The Flower Kings were on first, and they played for just over an hour, but being a prog gig that meant just 3 songs!! They had played more in some other gigs on the tour so it was a bit disappointing only to get 3 songs. The songs were

 

Numbers

The Truth Will Set You Free

Rising The Imperial

 

I thought they were very good, but unfortunately the sound was very loud which caused some distortion - a pity because they have a very clean sound on recordings. I preferred the last 2 songs to the first, but only because of the sound quality issues. Roine Stolt played a couple of fantastic solos on The Truth Will Set You Free and Rising the Imperial. Just before the former a guy in the audience (I don't know if he was overexcited or drunk) was shouting things at Roine but Roine was very gracious and even dedicated the solo to the heckler. I thought the other singer, Hasse, was a bit of a poser but he was obviously enjoying himself. He did tend to shout into the microphone a bit though, which given the sound issues maybe wasn't a good idea.

 

Then, after a bit of stage rearrangement, came Neal Morse. He had a six piece band consisting of himself and his two long term recording buddies (and rhythm section) Randy George and Mike Portnoy, plus 3 musicians that he chose via Youtube auditions - Eric Gillette (keyboards and guitar), Adson Sodre (guitar) and Bill Hubaeur (keyboards, sax and electric violin). Mike Portnoy was very amusing, conducting the audience from the back with his drumsticks, and he and Neal obviously have a strong bond - on more than one occasion Mike said how privaliged he felt to be playing "this wonderful music."

 

Neal Morse played 4 songs (though one was a medley)

 

Momentum

Author of Confusion

? Medley

World Without End

 

Momentum set the tone nicely and really rocked, then  Author of Confusion included a wonderful cacophony of instruments followed by a brilliant 4-part vocal harmony. The ? medley was a highlight for me as it's my favourite Morse album, and during it Neal went walkabout in the audience whilst contining to sing into his radio mike. The set finished with the epic World Without End, and during a heavy metal type bit the roadie, a guy with long blonde hair, came on stage, stripped to the waist, and headbanged! Neal Morse's set was also louder than I would like, and there was occasional distortion, but not as much as for the Flower Kings. Don't know why. Neal's set was maybe a few minutes longer than The Flower Kings but not by much. Again he's played more songs earlier on the tour, and I was disappointed not to hear Thoughts Part 5, my favourite track on Momentum.

 

Finally, we had an encore of Transatlantic songs, being as 3 of the 4 band members were present. This consisted of

 

Bridge Across Forever

All Of The Above (first part)

The Whirlwind

A Man Can Feel

Rose Colored Glasses

Stranger In Your Soul (last part)

 

This medley built up nicely, starting with just Neal and Roine doing Bridge, then a 6 piece for the next three parts (Jonas from TFK on bass, Mike Portnoy drums, plus Eric and Bill from Neal's band). Randy George took over bass for Rose Colored Glasses, and towards the end of that song Hasse added a second vocal to Neal's. For Stranger, Adson Sodre joined in, Thomas Bodin from TFK took over Bill's keyboards whilst Bill played electric violin, and Jonas played bass pedals! The Flower Kings drummer got behind his kit and played along too. Even the aforementioned roadie banged one of Mike's cymbals, so we finished with a 12 piece band. Magic!

 

I loved the whole show, despite the volume. At the merch stall I bought Banks Of Eden by The Flower Kings and listened to it on the drive home. I was tempted to get Neal Morse's latest DVD/CD package at the knockdown price of £15, but resisted. A great night and well worth the drive there and back.