Fans of the Brazillian band Angra will probably be familiar with Shaman, the band formed by Andre Matos (Vocals/Keyboard), Luis Mariutti (Bass) and Ricardo Conferssori (Drums) after leaving Angra. Hugo Mariutti (Guitars) completes the circle. Shaman released their fantastic debut album, Ritual in 2002 and I think it is even better than Angra's latest, also very strong release. So of course I ordered this DVD as soon as I found it and with the fine service of
Laser's Edge it arrived only four days later.
The main part of the DVD captures Shaman's concert in Creditcard Hall, Sao Paolo on April 5th 2003 and that alone is worth the purchase. In short, it is a really excellent live show. Several cameras cover the stage and audience very well. Sometimes the editing is a little weird, but overall this is a splendid concert to look at. The sound is also exceptional. Very clear and powerful. Both the musicians and the energized audience have been captured in just the right way.
Performance-wise the band is in great shape and look very happy and interact with the audience in pretty much every song. The audience goes completely crazy through the whole show and sing, jump and dance along to everything. At the beginning of each new song there is a huge wave of joy coming from the audience when they recognise the songs.
I have always been amazed at Andre Matos' voice. It takes a song or two before he is warmed up and starts hitting the higher notes, but Wow! What I really like about it is that when he sings in the lower registers his voice has a nice raw and powerful sound to it.
Another thing I really enjoyed watching was guitarist Hugo Mariutti. I must say I'm impressed. Being the sole guitarist he does a fantastic job and plays with great skill. I found his solos to be very captivating. Just check out
Distant thunder to see what I mean. While the cameras don't linger so frequently on Luis and Ricardo, they are keeping the music strong and tight throughout the show. Standing in for André on keyboards most of the time is Fabio Ribeiro.
The band plays every song from their debut as well as several cool surprises. Those include Tobias Sammet (Edguy) and Sascha Paeth suddenly joining the band on stage for an energized version of
Sign of the cross from the Avantasia project as well as
Pride. The audience goes completely nuts during this part and continues well into
Eagle fly free where Michael Weikath and Andi Deris from Helloween join the band. Where Tobias and André's vocals harmonised very good, Andi has a much deeper and rawer voice which makes the harmonising sound a little weird sometimes. But hey, I'm not complaining.
Another highlight is
Over your head, which has a really cool middle section with the band being joined by a violin player, among others.
Besides the concert you also get videos for
Fairyland and
For tomorrow as well as a 17 minute "Making of Ritual tour". A photo gallery is also included and I like the way it is put together. No need to constantly press the remote control back and forth. Just sit back and relax to the music and the slideshow that automatically takes you through the pictures. If you want to examine something closer, just press Pause...
A really great concert and a few cool but overall slightly disappointing extras make for a very good release the fans can't miss. For people who want to discover Shaman I would recommend them to wait until the re-release of Ritual hits the streets on March 22nd. It will have this DVD as an extra bonus gift.
Rating: 7/10Written by
Steen Monday, March 8, 2004
