Along with long time keyboardist/guitarist Paul Raymond, the original UFO members Phil Mogg (vocals) and Pete Way (bass) were joined by drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vinnie Moore. In 2004 the same band recorded the sparkling "You are Here" and embarked on a world Tour in support of the album.
DVD 1 is a complete Live Concert, recorded in Germany May 13th 2005.
The show displays UFO in great shape and still sounding great. The new members imparted a newfound appetite for music and have been a breath of fresh air. Phil Mogg's vocals are better than ever. He has progressed and so far Mogg has peaked on the $ign of 4 album plus the two latest UFO albums.
Compared to UFO's 2004 festival appearance at Sweden Rock in support of "You are Here" Pete Way is a less active. He is a Rock 'n' Roll animal but seems cooled down for this recording.
Vinnie Moore is a great guitarist even though his sound and style isn't similar to Michael Schenker. Moore is a bit bluesier in his playing but he fits UFO perfectly and his soloing on the classic songs is unquestionable.
The new songs are brilliant live.
Wild One and especially
Fighting Man really rocks. The crowd seems a bit slow though.
Overall a good performance by UFO. They have the musical capabilities and strong songs, so I am not surprised that this show turned out good.
DVD 2
UFO did a session at Peppermint Park Studio in may 2005 where they played songs chosen by fans. UFO play the songs with an orchestra as well and it really suits a classic song like
Love to Love and also
Cherry.
Furthermore there is footage documenting the making of the studio song with strings. Another funny inclusion from 2005 is the "Rockboat documentary". It is about the first show of UFO's 2005 tour where they played a cruise.
Another short documentary deal with "You are Here American Tour 2004". The tour was done with Barry Sparks on bass because Pete Way couldn't get into USA because he overstayed the last time he was in the states. The band have a very relaxed feeling about bringing a new guy in and jokes about the fans making comments that Pete looks a lot better now that he died his hair blonde (note; Barry Sparks has blonde hair)
Furthermore there are interviews about the old UFO days where Phil Mogg, Pete Way and Paul Raymond tell old stories and also talk about Schenker. It is very entertaining.
Overall this displays a band in harmony. Vinnie Moore seems like a great guy and Bonham fires off jokes several times. Phil Mogg (wearing a t-shirt for Mogg Jeans) and Pete Way certainly joke about their stormy partnership but they both seem like top blokes with lots of humour.
Paul Raymond is very respectful to Phil Mogg and he expresses that if Phil is still in the band it will always be UFO. He also praises Phil's song writing and looks very bright on the future as long as Mogg still writes songs like
Baby Blue
Lately there has been some doubtful DVD releases. This is a concert DVD with some good extra material
Overall you get what you expect from a concert DVD - still DVD 2 is the most entertaining and I am sure this will satisfy UFO's fans.
Rating: 6/10Written by
Michael Sunday, November 20, 2005
