Vol. 7, No. 9 - September 2000 - Rick Wakeman
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Chronicles of Man - New Release Marlborough pics 8th Alfa-Centauri Electronic Music Festival Rick on Internet Radio Speaking of Rick on DVD... Greenbelt KTA DVD Buenos Aires Review |
There will be clips of all the tracks on the site early next week.
I have added pictures from Marlborough to my web site here
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/wakey4.shtml
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From: Jon Hinchliffe [jon@praying-mantis.com] Sept 15
I added some more pics to my Marlborough page today. I hadn't realised I took so many on another film.
I am only mentioning in case the little girls parents are on here. They might not have any of her on stage
The new pics are
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/graphics/marl03.jpg
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/graphics/marl13.jpg
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/graphics/marl14.jpg
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/graphics/marl15.jpg
http://www.hinchliffe.org/jon/graphics/marl16.jpg
I know absolutely nothing more about this, although I seem to remember something vaguely similar, not too long ago, being mentioned on this list.
Thought I might pass this along for anyone interested and logistically able...
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Alfa-Centauri Festival on April 28, 2001 in a New Venue, with RICK WAKEMAN, LIGHTWAVE ROEDELIUS & more
http://home.wxs.nl/~quantumproductions/8thalfa.htm
I just purchased an odd cd entitled "Best of Progressive Rock" which is produced by Greg Lake and has a number of live recordings including two cuts by Wakeman. While the quality is not the best, it was only six bucks at (horrors) Walmart. The Wakey trax are "The Forrest" (I've always wondered the reason for that misspelling) and "Lancelot and the Black Knight". It also has a version of "Roundabout" by GTR, the Howe/Hackett band from the eighties, a couple of Gentle Giant tunes, some ELP and of course "21st century schizoid man" and "Lucky Man" from Lake. I'm curious if anyone knows anything about these live recordings, where they were done, whether they are available as full cd's by the performers or if the whole compilation is actually a bootleg.
P.S. $6 Canadian is a real bargain when you consider that the Canadian dollar is only at about 70 cents American right now. . . that would be about $4.20 U.S.
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From: Craig Smith [smith_craig_e@hotmail.com] Sept 12
This sounds like a King Biscuit Flour Hour special I once taped off the air. I know the show I taped included those same songs (forest, lancelot, roundabout (gtr), 21st century and Lucky man. so, I have no proof they are the same ones but it sure seems it.
Not sure this helps at all but they are probably all KBFH performances and if so, yes, the wakeman is available as a 2cd set and I think the others are now too. This does sound kind of like a boot since the KBFH people are releasing their shows bit by bit but they keep their name all over it.
I see Wayne has the details of an Internet radio appearance by Rick and the new ERE. It says a 2 hour show!
It's from Buenos Aires, which is where Rick is playing for the next 2 nights.
I hear from a reliable source I have in Argentina, that Rick filmed his 2 Buenos Aires shows this week with a 6 camera shoot! And last Monday at a press conference, Rick announced he will launch a new album + video + DVD from this tour! (It will not be on Argentina TV).
In case anyone hasn't bother to look yet, Rick's own writing about the Greenbelt festival at which he appeared, in typical Rick form, is well worth the read.
I received the Keys To Ascension DVD from Amazon this morning - I
wasn't expecting it so soon.
Also, I haven't yet had time to watch it all (it's 150 minutes long!) but after a worrying start I think it's going to become a real favourite...
...first the worry - there's a reasonable booklet inside the case with some good photos of Jon, Steve, Chris and Alan...and no Rick to be seen!
First track on the film is Siberian Khatru - it seemed a fairly
lack-lustre performance and, to be honest, Rick looked extremely bored all the way through it...
...so I was a bit worried...
but then came Close to the Edge - Wow ! It kicks ! And our Rick (with something to do) comes very much to life with some great sounds and solos.
I also watched/listened to I've Seen all good People which was also v. good and a beautiful rendition of Time and a Word - some gorgeous playing and singing here but I still think the definitive version is on Yesshows - I really miss those fantastic super-fast arpeggios Rick played there...
So - another 1.75 hours to get through and if its as good as the start I'll be a very happy man. The footage is crystal clear and well lit - most of the time you see a wide sort of pan of the stage with a large detail above featuring the current soloist or singer etc. Seems a nice job... Also interspersed are some nature scenes, Roger Dean's relevant artwork for the song/album and odd bits of illuminated lyrics.
The little bio of Rick does repeat the claim that Rick has let Yes for the last time - although it's followed by a question mark!
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From: Yescelt@aol.com - Sept 19
In a message dated 19/09/00, bill@progrock.org writes:
"Hi Brian, could you tell us how (and where) to order this? Or do you know if it will be released in the USA? (and Europe for those on that side of the Atlantic) The Union DVD (USA region 1) has become my "holy grail" of Yes wants."
Hi Bill -
You buy it online @ HMV Japan - @ y3800each.
www.hmv.co.jp/ Click on "Music", Search for "Yes", Click on "Yes - Rock - DVD", and it will display 9 items. "Yesshows 91" is the one you want - but note it is coded Region 2, so it plays ok in Japan, and UK, but won't play in USA unless you have a Code Free player. They also have ABWH - AEOYMP in two volumes. Each volume costs Y3800. I would guess this is Region 2 also, but I don't know, as I have the USA release of that (on a single disc) which is Code free.
