THE BAND:

Residing in the United  States  allows  myself  many positives as well as negatives...  one negative (besides having  King... oops... I mean `President'  Bush  as a  `leader,'  is  that sadly- I have never had  the privilege of  seeing  the progressive Celtic  band,   Iona-  in  concert.  Luckily  with  the technology of DVDs... people  around the whole  world can enjoy  the band in  both  forms-  acoustic  and electric and what a treat you  are in for!
The Iona lineup has remained   stable  since  their  `Open Sky'  album  in 2000.   Guitarist / keyboardist Dave Bainbridge  shifts  between  stylish guitar leads, acoustic  guitar  and moody  keys,  while  the lead  soloist  Troy Donockly  keeps  their  Celtic  roots grounded   with  a multitude of recorders, tin whistles and  a bagpipe-like instrument called  Uilleann Pipes (though he does add some beautiful guitar  as well).   Joanne Hogg-  a wonderful  vocalist   mixes  a powerful  voice  with a  beautiful  angelic quality (she also  contributes eys and guitars).    Not to be forgotten,  the band's  rhythm  section-  Frank Essen  and bassist Phil Barker perform like clockwork pros and give the featured members a brilliant  tempo  to play off of without being redundant or stoic. Essen  also provides nice violin on  a number of  tracks while away  from the kit.   The band obviously enjoys  what they  do and  perform  magnificently. 

    THE PERFORMANCE:


After the second  song of the  acoustic  set,  Joanne  explained  that instead of  having  an opening  act, they  decided to be their  own  support band-  hence the acoustic  mini-set  which showcased  a simpler stripped down  version of band with Donockly  and  Bainbridge playing  some gorgeous  acoustic  guitar.  The second  song-  `Greenfields of Canada'  is a stunning track  with  a cerebral mood  featuring   Hogg and Bainbridge on  synths, while  multi-instrumentalist  wizard Troy Donockly added  poetic Uilleann Pipes that just  breathes-  film soundtrack.  Another highlight is the fourth   track-  `Jigs;'   again showcasing Troy  and Dave on the strings, creating  a  wonderful  fusion  of traditional Celtic  with a contemporary  touch. 

The  electronic  set  called to attention   Dave Bainbridge's  brilliance on  the  electric guitar...  having  a bit of an  Andrew  Latimer feel  with perhaps  with a smidgeon of Mike Oldfield; Bainbridge  showed off his strong sense of melody as well as potent  prog-chops with the  9 min. +  opening instrumental- `Woven  Cord.'  Tony's  interplay on the pipes  is  amazing.  A fantastic  track!  And as  for Dave Bainbridge, more people  should  recognogize him as one of the  better  prog guitarists.
The tracks on  the gig  varied  from  heavily  Celtic influences to Proggy influences  to   Pop  (almost  like Annie  Haslam  solo- post Renaissance, but even  with the different genre mixing,  the  band never loses it's Celtic  roots.  Iona's  set even included  new or   unrecorded tracks  which were  solid pieces, but palled in comparison  to the evenings  epic track (without  being   bombastic)- `Encircling,'  which I would call  classic CelticProg. Another feature song was the  tenth  track- `Castlerigg/Reels.'  Need a more in-depth  explanation?  Buy the DVD!  LOL.    Many  groups  tend to end their set on a bang,  but Iona  did  the opposite,  finishing  the  fabulous  set  with their  fourth  encore- the band played a simple melody full of  substance and emotion- `Murlough  Bay.'  Performance-wise  the  entire group   was spot on,  and the limited light show  was enjoyable and set  the mood in a subtle  way.  Joanne  had a fun time with the crowd  as well as  fellow  band members  making the gig  more personal.  The crowd  was very much into  the  band  and their performance.

THE DVD:

So  the band  was fantastic, but what  about the quality of the DVD?  Good  and  so-so,  but mostly  good.  On occasions,  the image is a tad  fuzzy,  usually on  long   shots,  but it isn't   distracting;  luckily,  the close-ups and mid-shots are on the  money  and crisp and the  camera placement on the 5 camera shot was  quite good.  Black levels  are surprisingly  adequate.  Camera work is subdued and  enjoyable without  too  many Star Wars-like quick  edits.  Once in a while,  the picture  turns to  black  and white to   be slick?  Why  do producers  do this?  Yet  again,  it wasn't  too  distracting (except to me  LOL).    Compression isn't that noticeable.  On the whole  a very  nice looking  concert. 

Sound-wise,  the DVD  scores a perfect  10!   One gorgeous  mix and one of the best  sounding music DVDs  I have heard/seen.  You  can experience  the  show in 2-channel  or 5:1  which was produced  by John   Kellogg  (Deep Purple, ELP).


    COMMENTS:

I  can not  recommend  this recording enough.  The DVD case is  well-presented and includes  two  discs.  The first one is  the electric  show,  while the second contains the acoustic opening and interviews  with all five members of the band.  Personally, I would have loved to have  heard a band  commentary,  but maybe that could be for their  second DVD release (hint  hint LOL). If  you  like  bands like Pentangle, Jethro Tull,  Mostly  Autumn and  Blackmore's  Night-  this release is a no-brainer,  but  I firmly believe than   Progheads  that have no problem  with melody should  definitely check  out  Iona.  This DVD is  a winner.



Score  9.6 out of 10

Iona

DVD: Live  in  London