Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Saga
Label: Inside Out Records
Release: 2009
Rating: 5/5
In 2007, the legendary Canadian art rockers Saga hit two major turning points in their long career. With the new album “10,000 Days” and a sprawling European tour they celebrated thirty years together, and at the same time said goodbye to singer and co-founder Michael Sadler, who decided that after a (temporary?) end to his musical journey he’d put more time into his family and newborn son. The double live album “Contact – Live in Munich” carries a heavy symbolic charge, since it captures Michael’s last show as a member of the band. The sold-out gig in Munich turned out to be a majestic, emotionally charged night, both for the band and for the euphoric crowd, which included the founding core of the RockLine crew.
“Contact” is a double live recording that captures the entire farewell-slash-anniversary show in Munich, which most longtime fans agree was one of the best performances in the band’s history. Emotionally, every member would probably rank it among the very peaks of their stage experiences, too. Listening to the individual performances, I can’t help admitting that I get hit again and again by incredible feelings that let me relive that unforgettable night.
The legendary Canadians, who toured with stand-in drummer Chris Sutherland, gave it everything that evening and pulled out a whole bag of big and small surprises. They balanced the set beautifully between older material from their classic albums like “Wind Him Up”, “Don’t Be Late”, “Careful Where You Step” and “Humble Stance”, a few surprises led by “The Flyer”, “Perfekcionist”, “The Security of Illusion” and “What’s It Gonna Be?”, and newer songs, mainly from the current album “10,000 Days”. The first high point of the recording is the evergreen standard “You’re Not Alone”, where the crowd, as tradition demands, sings every last chorus.
After the drum solo wraps up, Sutherland slides into a slow rhythmic build that leads into the romantic hit “The Flyer” (Heads Or Tales, 1983), one of the nicest surprises of the night. Here, too, the crowd more than convincingly takes over Michael’s usual parts in the choruses. Jim Gilmour had already hinted in an interview that the show would include a few surprises that don’t usually make it into their live set. That would surely include the excellent versions of two songs from the album “The Security Of Illusion” (1993) – “Mind Over Matter” (together with the pre-recorded intro “Entracte”) and “The Security Of Illusion”. Michael sings the latter solo, meaning without accompaniment. The thrilled crowd once again helps him out on the choruses.
Next comes a special version of “Time’s Up”, played in an acoustic arrangement. Here Michael gets wonderfully heartfelt support from Ian on acoustic guitar and Mr. Gilmour on electric piano. The crowd’s excitement has barely died down when the mischievous Scottish-born keyboardist takes center stage. It’s time for the emotional ballad “Scratching The Surfcace”, one of the few Saga songs with Jim as lead singer. Another of the night’s bigger surprises, even though they played it on the previous tour too, is “We’ve Been Here Before” from the album “Wildest Dreams” (1987). They don’t exactly go back to that one often, given its mostly pop-rock nature. After “On The Air”, one of the better songs from the album “Network”, it’s time for two classics again. Within the first few bars of the dramatic “On The Loose” the crowd goes nuts once more. Next up, they remember the cult album “Silent Knight” (1980) and play the unforgettable “Careful Where You Step”.
After a deeply felt rendition of “10.000 Days”, the title ballad of the album of the same name, they serve up another ancient classic, “Wind Him Up”. The story of an addicted gambler pushes the already pretty heated atmosphere inside the hall to boiling point. The moment they come back for the first encore with the classic “Humble Stance” from their debut, the crowd loses it all over again. For the big finale they add the evergreen classics “Don’t Be Late” and “What It’s Gonna Be?”. The latter was played for the first and last time on the whole tour, especially for the crowd at the Muffathalle.
“Contact” is a monumental live recording, and as someone who was there at that famous gig, I’ll always have a special relationship with it. Quality-wise, it can stand shoulder to shoulder with their best live albums, led by ”The Chapters Live” and “Worlds Apart Revisited”. Every true fan of the band will of course grab it, and will surely want the DVD version too. Sadler’s farewell show undoubtedly remains one of the most moving and important live events in the history of progressive rock. Michael bowed out in the ideal way, and even though his goodbye wasn’t a sad one, I’ll definitely miss him in the band’s future output. Even though Sadler’s successor Rob Moratti (ex-Final Frontier) shows promising vocals that bode well for the future, every next meeting with the legendary Canadians will never be even close to the same again.
Lineup
Michael Sadler – vocals
Jim Crichton – bass guitar, keyboards
Ian Crichton – guitar
Jim Gilmour – keyboards, vocals
Chris Sutherland – drums
Production
Jim Crichton
Tracklist
CD1:
01. The Interview (live)
02. That’s As Far As I’ll Go (live)
03. You’re Not Alone (live)
04. I’m OK (live)
05. Can’t You See Me Now (live)
06. Book Of Lies (live)
07. The Perfectionist (live)
08. Drum Solo (live)
09. The Flyer (live)
10. Mind Over Matter (live)
11. The Security Of Illusion (live)
12. Time’s Up (live)
13. Piano Solo (live)
14. Scratching The Surface (live)
CD2:
01. We’ve Been Here Before (live)
02. On The Air (live)
03. On The Loose (live)
04. Careful Where You Step (live)
05. 10,000 Days (live)
06. Wind Him Up (live)
07. Humble Stance (live)
08. Don’t Be Late (live)
09. What’s It Gonna Be? (live)
