Recorded on December 1 and 2, 1979, the classic lineup of members Rick Davies (singer-songwriter-keyboardist) and Roger Hodgson (singer-songwriter-guitarist-keyboardist) with John Helliwell on sax, woodwinds, vocals and keyboards and a rock-steady rhythm section of bassist Dougie Thomson and drummer Bob Siebenberg capturing Supertramp performing at the peak of their career.
Unlike the previously released 1980 Paris live album, featuring selections from earlier shows of this Paris run, the triple LP and double CD features the complete Supertramp show from the tour, compiled from recordings during the two December shows.
Having been on the road for almost ten months throughout America, Canada and Europe in support of Breakfast in America, 1979's top selling album, which sold in excess of 20 million copies, producing several hit singles and went on to win two Grammy awards. For a London based band that started in 1969 and, with a new line-up, reached stardom in 1974 with the release of its third album Crime of the Century and within five years to have now reached the very pinnacle of music success, it must have felt sweet.
Performing such Supertramp favorites as “Bloody Well Right,” “The Logical Song,” “Breakfast In America,” “Goodbye Stranger,” “Asylum,” “Even In The Quietest Moments,” “Give A Little Bit,” “Dreamer,” “Rudy,” “Take The Long Way Home,” “Fool’s Overture” and others amounted to nothing short of a celebration.
Siebenberg recalls, “looking back at that period, it really was the experience of a lifetime…the best of times.”
Saxophonist Helliwell notes “those Paris shows were a definite high point for us because you could feel the audience reaction. You can actually hear the volatility in the French crowd. They sound a little mad!”
