Hatfield and the North - Classic Rock Legends [Video/DVD] (VHS)

All Music Guide

Fifteen years after Hatfield and the North terminated their two-album mission to bemuse and baffle a generation's worth of Canterbury prog fans, Richard Sinclair, Phil Miller, and Pip Pyle reunited under the old band name in 1990 to appear on a one-off edition of British television's Bedrock program, a short-lived but so-fondly-recalled series of concerts starring sundry survivors of the 1970s rock scene. The reunion of the actual musicians was not too out-of-the-ordinary --various permutations of the original Hatfield quartet (keyboard player Dave Stewart excused himself from the party) had continued playing with one another over the years; the inclusion now of Pip Pyle's then-girlfriend and Equip'Out bandmate Sophia Domancich, then, rendered the gathering just another variation on a familiar theme. But still there was a thrill to be snatched from the billing, and the broadcast did not disappoint. Neither does its 2002 reappearance on the =Classic Rock Legends DVD change that impressi...on. Everyone looks older, of course. But from the moment that the Rotters' Club veteran "Share It" opens the show, the sense that the original Hatfield broke up way too early is impossible to shake. Indeed, the fact that only two other oldies, "It Didn't Matter Anyway" and "Halfway Between Heaven and Earth," make it into the show proves that the spirit that fired the band lived on regardless. Equip'Out's "Cauliflower Ears" and Richard Sinclair's "Going for a Song" are both excellent, while two new songs, Pyle's "Shipwrecked" and Domancich's "Blott" (aka "Blott on the Landscape"), might well send you out in search of further Equip'Out material. In keeping with its TV origins, the film itself is excellent if unadventurous, and the band members are static enough that, if you wander away for a few minutes, you really won't miss much. But still =Classic Rock Legends: Hatfield the North ranks among the best releases in the entire series and leaves you hungry only for some vintage footage to arrive. - Dave Thompson, All Music Guide Read more Less