Watch out, this is long.
The theatre, located in a large central avenue, is an old building with three levels of seating. It holds approximately 3,000 people. At 9:30 PM it was about half full. I notice at the end of the first half it was about 2/3rd full overall.
The show started around 10:00 PM with a narration of Arthur in
Spanish. The musicians came on in the dark and the crowd gave them a very loud reception.
At the end of the narration the music began with Arthur's theme
followed by Lancelot and the Black Knight. They used the dry ice fog and a laser beam which made for great effects. The acoustics of the theatre were quite good.
Wakey was dressed in white and wore a long cape, just like in the 70's, he used a 7 piece keyboards set, in fact all very similar to the pics Wayne added to the Website, perhaps the stage was a bit smaller than in Marlborough though. The crowd gave him a standing ovation.
It was followed by Never is a Long, long Time, where Ant did two solos, both in his own style, perhaps remembering the original here and there, They sounded good. The crowd remained seated for the applause of this one.
Then came the Catherine Suite, it started with an Adam solo in Cath. Howard and then again in Cath. Aragon. The arrangement was quite similar to previous tours. When Wakey solo'd the crowd clapped him and at the end they gave a standing ovation again. Rick smiled a lot, he really enjoying the reaction. It was followed by The Visit from Phantom Power album, then by the Journey suite. Again Adam got a solo on Overture. This was
followed by the Battle and ended with Hall of the Mountain King (end theme). Tony built the speed up to an astonishing velocity with Wakey soloing on the Moog. The audience really loved this and Rick asked for a ten minute interval.
The second half started with Cath. Parr Rick had changed his clothes to black with a golden cape. This was a really nice rendition of Cath Parr and it had a long guitar solo. It was followed by Eleanor Rigby, which was a real surprise. It worked very well with Damian singing the lyrics. This left Rick and Adam more room to solo on the synths and these were very intense and interesting. Next it was back to Return again for Buried Alive.
It started with an Ant solo and the keys (Rick/Adam) acting like the orchestra. This was the Return piece which worked best live, it was quite similar to the original one and the crowd reacted very well.
It was followed by a great 1984 Suite as I never heard before, starting just Rick and Damian singing The Hymn. Then it was the Symphonic Overture, followed by Robot Man, where Lee had the chance to perform a wonderful bass solo; I remember Steve Barnacle's one at this point on a previous tour but Lee's was even better. I don't think I was alone in this opinion as
Rick let it go on much longer, perhaps three times the length. Rick updated the tones of the synths solos to newer ones, and the overall result was terrific.
Then it came Merlin, with an strange arrangement for the intro and Damian on vocals... Rick and Adam left the keys and began using the portable keys. They did an intense "duel" at the front of the stage, then vocals and then Rick left the stage and got into the audience, the crowd went wild and gave another standing ovation. I never realised how small that keyboard is for Ricks hands. It ended when Rick got to the stage again, sat on the
middle of it with his legs hanging over the edge and he changed the portable keys sound to piano sound and played that incredible fast solo. The applause never seemed to end so he started the last song, they played the intro from Roundabout and then switched to Starship Trooper. Damian was again on vocals. During the Wurm section Adam went up into another small stage on the left side of the theatre and played there using the portable
keys again. It was a pain for him to go there as that keys are not wireless and he had to literally climbed there stepping on the chairs of the audience. Ant went there also to do a guitar
duel (it was easier as his guitar are wireless). This duel went lasted a long time and once they got back it was Rick's turn to play the final solo. This was the fastest and most intense I've ever heard. Brilliant, it is totally incredible how he does it. I feel he was really putting a lot of extra effort in during that, as his expression changed too serious, he stop playing the Korg with his left hand and only concentrated on the Moog.
The band thanked the crowd for it's intense standing ovation and they left the stage. They returned after a few minutes to Encore with included Ride of your Life, and ending with the Jig.
Musicians:
Adam: It wasn't an WwW show, he was there to backup Rick, but even in this role he got to play excellent parts and solo. He was always busy during the Return pieces which are very complicated.
Ant: He is a completely different band member Rick never used a
guitarist like him before, he played mostly distorted guitar on all tunes. Rick left him free to solos and he did that quite well. He was extremely fast and creative.
Lee: An astonishing bass player. He played in many styles during the set but he always played sharp and clear. He was the perfect backup for all songs. I don't think Rick has used a better bass player before.
Tony: Plays like a clock, he used the real drums (not the digital ones) and is the "heart" of the band, Rick would just give him a little look and everything changed. Sadly he had no chance to do a solo.
Damian: He has good voice but sounded strange on some tunes (The Hymn, Never is a Long time). He sounded very good on the others. He missed one or two lines here and there but his overall performance was pretty good. For me it's a very difficult task as Rick wrote the different songs for different singers, and perhaps the key is to have two on stage, like he did before.
Rick: It's hard to a fan to describe him and be impartial... no
comments.
Jacintho
(after lots of kind imputs/corrections from Jon)
