SONG OF SCHEHERAZADE (NL+E)

De synchronisatie op deze zwart-wit dvd - of eigenlijk zou ik moeten zeggen een dvd in grijstinten - is nagenoeg perfect en ook het geluid is prima. Het schijfje brengt twee shows in beeld: de eerste is van 21 mei 1976 uit het Capitol Theatre in Passiac, New Jersey en de tweede show dateert van 28 juli 1979 uit de Convention Hall, Asbury Park, New Jersey. Beide concerten zijn matig qua beeldkwaliteit, maar onder het motto 'beter iets dan niets' ben ik geneigd te zeggen: het materiaal is meer dan voldoende om te kunnen vaststellen dat Renaissance meer internationale roem en erkenning had verdiend. De band speelt in de langst bijeen gebleven bezetting met Annie Haslam (zang), Michael Dunford (akoestische gitaar, zang), John Camp (bas, gitaar, zang), John Tout (toetsen) en Terry Sullivan (drums, percussie, akoestische gitaar, zang). De eerste show concentreert zich vooral rond het album Scheherazade (1975), aangevuld met enkele klassiekers, zoals Running Hard, Carpet Of The Sun, Mother Russia en Prologue. Michael Dunford die zoveel prachtige nummers componeerde, wordt nauwelijks in beeld gebracht en ook drummer Terry Sullivan is slechts sporadisch te zien. Dunford is ook bepaald geen showman en zittend met zijn akoestische gitaar op het podium, zou hij waarschijnlijk liever nog achter het podium hebben plaatsgenomen. De camera's zoemen met name in op Annie Haslam, toetsenist Tout en bassist Camp, die naast de tweede stem een machtige partij staat te bassen op zijn Rickenbacker à la Chris Squire (Yes). Tout heeft het aardig druk en moet alle zeilen bijzetten om de partijen te kunnen spelen. Zijn klassieke scholing komt vooral naar voren in stukken als Prologue en Running Hard. Haslam, gekleed in het lang, beweegt niet veel, maar zingt haar zangpartijen geconcentreerd. Alleen Camp lijkt wat interactie met het publiek te hebben. In Sultan, met afwisselende solozang van Camp en Haslam, is een aardig shot te zien van Sullivan die meezingt tijdens een close harmony passage.

Tijdens de tweede show van drie jaar later zijn de snorren van Tout en Camp geschoren, terwijl Dunford nu ook elektrische gitaar speelt. Camp bespeelt veelvuldig de 'double neck' basgitaar en maakt tevens gebruik van de fameuze Taurus-baspedalen. Drummer Sullivan is nu vaker in beeld met zijn fraaie, transparante drumstel en de mijns inziens onderschatte toetsenman Tout heeft zo mogelijk een nog indrukwekkender arsenaal aan toetsen verzameld. De setlist is buitengewoon interessant, omdat men nu ook nummers speelt van A Song For All Seasons (1978) en Azure D'Or (1979). Een uitgekiende compositie als Flood At Lyons bewijst de klasse van het laatstgenoemde, wat minder populaire Renaissance-album. De dvd bevat geen extra's en geen boekje en gelet op de matige beeldkwaliteit is dit dus geen automatische aanschaf, maar voor fans is het een verplichte aankoop! 

ENGLISH:

Live recordings from Renaissance on video are rare, so that makes this DVD beforehand a gem! Although the first batch of this DVD was apparently faulty and released without the band’s consent, this version apparently is okay. In black and white - or perhaps should I say shades of grey - there are images and sounds from two gigs.
The first one captures the band in The Capitol Theatre (Passiac, New Jersey) on the 21st May 1976. The second performance dates from 1979, on the 28th of July in The Convention Hall, Asbury Park (New Jersey). The overall quality of the images is poor, the sound quality is fair considering the circumstances, the synchronization between images and sounds is next to perfect. The band consists of Michael Dunford (acoustic guitar, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, guitar, vocals), Annie Haslam (lead vocals), John Tout (keyboards) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, vocals). The first show features the album Song Of Scheherazade, next to a number of classics. Dunford, the brilliant (co)composer of so many Renaissance-tracks, is hardly visible and plays a very modest role on stage. He just sits in the left hand corner of the stage, playing his acoustic guitar and only singing an occasional harmony vocal. Drummer Terry Sullivan is hardly visible as well, although there’s a nice shot from him singing harmonies in Sultan. In the same track Jon Camp sings the lead vocal alternating with Annie Haslam. The few cameras focus on the two main singers: Annie Haslam, as usual in a long dress, and Jon Camp playing his Rickenbacker bass in the absolute superb style of Chris Squire (Yes). A very concentrated John Tout plays piano and other keyboards and proof of his classical training can be heard at the beginning of both Running Hard and Prologue, but throughout all the tracks he does an outstanding job, in my opinion an underestimated keyboardist. Too bad we aren’t able to see more of what he's doing, because you can hear that he's very busy! Compared to today’s female vocalists Annie Haslam’s performance is rather modest, that is visually. She swings and sways on the music and when she sings, she stands still, her hands held together in front of her chest and she hardly ever touches the microphone. Her vocal performance however is exquisite. For the audience, Camp was probably the only one giving a bit of a show. Back then the show element wasn’t that important, if you weren’t Pink Floyd, Genesis or Yes. What mattered was to go out and see a band being able to perform live what they recorded in the studio and that’s exactly what Renaissance did that night, and they did it very well indeed.

In the second show from 1979 we can appreciate the band grew along the years: Dunford stands on stage, plays an electric guitar and next an acoustic one on a standard. Camp - just as John Tout without a mustache - now plays a double-neck most of the time and we can see how he plays some bass pedals too. Next to his extraordinary ‘see through’ drumkit, Terry Sullivan plays an acoustic guitar in Forever Changing, while Camp plays a twelve string in that same track. Tout’s keyboard arsenal is even more impressive than in 1976. The very nice thing about this second show is, that the band performs four songs of Azure D'Or (1979) and two more from A Song For All Seasons (1978). Especially the songs of Azure D'Or are rarities, not available on any legitimate live recording. Flood At Lyons is an example of an elaborate and ingenious composition from that underestimated album. Camp does most of the talking. The audience can only be seen in one shot at the end of the gig, the number of shots of the individual band members however, is more balanced than in the first show. The quality of the sound is also slightly better. The artwork of Song Of Scheherazade is plain and simple, the DVD doesn’t contain an inlay. Only other information on the DVD itself are links to the record company and samples of a couple of other DVD’s available. Musically, this DVD would score 8,5 out of 10 at least, but due to the poor quality of the visual aspect, the final rating has to be less. For the fans of Renaissance this is an absolute must-have and for all other lovers of ‘alternative prog’ well-worth checking out. This DVD, despite the fact that the material is dated and not meeting current standards of audio and video, it is a valuable and not be missed addition to the Renaissance heritage.