Camel – Pressure Points: Camel Live In Concert: Album Review

By Gareth Allen on 20th November 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

Camel are captured live in concert in 1984, and on blistering form, in a CD and Blu-ray video package.

Release date: Available now

Label: Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red Records

Format: CD / Blu-ray

BACKGROUND TO THE LIVE ALBUM

Pressure Points is a live album, recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, in May 1984. The concert was part of a tour to promote the new Camel album from that year, Stationary Traveller. The line up centred around guitarist and vocalist Andrew Latimer (the sole remaining member from the classic 1970s lineup) and interestingly included three keyboard players (Ton Scherpenzeel, Chris Rainbow (also providing some vocals), and Richie Close), alongside Colin Bass on bass guitar and vocals, and Paul Burgess on drums and percussion.

The live recording covers almost all of the Stationary Traveller album, which was a concept album, reflecting on the plight of people trying to leave the then East Germany to cross to West Berlin through the Berlin Wall, with evocative lyrics by Susan Hoover. Live renditions of tracks from the Stationary Traveller album are sprinkled with performances of tracks from the albums that directly preceded it.

There are also performances of Camel classics such as Rhayader/Rhayader Goes To Town, from Music Inspired By The Snow Goose, and Lady Fantasy from Mirage. With Peter Bardens from the classic 1970s line up guesting on organ for all three classic Camel numbers, and Mel Collins on saxophone (an alumni of both Camel and King Crimson) joining the performance for Rhayader Goes To Town and Lady Fantasy.

THIS REISSUE

The reissue comes in a clamshell box with three discs, and a detailed and illustrated booklet, that sets the live recording in its context. The concert is presented in remastered form over two CDs with a third blu-ray disc containing a video of the concert. Though the video is more that just a straight-ahead film of the concert. More about that later.

THE CONCERT AUDIO ON CD

Pressure Points, the instrumental opening track from the Stationary Traveller album, gets things off to an impressive start. Andrew Latimer’s soaring guitar introduction is followed by some lovely bass guitar atmospherics from Colin Bass. It is very much a showcase for Andrew Latimer’s elegiac and melodic phrase work on guitar.

A trio of songs follows from the 1981 album Nude, including the superb Lies. It features some fine synthesiser playing, over a funk like rhythm pattern, led by Paul Burgess’s deft drumming work. The synthesiser weaves some seamless rhythmic musical phrases, succeeded by Andrew Latimer’s guitar solo, that has the tone of an expressive vocal performance.

A CONFIDENT MUSICAL RANGE

Refugee brings us back to the Stationary Traveller. It is in some ways a perfect pop song, with a catchy piano rhythm and bright instrumentation, and a repeated chorus refrain. Whereas the following track Vopos, has a much heavier rock-based structure, interspersed with progressive rock elements. It underlines that this live iteration of the band had a very confident musical range.

The instrumental Stationary Traveller, the title track from the album, has a wistful almost hypnotic quality, providing a fitting setting for some extended soloing by Andrew Latimer, that has an unrestrained and effusive quality, and gets an impressive audience response. West Berlin takes us back to the album’s narrative over an urgent rhythm and blues back beat. This combination of striking instrumentals and more song-based narrative elements works really well in the live context.

THE MULTI KEYBOARD SOUND REALLY EXCELS

Fingertips features a typically melodic flying solo from an early guesting Mel Collins on tenor saxophone. From The Single Factor album, that preceded Stationary Traveller, we are treated to a great live performance of the instrumental track Sasquatch. It is a performance with real swing, featuring some of Colin Bass’s best playing, and stinging guitar work from Andrew Latimer. The muti keyboard sound really excels here too, providing a wide and layered soundstage. Wait, from the I Can See Your House From Here album, that follows, fully showcases the keyboards with some duelling organ and synthesiser fills.

With two more numbers from Stationary Traveller, Cloak and Dagger Man and Long Goodbyes, we reach the end of the main set. The rapturous applause at this point is a very positive reflection of the band’s courage in playing a set, which in major part comprised material from the new album. The commitment and passion with which the material is played really brings it to life.

ENTER BARDENS

The audience are rewarded by the band then being joined by Peter Bardens for Rhayader, from Music Inspired By The Snow Goose. The band really attack it, and Peter Bardens’ organ solo is incredibly exciting, with melodies and rhythms dancing together in an incendiary solo.

In Rhayader Goes To Town, Mel Collins rejoins to offer up another blistering saxophone solo over a Pink Floyd like vamp. Lady Fantasy, from the band’s second album Mirage, brings the encores to a close. The intro generates a big cheer of recognition, and touchingly Andrew Latimer apologises for not meeting requests to play it for the last eight years. It actually has a great pop song like ambience with a progressive rock heart, with some magnificent guitar and keyboard solos, that weave their melodic magic over some rapid time signature changes. It features some of Andrew Latimer’s most dynamic guitar work of the night, full of emotional attack that brings him unusually to the front of the stage. It put me in mind of the powerful yet lyrical playing of the late great Rory Gallagher. His playing here is that exceptional.

THE CONCERT VIDEO

The concert video to be found on the blu-ray disc is well filmed, giving a convincing sense of how the band worked on stage, and the enthusiastic audience response throughout. What is immediately apparent is what a well integrated band this version of Camel was in live performance. All the players are clearly excellent musicians who work exceptionally well together as a unit, feeding off a collective enthusiasm and passion for the music they are playing. There is also at the same time plenty of space for individual instrumental flourishes.

As mentioned earlier this is more than simply a film of the concert. The songs from Stationary Traveller are preceded and interspersed with dramatic filmed scenes illustrating the story the album tells. This works well, adding a narrative layer to the live performances of the songs.

The occasional frames of the audience show a packed and very appreciative crowd. The audience seem particularly appreciative of the live run through of most of the Stationary Traveller album. As noted earlier, it was a very brave step to focus most of a concert on a less familiar new album, but this clearly went down well with the audience.

In conclusion, this is a package that any Camel fan will really want to immerse themselves in but also feels like a good point of entry for new listeners to the band.

You can view here the live version from the Pressure Points concert video of Rhayader / Rhayader Goes to Town. This link was also featured in the review of Music Inspired By The Snow Goose, but really illustrates the quality of the band’s live performance, so is worth adding again here: