Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Arena
Label: Verglas Records
Release: 2013
Rating: 4.5/5
»Arena: Live« is the first live album from neo-prog rock champions Arena since 2004, and also their first with new singer Paul Manzi in the lineup. It was recorded on the 2011-2012 tour, when Arena were playing material from their latest studio album »The Seventh Degree of Separation« (2011) on stage, along with some longtime favorites and a few lesser-known cuts from their rich back catalog. The new live release is a double disc stuffed with some of the best moments from that tour, so every fan of the English neo-prog heroes is in for a treat. Each track was recorded at a different venue, which you can hear most clearly in the short bits of banter with the crowd in between, while the production on both discs is excellent, which is pretty much a tradition with Arena by now.
Manzi had already won over plenty of Arena fans as the right choice of singer on his debut »The Seventh Degree of Separation«, but a lot of people were dying to know how he’d handle the older material, where his three predecessors left their mark. And he delivers, no question. Manzi, who may well have the darkest voice of any Arena singer so far, lives up to expectations on stage and sings the long-established standards with total confidence, even if he doesn’t pour quite as much emotion into the older songs as his unforgettable predecessor Rob Sowden did.
The main strength of Manzi’s voice is that it combines some of the best qualities of those who came before him (Carson’s pomp, Wrightson’s theatricality and Sowden’s emotional depth). His bandmates were in top form on this tour too, and you can hear it on every single »Arena: Live« track, whether it’s Nolan’s boundless keyboard wizardry, Mitchell’s lively guitar variations, Jowitt’s dynamic bass lines or Pointer’s thunderous drum fills. The backing vocal harmonies from Nolan and Mitchell are spot on, and the atmosphere at the shows, with the crowd buzzing along, stays high the whole way through.
Across the individual tracks on »Arena: Live«, the band covers every era of their career, from their debut »Songs From The Lions Cage« (1995) to »The Seventh Degree of Separation«. As expected, the most tracks come from the latter, though the other two conceptual masterpieces, »The Visitor« (1998) and »Contagion« (2003), are decently represented too. It’s pretty hard to pick out highlights from this double live feast, since every performance of newer and older material comes off superbly, which is almost a given with a band like Arena, but the post-apocalyptic drama »Ascension«, the mystical epic »Solomon« and the closing climax with the phantasmagorical masterpiece »The Visitor« deserve a mention. Among the surprises, meaning songs that don’t automatically land in Arena’s live set, are »Valley of the Kings«, »The Eyes of Lara Moon«, »Ghost in the Firewall« and »Crying For Help IV«, where Manzi finally proves they picked the right successor to a magnificent vocal tradition.
»Arena: Live« is the ultimate live experience for fans of the latest incarnation of the cult neo-prog heroes. Considering you’ll probably have to wait quite a while for the next Arena studio album, this excellent double live document will make the wait a lot easier. Arena are one of those prog bands that are pretty hard to catch live, unless you happen to live in northern or western Europe, so this album is a pretty good consolation for everyone who missed them on the »The Seventh Degree of Separation« tour. Of course, some Arena fans will miss certain longtime favorites on »Arena: Live«, like »Witch Hunt«, »Chosen«, »Jericho«, »Medusa«, »The Hanging Tree« and »Enemy Without«, which surprisingly didn’t make the setlist this time, though you can’t really hold it against a band that doesn’t cling to its best-known songs ‘like a drunk to a fence’, the way most rock acts do.
Lineup
Paul Manzi – vocals
John Mitchell – guitar
Clive Nolan – keyboards
John Jowitt – bass guitar
Mick Pointer – drums
Production
Karl Groom and Mick Pointer
Tracklist
CD1:
1. The Great Escape (4:36)
2. Bedlam Fayre (6:04)
3. A Crack in the Ice (4:43)
4. (Don’t Forget To) Breathe (5:07)
5. Rapture (4:30)
6. The Ghost Walks (3:18)
7. One Last Au Revoir (5:14)
8. What If (4:11)
9. Burning Down (4:29)
10. Serenity (2:21)
11. Ascension (5:18)
CD2:
1. Valley of the Kings (10:22)
2. The Eyes of Lara Moon (4:33)
3. Ghost in the Firewall (4:03)
4. Crying For Help IV (5:51)
5. The City of Lanterns (1:26)
6. Riding the Tide (4:34)
7. The Tinder Box (3:51)
8. Solomon (13:55)
9. Crying For Help VII (4:32)
10. The Visitor (7:04)
