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CONCERT REVIEWS
A
September Day in Holland – Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One concert in
Tilburg, Sunday September 29th.
It was early on Sunday, the 29th
of September when I took the road to join Veldhoven, Holland, where Rosie our
talented webmistress lives. 430 km and a lot of good music to keep me awake !
From there, we headed with Alexis
and Sandra, who was our chief driver, towards
Tilburg. It’s a long road to see Star
One and Damian, but the concert initially scheduled in Paris has been cancelled
for a stupid reason. That’s a good excuse to see Holland again and Arjen
playing his music in his own country - and to see Damian for the first time !
- </span>in this excellent venue called
the « 013 ». I’m familiar with the place,
having already been here in February for a concert by IQ. The stage is deep and
wide and the acoustics usually excellent from what i had heard, which was very
true with IQ indeed.
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The place is packed with people
this time and all what I’ve been told about Dutch security rules for music
venues compared to French ones in the past is apparently forgotten !
We’re really packed like sardines in a can !
While waiting for the band to
come on the stage, we can hear a few songs by the bands featuring some of the
Star One members, like Symphony X ands After Forever. There is no support act.
The concert, the second of the
little 8 dates tour, will start no earlier than 8h50, maybe because there are so
many people arriving. Noise effects and lights going on the screen on the left
side of the stage point out the beginning of the concert, and we hear the music
of « Lift Off » starting… A roaring in the crowd welcome the
musicians coming across the stage in obscurity with little blue lights on them..
the projections on the screen on the left and finally the lights exploding show
us Arjen in a silver costume playing his guitar reminding me of the angulous
shapes of the heavy metal guitars back in the early eighties. Without any singer
on the stage yet, they play now the introduction to the fast and furious
« Set Your Controls ». The lightshow is great and soon welcomes
Russel Allen, Symphony X’s singer,
definitely in great shape, that will be confimed for the rest of the show !
What an energy and what a voice ! Then arrives Damian in astonishing silver
grey trouser and shirt ( !) who
jumps on the stage through the
« Stargate » on the right side, just between the two female backing
singers : After Forever’s Floor Janssen and her sister Irene (who is also
a singer in a new band).
The projections on the screen
completing the light show are really nice. yes, we are definitely very lucky
because Arjen has had the delightful idea give the fans such a
wonderful stage set, worthy of major bands, for only 8 shows ! The sound is loud, VERY LOUD and
definitely VERY HEAVY as well ! Unfortunately, we have got there the
disadvantages of most heavy metal concerts : that means too much bass,
distorted trebles, not enough keyboards… But the sound will sensibly improve
during the show. Next song is « High Moon »,
still from « Space Metal ». Damian is also in
a very good shape and obviously very dynamic. We have Robert Soeterboek
who took the place of Dan Swanö for the tour. He does his best even if Swanö’s
very low voice is almost impossible to emulate…
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Then we had a nice surprise with
the beautiful short ballad ‘Dreamtime’ from Ayreon’s « The Final
Experiment », sung by special guest for the night Edward Reekers, an old
companion to Arjen, familiar to those who have the Ayreon albums !
This short but beautiful interlude was followed by the dramatic and
majestic excerpt from « The Final Experiment » : « Eyes
Of Time ». Initially sung by Lenny Wolf, the song reaches new heights with
Damian who gives us an incredible performance on this difficult song !!
Then it’s the very melodic and catchy « Songs From The Ocean ».
This song has got an excellent chorus sang by everybody… Great one, and it
could be a hit !
Russel Allen has got
his « solo spot » with the epic « Dawn Of A Million
Souls » from « Flight Of A Migrator ». The giant Arjen then
takes the stage by storm with the young keyboard prodigy Joost van den Broek :
it’s the intro section of The Dream Sequencer with an extended spacy,
Floyd-like guitar solo… Excellent surprise !
Then, it’s Damian highlight :
the long epic « Into The Back Hole » from
« Flight Of The Migrator » again, initially sung by Iron
Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. I don’t regret Bruce… Damian is even better that
night than on the « Ayreonauts Only » version of the song… He is
purely amazing… His voice never weakens… the way he pushes it to high notes
with all his heart but without ever screaming is awesome… a lesson for most
heavy metal singers.
