Tangerine Dream Live Ottawa 1986 (Bootmon 5)

The last chapter of the "Bootmon Experiment" brings us a concert at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa which took place on 20th June 1986. Again the packaging is bright and colourful, with some pics of the band line-up which by now had seen Schmoelling replaced by Haslinger. Unfortunately the identical sleevenotes with the identical typos are in evidence, however on a brighter note there's no evidence of any faults on the discs - a case of fifth time lucky?

The concert kicks off with 'Pilots of Purple Twilight' from 'Exit' and immediately the sound quality, or rather the lack of it, hits you. This is possibly the poorest sound quality of the 5 bootmons, sounding muddy and compressed, though it does seem to ebb and flow through the 2 discs with some of the tracks not sounding too bad.

'Pilots' is delivered with customary aplomb and expertise, an energetic opener which relies on a peculiar staccato style rhythm rather than "in yer face" melodics, but it is almost identical to the album version. After a 2 minute bridging section we than move into an excellent adaptation of 'Stratosfear', very different from the original with stabby synths supplementing the main theme. 'Akash Deep' (sic) then serves up some beautifully atmospheric refrains, eventually supplemented by flutey synths to allow the sequences to emerge and the way it all gathers momentum is great. Again rhythm rather than melody carries the day, but this is a significant track which wasn't released on any studio album hence it's a fascinating 13 minute ride.

'Beneath the Waves' is next, a beautiful poignant bridge to 'Zen Garden' which gets moving immediately with an insistent rhythm and stabby synths. Again the emphasis is on dynamics rather than composition, it's a piece which ends much as it started with little variation in between. 'Scuba Scuba' crashes straight onto the scene and again the rhythmic approach is similar but somehow more successful on this classic from 'Underwater Sunlight' which has enough variation from the original to maintain interest. Sound quality by now has improved slightly and overall this is now very listenable. 'Coloured Rain' is another unfamiliar piece which is high on atmosphere and serenity, a laid back sequence adding texture and it's a perfect way to wind down to the beautiful 'Piano Solo' which opens with 'Ricochet part 2' then goes on to demonstrate Haslinger's prodigious talent as he rolls off a number of classic themes, painting light and shade so effectively.

Disc 2 opens with an excellent version of 'Dolphin Dance', initially sounding very similar to the original but it does subsequently take a few different twists and turns and together with the extended ending it weighs in at over 9 minutes. 'Ride on the Ray' is next up, and is a real roller coaster ride in the live setting. 3 minutes in and the audience starts to clap which can only mean Edgar is about to do some spanking, and sure enough he whips the crowd into further frenzy with sparkling guitar salvos as the bustling backdrop threatens to burst a blood vessel. Things don't subside for over 9 minutes by which time a brief silken synth bridge is a welcome chance to catch the breath. Two more strong tracks follow, the excellent 'Going West' from 'Flashpoint' and the wonderfully melodic 'Yellowstone Park'.

A new piece 'Underwater Twilight' follows, busy sequencing and synths create a dense rhythmic texture though the melody lacks some focus. Next is a fantastic strident piece called 'Legend Leftover'. The latent power in this piece is something to behold, totally awesome and a fantastic way to end the set.

And an equally fantastic way to begin the encores is the beautiful 'Unicorn Theme', wonderful melodies played with real panache. Haslinger shows more prodigious talent with a Mozart Piano Concerto before the excellent 'Rare Bird' and 'Bois de Bologne' bring the concert to a close. This really is a superb collection of tracks, and shows that the boys were still in scintillating form despite the departure of Schmoelling. Good also to see the absence of faults on this set, though the sound quality is disappointing.