E-Werk, Cologne, Germany9th March 2014
Transatlantic
The super-group of Prog-Rock is back with a new album and tour! Lastly, TRANSATLANTIC were touring Germany in 2010. In January 2014, the new album was out, followed by a tour in March. The last German concert was taking place on 9th March in Cologne.
The fourth album follows their successful ‘The Whirlwind’, the 77 minute-epos of a tornado of emotions and melodies, playful, musically enthralling with many rhythmic and harmonic changes. The album was praised by the press and now we are curious what the band comes up when releasing the new one and if it can meet the expectations of the fan base. In March, we can celebrate the album during their live shows. TRANSATLANTIC consists of Neil Morse (once singer in SPOCK’S BEARD, FLYING COLORS), Mike Portnoy (ex-drum wizard of DREAM THEATER, THE WINERY DOGS), Roine Stolt (guitarist of FLOWER KINGS) and bassist Pete Trewavas (MARILLION, EDISON’S CHILDREN). In this tour, they were additionally accompanied by Ted Leonard (SPOCK’S BEARD, ENCHANT). http://www.transatlanticweb.com / https://www.facebook.com/TransatlanticMusic
Music & Performance
The show in Cologne was the last one of the German tour, and as Portnoy later would state, the band “saved the best for last”. This last German date was also chosen to film more material for the planned live DVD. More than 1,600 people showed up on this Sunday evening in Spring to be part of the evening of extended prog-rock. Before the show was up to start, the cover picture on the current album was shown on the big screen and soon, the intro was starting. Within the intro, a German flag was shown at the screen, the name of the city they played in – Cologne this time – and a welcome greeted the audience. Then the five artists entered the stage to start with ‘Into the Blue’. The whole set was accompanied by extraordinary projections of the huge screen illustrating the lyrics with colourful images.
Not only visually this was a special concert. The five musicians prove their virtuosity any second. Of course there were several songs from the current ‘Kaleidoscope’ album on the list, like the opener ‘Into the Blue’, ‘Shine’, or the album’s title track. But since the band already exists for about fifteen years, they have more to offer than the current album. And so, also songs from the first album were presented, like ‘My New World’ or ‘We All Need Some Light’. Impressing was furthermore a comprehensive medley from the ‘Whirlwind’ album. All musicians were playing passionately, Morse on left side behind his keys put lots of emotions into his singing, facing every now and then Portnoy, who was sitting behind his drums on the right side of stage, not facing the audience bur Morse on the other side. But Portnoy was of course also turning towards the audience, speaking to the fans and pushing them up.
In the middle of the stage, you had the “string” section with Roine Stolt, Pete Trewavas and Ted Leonard. The evening showed no support act. Instead, TRANSATLANTIC were presenting two and a half hours of finest Prog, releasing an overall satisfied audience. There were indeed fantastic musicians working!
Setlist
01. Intro ("The Orchestral Whirlwind")
02. Into the Blue
03. My New World
04. Shine
05. Whirlwind Medley
06. Overture (Abridged)
07. Rose Colored Glasses
08. Evermore
09. Is It Really Happening?
10. Dancing With Eternal Glory (Whirlwind (Reprise) section)
11. Beyond the Sun
12. Kaleidoscope
13. Guitar Duet (Morse and Stolt)
14. We All Need Some Light
15. Black as the Sky
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16. All of the Above (Full Moon Rising/October Winds)
17. Stranger in Your Soul (Slide/Stranger In Your Soul)
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 9.5 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.black-cat-net.de / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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