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| Arena - Caught In The Act |
 Released: 2003 Label: Metal Mind Productions Cat. No.: MMP DVD 0012 Total Time: 130:00 | |
Reviewed by: John "BoBo" Bollenberg, December 2003 Recorded at the Krzemionki television studios in Krakow, Poland in April 2003, Caught In The Act shows us an average Arena concert. It strikes me that similar to the Transatlantic DVD, no "ambiance" microphones were used, which means that audience participation and reactions are almost non existant. This way you get a live concert that contains very little live atmosphere. Doing a great job is guitarist John Mitchell who during "Serenity" puts in a lot of David Gilmour interventions, delivers a fair amount of splendid solos during "Hanging Tree" before sounding like a true copy of Eddie Van Halen during the final track "Crying For Help VII." From a visual point of view, Arena takes advantage of as many possibilities as the budget would allow, whilst Sowden, Mitchell and Salmon use the entire stage to the fullest. Rob’s fluorescent sunglasses might be a nice gimmick during one song, yet after a while it becomes a bit boring. The long coat with hood however does add a little extra to "Spectre At The Feast." The lighting that during the early stages of the set looks rather professional, soon begins to get to your nerves. That’s why the fast changing background does not fit the intimate nature of "Bitter Harvest" at all. After a good 45 minutes, the band finishes the new Contagion material delivering a nice selection from their impressive discography in order to fulfill the expectations. "Chosen" shows us Sowden with different glasses. During "Breathe" Sowden puts on a high hat, whilst it strikes me how close the structure for this song gets towards a slow version of the Lovin’ Spoonful classic "Summer In The City." Rob Sowden sings well, he moves OK whilst he introduces a certain theatrical element that is beneficial for some of the tracks. When the "normal" set comes to a close, you can’t hear the audience, yet their unheard enthusiasm results in no fewer than three encores. Especially the difficult "Jericho" contains a fair bit of mistakes, yet "Solomon" and the already mentioned "Crying For Help VII" make sure there’s no more mist on the horizon. Arena has become a well oiled machine, delivering value for money for their fans. In a way the same can be said about this DVD, although I’m not very impressed with the added bonus features. A forced interview next to a lot of material anyone can find on the Internet in a good five minutes is all you get. In fact when I look at the structure for the bonus material it looks ever so close like the bonus material on the Pendragon DVD. Although everything is well executed, I can’t help thinking this is a "see it once and then put it back in the cupboard" DVD. More about Caught In The Act: Track Listing: Witch Hunt / And Angel Falls / Painted Man / This Way Madness Lies / Spectre At The Feast / Skin Game / Salamander / Bitter Harvest / City Of Lanterns / Riding The Tide / Cutting The Cards / Ascension / Serenity / Chosen / Double Vision / Hanging Tree / Breathe / The Butterfly Man / Enemy Without / Solomon / Jericho / Crying For Help VII Musicians: Contact: Website: www.verglas.com/arenaworld Discography
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