Review of Evergrey - A Night To Remember - Live 2004 (DVD)

A couple of months back I wrote a glowing review of Evergrey’s live album, A Night to Remember 2004. The concert was recorded during a gig in their hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, and chronicled a massive 19-song set of their patented brand of darkened, epic, power/prog metal that sounded nothing short of amazing. What I’d give to have seen it live… Well, now we can do the next best thing, as they’ve released a DVD of the same performance, and it lives up to the same high standards of anything that bears the Evergrey name.

This DVD is completely stuffed full of extras, but lets start with the show. First of all, the videorecording is excellent, with many different angles coming into play, aided by a suitable lighting job at the venue. Soundwise, they hit the mark. The audio is recorded perfectly, with each instrument getting their proper respect in the sound mix. Everything sounds clear, but you can tell this isn’t an album dub. The guitars have that live sound and Tom’s voice captures the live feeling well. His voice holds up throughout the entire set, which I’m guessing is longer than they’ve ever played. Each of their five albums is represented, two from The Dark Discovery, three from Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy, four each from In Search of Truth and Recreation Day, and of course heavy representation of the new album, with six tunes from The Inner Circle. Helping out the band were three backing vocalists and a pair of violinists. As an Evergrey fan, you really can’t ask for a better show, with a satisfying mix of songs from old and new, soft and heavy.

If all that sounds like a lot to absorb, that’s only the first disc! The second disc contains hours of extra footage. In fact, the box boasts of 6.5 hours worth. These guys deliver. I couldn’t possibly watch all of it, but I saw the bulk of it. Andy Read interviews each member of the band individually, posing questions submitted by fans around the world – a classy touch. Then he speaks to the band as a whole in a lighthearted session that is very lengthy. The guys talk shop in a segment that will interest the gear-heads, and Tom also takes us on a detailed tour of Evergrey HQ. Their studio is definitely one to envy, and I think he mentioned In Flames and Hammerfall recorded there. Backstage adventures from a host of different tours can be witnessed, and last but not least, they give you all of their music videos. There are six in total: “For Every Tear That Falls”, “The Masterplan”, “Blinded”, “I’m Sorry”, “More Than Ever”, and “A Touch of Blessing”. That should keep you occupied for evening after evening.

Having only seen Evergrey once, and missing them a second time due to unavoidable problems at the New England Metalfest 2004, I’m very anxiously awaiting their American return. In the meantime, this DVD is a fine holdover until I get the real article. As far as metal DVD’s go, this is solid gold. You can’t possibly ask for more in a music DVD – close to eight total hours of material, not to mention that you’ll learn more about Evergrey than even their mothers may know. To fans of the band, you already own this because it came out a couple of weeks ago, but if for some reason you don’t…get off your ass and head to the store. Giving this fine DVD anything less than perfect scores would be unconscionable.

Release Details

Evergrey

A Night To Remember - Live 2004 (DVD)

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