REAL TIME (ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL)

Most bands that reform and then play their 30+ year old material sound sad. However VDGG are not most bands. This set is brilliant on so many levels it is difficult to know where to start. The sound is fantastic,digital recordings reveal a power in this music that vinyl just could not capture. The music mostly sounds fresh and vital despite its age. This live recording has a few warts in so much as Jaxon fluffs a number of passages and there are a few bum notes but that just adds to the atmosphere and confirms that this is a real live recording not a doctored one. This is also a very well balanced set with almost all VDGG LP's having a least two tracks represented. For me the best number is "lemmings" always a favorite this version captures the essence of the pawns heart set and proves if proof was needed that Vdgg can craft an excellent progressive rock number and reproduce it live. The two tracks from the latest LP are worked into the set but sound more like Peter Hammill solo tracks rather than VDGG tracks from the classic period. Even so they are worthwhile outings. Despite this being a double CD release I found that the sound held up well and there was only a few moments when I felt fatigued by the sound. On the minus side the music is prehaps a little to tightly reproduced with no hint of jamming or the kind of on stage understanding that a long run of live gigs always produced in this band. This is the first outing of the newly reconstituted VDGG and so this is forgivable. Those who have heard the new three piece lineup will know what I mean when I say that the current live sets are looser and in some respects better than this excellent but safe run through of the material. All of the tracks are preformed well but the very best tracks "Childlike Faith in childhoods end", "Refugees" which is taste full and heart felt , the aforementioned "Lemmings" and "wondering" which ends with a reprise of the first few bars of "undercover man". This is a great live recording and deserves a place in any well rounded collection of prog and for that reason it must get all five ( in retrospect that is one star to many ) stars although in deserves a little less than some classic that receive full marks. This is the VDGG live LP we have waited 30 years for and it is worth every penny of the entrance fee. BUY !!