitarist Robert Amirian with his massive locks that had been catapulted from 1974 time capsule just in time for the show; guitarist Mirek Gil with his expressive Fripp meets Hackett lines; and Wojtek Szadkowski's manic expressive drumming. Of course, with COLLAGE the keys confer a spacey ambiance throughout.

The "Basnie" material in Polish suffers from being various lineups removed from its origins, and they failed to make a convincing case for the length of "In Your Eyes" yet again, but the rest is just wow, in particular the pop-prog title cut; the sweepingly epic "Wings in the Night", which is probably the greatest song from the extended COLLAGE-SATELLITE-BELIEVE family; the menacing "Moonshine"; and the folky "War is Over".

One flaw in the TV performance is the almost total absence of an audience dynamic, but, if that's what you want, the bonus bootleg quality concert from a year earlier might deliver, though I find the crowd chatter and poor quality far more distracting. Still, it was available so why not? More valuable is the set of traditional music videos of 4 tracks, in particular "Midnight Flyer" from several years before with a prior vocalist and more harmonies than you would ever expect based on the concert footage. It's surprisingly fresh and comes off like a sneer-less QUEEN. Finally, several interviews with the three most prominent members are offered, recorded in either the late 1990s or early 2000s, after the band essentially broke up but presumably before SATELLITE had been formed. Priceless anecdotes are shared generously, a few of which I have touched upon earlier. They are in Polish with English subtitles.

This is as comprehensive an audio visual document of these legends as one could hope to find, and is recommended for fans of COLLAGE, neo prog, or those fascinated by the intersection of creativity and chemistry and its miraculous repercussions, particularly in prog. This will help you forget that you started watching in mid afternoon and were lying in the moonlight long before the final credits rolled.