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Flower Kings... Extremely Live and in top form in Holland ..

Duke | New Zealand | 10/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having grown up on Genesis and Rush (with a healthy helping of Kansas / Jethro Tull) during the late 70's and early 80's, Marillion (ably supported in my collection by Simple Minds, Big Country, Waterboys and U2) in the Mid 80's and King's X / Dream Theater in the 90's, the mid to late 90's were a time of "resurgence of "Prog Rock" with Spock's Beard and these guys, The Flower Kings.

This is the Double Live DVD / CD Set from their Tilburg/Holland show on April 19th, 2006 in support of the "Paradox Hotel" Double CD.
The band ... Roine Stolt (Vocals, Guitar), Hasse Froberg, (Guitar, Vocals, Percussion), Marcus Liliequist (Drums), Jonas Reingold (bass, guitar, bass pedals), Tomas Bodin (keyboards), put on a tremendous show. It is clear that they are confident in support of one of their best studio CD's ever (9 of the 17 tracks come from "Paradox"). I think whenever a band is super confident of their latest album (think Genesis "Duke", Rush "Moving Pictures") the show is superb and contains a bulk load of material from that album.

The band, have, to me, never sounded so passionate and energized. The opening track, "Paradox Hotel" absolutely rocks and the next three tracks effortlessly weave into one another and are stunning performances ("Hit me with a hit" (also from Paradox"), "Last minute on Earth" (from "Rainmaker" (`01)) is a stellar version, much better than the studio version, "Eyes of the World" (from "Stardust We are" ('97)) picks up midway thru the song and is brilliantly performed. Next up is "Jealousy" (from "Paradox"), a great version of "If God is all alone" (from "Paradox"), a tremendous instrumental (the drums and Bass are fantastic) "Pioneers of Aviation" (from "Paradox"), a well played 10 minute version of "Love Supreme" ("Adam and Eve" ('04)) with Disc (CD and DVD) One closing out with a tremendous 20 minute version of "Truth will set you free" ("Behold the future" ('02)).

Disc Two starts with the brilliant guitar workout "Touch my heaven", the Pink Floydish "Mommy leave the light on" (think "Mother" from "The Wall"), "End on a high note" (this version is 10 out of 10 - stunning a real classic and "Life will kill you" (all from "Paradox" ('06)). The set closer is a ripping version of "I am the sun" ("Space Revolver" ('00)). The first of three encores follows "Blade of Cain" ("Adam and Eve" ('04), and "King's Prayer" ("Space Revolver" ('00)including the "Hey Jude" sing a long with the crowd) and 10 minute version of "Stardust we are" ("Stardust we are" ('97).

2 ½ hours of great music and so many highlights with the band's overall approach (having a great time and letting go more than I've ever heard them before), there's a real chemistry on stage and it comes thru in the music.

The "Wow, that really blew me away" moments for me were ...
Paradox Hotel / Hit me with a hit / Last Minute on Earth / Eyes of the World (These opening four really rock) / Pioneers of Aviation (for Drums / percussion / bass work - brilliant) / Love Supreme / Truth will set you free / Touch my heaven / End on a high note / I am the sun / King's Prayer / Stardust we are... including the "We want more" cries from the crowd together with the pleas for "Stardust" where Roine says.... "You're right, Stardust you are... and ... Stardust you'll get!" and the crowd go crazy! The crowd even get to sing a couple of versus of Stardust with the FK's as backing band!

Oh yes the picture / sound of the DVD. Superb. It's not spectacular it's just very clear and crisp, superbly produced.

The Music though is the key here (If I could find a way to rip DVD audio tracks onto a CD / MP3 player and play them in my car, I'd just buy the DVD only, until then it's both formats and it's the car where I do most of my listening. These CD's have been on high rotation since I got them, the performance is just so good).

