Nektar: Live 2002

Rating:
Summary: Nektar DVD
Review: Good to see some DVD's coming out of some more Proggressive bands(For lack of a better word). Nektar DVD is a good performance at Nearfest, The first time the Original line-up has played together in 26 years, You could feel the vibe was great and Nektar rocked w/ some inspired performances. There are some bonus stuff interviews and some old footage of Nektar. Worth its price and it mentions another DVD Vol 2 to follow. No telling how many were pressed so grab one immediately and enjoy Nektar in Concert. Tab in the Ocean,Desolation Valley,Nelly the Elepant(Great Jam),Man on the Moon, Recycled,Its all over,RTF Part 1,Now,Crying in the Dark,King of Twilight,Figity Queen...
P.S. Best DVD's I have seen:
Roger Waters- in the Flesh
Jethro Tull-Living W/ the Past
Blue Oyster Cult-A Long Days Night

Rating:
Summary: AT LAST!!! SOMEBODY FILMS A SHOW I WAS AT!!!!
Review: I was at the concert this DVD was filmed at. It was the first concert Nektar had performed in something like 20 years (remember that Roye Albrighton led a version of the group with other musicians in the early 80's, which released one album) and the first performance by the original lineup in 26 years! Not only that, but according to the liner notes in the booklet, this was the first time they had played through the entire set without stopping. In effect, as the band's light show operator Mick Brockett notes, this was a dress rehearsal.

But you know what? You'd never know that they had been away from the stage so long. You'd never know that prior to talking about reforming for NEARfest 2002, bassist Mo Moore and drummer Ron Howden hadn't played much in the 20 plus years since the band had broken up. You'd never know that Ron, Mo, Roye and keyboardist Taff Freemman had all of about 3 days of rehearsal prior to the event (Taff, Mo and Ron had rehearsed for several months, but Roye didn't come in until about a week before the fest).

Truly, these guys hit the ground running, and totally buried all of the other bands who played at the festival that year (with the possible exception of Steve Hackett, who was the other headliner that weekend, but that's another story for another time...). They gave a tight, super hot performance that contained many of their classics. Larry Fast contributed second keyboards, and the two backup singers (nicknamed The Nektarines, by my friend Tina and her daughter Erin) helped fill out the vocals quite well. And Mick Brockett's light show was superb, a total flashback to the early 70's, incorporating throbbing amoebas, slides, and films (though it should be noted much of the films Mick used were left off the DVD, because it was actually taken from such movies as The Abyss and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and hence, would have proved problematic from a copyright standpoint).

If you're any kind of fan of Nektar, this DVD is essential viewing. If you've never heard Nektar, but you like progressive rock music (ie Yes, old Genesis, King Crimson, etc), this DVD serves as an excellent introduction to the band.

So why am I only giving it four stars instead of five? Well, it has a lot to do with the fact that the DVD doesn't contain the entire concert. They left out all but the last 4 minutes of Remember The Future (they performed the album in it's entirety for the first time ever during this show), as well as a couple other songs. Apparently, someone at Classic Rock Productions (the company who released this DVD) thought it would be a good idea to put the show out on two DVD's, but more than a year after this historic performance, we're still waiting for volume two.

Another point that bothers me is that in the actual concert, the song Recycled segued into It's All Over Now. On the DVD, the two songs are seperated and linked together by a short sequence of interview excerpts. They could have stuck those interviews anywhere on the disc, and they choose to wreck a beautiful segue?! I'm also fairly certain Now was played earlier in the set than it occurs on the DVD.

Lastly, and this is a minor point, it's a shame that the percussionist played his butt off during the performance, and yet, we still can't hear him during most of the show. It's easy to understand not hearing him during the actual concert, as concert sound is almost impossible to get perfect, but it would have been nice if his efforts could have been rewarded by making him audible on the DVD, other than when he's playing the tambourine.

