Joe Field wrote:

> Made the trip south to see Neal Morse
> ---formerly of Spock's Beard--- at the 
> Community Center Theater in Whittier 
> this past Sunday night...snip...
> the concert was the most moving, 
> powerful music event I've ever been 
> privileged to witness.

I'd have to agree with ya Joe. There was a lot of
power, emotion, and  -- yes -- tears in the venue that
night, as the band delivered one of the most intense,
honest, and genuine performances I've ever witnessed
-- I'm still coming to grips with the whole thing.
Neal Morse was unbelievable -- an absolutely
one-of-a-kind experience in my book, one I won't be
soon forgetting.

> his songs include amazing harmonies--and
> with Rick Altizer in his band, among 
> others, there was a strong dose of 
> Brian Wilson-like vocal arrangements.

I concur that the harmony vocals were Jellyfish-like
in their intensity -- just jaw-dropping. I was there
for soundcheck (I got to play Mike Portnoy's drums
during level checks, damn was that ever fun!) and when
I heard the band going into 6-part harmonies I about
melted. Just gorgeous.

> And it was cool to meet power poppers 
> Ken West and Kerry Kompost, as they 
> talked with Rick Altizer, after the 
> show...

You too Joe! Glad you made it home safe. In the "small
world" department, Rick Altizer is the brother-in-law
of the gentleman who hired me several years ago, so of
course it was great to finally meet him in person
(we'd e-corresponded and traded CD's before). Very
nice guy (great voice!!), as were all the guys in the
band, including Neal.

Ronald Sanchez wrote:

> Someone sent me a tape of a Spock's 
> album..snip...that was the last time 
> I played that tape.

No slam on our esteemed Mr. Sanchez (love your posts,
by the way), but prog music requires what used to be
known in the industry as an "attention span" -- you're
not gonna get one or two hooks hammered endlessly for
three-and-a-half minutes with this music -- but that's
part of the fun of it: it takes time and effort to
unlock the rewards. When you listen to a 30-minute
epic like Neal's "All of the Above", there's a
tangible sense of taking a journey and discovering
things along the way. It is NOT simple music; it's not
easy to write OR to listen to; it takes a genuine love
of the music to really absorb everything.

Of course, it's not for everyone, but what makes Neal
Morse's music extra-special -- to me anyway -- is that
he melds the most Beatle-esque, poppy melodies/hooks
with the most gorgeous, proggy (meaning largely
keyboard/synth-driven), musically ambitious
compositions; for me it's like the best of both
worlds, an aural bridge between The Beatles and
Emerson, Lake and Palmer (both HUGE influences on my
own music). No wonder I dig his stuff so much!

Also -- and no slam is meant to any of the pop bands I
know, love, and support -- but there's something extra
inspiring when musicians are able to perform at the
peak of their abilities on their respective
instruments. Sometimes, just strumming a jangly
Rickenbacker is enough, but, face it, almost anyone
one can do that -- seriously, it's not that tough to
learn (this goes out to all you non-musicians here who
think "I could never do that" -- yes you can!). For me
anyway, it's always so much more gratifying to witness
musicians testing the limits of their abilities,
playing dazzling passages with finesse and grace,
pushing themselves to go farther, faster, and further
'out there' than I might've imagined. As a musician,
that type of advanced ability gives me something to
strive for, something that's kept me utterly
infatuated with the guitar, drums, and -- to a
somewhat lesser extent -- keyboards over the last
twenty years (gasp!) or so.

Will wrote:

> when I interviewed Marty Willson-Piper 
> of the Church he praised both Spock's 
> Beard and Porcupine Tree.

A true music freak, that Marty. When I reviewed Mike
Keneally's "Dancing" album for Marty's
www.newspapertaxi.net site, he wrote me back telling
me that he loved progressive songwriters and that --
based on my review -- he 'needed to check out'
Keneally. Mission accomplished! :)

Prog-n-pop; it's not just for breakfast anymore.

kErrY kOMpOsT

www.tribecamusic.net
www.mp3.com/kompost
www.m-blog.com/kompost (more Neal concert notes here)


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