There is an excellent chance that Rick Wakeman, the musician
\nresponsible for today’s review subject, will be reading this. So,
\nif our regular readers don’t mind too much, I’d like to direct this
\nreview to Mr. Wakeman himself…<\/p>\n
Rick – I
\ncan<\/i> call you Rick, right? – I have to be critical right at
\nthe outset when talking about
\nThe Legend: Live In Concert 2000<\/i>. This show – which was
\nrecorded at Sheperton Studios before a small but passionate
\naudience – has one major flaw that I wish could be addressed…<\/p>\n
It’s far, far too short.<\/p>\n
In a span of 90 minutes, you lock the listener in with your warm
\nand enchanting melodies as well as your good natured humor, making
\nit feel like those who are watching this concert have a front-row
\nseat. Even if someone isn’t as familiar with your discography
\n(including myself – though I’m working on it), you take numbers
\nlike “Birdman Of Alcatraz” and “Children Of Chernobyl” and make
\nthem sound like they’re old friends dropping by to relive good
\ntimes in the past.<\/p>\n
One might wonder how you’re able to pull all of this off in a
\nsolo performance, backed only by your bank of synthesizers. But you
\npull it off, Rick, even to the point where you take a brief medley
\nof Yes songs – “And You And I” and “Wonderous Stories” – and
\nperform them in such a way that one doesn’t even notice that the
\nfamiliar vocals of Jon Anderson or the distinct bass style of Chris
\nSquire are nowhere to be heard. The point is, it works, and it
\nworks well.<\/p>\n
Even the old tracks from your discography – namely, the three
\nselections you play from
\nThe Six Wives Of Henry VIII<\/i> – sound as fresh today as they
\ndid when they were first recorded back in the ’70s. Once, I thought
\nI’d miss hearing the original instrumentation, especially on songs
\nlike “Catherine Of Aragon,” but you adapt modern technology well to
\nfit these pieces. (The live performance of “Jane Seymour” is
\nabsolutely breathtaking – though I am curious, is the sampled organ
\nyou’re playing the one from St. Giles?)<\/p>\n
Even music that you didn’t write comes alive on
\nThe Legend<\/i>. You respectfully take on The Beatles (“Help \/
\nEleanor Rigby”), playfully tackle children’s songs (“The Nursery
\nRhyme Concerto”) and lovingly close the show with a Debussy classic
\n(“Clare De Lune”), and it is as natural a fit to your music as ham
\nis to eggs.<\/p>\n
While this DVD comes with a bonus CD featuring all the audio
\ntracks from this show (plus one bonus song, “Merlin The Magician”),
\nit’s theDVD that has to be experienced. Just watching you become
\nenraptured in these songs, as well as your lightning-fast reflexes
\non the keyboards, seals the deal for me. (Besides, the CD removes
\nall the audience’s applause, as well as your stories.)<\/p>\n
Ah, those stories – complaint number two. I realize this was a
\nmusical performance, Rick – but I could have sat through an entire
\nDVD filled with the stories you have to tell. (Note to die-hard
\nWakeman fans: Yes, I know that disc eight of
\nTreasure Chest<\/i> has nothing but these stories. I just don’t
\nhave about $150 to part with to order this set.) At times serious,
\noften humorous, they’re as intregal a part of this show as the
\nmusic itself.<\/p>\n
Frankly, Rick, this could have been a two DVD set or more, and I
\nstill don’t think I would have my fill of either the music or the
\nstories. I guess I should be happy with what I have – namely, a
\nconcert that lives up to its title. Anyone who has ever been a fan
\nof your music or Yes’s should absolutely not miss this disc.<\/p>\n
2002 Christopher Thelen and “The Daily Vault”. All rights
\nreserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without
\nwritten permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6115],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37483","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rick-wakeman","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37483"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37483"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}