Phew, not so much a release, as event that will have Softs fans drooling. There are over two hours of music across two CDs, plus an audience recording from the 2 March gig, and a high quality DVD of the 2 March concert which was broadcast on French TV. This is the most comprehensive record of this brief quintet incarnation of the band, with Lyn Dobson making a significant impact beyond simply playing ‘second sax’ to Dean.

Moreover, these recordings capture the band in what many would consider its prime, featuring music that would soon shine on Third, still a favourite of Softs and a significant marker in the world of jazz rock.

So, there are two versions of ‘Facelift’ here, Ratledge’s song that dominates Third, an early run out of ‘Slightly All the Time’ which debuted on this French tour (hear heard in the audience recording as it was edited out of the TV show, but despite the poorer sound quality, worth its inclusion), and the only recorded performance of ‘Out-Bloody-Rageous’ played by the quintet.

The band naturally cut and pasted various set pieces from different songs into different performances, as befits Robert Wyatt’s maxim, as per the title of his autobiography, that performances should be ‘Different Every Time’. For example, Dobson’s set up to ‘Facelift’ in the January concert is a prog rock raga, with the Roland Kirk flute and vox thing pushed to the hilt; but this is re-contextualised entirely in the Paris performance. Combine this practice of the band with the exigencies of editing the show for TV and the titles on the excellent gatefold packaging are more signposts than definitive.

The real bonus is the excellent quality of the DVD. Using multiple studio (not hand held) cameras, shot steadiness is excellent, while the film image quality is richer than video. Broadcast quality lighting also complements the varying dynamics of the performance. Hugh Hopper never looked so dashing! Shot principally from the back and sides of the stage we have a sense of being among among the band, performing with them. Ratledge, with his square jawed matinee looks and sunglasses is the epitome of cool in contrast to Wyatt’s bare chested sweatiness. It’s an iconic set of images that a Left Bank Paris audience would love: and those freaking out in the front row remind us how Softs gigs of the early 1970s were nearer to ‘happenings’ than concerts. A lost era lovingly restored. And the music’s not bad either.