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

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https://www.liveprog.nl
https://bsky.app/profile/liveprog.nl
  / liveproghq  
  / liveproghq  

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