Gong Global Family - Live in Brazil 20 November 2007
...with Daevid Allen, Josh Pollock, Fabio Golfetti, Fred Barley, Gabriel Costa, Marcelo Ringel... DVD/CD
From Aural Innovations April 2010 update
This excellent DVD/CD opens with YOU CAN'T KILL ME from the classic 1971 Gong album Camembert Electrique. Yeah, at age 69 Daeved Allen still rocks it out with a great tight band and the sound and visual quality of this Voiceprint release is awesome!!! RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE great intro story about Radio Gnomes, again from Camembert Electrique. Yes, Daevid hasn't lost a step, with very professionally done concert camera work!! FOHAT DIGS HOLES IN SPACE great rockin' uptempo song, again from Camembert Electrique, killer sound, this band is really perfecto. Some very impressive slide guitar by Daevid, it's a funny little guitar that Daevid's playing, sorry I'm not sure what kind it is? Now the other guitarist is playin' slide also, too cool!!! Hey, this is where the set really kicks into spacerock overdrive!! Yeah, they're not messin' around, gives you chills! Daevid is sitting on the floor in a Yoga position. OILY WAY flute intro, uptempo jazzy rock, Daevid's just singin' on this one! Cool backup vocals thru megaphone by Josh Pollock. A helluva lot better than the Who at halftime of the Stupor Bowl!! OUTER TEMPLE nice little tea poem in the middle of all this!! "Would you like some reali-tea?" INNER TEMPLE now some funk rock with more slide guitar by the other guitarist Fabio Golfetti. MASTER BUILDER some made up language?! I can't imagine the 70's Gong ever sounded better than this live?!? Ol Daevid's definitely plugged into a higher frequency!! Some nice sax by Marcelo Ringel. Speaking of the Who, Daevid is wearing a funny white jumpsuit covered in poetry, reminiscent of the one's Pete Townsend used to wear!! More Camembert Electrique hits with TROPICAL FISH again, nice full sound, maybe not as energetic/over the top as some of the earlier songs on this release but it gets nice and atmospheric with some more Daevid slide guitar and gibberish vocals! Some trippy camera special effects for those of us in the proper frame of mind!! Obviously the people in Brazil know who Gong is because this seems like a fairly large venue. SELENE the spirit of the moon, more hits from Camembert... nice melodic song, I'm sure all you Gong heads know it well. Ssome more killer sax work..."You can do what you want." DYNAMITE the encore, another blast from the past, are there new Gong songs? Again, very impressive musicianship by this band, my old band ST37 played with Daevid Allen at Strange Daze 2000 and I don't recall him or his band being anywhere near this sharp or energetic, maybe it was just me?! I do miss the Gilli Smyth vocals a bit but I guess that's where the megaphone backup vocalist comes in?!? Overall this DVD and CD are a great addition to any Gong fans collection. Voiceprint do very quality work.
Visit the Voiceprint label site at: http://www.voiceprint.co.uk
Check out the band web site at: http://www.planetgong.co.uk
Reviewed by Carlton crutcher