UK: Reunion - Live In Tokyo

I wasn't sure that this was going to be as good as some had told me it was. It's a reunion for Eddie Jobson and John Wetton but Allan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford are not part of the reunion performance. While I consider both to be really hard to replace (Allan Holdsworth is one of the finest guitarists in the world) I wasn't disappointed by their replacements. I was unfamiliar with Alex Machacek who took Holdsworth's place on this tour. He is quite an amazing guitarist in his own right and played the very intricate pieces very well. Marco Minnemann is one of the best drummers playing today. Marco is a member of The Aristocrats and plays with Steven Wilson. He has a style that is different from any other drummer. I can't really tell you what it is about his playing that sets him apart from others. You'll just have to get the DVD and see for yourself.As for Jobson and Wetton - Great performances by both. John Wetton's voice is still one of the best voices in the history of rock music and Jobson is a great keyboard player and just amazing on the violin.A great set. Some of the more difficult UK pieces and even some King Crimson tunes thrown in (Starless and One More Red Nightmare).Fans of UK will love this. Progressive rock fans who aren't familiar with UK will love this as well. Great mix for the surround sound. Buy it and crank it up.

Be careful about these other reviews. They mislead me to believe the quality was so bad that it wouldn't be worth buying.Well, it " IS " worth buying! Here's the good and the bad.THE BAD. The lighting is a bit low as they tried to maintain the ambiance of the show. Therefore, the video is not as vital as it would have been in brighter light. The vocals are heavily processed in reverb and delay, but Wetton has done this before. The result is that he doesn't look like he has to work very hard to sing these tunes. I do not suspect it is dubbed. He is a bit stoic in his stage presence too, as he rarely moves. Eddie Jobson produced and directed this DVD. He did the remastering on the catalog as well. That was just mediocre, so perhaps he is just the most motivated guy, and just took it upon himself to fund and produce this? Lets face it though these guys probably could not afford to go big production with this, as I doubt they earned much from this tour.Id give the video quality an 7 or 8 not because it lacks sharpness but it's just a tad dark. The sound I give a 8 or 9 but it's WAY better than some of the reviewers led me to believe. It's not state of the art 5.1 but it's just a four piece band as well,so it's not that easy to take advantage of 5.1 that way.THE GOOD. Camera work is not annoying and it patient and adequate. Good views of Jobson's fingering. A bit weak on covering Alex. Amazing keyboard and violin sounds and ridiculous playing. STUNNING! Incredible Drumming and one of the greatest drum solos I have ever seen! Yes, I missed Bruford, but this guy brought a more aggressive approach. The guitarist (who is great and not well known is great! I own two of his solo albums. He is a smart and distinctive player. He was a little underutilized here but he nails every solo. The set list is killer! It is a nice long show. Wished there were interviews. I am sooooooo glad I purchased this before it disappeared or became absurdly expensive. I strongly suggest any serious Prog fan to grab this DVD. The bottom line is that these guy do the music justice and Jobson is just awesome.

If you love UK, you should get this DVD! True, the audio quality may be a tad shy, not as good as some other more modern recordings, but my ears quickly got used to it, and I could hear everything everyone was playing. John Wetton's voice is, somewhat surprising after all these years, in GREAT form! Whoever did the programming on Jobson's keyboards freakin' NAILED it! The sounds are all spot on with the studio recordings, much better than even the "U.K. LIVE" record album from the same era. I saw both iterations of this band live, and this group sounds better than they did back in the day! I wondered about how the drummer here, Marco Minneman, would sound compared to Bill Bruford or Terry Bozzio....I was floored! He's awesome. As is the Holdsworth stand-in, Alex Machacek. WHEW!! Nails all of Holdsworth's licks. This DVD covers ALL of U.K.'s songs from both studio albums, plus a couple King Crimson tunes thrown in for good measure. (Starless, and, One More Red Nightmare) If you're a prog-head, a King Crimson fan, or lover of U.K., you owe it to yourself to get this DVD. Top-notch performances.

When you talk about progressive rock, there's no question that U.K. certainly delivers as a supergroup. However, I'm intrigued why didn't they include 3 great songs that could've, excuse me... COULD'VE made it PERFECT!!! These songs in my opinion,would've made the whole set complete and worth the price of buying. These are;1. Nothing to Lose2. Night after Night3. As Long as You Want Me HereI strongly feel that both drum and violin solos were unnecessary. Why? Because it's just filler content and there's no doubt about the ability and musical genius of Eddie Jobson. Since the show didn't include these 3 songs or at least the first two listed, you might feel like your lacking something musically. I would buy the dvd,if it's available on BluRay even better. As the dvd as presented, it's just ok as it is... I'm only saying those improvements could've made it better.