I put the CD in and the headphones on.  It wasn’t until deep into Althea I laid my guitar down and picked up a pen.  The songs... groove on.   Honestly, I have enjoyed uVu’s studio productions quite immensely in the past, which often conveyed a sense of live performance, but this CD is recorded live on July 11, 2010, and it is amazing.  I will compare to the Grateful Dead here, as there is an uncanny homage to that band amongst others, but just as there were many live recordings, not all are as in the zone all the time, much less for an entire show, as this compilation from the concert is.  I give everyone credit to capture such an astoundingly vibrant stereo experience- can you imagine being there?  
Gorge, music and lyrics by Michael Canary, lead vocals with lots of introspective lyrics and big classic keyboard solos, but lead guitar is stepping up as well.  But what can you do when your next song is Childhood’s End by David Gilmour?  Why not deliver it Jerry Garcia style?   How much did you drop, you begin to wonder six minutes into The Other One.  Such hi-fidelity is a welcome added bonus, too, how can there be so much clarity in such long live jams?  
Their originals are intermixed with the classic covers, and unless they tell you, you’d be hard pressed to know which were which.  Take the next song, Just.  I just don’t remember an original.  This one just wipes out any previous version, but I seem to remember another version, I’m guessing Doors.  So checking the jacket now, grrr, original!  And so it goes.  
Of course, Scarlet Begonias was easy.  And you wonder how can anyone cover that with justice?  And this is how.  I am not calling the singers great, but they have a lot of heart, and as I said they were in the zone that day, and they manage to deliver this time superbly.  Drums, bass, keys, guitars, vocals, spot on the beat, the note, the level.    And no one I know of can play songs that average seven minutes (two are over twelve) so well, one being the next track, another Dead cover, Fire on the Mountain, syncopating its groove on down the road for twelve minutes and change in total psychedelic splendor.  
And leaving me so unprepared for the original Down the Drain that follows.  I can liken it to Floyd off Wish You Were Here, very spacey and contemplative, ultra melodious, and a dose of dark realism to boot.  I’m excited that the last song, Vital Signs, is also a Canary/Webb original, quite a rocker, too, Deep Purple intensity with a killer lead, an instrumental as well, a heckuva way to end the show.  
So now I’ve reached the beginning again, when I was playing instead of writing.  This time I pick up on the words, Ooooh, I call to Mary... Mary Jane I need you...  Steven Webb, the other major Uforian, wrote and sings Away From It All and plays rhythm guitar.  Boldly profound and sets the bounds.  Second comes a Dead (technically Chuck Berry) cover, Promised Land, left my home in Norfolk, Virginia, oh yeah!  I’m originally from there, so I am unabashedly partial to this one, but that notwithstanding, this rocking rendition fulfills, or perhaps surpasses, the GD need.  
And finally I’ve come full circle, almost 80 minutes of soaring synths, searing guitars, elegant bass, precision drums upon which everything rides and provocative vocals, blissfully back to Althea.  I think I want to pick up my guitar now...
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