Amidst a steady downpour, in the town square of some unpronounceable small Polish town, Fish and his band created one of the more memorable concerts ever captured on DVD. From the opening segments of "The Perception of Johnny Punter" to the closing notes of "Lavender" , the viewer is front row center to an amazing performance by a very charismatic frontman. Every track is injected with a fury and a passion characteristically demonstrated by a much younger man in a different band a decade and a half ago. Many of Fish's best solo tracks, including 5 from the superlative Sunsets On Empire disc, are featured along with a medley of great tracks from his former band. The entire show is shot with multi cameras in front of rabid fans, who ,despite the monsoon like weather, packed the town square to capacity. The actual concert itself runs 105 minutes. Fish gives his all and injects new life into tracks like "Jungle Ride", where his middle soliloquy harkens us back to classic Marillion tracks like "Forgotten Sons." Fellow bandmates Mickey Simmonds (keyboards), Robin Boult (guitar), and a superb rhythm section also give top-notch performances.
Disc II features a 30 minute "behind the scenes" look at Fish on tour filmed for German television. We get rare backstage looks of the band, including the tour bus and band members generally goofing off. The second feature on this disc is a very candid 52 minutes interview with the man himself where he comments on his collaboration with Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) in conceiving the loops and sequencer parts of Sunsets. Fish chain-smokes his way through explanations of his expectations for Sunsets On Empire, which he views as his most important disc, as well as certain problems he encountered with his American distributor. He also breaks down the numbers behind mounting such a tour and the toll it has taken on his career. Anybody who has seen this man live knows just how engaging a personality he his, which makes this interview very interesting. All in all this is a no-brainer for any fan of this man's work and a great introduction to those of you yet to familiarize yourselves with one of progressive rock's icons. Highly recommended.
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