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The Renaissance Zone |
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kenethlevine 
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Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8951 |
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 Posted: November 05 2016 at 18:35 |
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super show in Londonderry, NH last night!
the set list: Prologue Carpet of the Sun Closer than Yesterday (never played live before this tour) Grandine Il Vento Symphony of Light Songs of the Sea Mystic and the Muse Mother Russia Song for all Seasons Ashes are Burning From the last US tour, they dropped Immortal Beloved and Northern Lights, adding Closer than Yesterday and Mystic and the Muse. On "Ashes", the solos by bassist Leo Traversa and keyboardist Tom Brislin were even better than before, simply awesome. The biggest surprise was in the coda to "Ashes", Mark Lambert picked up an electric guitar and wailed away in stunning and surprisingly flashy fashion, finally strumming as the crowd stood and clapped for Annie's flourish. I notice she has perhaps gotten even better at holding notes but doesn't try to do the tremolo (?) as much. Intimate venue, great seats, excellent audience and band performance.
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: November 05 2016 at 19:48 |
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Yes, we did get advance intimation on facebook that they were going to add Closer than yesterday on these shows. I don't know if they ever performed it in the 70s. Even trawling through the uploads of the very kind ProgressiveMan on youtube, I could not find a single performance of it.
Re tremolo, you probably mean vibrato and it definitely sounds like over the years Annie has lost her vibrato a bit (and she never had a very prominent one to begin with). It is also a natural consequence of switching to the whistle register for really high notes that she was earlier able to get to in her modal voice; much harder to generate vibrato in the whistle voice especially if the attack is harsh rather than relaxed. And very interesting that Lambert did the solo on Ashes Are Burning; Andy Powell did it live with the band maybe once back in the day and that's it. Hope somebody's captured it but Annie is very strict.
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kenethlevine
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Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8951 |
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Posted: November 05 2016 at 20:28 |
Annie mentioned they never did "Closer than Yesterday" live due to all the vocal parts. Mark Lambert took the first part and sang it very high to approximate one of the Annie's, but I keopt thinking someone was missing their lines. Probably needs a bit more work. Also, IMO, "Closer than Yesterday" works so well where it is on "Song for All Seasons", being just what is needed after the emotional roller coaster of "Day of the Dreamer". Out of that context, it's rather ordinary. yes, I think I mean vibrato! They were quite clear about no videos. Pictures were allowed with no flash and as long has hands were not being held high. My friend got a few so if I may try to post one or two. "Song for all Seasons" was also excellent, with Rave taking the orchestral parts and Tom the synths and mellotron brass. Again, they don't quite hit the pivotal moment with enough force, where the brass tron plays its rousing note - it's there, but not high enough in the mix. But I really can't complain. It almost makes up for not having it on the live DVD. |
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 05 2016 at 20:37 |
Yes, true, this is why they have only rarely performed Captive Heart for that matter. You need Annie singing all the different vocal parts which of course can't be done live. Agreed too that Closer than Yesterday works better being the lone typical Ren ballad on SFAS and without it, not so much. The arrangements are pretty pale and generic for the era (whereas say Captive Heart has some fabulous piano playing for the first minute or more).
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micky
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Posted: November 06 2016 at 05:30 |
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for shame guys... it has been a couple of pages
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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kenethlevine
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Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8951 |
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Posted: November 06 2016 at 07:24 |
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I don't know if I should say this to you Micky, but Annie said it would be easier to just perform naked!
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micky
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Posted: November 06 2016 at 07:27 |
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you shouldn't have told me that...
*spits first beer of the day all over monitor* I know which group/album i"m putting on next.... though not sure what to tell Raff when she asks what that smile on my face is all about as I'm listening to it...  Edited by micky - November 06 2016 at 07:27 |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 06 2016 at 08:57 |
I can't believe I am actually going to post this photo in this here thread but anything for you micky. So here's a nice photo to stare at while you play the albums on your speakers:
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micky
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Posted: November 06 2016 at 09:01 |
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ahhhhh......
*logging off* |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Kingsnake
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Joined: November 03 2006 Location: Rockpommelland Status: Offline Points: 1578 |
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 02:11 |
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I have so much love for Annie Haslam, but also all the other artists involved in various incarnations of the band.
Just like a lot of other groups (Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest, Great White, Asia, LA Guns) something along the line went amiss, and people got into fights, and different incarnations of bands emerged. In the case of Renaissance, matters are solved. In the nineties it was difficult to distinguish the (3!!) different Renaissance-bands and they all put out albums. It's sad that Tout, Thatcher and Dunford all died along the way and Sullivan is not part of the band anymore. But with a great group of talented musicians (amongst them Jason Hart!!), Annie released Symphony of Light, wich is a really, really great album. The songs were all written by Dunford, maybe that's why it sounds so good.
