Review by Sonny for Warning (GBR) - Watching from a Distance - Live at Roadburn (2021)

The original Watching From A Distance is my all-time favourite album, metal or otherwise, and resonates with me on a level unmatched by any other release. This is a live rendition of the entire album performed at 2017's Roadburn Festival and is a faithful reproduction of that album with former bassist Wayne Taylor backing up Patrick Walker as second guitarist. The live interaction of both band and crowd is minimal which would get some people asking "What's the point, then?" The point is that this is an album with an unequalled level of emotional outpouring and intensity which the live setting has possibly rendered even more poignant as Patrick Walker pours his heart out. The fact that Walker's vocals are obviously a one take, one-shot deal he seems to wring even more heartbreaking intensity from them, as if the guy is actually reliving the tales he is telling us there and then. I would love to be able to say I was there and have the memory of that performance etched into my memory forever, but I wasn't and so this is the next best thing as I still get to embrace this wonderful performance of a seminal album.