Artist: Fish Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: Three Date: 6/18/2008 Label: Chocolate Frog UK
If you are one who considers themselves a true connoisseur of Progressive Rock bands from our not too distant past then I am sure that the first few releases by the band Marillion hold a special place in your heart. Let’s face it, the music that these guys were dishing out on “Script For A Jester’s Tear” called to mind the early heyday of Peter Gabriel era Genesis and at the time this was a sound that was missed by legions of Prog fans and somehow, someway this band was bringing a little bit of that back to the foreground. The reason for this was very simply a man they called Fish. Fish aka Derek Dick was the bands singer for four outstanding albums and his voice had a lot of similarity to that of Gabriel but what added strength and appeal to the man was his profound ability to weave a tale that snared you from the first words he would sing. This made the album “Fugazi” a clever ride into new territory and made “Misplaced Childhood” an absolute masterpiece that is still as powerful today as it was when it was released some twenty three years ago. Fish would record one more release with the band before moving on to his solo career and this would be “Clutching At Straws”, an album that some fans argue as being more poignant than “Misplaced Childhood” was, but that is an argument for a different time. Both Fish and Marillion would continue on and travel slightly different roads with the former singer being replaced by Steve Hogarth who would take the band on a slightly more commercially viable road while Fish would continue to delve into our innermost frailties and pour his own heart out in song. Fans took sides and while some remained with Marillion after his departure there were just as many who decided to follow Fish down the long road of human psyche that he would be travelling. As a song writer he proved he still had what it took and gave us “Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors”, “Internal Exile”, “Sunsets on Empire” and many, many more. Continue reading Fish @ B.B. King Blues Club (6/18/2008)→
Artist: Liquid Tension Experiment Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY) Opener: none Date: 6/23/2008 Label: Magna Carta Records
What do you get if you remove James LaBrie’s vocals from the Dream Theater equation and then swap an already magnificent bass player with an even more awe-inspiring legend? Well, the answer is very simply stated as Liquid Tension Experiment. The powerhouse Progressive Metal project came to fruition back in 1997 and was founded by Dream Theater’s drummer Mike Portnoy and when his original choices for the group’s guitarist were unavailable he opened the spot to his band mate John Petrucci. Jordan Rudess of the Dixie Dregs came on as keyboardist and Tony Levin of the legendary King Crimson handled bass and Chapman stick. Two albums would be recorded by the project and each would be met with considerable approval. This came from not only Dream Theater fans, but those who enjoyed King Crimson, the Dixie Dregs and any other number of the Prog-Metal/Rock mainstays of the time. The music was close to but not exactly like that of Dream Theater and of course all of it would remain instrumental. With the talents that all of these guys possessed there was really no need for a vocal to be introduced at all. Fast forwarding through time up to the present day finds us celebrating the bands 10th Anniversary Reunion and not only would select shows be performed around the country, but the band had also just headlined the prestigious NEAR Fest only two days prior to this performance. I found it interesting when I realized that the Fish show we attended the week before had found him headlining one of the festival nights and here we are bearing witness to the other main act on that bill after it had all happened. Another interesting fact about the Liquid Tension Experiment is that Jordan Rudess had become a fulltime member of Dream Theater and he has been in the role since 1998 or so which made seeing these guys doing material outside of the DT scope really something to be fascinated by. News of the bands reunion appearance at the legendary B.B. King Blues Club would find the performance selling out in a couple of days. The response was so great that the band decided to add a later evening performance to avoid any disappointment in their fans. I made sure to get in place for the early show and since I had never really followed them I was very excited to be a part of the goings on tonight. Here is how is happened. Continue reading Liquid Tension Experiment @ B.B. King Blues Club (6/23/2008)→
