LIVE AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM 2023

This is brilliant!

It's been quite a road, a tremendous, unique, prolific career from a man who this year (2024) is turning 75 years old, a man who has created fantasy through the years, with over 100 album releases, several tours, some books, seems we are witnessing the ending of an extraordinary story.

Rick Wakeman is not only a musician to me, nor the keyboard wizard, his importance is beyond my own comprehension, and I am really grateful I chose his art, his music, his persona, as a crucial source of inspiration.

Well, last year (2023) he offered two amazing and memorable concerts at the London Palladium, a place with a special meaning to him, and I am sure, to a lot of his fans. These shows were divided in two sets, where he, his band and a choir delivered outstanding performances of three of Wakeman's most iconic albums, as well as some legendary Yes tunes. Though one could think this is not new, I was impressed with the result, because no matter the extension of his career, he is still capable of reimagine and recreate his own works with such a remarkable audacity, so the attendees and the listeners can have a unique experience.

For this event Mr. Wakeman gathered low-profile but top-notch musicians who have been working with him in the last few years, a great group named The English Rock Ensemble where we can appreciate the talent of Hayley Sanderson on vocals, Dave Colquhoun on guitars, Lee Pomeroy on bass, Adam Falkner on drums, and last but not least, his son, great musician and long-time collaborator, Adam Wakeman on keyboards and guitar. But this is not it, because this time he wanted to boost the experience with a choir, and though we might be used to hear an orchestra in several of his studio and live works, what The English Chamber Choir, conducted by Guy Protheroe add here is amazing, colorful, extraordinary.

This live release consists of 4 discs, each one representing one of the albums / eras performed. The first night delivered The Six Wives of Henry VIII (disc 1) and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (disc 2), while the second brought some Yes tunes (disc 3) and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (disc 4).

Yeah, those songs have been played by him for ages, however, here they sound amazing because of its unique arrangements, the choir, the musicians, the emotions. While listening to it I felt a connection not only to my own memories or fantasies, but also to the band and even to the attendants. The sound is magical, of course Rick is still a monster and a wizard, but every single member of the ensemble adds their quite valuable grain of sand, and we can notice it in different passages. The concerts are emotional, fantastic, just like Wakeman's career.

I'd like to invite you to listen to it because this is just a brief and not detailed review, but let me tell you that despite having listened to these songs thousands times, these performances surprised me in a very, very positive way, and when a musician this old and legendary still surprises you, wow, you just have to smile and embrace the emotions.

Amazing!

For once, all that praise seems justified: this is one hell of a live album! Hate Rick Wakeman? Then don't bother. Like his best albums? Then by all means give this a spin, since Rick really takes his old tunes to a higher level. Admittedly, his new approach does not ALWAYS work. In THE SIX WIVES, there's the odd passage where the original studio recording sounded subtle and moving while the new one merely sounds brash. Nevertheless, most of the new interpretations happily carried me along. On the CLASSIC YES disc, 'Starship Trooper' is drawn out too long - but don't let that deter you: 'And You and I' gets played so beautifully it brought tears to my eyes. To a large extent, the success of that Yes disc (and of this 4-CD set as a whole) is due to the vocal talents of Hayley Sanderson, a very soulful singer whose voice reminded me a little of Tina Turner's. Take JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, for example. In its original 1970s incarnation the album always sounded amateurish to me, partly because the two male vocalists were so melodramatic. Hayley Sanderson, on the other hand, sounds wonderfully earthy, and it's bizarre-but-highly-exciting to hear her against the background of the (sometimes eerie, sometimes rather churchy) English Chamber Choir. (Together with that same choir, she also gives a wonderfully rousing performance of 'Lancelot and the Black Knight'.) Another thing that makes the new JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH so special is the fact that Mr Wakeman's 'English Rock Ensemble' rocks harder than ever! Lee Pomeroy is probably the most gifted bassist Rick ever used, Dave Colquhoun delivers the most amazing power chords throughout (he also gets a chance to deliver some blistering solos) and because there are TWO virtuoso keyboard players in the band, there's no need for the strings or brass of an old-fashioned symphony orchestra. You might even say this new JOURNEY sounds proggier than ever, since an entire orchestra is expertly 'realised' by a five man rock band.