Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Spock's Beard
Label: Concert Live
Release: 2011
Rating: 3/5
American prog rock heavyweights Spock’s Beard played London’s High Voltage festival in the summer of 2011, keeping company with a nice lineup of more or less legendary progressive and classic rock bands. Their set was accordingly capped at under an hour, so they had to quickly cram as many representative classics as possible from their nearly two-decade career into the setlist.
It’s no surprise, then, that the sound quality of the official live recording of this show, released as »Live at High Voltage Festival«, is pretty shoddy. But that doesn’t excuse the very obvious lack of enthusiasm and the rather half-hearted performance from every member of the band, apart from guest drummer Jimmy Keegan and guest singer Ted Leonard (Enchant), who was filling in on lead vocals for the absent singer/drummer/occasional guitarist Nick D’Virgilio. Leonard, who after D’Virgilio’s departure at the end of 2011 is now officially the new singer of the Beardsmen, pulls off his new role as vocalist, guitarist and occasional keyboardist surprisingly well. At times it almost feels like he’d been secretly training for ages for this new, seriously demanding job, since both of his Spock’s Beard predecessors had exceptional vocal charisma and plenty more on top of that.
Ted’s voice blends in very well with the Spock’s Beard legacy, which shows best on »On a Perfect Day«, a favorite from »Spock’s Beard« (2006), on »The Doorway«, a classic from »Beware of Darkness« (1996), and also on »The Emperor’s Clothes«, a standout from »X« (2010). On the other hand, Meros’s bass is often barely audible. Okumoto is noticeably holding back on his keyboard improvisational acrobatics, while Morse’s guitar work, with his typical use of the ‘sustain’ effect, sounds pretty routine. Longtime guest drummer Jimmy Keegan, now an official member, meanwhile handles the drumming with dignity and successfully fills in for the absent D’Virgilio, who left shortly after this show.
The big moment of the whole recording, which will delight all the longtime fans, comes right before the performances of the classics »The Light« and »June«, where cult multi-instrumentalist and singer Neal Morse, as guitarist and lead vocalist, briefly joins his old buddies for the closing verses. It’s Neal’s second temporary return as a live guest since he left after the album »Snow« (2002). In fact, he never completely left the ‘Beardsmen’, only officially, since in recent years he’s gladly helped out his brother Alan, Meros and Okumoto as an outside collaborator with songwriting ideas.
It’s kind of funny to think about why he left in 2002, since with Neal in the lineup Spock’s Beard would today very likely be the most respected and successful modern prog rock band. But such speculation is of course pretty pointless now. In the meantime Neal has built a magnificent solo career, while his former comrades, for better or worse, ventured into territory they would never have explored with him in the lineup and scored some excellent results, led by the studio masterpiece »X«. His vocal contribution, paired with the excellent Leonard, who among other things also jokes about his own guest-singer status, helps revive some of that ambient magic that brought the Beardsmen cult status in their early years. As for the quality of the individual performances of the classics, the rendition of the super epic »The Light« is by far the best.
»Live at High Voltage Festival« comes with two discs, the second of which is empty and meant for you to burn bonus material from the band’s official site onto, including an interview and a photo gallery, which will please only the most hardcore fans at best.
There are only two good reasons to buy this live release, marked by weak production and the relatively stage-bound reserve of the individual instrumentalists: Ted Leonard’s successful debut as lead singer of the ‘Beardsmen’ and Neal Morse as a guest musician. Spock’s Beard quite needlessly followed the trend of most bands playing High Voltage, recording and releasing a rather half-hearted show, rescued from mediocrity only by the two charismatic vocal champions mentioned above. It might not be a bad idea if the ‘Beardsmen’ thought twice about whether it’s really worth releasing a new live album every year and at every opportunity, even when its quality isn’t up to the expected high standard.
Lineup
Dave Meros – bass guitar, backing vocals
Alan Morse – guitar and backing vocals
Ryo Okumoto – keyboards and backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Jimmy Keegan – drums
Ted Leonard – lead vocals, guitar and keyboards
Neal Morse – guitar and lead vocals on the closing verses of “The Light” and “June”
Production
Spock’s Beard
Track list
1. On A Perfect Day
2. The Doorway
3. The Emperor’s Clothes
4. The Light
5. June
