Previously lost footage of UK symphonic prog rock band The Enid performing live at Hammersmith Odeon in 1979 has surfaced on YouTube and you can watch the footage below.
"Independently recorded sound mixed in mono for Old Grey Whistle Test. Never used," explains band leader Robert John Godfrey on social media, where the band released the footage. "This 2-inch master videotape was acquired by a private dealer at auction and put on eBay. It was subsequently purchased on the open market by Trevor Monkton and the copyright in this recording is owned by him.
"Many thanks to all those concerned in bringing this lost masterpiece of high-prog art back from the dead."
The footage was recorded at Hammersmith Odeon on March 2, 1979 with the band touring their third album Touch Me album. Footage of the entire concert has been commercially available from the band (as well as appearing on YouTube), although the quality does not compare with the new footage.
"In the week before this concert took place, PYE Records decided to have the show videoed," the band explain on their website. "The video was shot by Trillion using five cameras. Audio was recorded by Virgin Mobile, and the soundtrack has survived and is remarkably good. The original individual camera tapes were wiped by Trillion after PYE decided not to pursue a video release. All that remained of the video was a rough mix of the show done on the night by the video company who had no idea of what to expect. Video footage used on this DVD is a recently discovered VHS copy of that rough and the visual quality is what you would expect to be given the circumstances.The video together with accompanying soundtrack was recently donated to The Enidi by Francis Lickerish who located the tape a little while ago."
In a post to the Friends Of The Enid Facebook group, Godfrey states that "a higher-resolution version will hopefully be available on DVD/Blu-Ray soonish."
