It’s been a little while since the Karnataka live DVD saw the light of day. It took me some time to get my hands on a copy, I’m glad I finally succeeded. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a very positive review of Karnataka’s latest studio album “Delicate Flame Of Desire”. It came as a surprise to see a couple of the tracks on this DVD, which was recorded on October 27th (Mean Fiddler, London) far before the latest album release. The disc opens with the instrumental “Karnataka” and flows directly into “Time Stands Still”, one of the best Karnataka tracks ever. There are two more tracks from “Delicate Flame Of Desire” on the DVD. It’s nice to see and hear how these songs have evolved on their way to the recording studio. All other songs are from the two previous albums “Karnataka” and “The Storm”.

The picture of the disc is very clear and although the colour blue is a bit dominant from time to time, it never becomes annoying. The gig was recorded with several cameras from multiple angles and it is obvious that some of the members of Karnataka were a bit nervous from all the extra eyes on and around the stage.

Lead singer Rachel Jones however doesn’t seem to notice the extra attention. She’s great in front of the camera.

Between the tracks are some black and white ‘behind the scenes’ parts. This works really well and gives you a nice impression of the atmosphere before and after the gig. This works a lot better than the interview sections of other releases by Classic Rock Productions, especially because the music plays continuously. There are some extras on the DVD. There is the usual picture gallery and a nice feature called The Rock Vault, with four minute previews of other Classic Rock Production DVD releases.

I really like this DVD release, it once more proves the incredible progress the band has made during the last years. The songs of “Delicate Flame Of Desire” are much more developed than the older tracks. In conclusion I must say that I like the DVD, but for anyone interested in the great Walsh Celtic sympho music, I’d recommend “Delicate Flame Of Desire”.