Of course, we need to edit that out for the video… It's gonna go “Roine, you're <<beep>> great.” And I'll say “You're <<beep>> great too!”
I became a Flower Kings fan around 2005, and the first opportunity I got to see them live was on the 2006 Paradox Hotel tour. Turns out I had hit the jackpot. The show at the 013 in Tilburg was the very last of the European leg of the tour. It was a fantastic show full of great moments, I was there with my best friend and we made it home safe. But the best part: the show was due to be recorded and filmed for a DVD release.
Didn't have to wait long for it either. The DVD was instantly delivered less than a year after the show, and, lo and behold, who's that in the audience, seen prominently right after the end of the first encore?
Why hello there, adorable little eighteen year old me! Look at that trim, slim build and that fabulous hair! Awful sweatshirt, though. Oh well. It's not like I pay much attention to what I'm wearing now.
So yes, it's safe to say that I was over the moon with this release when it came out, and it's still my favourite TFK concert film. Finally, finally, The Flower Kings have released a live document that is just a straight up, warts-and-all concert registration (there aren't that many warts). All the banter is left in, all the cheering is left in, all the songs are left in, and they are all presented in the right order without any intercut footage from the tour bus or something. This is all I want a live album or film to be, and what the previous live albums weren't.
For one thing, we finally get to see firsthand what a completely charming and funny fellow Roine Stolt is, in his endearingly Scandinavian way. He's looking snazzy as usual in his flowered suit. His gentle, dry wit adds a lot of warmth and humanity to this DVD. The same can be said about Tomas Bodin, who gets in on the crowd banter and even gets to announce his own song, “Touch My Heaven”. The entire band are in excellent spirits, carried by the great atmosphere in the concert hall. I'm not sure if it fully comes across on the DVD but it really was something special.
We also get to know Jonas Reingold and Marcus Liliequist a little better. The latter is a showman who likes to ham it up, create hype and interact with the crowd. Jonas doesn't need any of that. He dons a funny hat, pulls a face and lets his jaw-dropping bass skill speak for itself. Jonas gets so many cool moments in the movie, none moreso than his extended solo in “Pioneers of Aviation”. This is the only bit of improv during the concert, and for once, I don't mind at all. He is a captivating musician who gets a world of melody and acrobatics out of what is, ostensibly, a support instrument. He has another little party trick: he can balance the bass on his chin. Neat.
But the real star of the show is Hasse Fröberg, who completely dominates this DVD. His powerful voice, combined with his rockstar antics, transcend mere posing here. The camera loves him. He's been accused of being a poseur, a long-haired wannabe rock hero who tries too hard, who screams and poses to make up for what his band lacks in dynamicism. Sometimes, there might be some truth to that. Not here. This night in Tilburg, he is a boss. He is every bit the rockstar he wants to be, and when he delivers his personal philosophy in the form of an impassioned monologue at the end of “Life Will Kill You”, his signature song, you listen. He pushes The Flower Kings over the top. He's having the night of his life, something Roine seems to pick up on when he announces him.
The setlist for the Paradox tour was inspired. I'll say this: Roine and co seem to know quite well what the best Flower Kings songs to play live are. The band were very wise to elect to play mostly the shorter songs from the Paradox Hotel album. No “Monsters and Men”, no “Minor Giant Steps”, no “Blue Planet” and, thank heavens, no “Bavarian Skies”. Instead, there's “Pioneers of Aviation”, “Touch My Heaven”, “End on a High Note”, a beautifully sung “Jealousy”, a rousing rendition of “Life Will Kill You” and the instant-classic “What If God Is Alone”, all among Paradox' best songs.
And this is really where Paradox Hotel's secret greatest strength lies: the songs were recorded live in the sudio, so they were tailor-made for the stage. Nothing proves this better than the title track; a great “up” song to open the show with, and a prefect statement of intent for the DVD. If the previous DVD was all about blowing your mind, this one is more about rocking your socks off.
The real prog heavy lifting is done by way of older material. The band don't play any real oldies apart from “Stardust”; it all comes from the post-2000 portion of their albums. Much of this material has also achieved classic status, so no problem there.
None of the epics that get an outing this night are played in full. “Last Minute On Earth” and “In The Eyes Of The World” are strung together in medley form (the transition is seamless). We get the first half of “Love Supreme”, parts one, two and five of “The Truth Will Set You Free”, a fifteen-minute medley of parts one and two of “I Am The Sun” and the obligatory (or is it?) “Stardust” finale. I don't know how I feel about this. It certainly keeps things varied, and gives the band the opportunity to play all these wonderful songs instead of just one or two of them. Meet The Flower Kings already gave us the full live versions of the epics, so it's not like we've been cheated out of them altogether.
“The Truth” actually turns into one of the few blemishes on the concert for me. The way part two and part five are connected together is, shall we say, less than elegant. It's five minutes of free-floating guitar chords. Was this really the best way to go about it? Wouldn't those five minutes have been better spent playing, I don't know, more of “The Truth Will Set You Free?”
The portion of the song they do play is done so with a great degree of creativity and freedom. The version on Meet The Flower Kings was quite polished and pretty close to the original, but this one is more cheeky and rocking and dynamic. There's a cool bit of machine-gun fire from Reingold in the instrumental section that gets repeated a few times. You'll know it when you hear it.
I must also mention the editing. There's a strange habit The Flower Kings have where the footage cuts away from the band to some... abstract, fractal-like, “art”, I guess? Whenever we get a mellow instrumental section, this comes into view. It's completely obnoxious, unnecessary and distracting. There isn't that much of it compared to their other DVD's, but it really shouldn't be there at all. Can't I just watch the band? They are doing so well!
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| What am I even looking at? |
And then, there's the encore. It may seem like a setup, but I really believe that the extra encore of “Stardust We Are” was unplanned. They certainly didn't play it on other nights of the tour. After the first two encores, the crowd just refused to leave, and I remember standing there shouting and cheering with the rest for what must have been a good five minutes before they got back on stage again. Like I said, it really felt like something special was happening. The 013 wasn't sold out, but they hung some curtains here and there to make it feel packed. There was incense burning on stage, helping with the hippie atmosphere. Everyone was so happy to be there. I wasn't around in the actual hippie days but I imagined it must have felt something like this.
Looking at it as objectively as I can, it's true that, musically, this doesn't hold a candle to Meet The Flower Kings, which is still one of the best-sounding live records I own and has a playlist worthy of the gods. However, Instant Delivery works so much better as a concert movie. Whenever I watch it, I'm right there; I've got the evidence to show for it. So, there's no way this is not my favourite DVD in the world. Long live the Kings.
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