San Francisco-based Enchant have been a part of the progressive-rock scene for over 10 years now, and have already released seven studio albums before finally getting around to this much anticipated live career retrospective. The Live At Last DVD was initially released in Europe back in October of 2004, but was immediately recalled due to an audio production glitch. The problem was quickly fixed and the DVD was eventually re-released in January of 2005.
I only recently discovered Enchant a few years ago, so I still have some catching up to do. This DVD and the accompanying two-CD set are the perfect place to start, since they each cover about one-third of the band's entire catalogue. For those who are not yet familiar with the band, I would describe their music as a mix of Hogarth-era Marillion and Dream Theater, with a lead vocalist who sounds similar to a young Steve Walsh of Kansas. Enchant certainly have what it takes to break out in a big way with the right album and promotion, but so far they have only been able to achieved relative minor-league status. I find their originality and songwriting to be a little lacking to really separate themselves from the pack. They remind me of the difference between Kansas' 1980's albums and...say...Leftoverture. Their best stuff is only as good as Kansas' average material, but their next album could easily be their very own Point Of No Return. The potential is there, and it will be interesting to see what they do with it.
Live At Last was recorded March 13, 2004 at I-Musicast, a small club located in their home turf of Oakland, California. Being that this is the band's first live album and DVD, it was refreshing to see that they got things right the first time. Live At Last is a two-disk package that contains 23 of Enchant's best songs, touching all seven of their studio albums, and offering a mix of progressive-rock and metal, as well as straightforward hard-rock and pop. They even throw in a few ballads and a two-song acoustic set to give the fans a taste of everything in their arsenal. The stage was small and the light show was very minimal, but the musicianship was superb. You can usually count on that much from a prog-rock band.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
excellent as always Paul, you rule! We've had a policy change - please make Music the main category for concert DVDs now. Thanks!!
2 - Sandro Amadei
The DVD is quite nice, but I noticed that the audio and video are evidently bad synchronized!