Between them, Clive Nolan and Nick Barrett have been in more than half a dozen bands - and this DVD represents a sort of unpulgged compilation of many of the best pieces from those acts.

Nick Barrett is the driving force behind Pendragon, and Clive Nolan plays keyboards in that band. Nolan, is better known as one of the masterminds behind Arena, as well as other acts like Strangers On A Train, Nolan and Wakeman and Shadowland. The two have been friends since childhood and in 2005, they pooled their talents, rearranged more than a dozen songs for performance on just piano and acoustic guitar, and played a wonderful concert in Katowice, Poland. If the video footage is a reliable record of that event the music went way over the heads of the audience - whose polite patter of applause after each track will leave you wondering if they were handed a double-dose of Zoloft on the way in. Barrett and Nolan's light hearted banter would have been well received anywhere else, and their excellent performance deserved a standing ovation. Hey, Poland, this ain't the opera!

The acoustic guitar and piano combined with (usually) Nick's singing and Clive's backing vocals produce a surprisingly full sound - and it was interesting to discover that Nolan is a capable singer. His backing vocals are well matched to Barrett's voice but he occasionally breaks into a soft falsetto, a deeper, soft baritone, and he sings lead on his Shadowland songs. It isn't clear why, but among many in the progressive rock community Barrett's voice seems to be a love-it or hate-it affair. His voice is certainly a little unconventional, his range and pitch control are good, and he is very expressive. Having said that, it's interesting to hear him singing the Arena track "(Don't forget to) Breathe". He does a very competent job, but doesn't impart quite the same expression and angst as the original. Nolan's capabilities on keyboard and piano are well known. Barrett is best known for his lead guitar work, and the back-to-basics acoustic guitar arrangements work remarkable well - and are well delivered - on all of these songs.

"Alaska" has a long instrumental in which the performances were less than perfect, yet it's still a lot of fun to watch the artists' musical interaction with each other - and "And We'll Go Hunting Deer" - many people's all-time favorite Pendragon piece - is a natural for an unplugged record.

The camera angles are very good, the sound and picture quality are superb, and a half-hour interview with the artists is the only extra of any value. The rest are static, text-only discographies and biographies that are hard to read. If the DVD sells as well as it deserves, expect to see more Barrett / Nolan duo performances in the future. Recommended.