Instant Delivery is a great 2 DVD live document of the touring support of their latest (at the time) release Paradox Hotel, recorded in Tilburg, in The Netherlands on April 19th 2006. I’ve seen the band several times now and each time the performances are more exciting. Now to witness the band in 2006, shows them to have grown more in their life setting. It’s almost as if they’ve been a touring band for 25 years plus.

On Instant Delivery, they feature many songs from Paradox Hotel as well as some of their classic songs from their past. The band has another DVD out but it was a more “live in the studio,” and this DVD is a proper concert where the fans in front of them give off an energy that shows in The Flower Kings’ performance. Both are good in their own way but to experience the Flower Kings for the first time, Instant Delivery is the best choice.

This incarnation of the live band is a five piece. It is composed of band leader/guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt, keyboardist Tomas Bodin, bassist Jonas Reingold, vocalist/guitarist/percussionist Hans "Hasse" Froberg and new drummer Marcus Liliequist. Their set is filled with seventeen songs, many of which are from Paradox Hotel. Highlights for me are the title track, "Mommy Leave the Light On,” "Touch My Heaven,”"Love Supreme,” the two epics, "The Truth Will Set You Free" and "Stardust We Are" (which closed the concert).

This is by far the best performance I’ve seen of the band. Most bands when playing live do it verbatim from the studio tracks but The Flower Kings, especially on Instant Delivery have a looser jam feel to it. Personally I like it when a band expands their songs live. This is definitely a DVD that I’ll be revisiting often.

Also this Instant Delivery is available in a 2cd set as well as a deluxe edition with the DVDs and CDs. This gives the fans more choices on how to experience this live set. I would recommend this to longtime fans that have stuck it out over the years as well as those new to the band and unsure where to start.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.