Interview: Mick Pointer and Clive Nolan on 30 years of Arena

In 1995 Clive Nolan (Shadowland, Pendragon) and Mick Pointer (ex-Marillion) released a collaboration under the monniker 'Arena'. This album, Songs from the Lion's Cage', was well received and proved to be the start of a 30 year ride, bringing 10 studio albums as well as several live albums and dvd's. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Arena, the band set out on a tour, 29 dates in about 35 days! This tour ended in the Netherlands, where the band played no less than 4 dates! On the 28th show, as De Pul in Uden, Clive Nolan and Micj Pointer were kind enough to spare a moment before the show, to sit down with me for a chat. In the little time we had, we went though the history of the band, leading of course to the ultimate question: 'What's next?' 00:00 Introduction 00:31 Living n the tourbus for a month 02:02 How did Arena start? 07:30 The transition from Pride to The Visitor 11:27 Did the change in vocalists affect the band? 15:02 Has your creative process changed over the years? 17:18 The advantages of not being signed to a recordlabel 19:54 Regrets and highlights over the past 30 years 23:47 Ways to handle life on the road 25:27 How Damian Wilson got to join Arena 27:26 What's next? Follow Arena here: https://www.arenaband.co.uk/   / arenabandofficial     / arenabanduk      / @arenabandofficial   All shaky handycam footage recorded by Marcel Haster for LiveProg Productions Other video's used in this interview: Arena- Sirens "Live" 98 (Rare Footage) |    • Arena- Sirens "Live" 98 (Rare Footage)   Arena - Ascension (from the Caught in the Act DVD) |    • Arena - Ascension   Arena - Rapture (from the Rapture DVD) |    • Arena - Rapture (live)   This interview © 2025 LiveProg Productions Follow LiveProg: https://www.liveprog.nl https://bsky.app/profile/liveprog.nl   / liveproghq     / liveproghq   Subscribe to the LiveProg Substack for updates on interviews, podcasts and more: https://liveprog.substack.com/