LIVE IN EUROPE

By now everyone know about Flying Colors, another side project by the Prog hard workers and creators of Transatlantic Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy.

If you don't know yet allow me to explain that this band is not Transatlantic! Although the band is indeed another super group with Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Neal Morse, Transatlantic and Winery Dogs), Neal Morse (ex-Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, solo), Steve Morse (Dixie Dreggs, Deep Purple), Dave LaRue (Steve Morse Band) and the little known Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev, Endochine). Thing is, FLying Colors is not a Prog band, at least not in their first album. The band is a very good example of Crossover Prog with a Rock/Pop formula but with chops, real clever moments and parts and great melodies.

I heard their first album Flying Colors (2012) and thought it was a great album, but it didn't really knock my feet off the ground. When they announced a live album the next year I was thinking to myself "Why a live album now?!?"

Live In Europe (2013) is a double album with little less than 2 hours recorded in the Netherlands and where they play the whole first album. To pull it off a full concert they also played a song from each solo careers, so here you go with a Dream Theater song, a Spock's Beard song, a Dixie Dreggs song and a Alpha Rev song.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great concert in all means and I would be really glad to be there at the concert. The band is flawless and the songs are very strong live. But it keeps popping out in my head that doesn't make any sense for a band with one studio album to release a live one as a following. But it became quite normal for Neal Morse's career.

Now the band's second album is out and you can bet there'll be another live album next year! But it's ok, you can go for it because it's high quality material!

Up until I first watched this disc, I liked Flying Colors, but I would not say that I regarded them as one of my favourite bands. Since they have put out only two albums (both of which I own), it is probably way too soon to really form a lasting opinion about this, anyway. However, after watching this disc, I am absolutely certain that the disc captures one of my top 5 or so, favourite live performances, on DVD or Blu-ray, in my substantial collection. There are few bands that I know of that can play live versions of their material, which I prefer to their original studio versions, or that I like at least equally, as another take on the same music. I now proclaim Flying Colors, on the evidence of this disc, to be one of those bands. Of course, this is very possible with musicians and composers of this high calibre and with the crystal-clear recording of live sound that can be achieved these days. Just to be complete about the technical quality of the disc then, the visuals are as stunningly pristine as the sound.

Of course, however, it is the quality of the songs and the performance of them, that should really matter to the purchaser of this disc. It is evident that the songs are infused into the muscle-memory of the band members, as they tour, play and perform. A big factor in my enthusiasm for this disc, is the palpable sense of enjoyment of the band members and their pride in the music that they have created. The simple rule is that when the performers have fun, the audience has fun. A remarkable fact about this disc, is that the band had only one album of Flying Colors songs to create their set-list from, so they played the whole album, plus songs from their past bands, to pad the performance out beyond an hour, as Mike Portnoy informs the audience. Let me assure you that these older songs are as far from filler material as you are likely to hear and the fact that there is not a poor song or performance on this disc, should tell you something about the quality of this band and the quality of their first album (Flying Colors).

Although this is a prog rock band, the songs are mostly very accessible, very positive and uplifting, without being anywhere close to light, frothy, throwaway pop music - and I love every song. This opinion comes from someone whose music collection consists mainly of prog rock of all sorts, including a lot of dark, dense, challenging and frankly bizarre stuff, which I generally far prefer to easily accessible music. Of course, all of the band members, bar one, have solid backgrounds in major progressive rock bands. Neal Morse (ex-Spock's Beard) is just ridiculously talented as a keyboard player and vocalist and as for drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) - well he only cements his reputation as one of, if not the best drummer, in rock music today. He doesn't even totally crash and burn in his vocal parts! The other band members are the axe wizard Steve Morse on lead guitar (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple), Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs) and the younger-than-the-rest and extremely talented vocalist (also guitarist), Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev).