Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Venue: Thunder Road / Codevilla (Pavia) / Italy
Concert date: April 8, 2008
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: 15.00€
Practically straight after our dramatic return from Portugal, where the immortal progressive rock pioneers Van Der Graaf Generator played one of those unforgettable sets at a two-day art rock festival, bringing the magic of the genre’s golden age back to life, another date was already waiting for us in Milan, this time with some of the finest representatives of artistically high-caliber music. Cult British neo-proggers Arena, despite the shamefully low profile they more or less still have in the mass media (no point wasting words on how their records get distributed around our parts), are today among the most highly regarded prog bands for those music gourmets who know how to appreciate their unique blend of unpredictability, dramatic symphonic arrangements, punchy guitar passages, great lyrics and a mighty voice that’s usually loaded to the brim with melodramatic fire. Their shows stand out not only for excellent performances, exceptional chemistry between the individual players and tremendous technical chops, but also for the theatrics of their charismatic singer Rob Sowden and the incredible energy they’re able to conjure up between the stage and the crowd.
On their latest releases, Arena have moved far away from the usual neo-prog concepts of the 80s and created a completely distinctive sound that, besides elements of classic prog, also has plenty of the guitar and rhythmic flourishes you’d normally find in progressive metal. Their rather dark, often psychological and socially conscious poetry also makes them quite different from the usual cheerful lyrical neo-prog standards of the Pendragon or The Flower Kings type. The main credit for Arena evolving into what they are today, and growing out of a side project from the turn of the 90s that helped spark the rebirth of interest in the new wave of progressive rock, goes to keyboard wizard Clive Nolan, who occasionally earns his bread with Pendragon too, and drummer Mick Pointer, who still hasn’t gotten over being kicked out of the original version of Marillion, a band many people don’t realize he started himself. Since the album “The Visitor” (1998), which many of the band’s fans consider their best, another important factor in their sound has been the tireless musical workaholic, guitarist and occasional singer John Mitchell, who in his “spare time” also plays in It Bites, where he replaced Francis Dunnery, and who in the past has been a member of acts like John Wetton, Frost, Kino, The Urbane, Blind Ego and so on. After constant lineup changes in the 90s, Arena have been stable since the album “Immortal” (2000), working with the same lineup, and over time truly incredible studio and live magic has blossomed among them, something we got to witness (again) at their show in Milan’s Thunder Road hall.
As soon as the first chance for another meeting came up (the first one was three years ago in Vienna, when they played as part of their tenth anniversary and presented the album “Pepper’s Ghost” (2005)), we decided we couldn’t miss this one. That was despite the pretty long and exhausting drive to Milan and the rather odd fact that the show had been announced for only 11 p.m. Considering that only eight dates in total were announced before the tour started, all of them except Milan at extremely out-of-the-way venues, this was a truly unique opportunity to see the band again, a band I’d personally gladly follow across the whole tour if time and money allowed. The decisive factor that tipped the scales and sent us to Milan, though, was undoubtedly the approval of an interview with the band members.
All the credit goes to Mr. Pointer, who proved to be a real pro and won all three of us over with his friendliness and approachability. When we arrived at the “scene of the crime” around the agreed interview time, the whole thing looked pretty sad, as is usually the case with Italian gig venues, which from a distance look more like abandoned construction-waste depots. Our fears, stirred up by the atmosphere of complete desolation, were dispelled by a parked tour bus with Welsh plates. John Mitchell and bassist Ian Salmon, the band’s “sporty twins” in Mick’s sarcastic words, were in the middle of their afternoon workout, made quite difficult by the heavy downpour and the general remoteness of the place. After settling on a time for the interview with Mick, we eagerly watched the soundcheck and checked out their merch. An exceptionally homey atmosphere gradually took over. That was confirmed during the interview too, where all the band members were around, even though it focused on the two bosses of the group. After the interview there was still enough time to treat ourselves to some proper Italian spaghetti, vegetarian of course. When we came back, things in the hall were already lively, though still far from Mick’s wishes when it came to turnout. VIII Strada, the local support band, mostly made up of young “bulls”, had already been on stage for a while, playing technically minded prog metal, kind of in the spirit of Dream Theater. They played only instrumentals and mostly showed off their solid technical chops, but with that alone they naturally couldn’t win us over all that much. Still, they left a much better impression than the dreadful Austrian support band that played before Arena three years ago in Vienna and last year before IQ.
We caught Arena’s arrival in front of drawn curtains, to the intro sounds of the beloved cavalry classic “William Tell Overture”, which didn’t really need to be played in full, though it contributed a lot to the crowd’s mounting, tense anticipation. And then it was on. Arena could hardly have picked a better opener than the still-hugely-popular and electrified “Welcome To The Cage” from the album “Pride” (1996), which “set fire” to everyone in the front rows right off the bat. In recent years, Arena’s shows have typically tailored the setlist around their two most popular (concept) albums, “The Visitor” and “Contagion” (2003), playing several songs in a row from each. This time the number of songs from the two albums was balanced pretty well, with a slightly bigger emphasis on “Contagion”. The slightly darker mood and the face-off with the mysterious “visitor” were taken care of by the always excellent “Crack in the Ice” and “Double Vision”. After some initial hesitation, the band gradually loosened up and found the right frequency together. After an excellent rendition of the mystical classic “Midas Vision”, Clive was already able to praise the crowd as “much better than last night”. The album “Contaigon” was ushered in by the excellent instrumental “This Way Madness Lies”, where we could, among other things, marvel at the incredible skills of the individual players. Especially Clive’s fast-fingered counting of the keys on the synths, in the true spirit of the Wakeman school of keyboards, and Mitchell’s ever-recognizable, mostly “weeping” solos.
The show calmed down a bit with “On The Edge Of Despair”, originally from the EP “Contagium”, which also featured acoustic guitar. Clive introduced it with the sarcastic words that “sometimes life plays a cruel joke and brings people to the edge of despair. Like, say, an audience of losers at a football match between Roma and Manchester.” None of the Italians looked like they found that funny. After the gradual calm, a fireball suddenly followed, right between the eyes, in a phenomenal rendition of the classic “Witch Hunt”, which with its turbulent structure opened a run of songs from the album “Contagion” in an extremely dramatic way. Everyone standing in the front rows could no longer stay completely still. “Witch Hunt” was followed by the no less potent and highly dramatic “Skin Game”, “City Of Lanterns” and “Riding The Tide”.
After “Tears In The Rain”, which took them back to the album “The Visitor”, came the first high point of the night with “The Hanging Tree”, one of the most beautiful and dramatic compositions in the band’s history. Sound perfectionist Mitchell fussed with tuning his guitar before almost every song, but even he eventually loosened up enormously and toward the end of the set showed ever more energy and even a few athletic moves, the kind he probably pulls off more often at It Bites shows than with Arena. The central figure on stage, though, was none other than the ever-charismatic singer Rob Sowden, who didn’t forget his usual rich costumes for individual songs (a theatrical habit he largely picked up from Peter Gabriel and Fish). At certain moments his outfits made him look like Count Dracula as played by Gary Oldman (the two really do look a bit alike), the Count of Monte Cristo, and some futuristic character, say from The Matrix, when he wore fluorescent glasses in the middle of “Moviedrome”. Between songs, Rob also proved himself a very solid acoustic guitarist, which is no secret to those who follow his solo career and have heard the album “Dark Places”, which he released under the name of his alternative rock band Solar.
The dark and quite melodramatic mood carried on with “Don’t Forget To Breathe”, which wrapped up both concepts for the night. The dramatically building “Chosen”, where Rob first appeared in the futuristic outfit and where Mitchell again served up some metal-spiced passages, charged up the hall once more in the style of “The Witch Hunt” and reminded everyone of “Immortal”, another superb Arena album whose poetry reflects the main anomalies of modern society. Clive also cracked a few jokes at the expense of the standard “prog crowd”, as usual mostly made up of older and middle-aged men, who ignored the bar and the drinks. And of course this time too he couldn’t do without his scented sticks, which he used to chase away the “bad smells”. Toward the end of the main set it was time for two newer pieces, “Bedlam Fayre” and “Smoke and Mirrors”, from Arena’s latest album “Pepper’s Ghost”. Both reminded everyone that even this album, despite its emphatically metal nature, can hold its own right alongside their best work.
Then came the moment of the night that most of those present had been waiting for impatiently – the nearly 20-minute epic “Moviedrome”, one of the most polished, complex and profound compositions of their career, and one that’s definitely no small feat to perform in all its majestic entirety. With its many dramatic tempo shifts, complex instrumental sections and changes of mood, “Moviedrome” was definitely the peak of the night and the moment the whole hall breathed as one with the band. The members of Arena had actually joked well before the tour about the journalists and fans who keep asking them in polls whether they’ll play this fantastic but extremely demanding piece. So they subtitled the tour and the press passes with the line “yes, we are playing Moviedrome”. Practical, you’ve got to admit.
Of course there was no getting away without the obligatory encore, which was nothing less than the excellent “Solomon”, originally from their debut “Songs From The Lions Cage” (1995), yet another one of their fine mystical epics that never stop impressing. In the middle of the instrumental section, Rob marched off the stage straight into the crowd and joined two “crazy” Slovenes and a thoroughly buzzed countryman of ours (very likely the only buzzed person in the hall), who was in charge of selling records, in their wild dance. No Arena show would be complete without a finish with “Crying For Help VII”, the most popular part of the epic series of songs titled “Crying For Help”. That’s the closing moment when the band prompts the crowd to help out with singing the choruses. This time there were no problems getting the audience to turn up the volume, with three maniacs from Slovenia standing out in particular.
I can say without any exaggeration that Arena’s show in Milan was a demonstration of pure perfection, the kind that only the best musicians and true masters of their craft can conjure up, with three high points of the night in “The Hanging Tree”, “Moviedrome” and “Solomon”. This time’s selection of songs was quite different from the one three years ago in Vienna, which was also very welcome. The sound was practically flawless. The same goes for the technical level of the individual performances, even though Mitchell missed by a half-step once or twice on guitar, but those are nitpicky details that only the sharpest ears picked up. Some also said Mick looked rather grumpy behind the drums toward the end of the show, as if something wasn’t to his liking, though I didn’t notice it myself. His invitation for a drink after the show was sadly put off until another time, since he was nowhere to be seen for a long while after the set and was clearly in a bit of a mood.
It was already very late by then and a long road home was waiting for us, even though most of us would have preferred to join the band’s bus on its way to Aschaffenburg in Germany. Seeing Arena was more than worth it, it was yet another one-of-a-kind live experience, and anyone who owns their albums in their collection and skipped the show mainly because of the distance can be genuinely sorry they weren’t there that night to meet this wonderful band, which remains a well-guarded secret of a handful of music gourmets. Despite Mick’s dreams of playing big arenas and stadiums, in their case that’s much better. After all, a band called Arena doesn’t need any arena to be truly great, since the musical road they’ve already traveled puts them among the biggest prog rock bands of today, commercial success or not.
Text: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
1. William Tell Overture (intro)
2. Welcome to the Cage
3. Crack in the Ice
4. Double Vision
5. Midas Vision
6. This Way Madness Lies
7. On the Edge of Despair
8. Witch Hunt
9. Skin Game
10. City of Lanterns
11. Riding the Tide
12. Tears in the Rain
13. Hanging Tree
14. Don’t Forget to Breathe
15. Chosen
16. Bedlam Fayre
17. Smoke and Mirrors
18. Moviedrome
—encore—
19. Solomon
20. Crying for Help VII.
Photo gallery
