Real Time (Royal Festival Hall)

I looked for a release of this show after we went all the way down to London to see VDGG perform this reunion concert but had given up until this recommendation came up. As far as I can see, it is the whole concert. Side one of Godbluff was incredibly well performed, possibly the best version of it ever. But, as everyone else says, the whole performance was excellent. They might be getting older but they can still dish out some raw power!!! There are one or two classics missing but then there always are on live albums. A personal favourite of mine is 'Arrow' but I seem to be in the minority here and it is always the track excluded from collections with all the other tracks from Godbluff making it on instead. I saw VDGG way back in the early 70s at the time of Pawn Hearts on the recommendation that they were like a cross between Atomic Rooster (my alltime favourite) and Curved Air ... I'm not quite sure what planet that guy came from but it was a brilliant concert (even if it was in the echo chamber know as St Andrew's Hall in Norwich) and I've enjoyed seeing and listening to VDGG as well as Peter Hammill solo ever since. Pity you can't give ten stars ...

Had forgotten how good VDG were. Great concert. Wish I had been there.

Good Album.

A bit raw in places on first hearing - PH vocals obviously weaker as he's no spring chicken! But overall it's a good live outing.

great!

I own all the other live vdgg records, and each one has its own 'feel'. Vital is so unique and brutal that stands on other category, and Maida vale, which is also excellent, in my opinion will be outdated by Real Time in sound quality.This new CD has its own personality, sound and passion. These 4 musicians still play incredibly good. For VDGG fans this is a real trip, a dream come true for many of us. It is unbelievable that they still have this special musical gift and can deliver it so strongly.FOR ME, THERE IS NO GROUP NOWADAYS THAT GETS CLOSE TO THEM MUSICALLY. THEY SHOULD HAVE MADE IT BIG TIME, but were too deep and non-commercial for their own good. Imagine, Genesis, another of the great ones, opened for them when they were struggling too in England ¡ but Genesis managed to be more melodic and finally broke through. VDGG never sold out their musical integrity.I saw peter Hammill play live in mexico city some years ago, just him and violinist Stuart Gordon, and they blew off the stage the other italian prog groups that were supposed to be quite good. He had IT and still does. Banton, Evans and Jackson play beautifully along the record, although Hammill has announced Jackson will not play withe them any more, what a pity. David Jackson: please reconsider... Any way, LONG LIVE VAN DER GRAAF ¡Very recommeded if you like challenging, deep, fine rock of the seventies. This concert is from 2005 or 2006, so the sound is preety good and the music is precise, spiritual, dark, fast, slow, full of light, absolutely amazing for me still.

A great cd for sure. The combined talents of the musicians exceeding the sum of the four! As a VdGG follower since the late sixties it is difficult to find fault. After one initial playing I have searched to criticise while it is still fresh in my mind but where do I find 'fault'? Live cd's seem to come in three different styles. Firstly some bands sound different because they cannot play live as the studio tracks sound. Secondly there are those that decide to put a different interpretation on live offerings (i.e. Hammill's Veracious')and thirdly there are those (very few) bands that can almost exactly replicate the original studio recording. With perhaps the exception of Killers, which did sound a little different to the He album this VdGG album falls into the third category. For me the only real difference was Guy's snare drum sound throughout which sounded 'live'. Peter Hammill's voice was as emotional as the studio recordings, Hugh's keyboards were almost perfect renditions of the original and Jaxon's flute and sax mirrored the originals to a tee.....and yet it does have the live feel to it. The whole album shows the quality of musicianship and I am sorry to have missed the original show. I did have difficulty in hearing some of the between track banter but maybe I will pick up on this after future listenings. To sum up: a great show by some of the most innovative players on the planet.

Yes, I too was there, so I guess you can assume that I am a little biased in my long time enthusiasm for VDGG, but if you would like a more impartial review, check out this Guardian article of the time [].The CD contains the entire set list from the concert plus a few asides from the audience, and retains a vivid live feel without sacrificing any sound quality. The musicians approach to their music is at once disciplined while also allowing themselves additional expressiveness, hence the songs are faithful to the originals but feel emotionally deeper. What was so impressive was the degree of commitment to the songs. This was no relaxed amble through the back catalogue but an attacking reinterpretation of great music, much of which just happened to have been written 30 odd years ago. Personally I was never that keen on "Killer" but in this version I see what the song really has to offer. There is not much music like this that has such quality about it. Truly a gem of its kind.