Index - "Ao Vivo" DVD Review

Artist/ Band: Index
Title: Ao Vivo
Label: Masque Records
Year of Release: 2008
Offical Artist/ Band Link

The Review:

This is the first live performance on DVD (or any video) I know of from the Brazilian band Index. Since I own all three studio recordings by the band, I was familiar with all the material. I have to say the DVD is a bit bland visually, as it is a no frills, semi professional, and just a plain music and the musicians kind of presentation. I am reminded of the early live tapes of bands like Kayak, Wigwam, and Camel as a comparison in overall production. That’s not a terrible thing in some cases but I am just saying unless you are interested in seeing them play their instruments (as I was ) , and maybe the brands and type instruments they use, and how they look, and a general idea of how the parts are physically done, then you might as well just be listening to a live CD.

I can’t say the 30 minutes worth of extras are anything of great interest either as “the making of” just has studio songs playing over you watching the band and the helpers set up, talk (and you do not hear what they are saying) and it just kind of goes nowhere. So the 90 minute live show is the thing to focus on here.

- Jones Junior / acoustic & electric guitar, flute; - Otaviano Kury / Hammond organ, piano, synthesizers; - Ronaldo Schenato / bass; - Leonardo Reis / drums, percussion
Guest musicians:: - Kléber Vogel (from Quaterna Réquim ) / violin; - Rafael Gubert (from Akashic ) / vocals

Songs from the show are taken from all three CD’s and the quality of sound, imagine, and color is nice. Two camera men work the stage with quite a few various angles and you get lots of front stage time to see the musicians play. The musicians are all so serious and all business. I didn’t see a smile the whole time. They seemed a bit uncomfortable on stage, and the guitarist kept eye contact with the keyboardist most of the time. To a keen eye, it looked as if maybe there was a overall sense of uneasiness, and the idea that maybe they felt under rehearsed, entered my mind.

The concert itself was very nice, and I didn’t detect any mistakes in the performance of the four main musicians. The band clearly is heavily influenced by Camel, and you also get pieces of Brand X, ELP, and Pink Floyd. They even include a part of a Yes song at the beginning of one of their cuts, and they end the concert with part of a Camel tune, which really made the audience happy. The fact that they play both Yes and Camel impeccably, shows their skill level.

It’s safe to say that if you liked Camel with a dose of jazz fusion, and a mostly all instrumental progressive band, then you would like Index, and this live DVD has a good variety of studio songs from all three of their CD’s in the extras section, so you get that bonus if you have no recordings by the band, and want a good compilation and live show. I need to say that Index wanted the DVD to be like it is. They wanted a no frills, honest on camera, no gimmicks or effects type production, and this is exactly what you get. So take it for all it’s worth. I felt it was worth watching as I now have a visual for the times I am listening to my three studio recordings. And maybe a fourth soon?

Reviewed by Lee Henderson on November 10th, 2011

Tracks:

01. Vulcano

02. Index I/ Portoes De Gaza

03. Maximus

04. Eduardo

05. Guernica Em Nova York

06. Coracoes De Mundo

07. Quaterna Requiem

08. Index II

09. Caverna

10. Instantes

Bonus Features:

Discography
Photo Album
Making of Ao Vivo