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: : Evening Dreams Live 2005 : :
For only producing two albums, Satellite has put out some of the best
progressive music out today. This DVD proves that without a doubt, these
guys can pull it off live. From the first notes of this concert, you
realize that this is a serious force to be reckoned with in progressive
music. These are seasoned professionals, being that three of the four
members are formerly with Collage. This definitely shows in their
performance. Each of the members is an excellent musician in their own
right, and when you combine them all together, the whole really is
greater than the sum of its parts.
The first song played live is “Never Never”, from their most recent (and
superb) album “Evening Games”. It is performed flawlessly; sounding just
like the track did on the album. This flows smoothly into the next song
“Evening Games”, which is just as uplifting and anthemic as it is on the
album. The chorus “One for tomorrow, and one for today, dreams…
shattered memories, of my evening games” is just as majestic as it
sounds on the disc. Every member has their time to shine on this song,
from Robert Amirian’s soaring vocals, to Krzys Palczewski’s beautiful
keyboard solos, Wojtek Szadkowski’s brilliant drumming, and Sarhan
Kubeisi’s stellar guitar work. I don’t know how many times I have to say
it, but this band is dead on to what was on the album.
After “Evening Games”, they take a moment to introduce all the members,
and jump right into the next song, “Fight”. This song is a great
motivational song from the beginning, with the first lyrics being
“Fight, don’t lose your hope, don’t lose your mind”. This segues
seamlessly into “Evening Wind”. This band is so polished (forgive the
pun) that it took me a little while to believe that they didn’t lip-sync
the whole thing. What amazes me the most is that they just started
rehearsing in June, played three shows in their native Poland, and
recorded this live DVD at one of them. By watching it, you’d never guess
they hadn’t been touring for years. No doubt that these guys are
professionals.
In the beginning you can tell that the band is still a little uneasy
with being on stage, but that’s only visual, you’d never guess by
listening to the music. As the concert progresses, you can see the band
relaxing a bit, with Sarhan Kubeisi even wandering back and playing next
to Wojtek for a while.
Before “Beautiful World”,
Robert Amirian points out that this song is dedicated to the
schoolchildren of Beslan, Russia, who were killed when they were held
hostage for three days inside their school. The lyrics are very
poignant, and the music keeps with the Satellite tradition, rocking
through the whole song, and finally culminates into a fantastic drum
solo between Sarhan Kubeisi and Wojtek Szadkowski.
The highlight for me… other than everything… is seeing “Evening
Overture” performed live. This is one of my favorite songs ever
recorded, and you can tell that the band enjoys it too. How could you
not?
After the short but sweet song “Children”, the band leaves the stage…
only to get called back for an encore (not surprisingly!). They play the
title track from their debut album, “A Street Between Sunrise and
Sunset”, much to the delight of the audience. Once again, Sarhan sets
down his guitar and backs up Wojtek on the drums. They really do need
two drumsets for parts of their music. This is the part of the DVD where
you can tell that the band is officially having fun. After bowing and
walking off stage again, they immediately return for yet another encore,
reprising the title track from their second album, “Evening Games”.
This DVD is perfect in every way. The music is excellent, the theater is
beautiful, the video and sound quality is unbelievable, and the extras
are great as well. There is a bonus music-video style clip of “Love is
Around You”, as well as a two-part documentary showing the band
rehearsing and preparing for the shows.
If you’re looking for an extremely professional DVD depicting one of the
premier prog bands, then this is definitely it! This is a very nice
teaser of what’s going to come at RoSfest 2006, and I, personally, can’t
wait.
Rating:
9.5/10
Reviewer: Loucke
: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :
: : Discography : :
A Street Between
Sunset and Sunrise - 2003
Evening Games - 2005
ALBUM OF THE MONTH
FEBRUARY 2006 |
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