Flower Kings/Neal Morse - Keswick Theater - 5/5

[Richard]

I had a nice chat with the Box Office manager before the show and she told me 550 tickets had been sold. She said they were hoping for maybe a few more but that it was in line with what they expected.

I thought all 3 sets were amazing and if anything I thought the sound for the Flower Kings was perfect whereas it seemed to take a little while to get it right for Neal Morse. I was seated just to the left of the mixing area.

So great to see everyone from both bands on stage together having a blast for that final bit from Stranger In Your Soul.

-Rich

[Digital_Man]

Wow, 550 is a lot especially considering at least some of the potential ticket buyers were at Rosfest(myself being one of them). Probably only about 400 showed up for Three Friends a few years ago(I never got exact figures for that one then again I never bothered to ask).

[fiberman]

I thought both bands were great, I hadn't seen either of them before. There was so much happening at times I had my hands full taking it all in. I really liked the Flower King drummer, you don't see many drummers these days using 1 bass drum pedal. The contrast between these bands and Steven Wilson two weeks ago in the same theater was enormous.

[Nearfest2]

The contrast between these bands and Steven Wilson two weeks ago in the same theater was enormous.

Interesting comment considering Marco Minnemann was on drums for SW.

[fiberman]

Being a drummer. I was very impressed with all 3 drummers, I was actually thinking more about the overall atmosphere of the shows, SW so serious, last night like jamming in the basement. You couldn't ask for 2 better concerts, I loved both.

[robmccleary]

This going to be much fun,I hope to see more..

[Dan Marsh]

Neil was very impressed by the size of the crowd. He mentioned this right after Momentum, I believe.

[Twelfth Earl of Mar]

, so Eric Gillette took over and was very sharp in his playing.

I was there and loved it. But who is Eric Gillette? I agree he was very good. Is he normally part of the band?

[ScottAM]

I was there and loved it. But who is Eric Gillette? I agree he was very good. Is he normally part of the band?

Yes, Eric is usually part of the band. He plays backup guitar and keyboards (and maybe something else, too?). When I saw them last fall with the full band I think he only played a couple of lead solos all night, so he had a lot of solos to learn for these shows. And that also means that they were "down" an extra keyboard player, since he was on guitar all night. Really amazing that they pulled it off so well, and Eric seemed flawless to my ears -- huge respect for him jumping into that last minute!

All of that said, their Brazilian lead guitarist who couldn't make it up due to visa issues is a MONSTER! Hopefully you'll get to see him sometime in the future, he seemed like the sweetest guy and can play like there's no tomorrow.

[Man In The Mountain]

That's very interesting about Eric Gillette taking over lead guitar. I would wonder if that lead to Neal picking up more of the slack, in particular playing more guitar than he has on the rest of the tour. Certainly he plays most of the guitar on his albums anyways... But I noticed on the Momentum Tour he was taking more of a "conductors" role, letting his band mates handle the bulk of the soloing. With Neal kind of running around the stage as a cheerleader (more than usual). Something I didn't entirely care for, despite the clear capabilities of his band. Even watching the live DVD, I saw Neal only pick up his guitar a few times, and delegated most of the keyboard leads to Bill Hubauer.

[Lou]

Instead of guitar, he played a lot more keyboard this time. (as opposed to NY) Some of it was to allow for Eric being on guitar all night,
and some of it was to fill out the sound, being down a man. (meaning, he played keys on some parts that would have been on guitar, had
the lineup been complete)

[Man In The Mountain]

Instead of guitar ... he played keys on some parts that would have been on guitar, had the lineup been complete

That's interesting, Lou. I'm wondering if Neal is having some physical difficulties at his age now playing guitar. Pure speculation on my part. But, I've seen Neal play live (on stage & on DVD) more than just about anyone, and he has definitely not been picking up the guitar very much on this Momentum Tour. I joked recently to a friend about his guitar only being an ornament on stage.

[ScottAM]

The contrast between these bands and Steven Wilson two weeks ago in the same theater was enormous.

You couldn't have stated this better! I just wrote a longer post about this contrast in the "Neal Morse and Steven Wilson" thread:

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...ght=Neal+Morse

[Lou]

That's interesting, Lou. I'm wondering if Neal is having some physical difficulties at his age now playing guitar. Pure speculation on my part. But, I've seen Neal play live (on stage & on DVD) more than just about anyone, and he has definitely not been picking up the guitar very much on this Momentum Tour. I joked recently to a friend about his guitar only being an ornament on stage.

He has been playing less guitar on this tour. But I think Sunday night had more to do with being able to not have to worry about switching instruments too often. More of
a comfort thing being able to stay at the keyboard. One less thing to worry about in an already very altered set.

[Dan Marsh]

Nice review of the show:

http://www.examiner.com/review/neal-...heater?cid=rss