Post Description

MIRAGE (not to be confused with a French band MIRAGE) was put together in 1994 by CAMEL members Andy Ward and Peter Bardens, and by CARAVAN's Dave Sinclair, Pye Hastings and brother Jimmy Hastings; session guitarist Steve Adams and bassist Rick Biddulph, a former roadie for HATFIELD AND THE NORTH, completed the line-up. No studio album were ever released by the band but a short tour of the UK and Holland resulted in a first live CD, recorded at the Manchester Apollo Theatre in 1994. Later, Bardens and Adams reformed the band with drummer Dave Cohen and bassist/vocalist Desha Dunnahoe and renamed the band PETE BARDEN'S MIRAGE. Under their new name, they recorded a second live album in 1996, this time at the Star Club in Oberhausen, Germany. Another tour was planned but for reasons unknown, Bardens left the band, the tour was cancelled and the remaining three musicians continued for a while under the name of HUSH.

Their first album,"Mirage Live 14.12.94", is a two-disc CD containing rearranged CAMEL and CARAVAN tunes as well as some compositions from invidual musicians (mostly Barden's). The second album, "Mirage - Live Germany 1996" (also going under the name "Speed of Light - Live") was released under band name PETE BARDEN'S MIRAGE; half of it is made up of CAMEL cover songs while the others are still very CAMEL-like in style. Both the '94 and the '96 albums celebrate the Canterbury days of the great CAMEL and boast an excellent technical performance as well as good sound quality. With the passing of Peter Bardens in 2002, a tribute album was in order; so the album "Mirage - Live Germany 1996" (without the CARAVAN tracks) was remixed, remastered and reissued as disc 1 of a double set titled "Afterlive"; its second disc is made up of bonus tracks.

None of these albums offer groundbreaking material but will certainly be of interest to some CARAVAN and especially CAMEL fans.

Live, released in 1995

Songs / Tracks Listing 
Disc one (60:20): 
1. The great marsh (4:47) 
2. Rhayader / Rhayader goes to town (5:14) 
3. Song within a song (6:53) 
4. Speed of light (6:04) 
5. In dreams (6:15) 
6. Tell me (3:44) 
7. Skylines (4:27) 
8. 9 feet underground (10:42): 
...I) Dance of the 7 paper hankies 
...II) Hold grandpa by the nose 
...III) Disassociation 
...IV) 100% proof 
9. Caravan medley (12:09): 
...I) Intro 
...II) Where but for Caravan would I 
...III) O Caroline 
...IV) Love in your eye 
...V) Backwards 
...VI) A hunting we shall go 

Disc two (65:51): 
1. Never let go (6:22) 
2. Lizard on a rock (7:50) 
3. The sleeper (6:08) 
4. Timepiece (6:27) 
5. For Richard (13:14): 
...I) Can't be long now 
...II) Françoise 
...III) For Richard 
...IV) Warlock 
6. Journey (5:01) 
7. Free fall (5;50) 
8. Lunar sea (9:44) 
9. Gunblasters (4:11)

Total Time: 126:11

Line-up / Musicians 
- Steve Adams / guitars, vocals 
- Pete Bardens / keyboards, backing vocals 
- Rick Biddulph / bass, vocals 
- Jimmy Hastings / saxophones, flutes 
- Pye Hastings / guitars, vocals 
- David Sinclair / keyboards 
- Andy Ward / drums, percussion