ALCHEMY LIVE

The idea behind this project was not to do a progressive rock opera, but a musical in the tradition of some of the past. Clive Nolan has taken so much time in the last seven years to do "She" and now "Alchemy", that he would like to see this show take by someone else. The story of Alchemy is set in the Victorian days and is about the search of artefacts in order to unearth the secrets of alchemy. To realize that story, Nolan has to use plenty of characters dressed in ancient costumes with a choir and musicians which, for some he has worked in the past. The choir ensemble is very impressive and the singing takes a lot of space in this musical. Mark Westwood on guitar and Kylan Amos on bass are low profile, while the keyboards and drums are more up front. The musicians are a support to the singers and characters and are intentionally in the back of the stage. We are far away from the Neo-Prog genre of Arena and Pendragon here, but more into a symphonic art-rock style where classical arrangements and plenty of singing are in the heart of the show. There is also one character who is a real opera singer.

A nicely done concert by the Metal Productions crew, and this time the surround mix is louder than usual, maybe a bit too much in the back speakers. This theatrical production bring another dimension to the music, it would have been more impressive to see it live, but not everyone can go to Europe, so this is the occasion to have a good taste of this great live experience.