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Venue: La Mirada Theater, La Mirada, CA. Date: September 1st, 2000
Setlist: All of the Above, Mystery Train, Magical Mystery Tour, Strawberry Fields, We All Need Some Light, Watcher of the Skies, Firth of Fifth, My New World
Encore: Medley of 'the bands' (There is More to This
World, Go the Way You Go, The Great Escape, Finally Free), I Want You/She's So Heavy
We were really late getting to this show, dealing with all the LA traffic on a Friday evening ... we decided to dodge the freeway and drive on surface streets all the way there, going through some of the more
'interesting' areas of LA such as Compton, Watts and Bellflower ... very strange.
We got there in time to chat to some of the prog community such as John Collinge of Progression, Christine Holz of Music news network, Alfonso Vidales of 'Cast' (Mr. Baja Prog) and a few others. We saw the end of the jazzy Kenso and then found a seat for Transatlantic.
They hit the stage around 9:45 and had a standing ovation before they played a note!!
Mike Portnoy counted off four with his sticks and they slammed into 'All Of The Above'. OoooHHH! I love this song!! The energy coming from the stage was pretty intense. Neal Morse is just a whirlwind of energy playing two keyboards at the same time (his microphone
was a wireless headset), hardly ever looking at the synths, just banging his head every so often, looking at the audience and then singing while playing all these complicated parts on the keyboards. Mike
Portnoy is always an insane drummer - a human octopus - my friend calls him.
Pete Trewavas moved around a bit but with his leg problem it doesn't surprise me how still he was. Roine, as always, was the quiet one - barely looking up, just strumming away.
The guitar definately was the only weak point of this gig, Roine had some major buzzing noises all the way through the gig and as the 'Camouflaged In Blue' section started he pretty much left the stage to try and
figure them out ... he never did. It didn't spoil the gig for us, but I suspect he didn't enjoy the whole show.
You have to give him credit though, he cranked out a beautiful solo to end 'All Of The Above' - that wonderful final coda of the main theme before the quiet end was as spine tingling as the CD, maybe more so - I
think the solo he played tonight was better.
Then, as the other members left the stage, Roine played the end of the song alone, creating layer upon layer of guitar textures with his volume pedal until the sound filtered away ... remarkable.
After a standing ovation, Neal Morse greeted the crowd and announced 'Mystery Train'.
People seemed to go wild for this song, one guy in front seemed to lose it all together during this number, flailing all over the place, very odd ... good song.
As 'Mystery Train' concluded, it fell into a section from the Beatles' 'Magical Mystery Tour' then, with hardly a gap, the band went into a fully fledged 'Strawberry Fields..', I was surprised by how well they played
this, the harmonies were spot on, and they ended the song with a very imaginitive jam section, which was definately one of the gig's highlights, I mean these guys CAN PLAY!!
Next up was the Spock's ballad-like 'We All Need Some Light'. Pete strapped on a huge Rickenbacker double neck (it dwarfed him!) for this one and, as Neil played guitar (as well as a few keyboards), it sounded
very 'full' on the guitar front.
The song was well played, but I suspect the band was a little disappointed it didn't go over better, not garnishing the same reaction as the other songs from this hardcore prog crowd, I liked it though.
Things then got weirder as Neal smiled and began the mellotron intro to 'Watcher Of The Skies', wow, very strange to see. As the song built up it went into 'Firth Of Fifth' and we were all singing along to the
Genesis classic.
This, oddly, was one song where Mike Portnoy was very 'restrained', maybe he figured there was no way he could match the Phil and Chester magic and so didn't try!! Another great solo by Roine (obviously ... Hackett like) centered the song, then a faithful piano outro, played by Mr. Morse, finished it up.
As the applause died, Neil announced the next song as being penned by Roine.
They then began 'My New World'. I really like this song but was very wary of how it would pan out live, I needn't have worried. It sounded as tight as the CD - and as triumphant too. The quiet section really worked well and the fast organ based closing part sounded awesome. The song's end is HUGE and it rightfully ended their set on a loud note.
The encore was a real treat - they opted to play a medley consisting of a song from each of their respective bands; 'There Is More To This World' (Flower Kings), 'Go The Way You Go' (Spock's Beard), 'The Great
Escape' (Marillion - sung by Pete), 'Finally Free' (Dreamtheater - sung by Neil). Very enjoyable it was too!!
The last song was by far the most ergetic with Portnoy going crazy on the end section (if you know the song, you know where I mean!!) they reached a crescendo and ended the medley with a short segment of the Beatles' song 'I Want You' - you know, the one that abruptly ends side one of 'Abbey Road', amazingly that's how they ended it - almost as abruptly, very impressive!!
Great gig, well worth seeing if they come round. Now let's see if they can follow 'SMPTE' up with another great CD ... hope so.
Fred Hunter.
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Venue: The Astoria, London Date:10th November 2001
Set List: Duel With The Devil / My New World / We All Need Some Light / Suite Charlotte Pike (Including Abbey Road medley) / Stranger In Your Soul.
Encore: All Of The Above.
Its been a long wait, but finally Transatlantic made it over to the UK for a live date. As you'd expect for a band containing four of the main 'movers and shakers' in the current prog scene (yes I'm including
Marillion's Pete Trewavas in that statement!), the Astoria was pretty full and anticipation high.
Mainman Neal Morse emerged, in snappy attire, to huge cheers whilst the rest of the band (Trewavas, Roine Stolt and Mike Portnoy, plus additional guitar & keyboard player Daniel Gildenlow) soon followed.
Portnoy's drum kit was, for some reason, at the front of the stage on the right hand side - the only reason I could see for this was so that everyone could get a closer look at his (admittedly excellent) drumming technique!
'Bridge Across Forever' opener 'Duel With The Devil' got things underway, but unfortunately it was soon pretty clear that the sound wasn't what it could be - the bass way too high in the mix, with Morse's vocals (and
sometimes Stolt's guitars) struggling to be heard over the din - consequently, for this first track anyway, the quieter parts of the track worked better. The sound did seem to improve as the gig went on, but
I'm not sure whether this was due to technical improvements or the fact that my ears were getting used to it - probably a bit of both.
Sound problems not withstanding, however, this was musically an excellent performance.
The choice of tracks was spot-on, and I'd be surprised if anyone had a favourite Transatlantic track that wasn't played. The highlights for me were numerous, although set closer 'Stranger In Your Soul' probably shaded it as the best track - Neal Morse announced it as "the best song Transatlantic has written", and I wouldn't disagree.
Having said that, the encore, the epic 30-minute plus (not bad for an encore!) 'All Of The Above' runs it close, and was obviously a favourite with the crowd.
The band didn't play any covers in their entirety, although they did interweave bits of the 'Abbey Road' medley by The Beatles into 'Suite Charlotte Pike' which, as I mentioned in my review of the CD, is strongly influenced by A.R. I thought this worked very well, and the band appear most at ease on this track with Neal Morse finally let free from his keyboards for a while to charge up and down the stage.
In fact, the only criticism I had of the band's actual performance is that for the most part they didn't seem to gel as a unit.
Pete Trewavas and Mike Portnoy seemed quite up for the gig, but Roine Stolte, hiding behind dark glasses, seemed reserved, as did Morse - at least, reserved for him! However, given that the band have only had limited time for rehearsal, this was understandable and doesn't detract from the music, which as I've said, was top notch.
Overall then a fine night's entertainment by some of the best musicians in the field. Hopefully this won't be the last we see of Transatlantic, and that next time the sound will be sorted out!
Tom
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