HOPE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY, LIVE

Hope to see another gig

Believe's first DVD takes its title from their 2006 debut album. Although only released in mid-2008, the concert captured here actually took place in November 2007 in the Wyspiański Theater, Katowice, Poland. A lot has happened to the band since then, not least of which was the release of the stunning new album "Yesterday is a friend". We must though take a step back in time when watching this DVD, as plans for the new album were still in their early stages in late 2007.

Thus, this concert focuses on the debut album, with every track on "Hope to see another day" being performed. The gig is rounded out by one track, "Memories", from the then forthcoming album plus a reworking of "Beggar", a song originally recorded by Mirek Gil's former band Mr. Gil.

While the set only lasts for about 73 minutes, it is an absolute joy to watch and to listen to. The twin guitars of Gil and Tomek Rozcki are complemented by the orchestral keyboards of Adam Milosz. What differentiates the sound most though is the violin work of Satomi, who also graces the stage. Gil says in the accompanying interview that he felt they did not fully exploit the talents of Satomi on the first album, something which is addressed well by this live performance. On songs such as "What is love", the interplay between the guitars and the violin is magnificent, classical musician Satomi appearing perfectly at home in the rock environment.

While the music of Believe is inevitably classified as "neo-prog", there is so much more to it that it really demands a unique category of its own. There is no doubting the Floydian influences and the continuation of the groundwork laid by Collage, but there is also a contemporary feel to the work of Believe.

The bonus features include a 20 minute interview with Gil and Rozcki conducted in Polish with English subtitles. This was recorded just before the gig, and thus covers the period in the band's development up to that time. Some interesting snippets come out of the interview, especially about Satomi's then status in the band. Also included are audio only studio versions of two tracks from "Yesterday is a friend", the current album.

In all, an exemplary performance by the band which transfers well to DVD. Hopefully, a second DVD capturing the latest album will follow.

Incredible, what an amount of good and interesting progrock Poland has delivered in the last decade: Collage, Albion, Quidam, Indukti, Lizard, Satellite, Riverside, Osana Vida and 'non-PA bands' Hipgnosis, Moonrise and Nemezis. Recently we can add another band to this list: Believe, they made a wonderful debut CD entitled Hope To See Another Day in 2006, followed by the excellent album Yesterday Is A Friend (2008) and now we can enjoy a DVD release that contains a concert recorded in 2007. It was the Hope To See Another Day tour, the band played the entire album plus the songs Memories (on the forthcoming CD Yesterday Is A Friend) and Beggar, from the Mr. Gil album Alone, a project by Mirek Gil and released in 1998.

Believe makes pleasant modern progrock that sounds very melodic and harmonic, from dreamy to fluent mid-tempos and bombastic with a solid rhythm-section and tasteful keyboard work (from sparkling piano to lush Hammond organ and even a Keith Emerson oriented synthesizer solo in Coming Down). Singer/guitarplayer Tomek Rozycki delivers a lot of passion in his vocals, the often melancholical undertones remind me of early Bob Dylan. The female violinplayer Satomi Yasutaniya has a very classical style, her solos alternates between intense, swirling and cheerful and the interplay with the other musicans is splendid with a lot of emotion. But guitarplayer Mirek Gil is the focal point in Believe, his sound is very similar to his Rothery inspired work in Collage but he has matured, nowadays his guitarplay contains variety like 'bending', 'slide' and the use of the tremolo-arm, resulting in many compelling solos, from fiery to howling and the duo-guitarwork in Memories is beautiful. On this DVD you can enjoy an inspired band, an enthousiastic crowd (especially during the band presentation in the excellent track Coming Down), a good sound, varied camerawork, a beautiful lightshow and, last but not least, very good renditions of the Hope To See Another Day material (my favorites are Seven Days and the titletrack, what a great atmosphere).

I am absolutely delighted about this band, check out their new album Yester Day Is A Friend and this excellent new DVD, highly recommended!

