TANGERINE DREAM

The Bootleg Box Set Vol 2 CHERRY RED

Reissue of seven classic concerts from kosmische Berlin’s favourite sons.

Back in the early part of this century, Tangerine Dream fans demonstrated what could be achieved with a little cooperation online. The Tangerine Tree collective brought together myriad bootlegged live recordings with the blessing of the band, cleaned them up, and then distributed them among themselves. Some were sanctioned for official release via Sanctuary, with the second volume in the series the pick of the pair from 2003 and 2004. Now this collection gets a re-release thanks to Cherry Red, and it still sounds like the future even 19 years further down the line.

Bookending this collection are a legendary Nottingham show in 1976 and the memorial concert for German film auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1983, both keepers. There’s something palpable about the former show from 1976, featuring the definitive line-up of Froese, Baumann and Franke. Improvised pieces labelled generically as One, Two and Three demonstrate a group in perfect tandem, anticipating one another with a rare intuitiveness. The sense of anticipation from the crowd comes through, a result of the accidental alchemy of someone pressing play and record with a handy tape machine 46 years ago.

Perhaps even more thrilling is the Fassbinder memorial concert, a sonic eulogy to a fallen artistic behemoth, who Froese would have known thanks to his involvement with RWF’s final film as an actor, Kamikaze 1989, which he provided the soundtrack for. There’s grief but also celebration, an almost apocalyptic soundscape that would have been worthy of the Berlin Alexanderplatz finale had the pair hooked up earlier.

Conversely, some of the concerts in the collection feel a little aimless, especially after the departure of Baumann. The show from Washington in 1977 is a variation on the Encore album that was released by Virgin that same year, making it a must-have only for fans. The Bootleg Box Set Vol 2 is a fascinating document of the evolution of a truly revolutionary band.