All `n' all totally exceeded my expectations. A very passionate, highly energized performance with superb song selection (only "Eyes of the World", "Stardust we are" and "Truth will set you free" have appeared on previous live releases ("Eyes" and "Stardust" (10 minute version) on "Alive from Planet Earth" ('99) and "Stardust" (full 26 minute version) and "Truth will set you free" (full 31 minute version) on "Live Recordings - Epics" (CD), "Meet the Flower Kings" (DVD) ('03).

This music as with much of Flower Kings output over the years is right up there with .... (to think of a few) ...
- Caravan, "For Richard" (live Version from "New Symphonia" 1974) (original 1970).
- Emerson Lake and Palmer, "Tarkus" (title track from "Tarkus" 1971)
- Yes, "Close to the Edge" - (title track from "Close to the Edge" 1972).
- Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick" (Live version from "Bursting Out" 1978) (Original 1972).
- Genesis, "Suppers Ready" (Live version from "Seconds Out" 1977) (Original 1972).
- Gentle Giant "Octopus" (Live version from "Playing the fool" 1976) (Original 1972).
- Mike Oldfield, "Tubular Bells", (Live Version on "Exposed" 1979) (Original 1973).
- Pink Floyd, "Darkside of the moon" (1973)
- Elton John, "Funeral for a friend / Love lies bleeding" (from "Goodbye Yellow brick road" 1973)
- Lynyrd Skynrd, "Free Bird" (Live version from "One more from the Road" 1976). (Original 1973).
- Rush "2112" (from 2112, 1976).
- ELO, "Concerto for a rainy day" (Side three of "Out of the Blue" (1977).
- Supertramp , "Fools Overture" (1977).
- Rush, "Cygnus X-1" from "Hemispheres" (1978).
- Tangerine Dream, "Tangram Part 1" (Title track from "Tangram" 1980).
- Alan Parsons Project, "Turn of a friendly Card" (Title track, all of side two (1980).
- Frankie goes to Hollywood, "Welcome to the pleasuredome"
(title track from "Welcome to the pleasuredome" 1984).
- Marillion, "Misplaced Childhood" from (1985).
- Queensryche "Operation Mindcrime" (Live version from 1991). (Original 1988).
- Jane's Addiction, "Three Days" from "Ritual de Habitual" (1991).
- Dream Theater "Learning to Live" from "Images and Words" (1992)
- Dream Theater, "Scenes from a Memory" from (1999).
- Spock Beard, "At the end of the day" from "V" (2000).
- Spock's Beard, "The Great Nothing" from "V" (2000).
- Tool, "The Grudge" from "Lateralus" (2001).
- Transatlantic, "All of the above" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2000).
- Transatlantic, "Stranger in your soul" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2001).
- Transatlantic, "Duel with the devil" (Live version from 2001 in Europe). (Original 2001).
- Flower Kings "The Truth will set you free" from "Behold the Future" (2002).
- Neal Morse "Testimony" from (2003).
- Green Day "Jesus of Suburbia" from "American Idiot (2004).

Further thought would no doubt reveal more than these favorites. Music, that to me, pushes the musical boundaries in terms of complexity yet still rocks with an abundance of melody and harmony, a difficult thing to accomplish without 100% dedication to create something new, endless practice and commitment.

For me "Alive from Planet Earth" was a great snapshot of their pre-millennium period of music, a lot of fun and high energy. "Live Recordings - Epics... Meet the Flower Kings" ('03) was just that "The Epics", classics with extreme technical skills on show with a "jazz" undertone, stunningly brilliant and perhaps a more "serious" Live album.

With this latest one there is a real sense of pride of their latest studio album "Paradox Hotel" (certainly 4 of my favorite tracks here ("Hit", "Pioneers", "Heaven", and "High Note" are from "Instant Delivery" alone). There is an energy / passion and sense of fun that accompanies this release all the way thru.

