Search - And Now Everybody to the Stage... on DVD

Could be much better!

Youri | Moscow, Russia | 01/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Here is the content of this DVD:

137 minutes of the show itself, the sound being stereo and 5.1
about 25 minutes interview with Nick Barrett
80 minute of home-made documentary dedicated mainly to creation of Believe CD
Band history, discography, photogallery, weblinks, logos, etc.

Tracklist:
1. No Place For The Innocent
2. As Good As Gold
3. Guardian Of My Soul
4. Kowtow
5. The Wishing Well
6. The Edge Of The World
7. Nostradamus
8. The Dance Of The Seven Veils
9. Paintbox
10. The Last Waltz
11. Breaking The Spell
12. Masters Of Illusion
13. The Black Knight
14. The Lost Children / Green Eyed Angel / Sister Bluebird / The Last Man On Earth
15. Am I Really Losing You?

Line-up:
Nick Barrett - vocals, guitar
Clive Nolan - keyboards, backing vocals
Peter Gee - bass guitar, backing vocals
Joe Crabtree - drums

This is a live DVD from one of the best progressive rock bands recorded during Polish leg of European "Believe 2006" tour in May 2006. The show itself and the way the guys play is very good, but the video quality is quite another matter.

This is another release from Polish Metal Mind guys lacking in the quality department (see for example my review for the first Arena DVD). Well, the first Pendragon DVD also was far from perfect, but it was done by simple transfer from VHS shot in 1996 due to the lack of any other source, so it's moderate quality is kind of justified.
And now we have almost the same moderate video quality (frankly, better than on the first Pendragon DVD, but not good enough) for the show shot in 2006 with modern equipment and transferred to two-layer DVD-9! If I were the person who made this DVD, I would easily discard 80 minutes of documentary interesting to die-hard fans only in favour of better quality of the main feature - the show. If the producer really thought that the fans really can not live without this documentary, he could have made a two-disk set: the first DVD-9 with the show in perfect quality, and the second DVD-5 with all bonus materials.
One can check both double live DVDs from the Flower Kings to see how it should be done: the producers manage to put more than 160 minutes of the show on two single layer DVD-5 disks with perfect quality (well, why they did not put it on one two-layer DVD-9 is another question!).

And now back to Pendragon DVD - all in all, 5 stars for the show, but only 3 for video quality."

A special show - a special band!

Phillip A. Anderson | Dallas, Texas | 11/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great DVD but not the best of the Pendragon DVD's. The atmosphere created on the "Past and Presence" DVD is really rare and highy recommended. The band look and sound amazing here as well . You can really tell they are having a great time. The songs are great, played with passion. If you've never heard Pendragon, then your in for a treat. A prog band, but one everyone can enjoy. Beautiful, melodic music, I would just suggest "Past and Presence" as your introduction to the band. The venue on it is incredible and the band seem to know they are having a rare, once in a lifetime evening. If you already know Pendragon then buy this DVD now - I own both - and enjoy both. But if you are going to own one, then "Past and Presence" is the five star show."