Pallas - The Blinding Darkness


Year of Release: 2003
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMDVD 003
Format: DVD
Total Time: 152:51:00

What strikes me when you pop this DVD into your player is the professional setup of the contents. Backed by the ambient intro from "The Blinding Darkness," you get a circle in which eight different smaller circles light up, each one steering the programme into a different section. Recorded at De Boerderij in Zoetermeer, Holland on 7th September 2002, of course all our attention goes towards the music. Those of you who are familiar with the history of this Scottish band will be aware of the fact that they had their fair share of problems along the way. Having started out at around the same time as IQ and Twelfth Night, it is amazing to see that the band has finally left all of the problems behind in order to approach the future with a fresh attitude. It is remarkable that especially the band's last two studio albums are rated as being their absolute best next to the incredible The Sentinel. Needless to say then that no fewer than seven songs are pulled from their The Cross And The Crucible album, two from Beat The Drum, two from Arrive Alive, a medley from The Wedge and an incredible five tracks from their Eddie Offord produced album The Sentinel.

The show starts by showing a backdrop featuring the band's famous centaur logo whilst on four areas of the stage special devices are used that give the impression to be huge flames. It is mainly the Rickenbacker sound of Graeme Murray that pulls this song into first gear. Alan Reed's voice has became the true focal point whenever one talks about Pallas, and once again here he proves to be the ideal singer for the band, singing from the heart, adding the occasional theatrical gimmicks whilst also playing a mean bit guitar. The sampled Gregorian choir gives an interesting twist to the incredible title track of the band's The Cross And The Crucible album. With a camera suspended above Colin Prazer's drum kit, this sometimes results in interesting images. Strange to see an authentic prog band incorporate whistling as part of an arrangement. In "For The Greater Glory" it's as if they try their hands on an alternative theme from Bridge Over The River Kwai. When the band tackles an older favourite by means of "Crown Of Thorns," it strikes me how close to the Genesis classic "Carpet Crawlers" the chorus gets, as sung by Graeme, whilst he plays the Moog Taurus pedals. As a critic once wrote, he didn't see Pallas amongst the prog bands, but rather categorized their music as being pompous stadium rock, well executed AOR rock, the kind of band that would do OK together with Asia. When I listen to this older track I couldn't agree more!

The balance between piano and voice is simply immaculate during "Blood And Roses," proof that you don't need tons of overdubs to make a fabulous song. During Graeme's introduction for "The Blinding Darkness," Alan tapes his shoe together as the sole was falling off. Superb orchestral and choir samples give "Tower Of Babble" a great finish, together with the nicely executed church organ passage from Ronnie Brown. After the regular set is finished the band delivers the entire "Atlantis Suite" from The Sentinel album as a first huge encore. To mark the event as something extremely special, Pallas asked their original singer Euan Lowson to sing two "old" favourites of the band. The first one is "Cut And Run," which requires some adjustment to the fans, as they've been listening to Alan Reed's nice voice, and suddenly has to switch to hearing the very different voice of Euan. However, I'm sure that Lowson's voice and approach is by far more theatrical, a statement that is admitted by Graeme Murray when he introduces the final track of the evening as probably being the band's most theatrical one ever when they first played it in the early eighties. We're talking about "The Ripper," in which Lowson really gets into the person of "the ripper." Armed with a sharp knife, he hurts himself, spitting blood, and finally dying on stage. It's surely a different Pallas than the one which we are currently enjoying, yet most certainly the ultimate prog song from the entire evening.

The DVD also contains two picture galleries, the first giving you 26 pictures taken during the setup and soundcheck, whilst the second shows 19 pictures from the live concert. In "From The Centaur's Mouth," all individual members talk about Pallas and its many aspects. In "The Return Of The Ripper," the band talks about the return of Euan Lowson, a part which even includes a snippet from a 1983 concert filmed at the Marquee Club in London. So all in all you get a decent view of what Pallas is all about in the 21st century. In certain parts it's still a bit too much of a neo-prog thing, but their latest material most certainly shows that they are improving as time evolves. Of course, it would have been much nicer if some big boobed girls could be dancing either side of the stage, but as it's prog I'm afraid we have to dream on into the blinding darkness!


Tracklisting:
The Cross & The Crucible / For The Greater Glory / The Executioner - Rat Racing / Crown Of Thorns / The Blinding Darkness / Who?s To Blame / Beat The Drum / Blood And Roses / Midas Touch / Towers Of Babble / Celebrations! / Rise And Fall Part 1 / East West / March On Atlantis / Atlantis / Cut And Run / The Ripper

DVD Extra Features: The Return of The Ripper (Documentary) / From The Centaur's Mouth (Interviews) / Picture Gallery 1 & 2

Musicians:
Alan Reed - vocals
Niall Mathewson - guitars
Ronnie Brown - keyboards
Graeme Murray - bass
Colin Prazer - drums

Guest:

Euan Lowson - vocals (16, 17)

Discography:
Arrive Alive (1981)
The Sentinel (1984/2000)
The Knightmoves EP (1985)
The Wedge (1986/2000)
Knightmoves To Wedge (combo reissue) (1986)
Sketches (1989)
Beat The Drum (1999)
Live Our Lives (2000)
The Cross And The Crucible (2001)
Mythopoeia (2002)
Blinding Darkness (2003)
The Dreams Of Men (2005)
The River Sessions 1 (2005)
The River Sessons 2 (2005)
Official Bootleg 27.01.06 (2006)
Moment To Moment (2009)
XXV (2011)
Live At Loreley (2013)
The Sentinel Demos (2013)
The Sentinel Rought Mixes (2013)
The Arrive Alive Demos (2013)
The Knight Moves Demos (2013)
Live - Southampton 1986 (2013)
Wearewhoweare (2014)
Courage - And Other Songs Of War And Peace (2018)

The Blinding Darkness (DVD) (2003)
Live From London (DVD) (2005)
Moment To Moment (DVD) (2008)
Live At Loreley II (DVD) (2013)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin UK

Added: December 25th 2003
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.pallasofficial.com
Hits: 2150
Language: english

  

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