Colosseum - Live Cologne 1994 (2003)

As befitting a band named Colosseum, this DVD is genuinely colossal in length. It includes not just a 1994 German reunion concert that itself lasts nearly two hours, but also a full 90-minute documentary of the band that was produced around the same time. It's certainly a good value, then, although both segments of the disc have good and bad points. Starting with the better aspects of the concert portion, the filming and audio are quite good and professional. The audience and venue -- at least in the eyes of American viewers who are ignorant of the devotion of some of the band's European following -- are surprisingly large, so much so that you find yourself wondering whether Colosseum really were that much bigger in Germany than the U.S. Plus, the band -- with all six original members aboard from its final early-'70s lineup, including singer Chris Farlowe -- plays well, sounding much the same as it did in its original incarnation (and Dave Greenslade, thankfully, primarily relies on the Hammond organ rather than more modern synthetic keyboards). The 14-song set includes several of the most popular numbers from their vintage albums, like "Those About to Die," "Walking in the Park," and the three-part "The Valentyne Suite," as well as covers of the Jack Bruce-Pete Brown compositions "Rope Ladder to the Moon" and "Theme for an Imaginary Western." Still, the songs, and especially the solos, tend to go on waaay too long, particularly Jon Hiseman's drum solo in "Solo Colonia." Heckstall-Smith's saxophone soloing in "Tanglewood '63" is more welcome, if only because sax solos are so much less common in rock concerts than guitar and drum spotlights.