Airing just twelve songs over the course of 110 minutes is a bold move, even for a prog band. Yet, for Poland’s Riverside, it is business as usual. The band, who have been steadily honing their sound over the years, took to the road with their most recent studio effort – 2023’s stunning I.D.Entity – to deliver a masterclass in modern progressive rock, not only bringing their new material to life, but taking the opportunity to rework older pieces in order to bring them artistically in line with the band’s steady sonic evolution.
The Package
This landmark live album is released across a number of different formats. The soulless can, of course, opt for the digital album, but where’s the fun in that? For physical music fans, Live ID is available as both a gatefold triple vinyl (with various colours depending on your chosen store), complete with 8-page LP-sized booklet; or as a limited double CD with blu ray and 24-page booklet. Sadly, it remains a source of frustration that the vinyl does not include the blu ray, especially considering the cost of the set, and this is something that labels really should address if they wish to keep any good will from fans.
The blu ray offers both stereo and 5.1 audio mixes (as well as a behind the scenes feature). Somewhat unusually, no Atmos mix is included although, given the quality of the available options, it is not unduly missed. It should also be noted that the audio formats are edited, removing the bulk of Mariusz’s stage banter. While this is delivered in Polish, making subtitles necessary for many, it nevertheless subtly changes the rhythm of the show, and it makes it all the more frustrating that the blu ray is not included with the vinyl edition.
The Album
“I would argue that RIVERSIDE always come across better in concerts than on studio albums. In fact, it’s only during live performances that our songs gain their full potential. What’s more, some song arrangements are much better in live versions than in studio recordings. There are a lot of nuances, quirks, and, above all, explanations of what RIVERSIDE’s music is all about. That’s why “Live ID.” is not just an ordinary live album. It’s an album that reveals the band’s true identity.“ – Mariusz Duda, speaking about the album
As anyone who attended one of Riverside’s remarkable shows on the I.D. Entity tour can attest, it was an absolutely enthralling experience, both sonically and visually. We caught the band at London’s Koko club, which only makes us the more grateful for this beautifully recorded souvenir. With the band well drilled and Mariusz Duda more engaging than ever, it felt like a watershed moment in the band’s career, with the myriad facets of their sound coming together across a carefully sequenced twelve-song selection.
CD1
The show opens with an extended, jammed out take on #Addicted from Love, Fear And The Time Machine. Emerging from the heady layers of Michal Lapaj’s keyboards – here reminiscent of Rick Wright – the rabid cheers of the crowd announce the arrival of the band, who proceed to nurse the song towards its tightly wound vocal section. It’s a hell of a start to the show, Mariusz and the band clearly delighted to be on home turf, and there’s an energy to the performance that not only elicits singing from the crowd, but an explosive blast of adrenaline from the home audience. Heading even further back into the mists of the band’s catalogue, we get a gripping rendition of 02 Panic Room, a standout cut from 2007’s Rapid Eye Movement. With its stop/start riffs and hook-laden melody, it sets the crowd ablaze (not that they need much coaxing), with a wonderfully chatty Mariusz acting as ringmaster to his own personal circus.
Now that the audience are firmly on side, it’s time to dig into I.D. Entity and it’s notable that the material is greeted like an old friend by the assembled throng. Leading with the ultra-heavy, gloriously mercurial Landmine Blast is a masterstroke, the track comfortably slotting in alongside the older fare, and the band are clearly as delighted to be airing the new songs as the audience are to hear them. With an energy flooding from the stage that demands a response and the music – caught between Tool, Opeth and Deep Purple – demonstrating Riverside’s ability to draw on a range of classic influences to create something that is uniquely theirs, Landmine Blast really kicks things up a notch, marking Riverside out as one of the best modern prog bands currently treading the boards.
Next up, and following a sinister public service announcement, the stabbing drama of Big Tech Brother takes us into the dark world of state surveillance as the bass and keyboards warily circle one another over the course of a series of dizzying riffs. When the guitars do arrive, it’s with a surprisingly metallic weight that underscores the seriousness of the subject matter, although the stripped-down verse keeps things nice and dynamic. The rather lovely Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By A Hat) follows, lowering the temperature and reminding us once again of the enduring quality of Love, Fear And The Time Machine. With its glacial introduction – all rippling guitar and airy synths – it’s a masterclass in modern prog dynamics, and it holds the audience spellbound. The final track of the first CD, Left Out (from Anno Domini High Definition), is an equally elegiac piece that slowly wends its way towards a conclusion that finds the crowd singing along, threatening to overpower the band at points, although the final riffs see Riverside once more sweep everything before them.
CD2
Opening the second disc, the heavy pulse of Post-Truth finds Riverside at their most bullishly metallic, the palm muted riffing giving way to some seriously heavy moments, for all the melodic majesty of the vocal lines. Opting for an almost bluesy pulse in places, albeit a blues filtered through the progressive rock of Meddle-era Floyd, the dense alt-prog of Tool, and even the pop-infused prog of latter-day Genesis, The Place Where I Belong, is an expansive track that slowly weaves its magic around an audience who clap gamely along, even when Mariusz goes completely acapella to rail against a society that professes intelligence as it steals quotes from Google. Then it’s back to Anno Domini High Definition for an explosive Egoist Hedonist, which neatly juxtaposes frantic riffing with calmer moments packed with poignant melodies.
With the show flying past, we get two more tracks from I.D. Entity, the first of which being Friend Or Foe – all John Carpenter synths and stabbing bass lines. A track that captures the very best elements of 80s pop rock, with elements of Aha, Duran Duran, and The Human League wrapped up in its matrix, it’s a brilliant piece that helps to revive the audience’s understandably flagging energy levels. Then there’s Self Aware which, with its John Lord keys and grungy guitars, is a high-impact rocker similarly designed to get the blood pumping, making you wonder just how much harder that audience and band, each feeding off the other, can go.
For its conclusion, the set harks all the way back to 2005’s Second Life Syndrome for a scintillating Conceiving You. As an earlier highlight of the band’s catalogue, it stands as a reminder of Riverside’s steady evolution, with a greater focus on Floyd-esque melodies, although the brilliantly realised keyboard passage at the song’s heart nods to where Mariusz would head later with both Lunatic Soul and his own solo work. It all comes to a stunningly metallic head, that finds guitars piling on guitars as the percussion detonates around it. A breathtaking, majestic final act, it leaves the audience to wander out into the Warsaw night stunned at what they’ve just witnessed, and with the home audience no less impressed.
Blu Ray
Pop the blu ray in the player and you’re greeted with a nice, simple menu, with a snippet of music playing in the background and options for the viewer to choose the audio stream, a specific song, or the behind-the-scenes feature. It’s a small detail, but I do appreciate the direct audio option menus, rather than having to fiddle about with a discrete menu item to set the right stream.
The audio, as might be expected from a band who have frequently released multichannel editions of their albums, is exceptional. Without being flashy, it places the bulk of the material in the front speakers, while allowing ambience to bleed out into rears, the lead guitars in particular benefitting from the extra space in which to move. The vocals, meanwhile, are held right at the heart of the mix, and rendered with crystal clarity. Overall, it’s a much more engaging mix than that of the CDs, capturing all the dynamic inherent in a Riverside performance. Turn it up and let it roll over you.
The film itself is exquisite. Beautifully shot, it captures the grandeur of Riverside’s current lighting set up and the stage, flanked by two massive screens and with giant lights forming an arch under which the band perform, looks simply amazing. Fortunately, the band chose a director and editing team who understand both the importance of visuals and the music, and the result is a suitably dynamic film that cuts from member to member whilst allowing time to appreciate each shot. In consequence, the home viewer has ample opportunity to take in the visual scope of the show, but with enough cutaways to appreciate both the energy of the crowd and the musicianship of the band. This is particularly noticeable at moments when, for example, the band stop on a knife-edge during 02 Panic Room, frozen in place as the camera roves over them. Despite a slightly hazy look, the colours are bright and crisp throughout, with plenty of detail in close ups. In sort, this show looks simply fantastic in high definition.
Overall, with pristine visuals, deft editing, impressive audio, and the complete, unedited show (not to mention plenty of shots of the irrepressible Michal Lapaj defying the laws of gravity), the blu ray offers a perfect view of Riverside’s I.D.Entity tour, and it’s a must-have for fans.
Conclusion
On their most recent tour, Riverside excelled both visually and musically, and this beautifully produced set is the perfect reminder. As much as we love to recommend the vinyl format, in this instance it is the CD/Blu Ray set that proves essential, as it is the latter that offers the complete performance, complete with Mariusz’s entertaining asides. However, whether you choose CD, vinyl, or (shudder) a download, you won’t be disappointed – Riverside truly come alive on stage as this excellent live release so ably proves. 9/10
