Lost ’n’ Found – Live in Tilburg re-visits an outstanding performance from one of the biggest shows during Riverside’s European tour in 2015 which came after the release of their Love, Fear and the Time Machine album.  The recordings also sadly document Riverside’s last tour with original guitarist and founding member Piotr Grudziński.

Inevitably, this album comes loaded with emotion on many levels and will impact people in different ways depending on their closeness to the band and its history. Recorded in the autumn of 2015 apparently it was previously available on the “Towards the Blue Horizon Tour” but now has open release. It’s also an accurate recording, 100% overdub free zone, so what we hear is what the audience heard. All the more impressive.

There are 13 songs over about 105 minutes of music on the two discs, with each of the six studio albums represented. Remembering the earliest Riverside releases against the most recent albums, you might expect a bit of a jarring in terms of style and substance, but such is their talent and ability to transform, it all flows into a single, united, effortless, flawless whole.

If you are like me, you’ll have been to plenty of concerts where you’ve expected the artist to replicate their studio magic in absolute entirety from start to finish, meticulously scrutinising every note, sound and dynamic against your high standards. Tip – don’t do that here. This is not a tribute band, or one that dwells on past history and previous highs. But it is a band that is proud of its roots and history. It is a band that doesn’t just play music, but lives its emotional highs and lows.

Opener “Lost” is a gorgeously evocative opener, Mariusz Duda’s vocals startlingly clear, as indeed are the rest of the band’s instruments on this folk-rich slowburn of a song which sets the tone for the evening. Maybe a bit rougher and heavier than their studio versions, but for all that, their passion and emotion are to the fore. Take a listen to Duda’s warm vocals and emotion in the final words of “Found”. And hear the reverential audience silence at the end of the song. Now you know why the album name btw….

This is one of those albums where you could do a review which picks out highlights in each of the tracks on the double album – but actually the better thing to do would be just to signpost anyone new to Riverside to this great selection and performance. Those familiar with Riverside will enjoy the controlled emotion and boundless energy of the performance. Having had the pleasure of seeing them at Holmfirth many years ago now, I have nothing but fond memories.

They do anthemic so well (“Feel like Falling”). They display raw enthusiasm and instrumental dexterity (“Hyperactive”). They know how to grip an audience with an intense epic ballad (“Conceiving You”). They can groove (“Panic Room”), they can be arty (“Under the Pillow”), they know the importance of enticing song structure (“The Depth of Self-Delusion”) and clever instrumental interplay (“Saturate Me”).

Well, just look at that, I’ve only gone and summarised the first CD…… you’ll have to listen to the rest yourself. You won’t be disappointed. More of the same. And much more besides.

On this album, you get a different side of the familiar, and the classic Riverside songs seem harder, faster and yet still deeply atmospheric. All of which makes this, the last album of the irreplaceable, late Piotr Grudziński, Riverside’s guitarist, an awesome tribute. We’ve all heard the phrase “tribute album” used in a different sense. I mentioned it myself a few paragraphs ago. But I want to use it in its proper, original sense. This album is a tribute to the late Piotr Grudziński. Not some mock band going through the motions, but in the correct sense, in a deep and sensitive tribute, and a final record that will stand forever and show off the man’s talent – alongside his three equally and uniquely talented bandmates, all at their absolute pinnacles of musicianship and showmanship.

Tracklisting

CD 1 (51:30)
1. Lost (7:56)
2. Feel Like Falling (5:36)
3. Hyperactive (5:29)
4. Conceiving You (5:04)
5. Panic Room (5:43)
6. Under the Pillow (6:48)
7. The Depth of Self-Delusion (7:32)
8. Saturate Me (7:22)

CD 2 (52:15)
1. Egoist Hedonist (7:22)
2. We Got Used to Us (5:37)
3. Escalator Shrine (20:25)
4. The Same River (13:03)
5. Found (5:48)

Total Time 103:45

Line-up / Musicians

– Mariusz Duda / vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, ukulele, Hammond
– Piotr Grudziński / guitar
– Michał Łapaj / keyboards, Hammond, theremin, backing vocals
– Piotr Kozieradzki / drums, percussion

Releases information

Recorded at 013, Tilburg, Holland, October 18, 2015