We then have a song from
« Actual Fantasy » that I don’t recognize as being the very short
title track but rather « To another Horizon ». Anyway, then follows
another sweet ballad, the marvelous « Valley Of The Queens »
from « Into The Electric Caslte », with an unknown
young woman playing flute and Floor Janssen singing the lead part in a
magnificent way. It’s definitely a wonderful ethereal ballad. And we have
another excerpt from the same album, the long and very catchy « Isis and
Osiris » with Allen singing the part initially sung by Fish !! And he
does a great job on it, singing in a more mellow range… This man has really so
different sides… that’s uncommon… Still excerpted from « ITEC »,
we’re treated to one of the best songs written by Arjen, the highly melodic
and catchy « Amazing Flight In Space » followed by a short solo by
Peter Vink (bass) and Ed Warby, a
great drummer using indeed quite a limited amount of drums… But he know how to
use every one of them… Then it’s the fast and heavy « Intergalactic
Space Crusaders » where Russel and Damian plays their role and almost
fight against each other ! ! Funny to see Damian, who is far from being a small and fragile guy,
in front of the massive singer from Symphony X ! ! Both of them
are really wild - and talented ! Another very melodic song from ITEC,
« Castle Walls » with a wall of harmony vocals and more guitar and
keyboard duelling, and then it’s already the end of the main part of the
concert with the long and epic « The Eye Of Ra » maybe the best song
from « Space Metal », featuring all the singers in the end….
creating a wonderful choir. Russel Allen appears sunddenly and jumps with his
two feet joined together across the stage ! ! Impressive,
to say the least.. Damian is also like a human bomb and dares to make
some « stage diving » (but has hurt himself only !) and
we will see him later climbing like Spider-Man onto the metallic frames of the
stage !
We won’t have to shout and
clap our hands for too long to see the musicians reappearing for a powerful
version of the other masterpiece of Arjen’s latest effort : the lengthy
and over-dramatic « Starchild » followed by « The Two Gates ».
The singers are really working perfectly together and this version of the song
is another highlight of the concert ! We finally had a second encore
with Arjen coming back alone in his silver suit, for an acoustic hilarious
number : « The Intergalactic Laxative » (« hidden
track » on « Space Metal » special edition) ! And
the whole band comes on stage once more for a unique rendition of Deep
Purple’s classic, « Space Truckin’ »… whose title is perfect
for the tour ! Every singer
sings his own bit on that one and the chorus is held by the whole crowd !!
A wonderful moment in time ! After 2 hour and a quarter,
that’s already finished… Time has passed so quickly, as we had a little bit
of every side of Arjen Lucassen’s talent, from very heavy works to peaceful
acoustic ballad, Wagnerian progressive songs and catchy melodies that could be hit
singles if the music industry was more fair nowadays… After the show, we waited a
« few minutes », and eventually managed to see Arjen and Damian, who
were literally besieged by fans.
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We won’t have to shout and
clap our hands for too long to see the musicians reappearing for a powerful
version of the other masterpiece of Arjen’s latest effort : the lengthy
and over-dramatic « Starchild » followed by « The Two Gates ».
The singers are really working perfectly together and this version of the song
is another highlight of the concert !
Arjen is incredibly tall and
thin !! God knows I’ve almost
never had to look UP at somebody to talk to him in my life, but with Arjen I had
to indeed ! And his height is equalled by his kindness and talent,
definitely. The way he looks happy that I made the journey from the suburbs of
Paris to see the concert is heart-warming. I think I am not the only one coming
from a foreign country it seems though… This opportunity was too exceptional
to be missed and some other people made some longer journeys to see one of the
shows, from what I have heard afterwards. We finally manage to get hold of
Damian for a couple of minutes, at last I’ve met him ! !
It’s just a short but firm handshake and the time to have a traditional
signature on one of my copy of Disciple and a photo… Thanks Rosie, but
you’ve cut my hair, how could you
do that !!
I’ve had the opportunity to
meet and talk to our mysterious Landlady who is running the main Damian website
and who’s been very nice to me over the last year, and came over from England
for the whole tour, having to get herself used to the euro at the merchandising
desk ! Not such an easy task !
It’s time to leave, with shiny
and vivid memories from that night and the new Damian CD sampler as a
consolation : unfortunately indeed, the « Live in rehearsal » CD
by the Damian Wilson Band was not ready when The Landlady left England…
I am more than happy to have
come to Holland for the concert, but it’s frustrating not to be able to see
the final show at least… Some others than me
will have to report about that night !
It is so nice to meet such
talented and friendly musicians ! Some lucky women mentioned somewhere in this
page have seen not only the first show in Zoetermeer but also the ending
show on the 5th of October in Rijssen ! Aah,
why couldn’t I be there as well ?!!
