Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Spock's Beard
Label: Self-released
Release: 2014
Duration: 67:52
Rating: 4.5/5
»Live at Sea« is the latest live document from the current Spock’s Beard lineup, featuring singer/multi-instrumentalist Ted Leonard (also a member of Enchant) and drummer Jimmy Keegan. It was recorded during the cult prog-rock revivalists’ set at The Progressive Nation at Sea festival, where assorted prog bands played while cruising the sea aboard the Norwegian Pearl. In 2013 the Beard dropped the excellent album »Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep«, which some even call their best since singer and multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse left. That tells you there’s a special creative chemistry in the current lineup, and it shines through just as strongly in their live shows. Those are (still) a real feast for the ears and eyes of every fan of prog-revival virtuosos who never took themselves too seriously, so there’s plenty of playful, mischievous wit in the arrangements and lyrics, and the guys never run out of humor and good spirits during the not-so-frequent chats with the crowd either.
At first glance, six songs on »Live at Sea« looks like a bit of a short list, but the shortest one runs seven minutes, so you still end up with more than an hour of music. »Live at Sea« opens with the epic »Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep« treat »Something Very Strange«, which may well be the current version of the band’s finest achievement so far, and the whole band is in incredible form live, so there’s no way to praise the individual members enough.
Of course, most people will probably focus on the contribution of the two newest members while listening. Thanks to Jimmy Keegan, who pulls off proper acrobatics behind the kit with his tiny frame, almost nobody misses former drummer and singer Nick D’Virgilio anymore, who has since moved on to the English prog band Big Big Train. Ted Leonard is a chapter all his own, too: he’s pretty much the ideal singer for this perennially fascinating band, and his vocal approach is a little reminiscent of a young Steve Walsh (ex-Kansas). The other two »Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep« renditions, »Hiding Out« and »Waiting For Me«, come off great as well, while the first surprise of this recording is the performance of »Walking On The Wind«, a standard from »Beware of Darkness« (1996) that hadn’t been seen in Spock’s Beard’s live repertoire for quite a while.
The biggest surprise of the whole recording comes before the performance of »June«, a classic from »The Kindness of Strangers« (1997), when none other than Neal Morse joins the band. He left them in 2002 because ‘the Lord God told him to’. It’s no secret that Neal has lately been helping the band out again as a guest musician and songwriter, so the rumors of an imminent return keep getting louder, even though Morse still prefers to focus on his solo career and the supergroups Transatlantic and Flying Colors.
From here on in »Live at Sea«, lead vocals go to Neal, with Ted, who mostly sticks to guitar and some backing synth as an instrumentalist, covering him superbly with backing vocal harmonies. Even better than »June« by this unusual Spock’s Beard sextet is the super-epic »The Light« from the American prog upstarts’ self-titled debut, which is the climax of this splendid live recording. It’s basically Neal’s ultimate Spock’s Beard song, written at the very start of his career, so he’ll surely always carry it deep in his heart, and you can hear it best in his passionate vocal delivery, which has only gained in emotional richness over the years.
»Live at Sea« is easily the best official live recording of the current Spock’s Beard lineup so far, peaking with the unexpected and emotional stage appearance of Neal Morse. His guest spot will no doubt be especially tantalizing for everyone who’s dying for Neal to come back, since he was once the creative leader of these leading American prog revivalists. But to be honest, Spock’s Beard in their current form don’t miss him at all, so it’ll be no tragedy if he puts off his quite likely return for a few more years. One interesting and heartening fact about »Live at Sea«: all the profits from sales of the DVD version of this live document, which is currently available only in digital form, will go toward recording the twelfth Spock’s Beard studio album.
Lineup
Ted Leonard – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
Alan Morse – guitar, vocals
Ryo Okumoto – keyboards, vocals
Jimmy Keegan – drums, vocals
Dave Meros – bass guitar, bass pedals, vocals
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Neal Morse – lead vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards on “June” and “The Light”
Production
Spock’s Beard
Track list
1. Something Very Strange (9:07)
2. Hiding Out (7:45)
3. Walking On The Wind (9:55)
4. Waiting For Me (14:37)
5. June (7:09)
6. The Light (19:19)
