John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest - Legacy

London’s Shepherds Bush gathers the Harvest in

This DVD captures the BJH singer/guitarist with his erstwhile band colleague, keyboardist Woolly Wolstenholme, and supporting players, at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire in 2006. The 17- song package runs through classics old (The Great 1974 Mining Disaster) and less old (Cheap The Bullet), with lesser-lauded works such as Harbour and The Poet to please the pre-Polydor prog brigade.

The bespectacled pair can still put on a sophisticated rock spectacle, with plenty of Northern wit thrown into the brew (Woolly missed his vocation) and the likes of Child Of The Universe, with its distinctive fuzz-guitar soloing and the majestic Poor Man’s Moody Blues (ironic in the extreme) showcase the power of BJH, despite the absence of half of their original number. Other purple period highlights are the shimmering Galadriel and Mockingbird, while Suicide is a moving commentary on individual desolation, writ large in After The Day. Hymn is simply that, a magnificent modern standard that lifts the heart and soul. Add a 25- minute backstage featurette and you have a classy insight into one side of a classic British band.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Esoteric | tbc

Reviewed by Tim Jones
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