SCREENS LIVE IN LONDON

Screens is the DVD recording of a Panic Room gig filmed at Islington Assembly Hall, London, on 16/10/2016. The gig was planned, and the entire project commissioned, with a Pledge Music campaign by the band. Those readers of this review wishing to purchase this fine piece of work should note that it is only available from the band direct at www.panicroom.org.

Panic Room have released five consistently excellent albums now since their inception out of the ashes of another South Wales band, Karnataka. At their heart are the excellent vocalist Anne-Marie Helder, whose work with Mostly Autumn will be familiar to many, Jonathan Edwards on keyboards, and Gavin Griffiths on drums, also of Mostly Autumn vintage.

The band is completed by two superb musicians. Dave Foster's marvellous riff on gig opener, Into Temptation, gives the viewer a foretaste of a superb performance, whilst the band have enjoyed the services for a while now of one of the finest bass exponents in modern progressive rock in Yatim Halimi. That these two also play with The Steve Rothery Band should give you an idea of their expertise.

The DVD itself is sumptuously packaged, and the filming by Toward Infinity, responsible for work with Marillion, amongst others, more than does justice to the occasion. There is also a bonus disc, which is more interesting than most, featuring the intro to the gig by the venerable Jerry Ewing of Prog magazine, three more live tracks, and an 'access all areas' feature of the band in rehearsals, amongst other jaunts.

Panic Room are a band clearly in their element live. As with the studio albums, the sheer breadth of their music shines through. The playing is never anything less than tight, and we are treated to a fair old mixture from hard rocking, to melodious love songs, to progressive symphonic rock, to lush middle eastern soundscapes. For early evidence of a band utterly in tune with each other, witness Screens, which is as fine an ensemble piece as you will see and hear. It is perhaps unfair to single out anyone, but Halimi thunders along on this, playing a massive bass riff to a wonderfully dark Edwards key lead.

As with all films of gigs, the DVD really needs to be watched from start to finish. There are twenty-two tracks in total, nineteen on the first, main, feature. As with all gigs, though, there are standout highlights which deserve special mention in a review, and I will touch on some of these.

The gig features my favourite track of the 2010's in Start the Sound. From the wonderful album, Incarnate, this track is as good a piece of melodic progressive rock as you will have the pleasure of witnessing. By heaven, Helder sounds joyous on this, and Foster plays a lovely understated solo. As he quietly plays the denouement following Edwards delicate keys, you stare at the screen, boggled at the beauty of what you have heard. I also appreciate deeply the political comment element that the band bring to their music. Yasuni is a fine piece centred around the scandalous oil drilling in Ecuador's National Park. Dust is an emotional rollercoaster of a rocker which tells the tragic story of airstrikes dropping chemical weapons in Syria on children. This track is every bit as good as Gaza, Marillion's opener on Sounds That Can't Be Made, and the intensity of it leaves you stunned. The combination of honest lyrics, combined with fine musicianship speaks volumes for the maturity in a band which I always look for. Anyone can sing about boy meets girl, boy shags girl, & etc. A band such as Panic Room deserves the progressive community's support for this social comment set to outstanding music, in the finest tradition of the genre.

They do, though, also play some rather catchy stuff. Some call it 'commercial'. I just call it mighty fine. A recent review in The Times of boxsets by ELP & King Crimson described them, rightly, as, ahem, 'difficult'. The same review then suggested, as a Christmas box, that the non-progger partner in your life might prefer the superb Big Big Train, as an example of how modern progressive rock bands can also play, er, tunes. Panic Room are in that vein and in that quality. For no better example, I give you the quite beautiful Firefly, a ballad wonderfully sung, accompanied by piano and acoustic guitar.

Tightrope Walking is one of those tracks with wider world influences, and reminds one of Kashmir in parts. Helder plays hand drums on this, and the orchestral keys are very atmospheric.

Skin is classic Panic Room, melodic and played at a deceptively quiet intensity.

In the gig closer, Satellite, the band have one of the finest anthemic songs ever put to record. It is simply one of those songs which demands the lowering of the lights, the volume cranked up to the max, and a damned fine singalong.

This is an excellent film, and I enjoyed every minute.

On Prog Archives, we are obliged to provide a rating. Well, for existing fans such as I, this is simply essential. For those of you who are tempted to begin a Panic Room journey, it is quite an excellent way to start said road. If we had such a rating, 4.5. I am rounding it up to the maximum five for two reasons. First, I am allowed to, and, second, it really deserves no less. Very highly recommended.