In recent years newer bands such as Flower Kings, Spock's Beard, Muse, Gomez, Mercury Rev, Elbow, Coldplay, Evermore, and The Flaming Lips (from "Soft Bulletin" (1999) onwards) have held my interest, together with any new releases from Dream Theater, Marillion and Rush. This Flower Kings release is a classic.

If this sounds remotely like your sort of music, then go for it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, it's really a great show.
"

How Great Their Art!

G. C. McPhail | West Jordan, UT United States | 10/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It had been with great anticipation that I was awaiting TFK's U.S. tour in support of Paradox Hotel. I planned on being able to see them either in Whittier, CA or Denver, CO; however, personal matters will prevent me from attending. Fortunately, TFK released this 2-disc concert DVD of their April 19, 2006 show in Tilburg, Holland. It's not as fun as going to a live performance but for those of us who cannot get to a show, as they say, this is the next best thing.

First, I have to say that it is a trip to think about a Swedish band singing and speaking in English to a Dutch audience! It all works, though. One thing the viewer may notice is that the crowd is quite a bit larger than the audiences I think TFK plays for here in the U.S. This is something I observed, too, in a Transatlantic concert DVD I own. I suspect that Prog lovers in the U.S. owe a debt of gratitude to European fans for making Prog, at least somewhat, commercially viable for these players.

In terms of presenting a spectacle, TFK is not Peter Gabriel, but they deliver the goods musically. For the most part, this is pure concert footage, nothing flashy, with a few psychedelic effects thrown in. The band is extremely tight. The lighting and camera work is good and the songs and sound are exceptional.

The real treat here is the new material from Paradox Hotel. The PH songs absolutely come alive and sparkle in this setting. TFK's previous effort, Adam and Eve, had its moments, but Paradox Hotel is just better. More often than not, when a band has been around as long as TFK, it will run out of inspiration. Fans go to shows to hear the older stuff and the new songs are just something you have to endure. Not so with TFK. Music from Paradox Hotel stands on its own quite nicely and complements the older material.

The band seems rejuvenated and happy again working as a complete unit after the Daniel Gildenlow experiment and subsequent blow up. Personally, I still miss Zoltan's drum work (the guy was a master), but Marcus does fine here.

A pleasant surprise is the choice of A King's Prayer, a personal favorite of mine. I have never heard them play this song live. It is a knockout. It is also cool how they tacked on the familiar refrain from Hey Jude at the end.

The performance ends with the familiar, unsurpassed beauty and majesty of Stardust We Are.

Fans of TFK will absolutely love this. IMHO, this is a much better and more fulfilling production than 2003's Meet The Flower Kings. There is something for everyone. The new stuff is prominently featured and works extremely well. There is some tasty improvisation and enough older and more familiar pieces to make longtime fans feel at home. The most comforting thing is that this is not a band that has seen its better days and is relying on past glories. This is a band that is vibrant and still capable of creating magic.

These guys are amazing as is their abundant catalog of music. It is easy to take TFK for granted, but nothing lasts forever. Fortunately, we will always have their recordings and these images to help us remember.



"

3 for the visuals, 6 for the musical performance

wadrad | Land of Bitburger, Bratwurst, und Lederhosen | 01/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm an in-the-middle Flower Kings fan. They have written and performed some awesome music (I do like 70's sympho prog), and some music that seemed sort of sterile and by the numbers. Roine Stolt is a hard working man, no doubt, and I've enjoyed his work in other projects as much or more than the Flower Kings. They're accomplished musicians and can play some complicated stuff. My problem with this video is they seem to be doing exactly that, but on auto-pilot. With the exception of the vocalist Hans Froberg, the whole band just doesn't seem too excited to be up on the stage playing. I compare that to the last Yes concert I saw (quite the geriatric one at that), and ALL the Yes guys in the band (well into their late-50s/early-60s) were bobbing and weaving and "grooving to the music".

