It might appear quite odd that a band like GREEN CARNATION releases a live DVD after only 3 albums via a label they never had anything to do with so far and a touring background you cannot call copious. As for me I think it might have been a snapshot due to technical and organizational possibilities.
With this assumption they have truly made the best out of it and downright spoil the fans with bonus material and a well-designed packaging.
The show itself got recorded in Krakow, Poland on January 31st 2004 and is, with its running time of 60 minutes, very short. All songs, except Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness, come from the highly acclaimed album A Blessing In Disguise released back in 2003. From the 60 minutes running one-track-album Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness you get the first part to see and to hear with 23 minutes of running time.
Setlist: Into Deep, Crushed To Dust, Writings On The Wall, Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness, The Boy In The Attic, Myron & Cole, Rain, As Life Follows By
The concert itself is very atmospherically and it’s a pleasure to see the guys performing live. Sound is quite good as well as the camera work. Merely the audience got scaled down on a minimum so that a real live-feeling hardly ever appears.
The huge part of the bonus section offers 3 live-bootlegs from Hole In The Sky Festival, Norway 2003 and a live show from Vienna plus a video from the drum recording session to Into Deep. Ok, quality of the bootlegs is bad (sic!) and doesn’t add any special. In the audio section one will find four acoustic versions of A Blessing In Disguise songs, two cover versions (Aha – Stay On These Roads und Chris Isaac – Wicked Game) and a pre-production demo of the The Quiet Offspring album. Additionally there’s a huge photo gallery, wallpapers, an art gallery (cover art work, tour poster… etc.), biography and member profiles, discography and an interview to find. The booklet is well-designed with all lyrics, recording info and more images underlaid.
Conclusion: Alive And Well… In Krakow is really a nice matter for every fan with lots of extras and info and a fantastic show.
As for me I wish GREEN CARNATION would have waited a little longer to present a wider range of songs, a longer running time and maybe a more special show event. But maybe they plan a special acoustic live performance in support of their current album Acoustic Verses and release another, extended live DVD later, after the next album. That in fact makes this medium to something commercial for the band but who can get enough of a band like GREEN CARNATION? ;)