Jadis outdoor gigs in their Hampshire heartlands are much more than that though, as the recording will testify, for here, they play to their hardened fans, many familiar faces who share an unusual intimacy with the band, as can be witnessed in the humorous banter which exists with the audience. Chandler jokes with them about the 140 noise complaints they had in 2 hours after the previous year's gig, their superb finale of 'Holding Your Breath' and the crunching finale of Somersault's 'Hear Us' only serves to underline how criminally underrated this band is, within the music industry and therefore this live recording is preserved for the enjoyment of those who weren't fortunate enough to get a ticket for the event. Other plus points to the show being the relaxed and friendly atmosphere that can be felt while listening to this recording. My fave standout track off "Understand" is the energetic "Alive Inside". As usual, Garry is fantastic on the guitar ("Counting All The Seconds" being another emotional moment). There are also two songs from their debut album "More Than Meets The Eye" which is their best one IMHHO and confirmed here not only because "Wonderful World" is my fave but if the at this stage of their career, the band decided to play two very old songs they must know that this feeling is wIdely spread in their fan database. Guitar work during this track is just somptuous. My highlight (but "Holding Your Breath" is only an inch behind, but still one of the best from this live offering). A bit different and longer is the intro to the track Understand, with a Crazy Diamond-like feeling as the result, but soon the song as we know it burst out of your speakers. Jadis is one of those bands that add a certain energy to their songs, when played live, and this is very clear on this recording. The sheer joy of playing music becomes obvious in a great song like Where In The World. Martin Orford has no difficulty reproducing the brilliant harmony-vocals on this track. I dare to say that his harmonies are even more essential to the Jadis-sound than his keyboard-playing. The album is recorded at the annual Garden Gig in Nomansland, which usually turns out to be a gathering of (musical) friends and relatives. Fortunately they left the fun of these kind of gigs in, although not every remark from audience or band is understandable. Racing Sideways features one of the best bass-lines John Jowitt delivers on this album, as well as a genuine solo-spot on the middle of a track. This faster version of this great song certainly is one of the highlights of the album. It proves that a song-based way of writing can result in some fine music, although many prog-fans tend to think different. They're wrong. Steve Christey is one of those drummers, who often seems to get the credit 'solid' and that's it. Wonderful World, with it's rhythm-changes and great drum-patterns, proves there's more to a drummers-life than being 'solid'. I certainly prefer this live-version to the one on As Daylight Fades, the band's previous live-album. Gary Chandler's guitar-work on this song is so great. Alive Inside flows in a gentle way in the first part and then suddenly takes off. All members of the band present us with the best of their musical capacities in this fast instrumental part. The drumming-part at the end, combined with the bass and guitar melody-lines, is real fun. I'd almost forget to mention that Gary Chandler is responsible for the singing as well, but Counting All The Seconds, is a slower track that simply makes you listen to his voice, which is clear, but doesn't lack emotion. In this live version, there are no electronic drums present, but -to be honest- I don't miss them at all. Especially not at the end, where Steve Christey has a solo spot. Batstein is the only track that seems to have survived the line-up changes since Somersault; it hasn't been absent from the setlist ever since. With its strange rhythm, time-changes and many melody-lines, it's not one of the easiest songs to get into, but there's certainly much to enjoy once you're into it. The other track off Somersault present here is the closer of that album, Hear Us. Like Holding Your Breath, which ends More Than Meets The Eye, this song has been abbreviated for this occasion. Still, Holding Your Breath, which follows directly from Batstein, lasts more than 6 minutes. It creates a great atmosphere, full of tension, almost literally like holding your breath, before the guitar-solo and the beautiful introduction of the finale-theme by Martin Orford on keyboards. He also gets his (only) keyboard-solo in this part, even though it's still a bit short for my taste. Great song. With Alive Outside Jadis have delivered a lovely live album. There's great music and lots of fun and atmosphere, which is what a live album should be about. Highly recommended