As concerts have a visual element, you usually expect the musicians themselves to convey something visually as well. There's just not much of that on here, except for Hans the vocalist/guitarist, who honestly looks like he's performing with a different band that just happened to collide with the Flower Kings on stage. He's flipping around his "hair-metal" hairdo, going off a la "Pete Townshend" on his guitar, and the rest of the band just stands there. But it does improve later in the show and occasionally in DVD 2 Roine gets a little more excited (he smiles once or twice).

BUT, the less-than-exciting visual side of the performance aside, Roine and the gang do an EXCELLENT job performing their song list. The performance is flawless, and as already stated in a few places, the live performances are occasionally better than the studio recordings. Hans, the main vox, has an interesting voice that's sort of a strange cross between Roger Daltrey, Roger Waters, and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan. I just don't understand why playing cool music like that (and playing it well) doesn't seem to excite the band members more than it does while they're on stage.

Filming is well-done, with good quality and varying angles and shots of the band while they're playing. Sound quality is great and the 5.1 mix is decent although I don't remember anything note-worthy about it. My DVD (PAL European release) does have a couple of menu glitches, as I have to guess what menu option is selected because nothing highlights.

I live in Belgium, and only found out about this Tilberg concert a few days after the fact, otherwise I would have gone. And had I gone, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the musicianship, despite the lack of motion or emotion from the band (Hans, the singer/guitarist, makes up for it a bit, in a sort of Spinal-Tap-ish way). If you generally like the Flower Kings, you'll very likely enjoy this performance. Of course my final gripe is for a song list heavy with Paradox Hotel Numbers, they left out "Monsters and Men," which is my favorite from the Paradox Hotel disc.

Added after my original review:
Ok...to be fair, after another viewing I would say the drummer does seem excited to be playing the music...and even the bass player occasionally during a few of the jam sessions."

Can they possibly top this ?

Henry J. Messier | Cranston, RI United States | 10/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having been a fan of The Flower Kings for some time and having witnessed the many personnel changes the band has undergone I was somewhat skeptical after Paradox Hotel was released. The original set, by comparison to their other releases, seemed to me restrained by comparison. Almost as if they were finding their way with new drummer Marcus Liliequist. Jaime Salazar was an exciting and accomplished drummer who brought a lot to the table in many of their earlier recordings. His successor, Zoltan Csorsz, was equally as good adding some jazz overtones to the mix as well as his propulsive drumming.
This dvd/cd combination however, more than redeems it's predecessor. While the previous live dvd, Meet The Flower Kings was a great performance, it was marred somewhat by the illness of both Roine Stolt and Hans Froberg (flu) who both performed admirably considering the circumstances. This show performed in Tilburg, Holland is a treat both for the eyes and ears. The video, shot for tv is crisp and clean and the audio, in both stereo and 5.1 surround is remarkable. Seeing and hearing The Flower Kings play the PH material is a revelation. It's as if they breathed new life into the material from that cd and made it completely new. "Paradox Hotel", "Hit Me With A Hit", "Last Minute On Earth" and "What If God Is Alone" all benefit greatly from the performances shown here. "Stardust We Are" and "The Truth Will Set You Free", two of my personal favorite FK recordings are given sublime and spirited performances respectively. While I was a little concerned that the vocals would be somewhat thinner with the absence of Daniel Gildenlow (vocals, guitars, keyboards and percussion) and Hasse Bruniusson (percussion and vocals) from MTFK and A&E, I was surprised to find not only Roine and Hans but Jonas Reingold (bass, guitar, bass pedals), Tomas Bodin (keyboards) and new drummer Markus Liliequist all contributing to the full vocal harmonies always found on a FK recording. And if anyone is concerned with Liliequist's drumming ability, fear not. While his style is less agressive than his predecessors, he still brings propulsion and zest to the recordings both old and new.
Seriously, this is a must have for anyone who likes their prog with a lot of variation. Way to go Roine and company !!!!!!!
"