Celebrating ten years of Lana Lane music comes this lavish 10th Anniversary Concert DVD/CD set, recorded in Tokyo Japan. Those familiar with Lana Lane know that in Japan she is known as "the Queen of Symphonic Rock", so it was a no brainer for Lana and husband/keyboard virtuoso Erik Norlander to choose Tokyo as the spot to record this historic event. Culling songs from most of the Lana Lane studio albums, and in many cases songs that have not been heard before in a live format, the set list is very strong from top to bottom. Joining Lana and Erik on stage here are Mark McCrite on guitar and vocals, Peer Verschuren on lead guitar, Kristoffer Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation) on bass and vocals, and drummer Ernst Van Ee. In addition to the 90 minute concert, you also get a Video Tour Diary with all sorts of footage from backstage, rehearsal, and the road, plus video of the band playing 'Someone to Believe" at the 2005 Sweden Rock Festival. The CD includes the full audio of the show, minus the first two tracks from the DVD, so overall this is a pretty jam-packed set for the consumer.
The main concert is an extremely intense sounding live show, in fact one of the best I have heard in some time, with the performances of each player in top notch form and sounding crystal clear. Verschuren especially sounds like the monster player that he is, with his Gibson Flying V guitar spewing out massive amounts of crunchy power chords, squealing pinch harmonics, and amazingly dexterious solos. Given the right amount of exposure, this guy should be on the cover of most major guitar magazines...he's that good folks. Lana's voice is powerful and soaring, as she always seems to be in perfect pitch and wonderful harmony, especially on classics like "Secrets of Astrology", "Souls of the Mermaids", "Emerald City", and the rollicking "Destination Roswell". There's a good mix of the heavier material, the ballads, and the prog rock pieces in this show, although like I mentioned earlier, Verschuren's guitar histrionics give Lana's music an overall feel that's closer to hard rock and metal for the most part. Norlander seems to take more of a reserved role on most songs, except to lay down some wild synth or Hammond solos, but he does shine of the few instrumentals "Astrology Prelude", "LIAA Overture", and "In the Hall of the Ocean Queen". In contrast to his solo material, he's more inclined to create moods and textures rather than show off on his wife's material-that's where Lana herself and Verschuren come in. McCrite basically contributes rhythm guitar, some harmony parts, and backing vocals, while Van Ee and Gildenlow make for a formidable duo on drums and bass.
There's a few different audio configurations for you to choose from depending on the capabilities of your equipment, but again the sound is great regardless of which you choose. There are some instances of choppy camera work, but that's a minor gripe, as overall this is a stellar presentation of a very noteworthy event. Hopefully Lana & Co. have another celebration like this at the 20 year interval, maybe on a much grander scale. Time will tell.
DVD TRACKS (CD includes all but tracks 1, 2, and Tour Diary)
1. Astrology Prelude (instr.)
2. Secrets of Astrology
3. LIAA Overture (instr.)
4. Into the Ether )
5. Curious Goods Part One (instr.)
6. Emerald City
7. Athena's Shadow
8. Nevermore
9. Garden of the Moon
10. In the Hall of the Ocean Queen (instr.)
11. Souls of the Mermaids
12. Romeo and Juliet
13. The Vision (instr.)
14. Redemption Part One (instr.)
15. Tears of Babylon
16. Someone to Believe
17. December Moon
18. Destination Roswell
19. Symphony of Angels
20. Video Tour Diary (Europe, USA, Japan)
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