Tangerine Dream Astoria Theatre London Feb 15th 2003

As well as the biggest anti-war demonstration in our history, February 15th also marked the return of Tangerine Dream to the Astoria London. Upon entering the venue my heart sank as I observed a very long queue snaking towards the exits, thirsty TD fans lining up for their beer or fast food? No!

No queue at the bar or food outlet could be seen, this was for the merchandise stall ! Fans were digging deep in their pockets to buy their TD watches, reissues of 'The Keep' and what seems to now be a traditional event, the limited edition pre-release single. Leaving aside the gig itself for a future review, there is no doubt that this release will become a collector's item regardless of the music on offer and also provides a tantalising glimpse of what we can expect on the next Dream Mixes release as T D again revisit and reinvent their past. 'Exit' is the first port of call as the impressive 'From Kiev with Love' kick starts with extra textures, and most significantly, drums! Basically the track is a scissors and paste exercise of the key elements of the original but there are some new ingredients to the mix which make it interesting enough and there is no doubting the power of the expansive chords, which resonated loudly when performed live.

'Gate of Saturn' is from the forthcoming 'Mota Atma', which has already had very encouraging early reports, and starts off in more tranquil vein until fast and furious drums are added by way of complete contrast and trademark expansive themes are repeated. Some maintain that this is a grower but I'm not quite totally convinced yet but it's not at all bad.

'Meta Morph Magic', another Dream Mixes preview, metamorphises a TD classic 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' and adds more melody, drums, samples, sirens, strings and concludes with the same crash that starts 'Kiev'. The original was the result of a happy accident in the studio, you could argue that this is a little overcooked, but it's never less than interesting.