Moon Safari - Live in Mexico - 2014
“... Recorded Live at the Baja Prog Festival (Mexico) ...”
( Moon Safari website: http://www.moonsafari.se )
intro
To my surprise, the young Swedish guys of the band Moon Safari released their second live album in 3 years time. After a double album that was recorded live at the Rites of Spring Festival in the Majestic Theater, Gettysburg (2011), the band comes with another double live album that was recorded during the Baja Prog Festival (2014) at the Teatro del Estado, Mexocali, Mexico.
Moon Safari is a young and unique band from Sweden. Their trademark is cheerful prog with polyphonic (multiple voices) vocals. This is unique in the world of progressive rock. So far the band released four studio albums; “A Doorway to Summer” (2005), “Blomljud” (2008), “Lover’s End” (2010) , “Himlabacken Vol.1” (2013) and the mini-album “Lover’s End PT. III: Skellefteá Serenade ” (2013)
line-up
Simon Åkesson - lead vocals & keyboards; Sebastian Åkesson - vocals & keyboards; Pontus Åkesson - vocals & lead guitar; Petter Sandström - lead vocals & acoustic guitar; Johan Westerland - bass guitar; (and newcomer) Mikael Israelsson - drums
Jonas Reingold - mixing & mastering
review
If you think that releasing a second double live album in 3 years time is too soon, the answer is no. First of all, the band always radiates so much positive energy on stage that it is a joyful experience to listen to a live performance (album) of these guys. And secondly if you compare the track list of both albums there are only two compositions that you can find on both albums. Simply because the audiences won't let the band go before they have played their favorites “Heartland” and the epic “A Kid Called Panic”. So this new double live album is a worthy companion to “The Gettysburg Address” album.
You can find the following tracks on this album that has been mixed and mastered by Jonas Reingold (The Flower Kings, Karmakanic); “Too Young To Remember”, “Heartland”, “Barfly”, “Mega Moon”, “A Kid Called Panic” (CD1), “Crossed The Rubicon” and “Lover’s End PT. III: Skellefteá Serenade (CD2)”.
You can hear the most beautiful melodies in those compositions and the overall sound of the band is cheerful. The vocal refrains and harmonies are just amazing. Maybe I am repeating myself, but it is a joyful experience to listen to this live album. And in a live setting the music has even more power and impact then on their studio albums. After the tracks “Too Young To Remember”, “Heartland” and “Barfly” the band plays on the request of the audience a nice version of the wonderful “Mega Moon” (from “Himlabacken Vol.1”). In the following epic “A Kid Called Panic” the band goes full power ... what an energy!
On the second CD you can find two more songs. First the unbelievable beautiful composition “Crossed The Rubicon” (from “Lover’s End”). The vocal harmonies are blissful and amazing. Also the melodic guitar work in this track is great. Secondly the missing epic of the “Lover’s End” album “Lover’s End PT. III: Skellefteá Serenade”. In this long song of epic proportions the band shows us their musical craftsmanship and the ability of composing wonderful melodies. For me this is the highlight of this wonderful live document.
conclusion
If you liked the “The Gettysburg Address” live album, you must buy this album! If you compare the track list of both albums there are only two compositions that you can find on both albums. So this new double live album is a worthy companion to “The Gettysburg Address” album. In a live setting the music has even more power and impact then on the studio albums. It is a joyful experience to listen to this live album. A must buy for all the Moon Safari fans and the lovers of melodic progressive rock in general ... Highly recommended!