Wow! Beautiful show! Great performance! Man, was I lucky to have a friend who showed me this DVD, because I was not very enthusiastic to see Believe on a concert recorded after their first album. I have that CD but I was not very impressed: Mirek Gil's guitar parts were fine as ever, the man is really one of Polland's most influential and original players. But I did not like the vocals (too grungy for my taste) and I thought the violin could be more prominent. Thankfully, those aspects were taken in consideration by the band, and the songs reveal their real potential during the course of the show: Tomek Rozycki is singing much better, with a more natural voice that works very well and Satomi's violin is very upfront. The result: something good becomes very good, bordering the excellence. And then, of course, you have Gil's beautiful, soulful, magic solos, in the best Hackett/Latimer/Gilmour tradition! No doubt he was responsible for much of the legendary Collage's famed sound.

Ok, the band does not move much, Tomek rarely talks to the audience, there are few props on the stage, but with such good musicians, tasteful arrangements and fine songwriting, you don't need nothing like that. I watched the video mesmerized by the music. Labeled as neo prog on PA, Believe has a sound of their own, hard to compare to anything. It's progressive, with strong symphonic leanings, and some neo, jazz, classical and hard rock influences. The sound was expertly recorded, everything is very well balanced and mixed. The lightning is superb and the acoustics are excellent. One of the best recorded concerts I've have seen lately.

The only down side is the short time (only 73 minutes). But what you buy is well worth every penny invested. If you know this band this is a must have., If you don't, then this is a good starting point to do so. This band has something special and I'm looking forward to hear their future works. Highly recommended!

well. My first approach to Believe.

Band created by Satellite,s guitarist.

In my oppinion nowadays is often that bands created by a particular musician of other consagrated bands try to plasmate their original creations.

What I heard I didn,t like at all.

I love neo prog bands with remarkable keyboards. But here is only a far company.

So guitar is more important. But guitar melodies and arrangements are not original at all. I can listen to David Gilmour mixed with Pendragon,s guitarist.

The music of this band in my oppinion does not offer nothing new . This is,in my oppinion, a band in the shadow of Quidam(the greatest polish prog band),with touches of Pink Floyd and Pendragon.

A little folk prog rock or folk pop prog.

A value to add definitely is the violin

As the title suggests, this live DVD reprises the debut album by premier league Polish neo prog - or "art rock" as leader-guitarist Mirek Gil seems to prefer - band. I was going to add that this at times heavy and grungy album proved to be atypical as the band's legacy has expanded over a decade and a half, but in fact all BELIEVE albums have shattered the templates that others may have unimaginatively laid out for them. This was readily apparent on the sophomore release "Yesterday is a Friend", that had been mostly completed at the time of the concert, which featured one of its many sparkling numbers as a preview, "Memories". In addition, the band digs back into the MR GIL catalog, which at the time included only the one album, "Alone", to present a revitalized version of "Beggar".

One of the extras on the DVD is an interview with Mirek Gil and vocalist Tomek Rozycki, which was recorded earlier on concert day, and these two old COLLAGE bandmates talk about how BELIEVE came to be and how they, while a successor to COLLAGE in some obvious respects, are also about the organic development of a unique sound, for which considerable credit is given to Japanese classically trained violinist Satomi. They even express some regret for not exploiting her talents fully on that first album. It is clear from the DVD that Satomi also augments the stage visuals of the band with her contrasting look amidst the middle aged men all about her. Whatever restraint may have been applied in the studio, for whatever reason, she is all over this concert, presaging how much her influence would be brought to bear on "Yesterday is Friend". As a result, this live momento largely eclipses the studio work, particularly on "Don't Tell Me", which segues from tender ballad to one of Gil's most blistering solos while somehow remaining balladic. Both "Memories" and "Beggar" benefit from being outside the at times downbeat atmosphere of the others, and in fact in the interview Rozycki alludes to the upcoming album as having a lighter touch.

The band's stage presence, while appropriately serious for this type of music, seems more delicate and yet paradoxically more ponderous than most of their contemporaries and than the album from which most selections are drawn. The last couple of tracks, particularly "Coming Down", attempt to resurrect audience participation but the exercise is largely futile as it's one of the weaker numbers and it doesn't help that the polite spectators haven't heard it before and aren't sold on the part they are asked to play. It's the type of artificially expanded number that has diminished 63% of live recordings, which is a metric I propose without precision or proof.

An additional bonus is audio of two more superb songs from the next album. Obviously no blank check was involved in the production of the DVD but Metal Mind productions does an admirable job of working within those constraints. This is an intimate live snapshot of a creative group at an early stage, who have probably lived to see many more days than they could have ever imagined.