I'm curious as to what Annie will do next. Her solo albums are also really worth it. |
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 02:48 |
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I really don't know that Annie and Michael had a feud and the band had to be broken up simply because it had become untenable. I suspect also that Annie was both unhappy as well as struggling with self doubt by the end of the 80s so getting away from Renaissance wasn't such a bad idea. The real feud was between Annie and Jon, still is. And because Terence sided with Jon during the 2009 fiasco, he too got left out of the new band. As for future plans Annie has talked about a new studio album but at present seems to be contended with touring.
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Kingsnake
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 02:56 |
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What is the 2009 fiasco?
And so the feud is between the two vocalists? Who was the frontman/woman? Most bandfeuds are because of that (Barclay James Harvest, Wishbone Ash etc.) Maybe it's bassist/vocalist thing. Now that I think of it John Payne and John Wetton are bassist/vocalist aswell. Damn, maybe that's a force to reckon with...
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 03:29 |
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When the band got back on the road in 2009, the three older members were supposed to join Annie and Michael too. But Jon Camp was apparently persuaded by friends to celebrate his 60th birthday and bailed out. Annie's hand picked manager said now or never, so she got in musicians who had worked with her on her solo albums. In the meantime John Tout had a heart attack too. Later when he got ok, Jon tried to talk to Michael and get back in the band but I am guessing Annie shut him out. What exactly is the problem between Annie and Jon is hard to tell. The official version is Jon used to dominate the band back in the day and Annie was apprehensive there would be too much friction between them. In reality I think she never forgave him for leaving the band back in '84 on the back of masterminding the debacle that was Timeline. By the way wouldn't ever describe Jon as the other vocalist. He was the bassist, a very fine one at that, and a pretty weak backing vocalist. Everyone in the new band sings better than him.
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Tom Ozric
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 03:36 |
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^ But Jon (Camp) was THE bassist, and no-one will ever live up to his level of skill. Hell, Camera Camera AND Time Line would be average without Jon's outstanding bass playing. When I think of Jon, I immediately think of Chris Squire, and not just because of the Rickenbacker........
Edited by Tom Ozric - November 07 2016 at 03:36 |
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Kingsnake
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 03:49 |
He did sing a couple of leads; On the Frontier, Things I Don't Understand, The Captive Heart (co-lead), The Sultan, Kindness in the End, She is Love, Only Angels Have Wings, Kiev and of course the Time-Line album. I like She is Love. I would not consider him a weak vocalist. Maybe my memory is bad. I have to listen to his songs again.
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Kingsnake
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 03:50 |
That can be said about any band/any line up. But a band is also a team, and when a team doesn't work well, other will have to step in.
Again: Barclay James Harvest, Wishbone Ash etc. etc. |
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 03:56 |
Wouldn't go so far as no one but the ones who could fill his shoes, like Squire or Geddy Lee, were already too big for Renaissance. The thing though is you can go gigging with a different bassist because unless the audience are all bassies too they will not care about the difference or just let it go. Different singer is a whole other ballgame. People complain about missing Jon Anderson when Trevor did a pretty decent job on Drama, what would Ren do without Annie? And I am guessing in the 90s she finally learnt to wield the power that a much loved frontman/frontwoman typically has in a band. I am not saying it's right, just my conjecture about what happened. She could now get by on her own even if it may not have been frightfully exciting whereas in the 70s she was quite dependent on the band. Michael wanted to have the old guys back per Jon Camp. But he must have also known the tour would collapse without Annie.
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Tom Ozric
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 04:49 |
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Replace Annie with Christina Booth !!
Well, I can agree that a bassist is a bassist , when you don't focus on the instrument / player. I equally love those early 80's Ren albums as much as the 70's albums. The mellow mid-section of Day Of The Dreamer never fails to bring tears to my eyes, utter BEAUTY right there........(but on the other hand, I go and get off on Gorguts....no tears there, ha ha). Music is beyond amazing. |
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rogerthat
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 04:59 |
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Christina wouldn't be able to sing most of the songs without their having to be transposed down. And some songs like Running Hard or Carpet of the Sun can't be transposed as they get pretty low (for a soprano/mezzo). That is the kind of difference I am talking about. Range is not an issue for an instrumentalist but it is for the singer. That's why they can't replace Annie..coz if anybody did have the range and power of Annie why would she not want to be known as a great singer in her own right instead of being Annie's substitute?
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Tom Ozric
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Posted: November 07 2016 at 05:20 |
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Yeah, well, Annie is Annie. I don't believe she could be replaced.
Annie looked hot on Time-Line 
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rogerthat wrote: