Comus - East Of Sweden - Live At The Melloboat Festival 2008 (2011) LP

In 1995 ‘First Utterance’ was re-released in the UK on CD, and other releases followed in Italy and Japan, culminating in the release of a double cd in 2005 featuring both albums, the maxi-single and a few other tracks – in fact everything that Comus had ever recorded in the early 1970’s. To celebrate this manager Chris Youle managed to bring all the original members together for an emotional reunion late that summer. Some had not seen each other for over 30 years.
With the growth of the internet, enthusiasts had begun to share their enthusiasms online with fellow enthusiasts. Specialist interest web sites and forums had been launched to discuss myriad topics, including influential bands and overlooked recorded gems. Fuelled by the various re-releases around the world, hits for the name ‘Comus’ continued to grow in number on search engines until, by 2007, references to Comus were legion across the internet.
The new found popularity of the band was helped in no small way by Swedish guitarist and vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt, with his much respected metal band Opeth, who would often make references and dedications to Comus at Opeth gigs. Mikael had been obsessed with the band for many years, even naming one of Opeth’s albums “My Arms, Your Hearse” , a quote from the lyrics of the Comus song “Drip Drip”. And so it was that in the spring of 2007 Glenn Goring received an email from Mikael’s great friend and concert promoter Stefan Dimle, another dedicated Comus fan from Sweden.
The rest is, as they say, history. The classic ‘First Utterance’ Comus line up was cajoled and enthused back into an entirely unexpected reformation, though Rob Young decided not to go ahead into the rehearsal stage. Bobbie’s husband, reeds player Jon Seagroatt was drafted in to take Rob Young’s place, and in a curious echo of Rob’s own induction into Comus, Jon taught himself flute and percussion especially for the band. Remarkably, both Chris Youle and original Comus tour manager, Wilf Wittingham, also returned to take up their former posts with the group.
Comus at the Melloboat Festival, 2008
Comus played live again for the first time in thirty four years at Stefan Dimle’s Melloboat Festival on the 9th March 2008 to a tumultuous reception.