I think that we will have to insist after Arjen to have him released the whole
show on CD, it is really a unique experience and there were wonderful versions
of Ayreon songs. He says he wanted to thank his fans with those concerts and
have some fun, but I think a double live CD would be a wonderful souvenir for
those attending the concerts and a good idea of what the others who could not
make it to these concerts have missed !!
Anyway, it was a wonderful time
and something that Arjen should repeat in the future. And seeing Damian singing
live at last is another dream of mine...
Well-done… See you soon
hopefully !
Marc.
Rick Wakeman and the ERE, Cornwall May 17th 2001
The Daphne du Maurier festival is an annual event held in Fowey in Cornwall. The setting for the concert events was a marquee set in beautiful grounds overlooking the harbour of the town.
___________________________
South America
I was fortunate to see the April
19th show by Rick Wakeman and the New ERE at Via Funchal in Sao Paolo Brasil.
What a great performance by everyone involved wiith the band. The video
was quite clear and the production and presentation - the camera angles, etc., were impressive. I think this is fueling optimism for a DVD in the future.
I picked up the webcast during the Recollection part of Journey. There
were some great moog parts (-: and the whole band arrangement was pretty good.
Usually, I find the band arrangements kind of lifeless, but not in this show.
Never is a Long Time gave us a chance to see what Ant can do with a guitar, and he did not disappoint. I enjoyed his performance more than the original. It ROCKED!
This was followed by an up-tempo drum solo by
wop, leading right into Arthur.
Arthur was done very nicely! Damian's voice is wonderful for this kind of work. At this point I am realizing he is more at ease with the band and
material than when he was in Argentina last year. Of course, Arthur had a good share of great moog & digital keys, all sounding really good to my
ears, considering it was a webcast. I heard another hot solo from Ant and eventually we were at The Last Battle - BEAUTIFULLY done, everyone in the
band deserves a lot of credit for a job well done, and for being so cohesive, but loose at the same time.
The Visit was next and again, it was well done, similar to the Buenos Aires show last year. More hot licks on guitar, solid bass. The band
reallyrocked, they kicked @$$
2 Catherines... The piano was so beautiful, it could make me cry.
Classic performance of Howard and Aragon.
It's at this time I realize that we haven't noticed Adam, yet he is heard.
Ahhh the 1984 segment. Starting with The Hymn, just Rick and Damian - Very Nice! Impressive
performance!
Then The Overture - Dynamic! Finishing with Robot Man, excellent, a bit "funky". We finally
saw Adam, Lee has his solo here. It's a fun song and we see that these guys can jam!
Jane Seymour - Simply Incredible! I wish I was there in person for this one! It was like JS Bach in the 21st century.
Merlin - Done with vocals, with all due respect to Damian, I don't care for this with vocals, and to Rick too, it seemed a bit long, BUT finally they got to the good part - Adam came out from his pigeon hole with an energetic solo on the keytar.followed by a long, but quiet jam by the band [ sans Rick]. Of course, Maestro was strapping on his keytar during this time. The duel was classic, but still exciting to see and hear, I thought they were having a lot of fun. Of course, the excitement builds as we know whats next. Rick and his solo, walking into the audience. The fans there in Sao Paolo went wild! People were reaching to touch Rick, as if he were a god. They were not mauling him, just touching gently as if to be blessed or something. These people really love the man.
The NEC medly.. phew! you really need to see this for yourself. Everyone did well. I thought The Prisoner was a bit longer in scale than the other tracks in the medly. The Maker did seem just a bit too fast, but then most tracks are faster done live...
Catherine Parr - Classic; pure enjoyment for me.
Then Rick does "some YES" - The beginning of Heart of the Sunrise,
followed by a lengthy version of Starship Trooper. This was a bit long for my
taste, but again, finally, they got to the good part, and it was worth the wait.
Adam had another good solo, Ant really outdid himself, ending up in the VIP section seating, sitting in someone's front row chair [
Jacintho's? ]
Again, the people went wild.
Bruce Visit Bruce's Rick Wakeman site
Photos - Adriano Busson -http://www.fotonota10.hpg.com.br/index.htm
Adriano now has a site under construction for Ant Glynne (see Links page)
____________________________
Rick
Wakeman and The English Rock Ensemble
Teatro Coliseo, Friday 20th April,
Buenos Aires – Argentina
The
show was brilliant! It started around 10:00 pm and
finished at almost 12:30am. Damian is great! His voice, his charisma and
his strength made him steal the show quickly.
One
can not explain what one feels when
listening to Damian singing Wakeman’s classics. It is a unique experience.
