ROADBURN LIVE 2008

Diagonal Cross At Roadburn 2008

Diagonal Live recording from 2008 but released in 2022 it is great example of the great live sound of this band, Diagonal plays a 70's kind of Jazz-Prog- Canterbury avant-garde and psychedelic rock. the bands plays great live and it is a great journey to listen. Diagonal's musicianship stood out for its intricate compositions, driven by a mix of mellotrons, guitars, and saxophones.

Always leading by Alex Crispín who sings and plays keyboards also mix the record. The band showcased their ability to switch effortlessly between time signatures and moods, creating a sound that was both hypnotic and energetic. Tracks like "Semi Permeable Men-Brain" left the crowd in awe, with swirling guitar solos and impressive interplay between instruments. Their music felt as if it was constantly evolving, never staying in one place too long, but still maintaining a cohesive and captivating structure.

A standout moment was when the band unleashed a lengthy instrumental jam, where each member seemed to push their instrument to its limits. The saxophone solos, in particular, soared over the dense layers of sound, adding an unexpected but welcome avant-garde edge to their performance. The audience was visibly entranced, caught between the band's relentless energy and the calm moments that gave just enough breathing room before plunging back into their intricate compositions.

Overall, Diagonal's performance at Roadburn was a highlight for fans of progressive music, showing that they were not just a band reviving old sounds, but one pushing boundaries with modern creativity.

DIAGONAL released their self titled album back in 2008 and followed that up with a lot of live gigging. This "Roadburn Live" album is an important document as to how incredible this band was in a live setting. Recorded in April of 2008 this seven piece band was on fire. Sax player Nick Whittaker commented "I remember that was one of the shows where everything just clicked. We were playing live a lot at that time and you can really hear how tight we were in both the written and improvised sections. We'd recorded the debut a few months earlier and we were so confident with the songs and how to get the most out of them on stage."

If you don't have their first two albums you really need to check them out. They are very different from each other though. This is such a talented band with Alex Crispin leading the way on keyboards and vocals. Essentially we have two guitarists, two keyboardists, bass, drums and sax. As far as the keyboards go, Crispin plays farfisa organ while Ross Hasek adds synths. This is a 43 minute album that contains the whole debut album less the over 7 minute "Deathwatch" which was replaced with the previously unreleased "Heavy Language" at almost 7 minutes. This recording is archival, not being released until 2022 and it was mixed and mastered by Alex Crispin.

The love for this one was immediate, not so surprisingly given my appreciation for their debut. They combined the first two songs from that debut "Semi Permeable Menbrain" and "Child Of The Thundercloud" for an awesome 20 minute ride to get us started. Man, I am so into the vocals and sound here. The closer "Pact" at almost 11 minutes is just about as good. If the two shorter pieces were more my thing I'm going 5 stars. But they aren't. They are both shorter at 7 and 5 minutes but both are also fairly abrasive with that guitar style. I even thought of Italians GARDEN WALL when I first heard "Cannon Misfire". Both are good, but not great.

Luke Foster needs to be mentioned on drums along with his rhythm partner Daniel Pomlett on bass. I'm sure this show would have been talked about for months. The added sax along with the farfisa and vocals would have made this band's sound somewhat unique at the Roadburn festival. And this is a very 70's sounding performance. Easily 4 stars.