On the upside, the show is filmed beautifully, lots of great shots of the lightshow (that is, when Mick wasn't projecting copyrighted movie footage on the screen), and as I said before, the performance was truly top notch. The bonus documentary is quite nice, with lots of comments from all four band members, and the video clip of the band lip synching Let It Grow from Remember The Future (pretty much the same portion of the piece that also appears in the actual concert portion of the DVD) is a real treat. And the rather ingenious idea of editing in footage of the band performing Desolation Valley on English TV during the early 70's into the live performance of the song is a nice touch (Mick Brockett actually projected the footage on the screen during the show itself, but he couldn't get it synched up properly the way it is on the DVD). I also liked the films of the band riding the bicycles and handing out flowers in the train station during A Tab In The Ocean. It added a nice whimsically nostalgic (if not surreal) aspect to the proceedings.

To sum up, despite whatever faults there are in this disc, I say buy it!!!! This is still pretty much the definitive concert film of Nektar. I just find it ironic that I've spent all these years complaining about the excessive use of audience footage in most concert videos (I paid my money to watch a film of the band, not one of their audience), and now that there might actually be an opportunity for ME to be able to say "Hey, look! I'm on screen for half a second!", someone finally follows my suggestion and shows almost no audience shots. :-P

To put it in six words: BUY IT!!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!

Rating:
Summary: Never Better
Review: It may have been 26 years between Nektar performances, but from this showing, you would never believe it. Absolutely scinillating(sp)and magical. The music is marvellous, the interviews are quite entertaining and informative and the camera work is very solid. Having seen the show live, I can say the DVD captured the feeling as well as any recorded show I have seen before. For Nektar fans this is a MUST have; and for those who may wish to sample brilliant progressive rock, then this is still for you.
Jump on the DVD while you still can; you will not be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Never Better
Review: It may have been 26 years between Nektar performances, but from this showing, you would never believe it. Absolutely scinillating(sp)and magical. The music is marvellous, the interviews are quite entertaining and informative and the camera work is very solid. Having seen the show live, I can say the DVD captured the feeling as well as any recorded show I have seen before. For Nektar fans this is a MUST have; and for those who may wish to sample brilliant progressive rock, then this is still for you.
Jump on the DVD while you still can; you will not be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MUSIC
Review: This a very good way to discover this underrated band. This is what progressive music is all about. Long and complex compositions that have enough emotion in it to keep it interesting. Not a bad song on this show. There is also some interesting visuals on the screen. A must for the prog fans. This DVD show's you how the 70's music is still enjoyable today.

Rating:
Summary: Nektar Live 2002-DVD
Review: WHEN I SAW THAT NEKTAR WAS PUTTING OUT THIS DVD I COULDN'T WAIT
BECAUSE I CONSIDER THIS A UNIQUE AND TALENTED BAND. WHILE I LIKE THIS DVD THERE ARE A FEW THINGS,IN MY OPINION, THAT WOULD HAVE MADE THIS BETTER. ADDING TWO FEMALE VOCALISTS WAS A GREAT IDEA
BECAUSE ROYE ALBRIGHTON'S (GUITAR, VOCALS) VOICE ISN'T WHAT IT
USED TO BE BUT I COULD BARELY HEAR THEM. ALSO I DON'T WANT TO
WATCH MTV I WANT TO WATCH A LIVE CONCERT. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN
WATCHING THE BAND MEMBERS RIDING BIKES 20 SOMETHING YEARS AGO OR
SEEING AN ANIMATED PINK ELEPHANT FLOATING ON MY SCREEN BUT AS THE
SHOW PROGRESSED THE LESS YOU SEE OF THIS. WHAT I DID WANT IS WHAT I GOT AND THAT'S ALBRIGHTON'S GUITAR WORK WITH MO MOORE (BASS) AND RON HOWDEN (DRUMS)PERFORMING AT AN AMAZINGLY HIGH LEVEL CONSIDERING THEIR LONG SEPARATION. THE ADDED FEATURES ARE
GOOD WITH INTERVIEWS OF THE BAND AND FANS BY SOME MODEL BOMBSHELL WHO LOOKED OUT OF PLACE WHICH MADE FOR GOOD COMEDY.