I
believe that he must be one of the few singers able to interpret songs
previously recorded by Jon Anderson, Paul Mccartney, Ozzy Osbourne, Trebor
Rabin, etc... without imitating any
of them! He is the best singe I have ever listened to!
As
everybody knows Damian is not only
a great singer, he is also a great person. When Lee Pomeroy went towards the
center of the scene to perform his bass solo, he had his bass cable
disconnected. Immediately, Adam Wakeman tried to reconnect it without success,
Damian entered the scene, making the public encourage Lee until his difficulties
were over.
The
best moment of the show arrived: the duel between Rick and Adam... After that,
as customary, they came down among the spectators. Unlike the others, Damian let
people approach him, greet him, hug him, kiss him... and not happy with it, he
also visited, one by one of the levels of the theater, greeting the spectators.
I hope to be able to see this singer again... at least once more in my life!
Thanks!
Thanks Damian for so much satisfaction.. Thanks Rick, for bringing Damian!
SEBASTIAN
– 23rd April 2001 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
_____________________________
More photos - CLICK HERE
Even more photos - CLICK HERE
Visit the site below to see a video clip of the Sao Paulo show:
Solo de Damian, "No Earthly Connection"
________________________
Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble
South America 2000
Adam Wakeman - Keyboards
Damian Wilson - Vocals
Tony Fernandez - Drums
Ant Glynne - Guitar
Lee Pomeroy - Bass
Rick Wakeman and The English Rock Ensemble in the Chile Stadium, Santiago, Chile September 9th 2000
Saturday September 9th , 9:25 PM, a starting drizzle in Santiago city did not hinder more than 2500 people in the Chile Stadium of enjoying listening to one of the greatest
musicians that has integrated into the English progressive musical scene.
There's no doubt, it was a night full of emotion and fascination by Rick Wakeman who has already been in the music industry for almost 30 years, delighting us with his creations.
From the appearance of his first work titled " Vibrations Piano " (1971), to his more recent album " Preludes to a Century " (2000), live presentations and
compilations.
For years, he's been appreciated for the honest passion that he gives to his thousands of fans around the world. He is known for music ranging from progressive and symphonic rock
to gospel, but also classic music, pop, new age, and the soundtracks for films. During his show he was completely absorbed in the atmosphere, maintaining a rapport with the
audience through his music at the concert which lasted two hours.
At the beginning of the show, under dim lights, a voice introduced the subject of what would be the beginning of the show: a selection of themes from the album " The Myths of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ".
Unlike his first visit to Chile in 1993, this time Wakeman was with a much better structured band, in which it was possible to emphasize the work of percussionist, Tony
Fernandez, who was very precise in his execution, even though the drumset on which he was playing this time, is not the one that he usually uses.
The inclusion of Rick Wakeman's son Adam in the band was no doubt remarkable, since an extraordinary musical communication between father and son occurred, emphasizing memorable moments like that " conversation " between the portable keyboards that both used during " Merlin the Magician".
It is highly probable that soon we'll hear from this young musical talent in projects similar to those of his brother Oliver Wakeman (" Jabberwocky " along with Clive Nolan).
We must also emphasize the quality of the vocal registry of the singer Damian Wilson (Threshold, Landmarq) who with enough audacity and
security, stood on
the stage providing vocal registries for all the songs.
The remaining members of the band, the bass player Lee Pomeroy and the guitar player Ant Glynne, were not less remarkable in making this performance one of the best of the classic themes of
Wakeman, crowned and
attentively followed by the Chilean public, who enjoyed each moment.
There's nothing else to do than to say "Thank You Rick", for your talent and contribution to the world's progressive scene, and as he said to me personally in an informal conversation that we had in the lobby of his hotel: " See you next Time ".......I hope
so, then we'll have Rick Wakeman again soon.
Set-List:
First Part: King Arthur Overture, King Arthur (Song), The Last Battle, Lancelot and the Black Knight, Never is to Long Time, Catherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon, The Visit (From Phantom Power), Journey to the Center of The Earth
(Overture), The Journey (Song), The Hansbach, The Battle, Hall of the Mountain King.
Break
Second Part: Catherine Parr, Eleanor Rigby, Buried Alive, The Hymn, 1984 Overture, Man Robot, Merlin the Magician, Heart of the Sunrise Intro, Starship Trooper, Ride of Your Life, The
Jig.
Review from ARPROCH : www.unete.cl/arproch
Thanks to Sueli Matsumoto for the translation
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