After a couple of semi-professional video’s by Nolan and company, Caught In The Act is the first Arena DVD-release. The disc is a registration of one of the Cognation gigs the band played earlier this year. (You can find a review of the Zoetermeer gig and an interview with guitarist John Mitchell in our archives.) The band had the opportunity to play in a Polish tv-studio in Krakow. The show was recorded by no less than ten camera’s. This is the main reason why it all looks so professional. In comparison to the average prog rock DVD, which is usually rather static, the band is shown in an incredibly dynamic way. This is done by a lot of moving camera angles that give you the feeling of being sucked onto stage. At some points, the images from the camera cranes camera’s move so much, it almost makes you sick ;-).

It’s nice to see how strong singer Rob Sowdons stage presentation works on film. In the past Sowdon received some criticism about his presentation. This DVD shows that Sowdon is in fact the only member of the band that really tries to profile himself. The problem is that this presentation does not find any respons from the stage act of bass player Ian Salmon (the fact that he’s barely visible on the DVD kinda says it all) and guitar player John Mitchell (moving around on stage with an air that suits him fine).

Drummer Mick Pointer is without a doubt the most relaxed under the pressure of the DVD recording. A lot has been said about his drumming, too much in my opinion, it’s fun to see him enjoy every minute of the gig. Keyboard player Clive Nolan is more modest than usual. The preparations for the recording must have taken their toll on Arena’s engine.

The disc contains almost an integral version of the Cognation album. Some of the softer tracks weren’t played to keep the tempo high. The ten remaining songs can be best described as the best of Arena 1995-2000. Highlights are “Hanging Tree”, “The Butterfly Man” and of course “Solomon”. Besides the usual extras, this DVD contains an interview with Pointer and Nolan.

This is, in conclusion, a release that comes highly recommended because of the music as well as the images. Nevertheless there are a few minor things I regret. I can’t figure out why the beautiful live slide and video show didn’t get more attention on the DVD. But most of all I can’t understand why this great DVD is releases with such lousy artwork. Oh well, maybe we’re spoiled by the great artwork of the regular cd’s.