Instant Delivery is a great 2 DVD live document of the touring support of their latest release Paradox Hotel, recorded in Tilburg, 013 in The Netherlands on April 19th 2006. I’ve seen the band three times now (Progfest ‘97, The Troubadour in LA 2002 and CalProg 2005) and each time the performances are more exciting. Now to witness the band in 2006, shows them to have grown more in their life setting. Almost as if they’ve been a touring band for 25 years plus.
On Instant Delivery, they feature many songs from Paradox Hotel as well as some of their classic songs from their past. The band has another DVD out but it was a more ’live in the studio’ and this DVD is a proper concert where the fans in front of them give off an energy that shows in The Flower Kings performance. Both are good in their own way but to experience the Flower Kings for the first time, Instant Delivery is the best choice.
This incarnation of the live band is a 5 piece of band leader/guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt . Keyboardist Tomas Bodin, bassist Jonas Reingold, vocalist/guitarist/percussionist Hans "Hasse" Froberg and new drummer Marcus Liliequist. Their set is filled with 17 songs, much of which are form Paradox Hotel. Highlights for me are the title track, "Mommy Leave the Light On", "Touch My Heaven", "Love Supreme", the two epics, "The Truth Will Set You Free" and "Stardust We Are" (which closed the concert).
This is by far the best performance I’ve seen of the band. Sadly I missed them this past August in Whittier California, due to financial reasons, but I’m sure they’ll return again since the audiences here embrace them so well.
Most bands when playing live do it verbatim from the studio tracks but The Flower Kings, especially on Instant Delivery have a more looser jam feel to it. Personally I like when a band expands their songs live. This is definitely a DVD that I’ll be revising often.
Also this Instant Delivery is available in a 2cd set as well as a deluxe edition with the DVDs and cds. This gives the fans more choices on how to experience this live set. I would recommend this to longtime fans that have stuck it out over the years as well as those new to the band and unsure where to start.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on Novemeber 12th, 2006
