Van Der Graaf Generator - Live At The Paradiso 14:04:07

Stroke your chins… musos at work!

Filmed to stream on the now defunct internet site Fabchannel.com, this is the current and most compact Van Der Graaf line-up of Peter Hammill, Guy Evans and Hugh Banton, reinventing themselves following their 2005 reformation and their then recent split with saxophonist David Jackson.

In the interview that’s this disc’s extra, Hammill concedes that taking VDGG’s material and reimagining it without the sax was something of a challenge, but there’s a sense that the opportunity to see what VDGG might mean in the middle of the 00s, compared to the early 70s or the brief mid-70s reunion, is fundamentally what drives them. No mere reformation just for the sake of it, but a chance to make a new artistic statement.

In this age of in-it-for-the-money reunions, then, VDGG’s intensity has all the more validity about it, transcending mere repetition by constructing a set of classics, lesser-known compositions and new work that’s multi-layered, despite the abbreviation of the line-up. With Evans’ sharp percussive punctuation creating an acute contrast to the fluidity of Banton’s keyboards while delineating Hammill’s concentrated presence, this is a film that captures the essence of what still drives them onward.

Voiceprint | VPDVD 64

Reviewed by Ian Abrahams
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