Thankfully captured by editor of the noted Big Takeover fanzine (and
Chameleons diehard)
Jack Rabid from a radio broadcast of a Canadian date in early 1987,
Toronto remains the only official live document of the band from their final days, and the only one with a full mix of material from all three albums. Though the sound betrays the disc's origins a bit, this is still an essential release; while
the Chameleons never seemed to fail live in general, on this night they shone and then some, sounding perfectly tight throughout.
Burgess himself sounds quite content, offering various good natured wishes to the audience and other brief comments. Beginning with their ultimate track, "Swamp Thing," the 13-song set features such
Strange Times highlights as "Caution" and "Soul in Isolation" standing up perfectly well with established set favorites as "Singing Rule Britannia" here given an even more fierce vocal punch by
Burgess during the mid-song break - and "Second Skin." "In Shreds" even makes an appearance halfway through! The two song combination of "Paradiso" and "Home is Where the Heart Is" works wonderfully, especially how the second song stretches out and seems to take forever to fade away. It all ends with a live standby, a version of
Alternative TV's "Splitting In Two," here imbued with a kick and power that makes the only other available version (from the
Live in Berlin release) seem tame.
–
Ned Raggett, Rovi