Rewind to eight years before my conception and the year 1967, when the music industry was a much different place and someone like Edgar Froese could mastermind a band like Tangerine Dream without any fear of reprisal from the fashion mad culture vultures of the world around him.

Tonight he brings his vision of musical grandeur back to London's RAH for a thirty-fifth anniversary celebration of his inaugural visit to the venue.  This in itself is testimony to his band's legacy and staying power, and despite a full three dozen line-up changes, Forese is still seen accountable as making some of the greatest music to influence possibly the widest variety of instrumental musicians during the intervening years. Being tagged with helping create New Age, Krautrock and Ambient Music is certainly no small feat.

Taking my seat for the show and sitting perilously close to the stage, the three hour concert extravaganza begins with four masked cellists recreating some sort of lo-fi buzz before multi-instrumentalist Linda Spa literally floats onto stage in a sheer white chiffon dress filled with fairy lights and plays a very elegant piece on the grand piano.  Then enter the Stetson wearing ringmaster Froese, who proceeds to kiss Spa's neck before whipping the piano and then they all just as suddenly leave the stage.

So I'm left guessing this is the Froese's idea of a support band? 

Starting tonight's main Tangerine Dream set off with their earlier more minimalist electronic style, the band wind their way through each song without pause, (I should mention that Bernhard Beibl's incredible guitar solos' have been playing through my mind long since witnessing this show), that is until an interval is called.  It is at this point that they totally lost me, this experience is completely frying my mind and my heart is racing like I'm just about to jump off a cliff, but this is only music right...or is it?  You see visually as well as musically Tangerine Dream have always been streets ahead in pushing the envelope. Offering up some of the most insane lights and special effects you will ever witness in a live arena.  Tonight's backdrops being more akin to a series of amazing screensavers that have me captivated, almost hypnotised, but capturing the essence of the music that is being executed by professional musicians perfectly.

Unfortunately in my world not everything is quite so perfect, and in the end of the day all the influence and extravagance of Tangerine Dream simply leaves me hankering for some good old fashioned shit kicking Rock 'n' Roll, as in the words of a certain Mr Mike Monroe "I'm A Seventies Baby".

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