AUDIO REVIEW
A breathtakingly excellent audience recording - a young lady apologises to the taper for knocking the microphone at the commencement..... in a very civilised manner.
Mark seems to call "Cab it up" and the ending of "Stock Replacer". Interestingly an early set outing for "Systematic" which is very good indeed - repetitive in a way only the gruppe can do it.
There appear to be some microphone problems at the beginning of "Grass" which are soon sorted, this is a very good performance with some excellent guitar/keyboard interplay with specifically Tim conjuring some very 60s guitar sounds. "My Door" sounds strangely dubby in places - the basses weaving a complex pattern behind mutant guitar noises - Mark is very clear and commands the listeners attention. A workmanlike "Pacifying" blends into a spirited and angry "Fall Sound".
Another lengthy "What About Us?" is characterised by the dominant presence of guitar and synth and rock steady drumming from Orpheo.
"Basingtoke....Victory Parade roundabout" and "marble and inches melting into the groups brain" form part of an extended intro to a very good "Wright Stuff" - unfortunately EPs vocals are little low on the verses. Some very good plectrum work from Tim adding a new dynamic/tremelo sound. "Sparta" features a caustic "English Football Fan you are a bunch of tw*ts" comment from Mark - quite aposite given contemporary events in Barcelona and elsewhere - an exceptional version by the by.
"Blindness" - a telephone trilling, howling, bass, drums and keys only intro builds up an immense near ten minutes version of audacious brilliance. Tension and release - chaos and rock steady beats all wrapped up in one succulent package. Such an immense version seems to have done it for Mark as when the band reappears for an encore its an instrumental version of "Reformation" with some fine note bending from Tim.
Excellent stuff
DVD REVIEW
Excellent audience capture from stage right - vision is restricted in parts due to the concrete pillars of the Fez Club, and a fag smoking chap obscuring the lens on odd occassions but generally a very good record of the band live.