I'll start by saying I'm really not the biggest Transatlantic fan around. Like them, but never considered them more than a little side project of it's members. Then I saw them last night as they blew the roof off a nearly packed Keswick, over 1,000 fans there would likely agree. OK, getting ahead of myself. When TA formed back in 99, I was already a DT fanatic, excited about another side project of my favorite band's drummer. To hear he would work with Morse, Stolt and Trewavas was a shock. I had only discovered Spock's Beard and Flower Kings a couple years earlier, but already was a big fan. Add to that a Marillion member? But this was a quick project, written and recorded in a couple weeks. My excitement waned until hearing it, and it did turn out to be a nice retro prog album. But that was all it was, I still preferred their main bands or their "real" jobs. Saw their rather sloppy but fun show at Nearfest in 2000. Then "Bridge Across Forever" came out, I actually liked this one more. A bit long winded in spots, so not a classic, but songs like Duel With the Devil" and "Stranger in Your Soul" filled a prog itch for sure. Got the DVD too, a better performance than from NF. And that was that. Morse leaves to do his Christian thing and TA became just another project to come and go. Many years go by, and surprisingly Morse agrees to do another. Bought it, was kind of bored by much of it. Of well, nice little project, I'm done with it.
So this past year I hear a new album is coming, not sure I even care. Before a brilliant Hackett show in October, a see a sign announcing a TA show. So I think, why the heck not, it's close by and these guys can still really play, and hell, no more Portnoy in DT, always found him entertaining. So many TA fans, and this always amazed me, they were hardcore fans treating them like a full time, real group, they were all so excited. Annoying fanboys to me. I watched the "Shine" video, I think I liked it more than many fans. Still, my interest just isn't great. So I never did get the album. I figured I might if they had it at the show. They didn't. The closer it got to the show though, I was starting to get psyched. It's like my very own soul knew there was a reason to go. My brain wasn't quite there. And somehow the awful northeast weather held out.
So we get there and they move us to the 2nd row -just love this place, 1st row for Hackett, 2nd for TA, not shabby. We are on the left or the side of Neal Morse, Stolt just a few feet away. They start playing and it's pretty loud, but still clear sounding. I don't recognize the music, it's something new, and what do you know, I really like it! The band are a tight unit, so much more than that old NF show, they actually sound like a real band. Hell, the replacement 5th member Ted Leonard fits like a glove. I'm a huge Leonard fan thanks to his work with Enchant, Thought Chamber and Affector. And it's ironic that he currently fills Neal Morse's old role in Spock's Beard. I knew he played some guitar, but here he had to play a lot, and added some keys and percussion. He was one very busy guy. He even got called to the front of the stage to sing lead. Funny moment, as he nearly didn't make it there on time, literally running to the front, mike in hand. His lead or co-lead vocals were few, but still enough for people to notice what serious pipes he has. One of my favorite vocalists, he didn't disappoint. A shame about Gildenlow, but a nice break for the under-appreciated Leonard.
Highlight # 1. "My New World" from the debut. Portnoy pointed out it was written 15 years ago, hard to believe. So he proves it, bringing out his now 14 year old son, who was an infant at the time of the Nearfest gig. My favorite song from this, very melodic and not as long winded as other epics of theirs.
Highlight # 2. A truncated version of "Whirlwind". Guess the editing helped, or maybe I just need to re-visit this album. Sounded great, really an improvement to my ears. And there is that one really frantic section where Portnoy is going totally nuts, and each member is keeping up with him! There are some lightning fast starts and stops, and the band is so tight here. Not thought of as a chop fest kind of group, but maybe that assessment is wrong. At least last night they could play with anyone. For a moment, it felt like Portnoy was back with his old band, even if less metallic. A side project just doesn't play like this. No, they play like TA did in 2000.
The band did manage a couple "little" songs, and I quite enjoyed them. First was the new one, "Shine", a pretty ballad with a real nice Stolt guitar solo. Some fans hate this, not me. It's a nice break from the epic mayhem. Sometimes pretty is good. The other little song was also a ballad, but from the first album, "We All Need Some Light". I'm not a huge fan of this, but was surprised how good this sounded, plus was fun to sing along to. Got into this one far more than I expected.
Highlight #3. The new epic or "the big one" as Portnoy called it. It's grand, it's epic and bloated and full of the things prog bashers hate. And I thought I just wasn't into their brand of epics, at least not to the level of fanboys. Guess I'm a convert, this piece wowed me for sure. I hope the studio version is as electric as this.
Highlight # 4. Ending the show with "Stranger In Your Soul". This was also truncated a bit, and didn't come off as long winded at all, and a fitting conclusion. Stolt was a monster on this, in fact he was on fire most of the night. I have a minor quibble, as I think his vocals were not high enough in the mix. As to the shared vocals of the night, well it's a TA trademark and always has been. So Pete and Mike don't have great lead voices, it still works in this setting. And having someone as skilled as Leonard backing them up doesn't hurt. More importantly, they seem to enjoy singing with them. In fact they all just seemed to have a blast on stage. Feeding off a large, adoring crowd doesn't hurt either.
As to Morse, I think his keyboard work has risen to a new level thanks to his solo albums of the past several years. I can tolerate the born-again themes, and that allows me to really enjoy his stellar keys work. And it shows now with TA, especially live. And he has some of the best keyboard lead sounds in the business, lots of big, fat synth patches that cut trough a wall of sound without a problem. Which is good, or Portnoy would drown him out. I've never thought of Portnoy as a real pounding drummer, in fact for a metal guy, he generally has a light touch. But it seems with TA he goes for a different vibe, I've never seem him pound the drums with such ferocity. Maybe not playing as technical or precise music allows this. I didn't forget Pete on bass. Even in 2000, I noticed how much better a player he is than I had thought when listening to Marillion. It's just that they go for more an emotional feel, TA music is just so much more flashy and uptempo.
So the show ends, and I can't help but feel like I want them to keep on playing. I was hungry for more despite the 2 hour plus performance. Isn't that the sign of a great concert, you just don't want it to end? Heck, "Duel With the Devil" isn't really that long, is it? Wishful thinking. Seriously though, I just felt so satisfied, I got every pennies worth of the 58 dollar price tag and then some. More than just experiencing a great concert, I've come away far more appreciative of their music than I was. Those fanboys that annoyed me a bit, I may be joining them, at the very least I'm a much bigger fan now than I was just 24 hours ago. Thanks guys, I needed that during this otherwise dreary winter.
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Originally Posted by profusion
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