Rudess Morgenstein Project-Philly 11/20

[countoftuscany42]

was just browsing Bandsintown, and noticed a listing for Rudess Morgenstein Project at World Cafe Live in Philly for November 20th, anyone heard about this? Its an easy walk for me from Drexel's campus, and the ticket price is surprisingly cheap so i will definitely be going! 
just curious if this has been mentioned anywhere, first ive heard of it!
Also, if this doesnt belong in the DT section feel free to move it, i just assumed it was fine considering Jordan 

[Prog Snob]

They only seem to be doing the one show.  I'd love to see them again. 

[Tom Bombadil]

Sweet dude I could walk there! Definitely going to this. Thanks for the heads up.

[ytserush]

I think they are playing in Northern New Jersey  (Englewood?) around that time too.  Probably going to be a few dates at most.

[countoftuscany42]

tonight! anyone else going? hoping to meet the wizard and get some stuff signed, should be a good night

[Tom Bombadil]

Really wish I could go but I got screwed by the amount of work I have this week.

[Spacebar.]

I guess MP read your post countoftuscany42 

[countoftuscany42]

Amazing show last night, it was a great time!

setlist:
Don't Look Down
Crossing Over
Drop the Puck
Ra
Odd Man Out
Tarkus 
Night Wind
Jam
Dead in the Water
Encore: Over the Edge

This was my first time seeing Jordan outside of DT, and it was really neat seeing him in this environment and so in touch with the crowd.  I was right in the front and he would often make eye contact with me and the other people up in the front which was cool.  He and Rod told plenty of funny stories which kept us laughing.  After the show I met Rod and he signed my copy of RMP which i picked up that night, he was a really nice guy, and appreciated my preparedness for bringing sharpies he could borrow 
I started chatting with the photographer who told me that apparently mike Portnoy was there!  Jordan didn't even know beforehand, but Mike was there with his family and hung with Jordan for a bit (photos on fb, twitter).  I caught him on his way out and he signed my BC&SL lithograph  would love to have chatted with him more but i didn't want to keep him from leaving. 
Then I got to talk to jordan which was awesome! He was really nice and very appreciative of my fan boyish comments 
He signed my RMP cd, my adtoe and DT12 Vinyl sleeves, BC&SL litho, and the group shot from the LALP book 
He actually hadn't seen the book yet, so he spent a few minutes flipping through it and looking at all the pictures 
I wanted to ask him some stuff about the tour and his explorations cd, but there was a pair of guys behind me so I moved on and thanked him for a great night. Overall an amazing evening and I was so fortunate to go! can't get much better than one of your favorite musicians performing less than 3 blocks from your campus    at some point ill post a few pictures, although unfortunately they didn't turn out too great, my iPhone camera is on its way out..

[wasteland]

Great story, cot42!

Hopefully a bootleg will surface soon on dime, assuming they were allowed!

[Orbert]

Tarkus 

The whole thing?  (accidentally or on purpose)

[countoftuscany42]

Tarkus 

The whole thing?  (accidentally or on purpose)

the whole thing, it was announced beforehand they would be doing that so i was expecting it.  the funny thing was I wasn't really familiar with Tarkus before hearing about this show, so id been listening lately to familiarize myself, and after loving it so much the other night i picked up an old copy on vinyl yesterday 

[Prog Snob]

Tarkus 

The whole thing?  (accidentally or on purpose)

the whole thing, it was announced beforehand they would be doing that so i was expecting it.  the funny thing was I wasn't really familiar with Tarkus before hearing about this show, so id been listening lately to familiarize myself, and after loving it so much the other night i picked up an old copy on vinyl yesterday 

ELP - Tarkus   

[Sycsa]

Tarkus 

The whole thing?  (accidentally or on purpose)

the whole thing, it was announced beforehand they would be doing that so i was expecting it.  the funny thing was I wasn't really familiar with Tarkus before hearing about this show, so id been listening lately to familiarize myself, and after loving it so much the other night i picked up an old copy on vinyl yesterday 

ELP - Tarkus   

As a diehard ELP fan, I don't like JR's interpretation of Tarkus, neither the 2013 NAMM version, nor the one on his solo album. I keep hearing the tonewheel Hammond organs and analog Moog synthesizers of the original version in my head and Jordan's digital synths sound thin, plastic and lifeless in that light. I love his sounds in the context of DT's music, but they just don't work for classic prog.

[Orbert]

I agree with you pretty much.  The sounds aren't really as good as they could be, and that's mostly due to Jordan's insistence on using as few keyboards on stage as possible.  In the old days, keyboardists would be up there with half a dozen or more keyboards, each for their specific sound(s).  Jordan clearly prefers his one "command station" and patches everything through it to emulate everything else.  And as you say, that's fine for Dream Theater, since they're his sounds in the first place.  But for classic prog, the sounds, especially classic keyboard sounds, are almost as important as the notes, and digital emulation only gets you so far.

I do appreciate that he's playing something like Tarkus.  I mean, at least he's out there playing it, and just getting the notes is a challenge, of course.  At one point, I learned about half of it (the sheet music helped a lot - ha ha!) but for classic prog, he needs to go all the way.  That's where someone like Derek Shirinian really impresses me.  He has a much better feel for sounds and patches, and is also willing to take an actual B-3, Moog, or Mellotron on the road to make things sound the way he wants them to.

[Sycsa]

I agree with you pretty much.  The sounds aren't really as good as they could be, and that's mostly due to Jordan's insistence on using as few keyboards on stage as possible.  In the old days, keyboardists would be up there with half a dozen or more keyboards, each for their specific sound(s).  Jordan clearly prefers his one "command station" and patches everything through it to emulate everything else.  And as you say, that's fine for Dream Theater, since they're his sounds in the first place.  But for classic prog, the sounds, especially classic keyboard sounds, are almost as important as the notes, and digital emulation only gets you so far.

I do appreciate that he's playing something like Tarkus.  I mean, at least he's out there playing it, and just getting the notes is a challenge, of course.  At one point, I learned about half of it (the sheet music helped a lot - ha ha!) but for classic prog, he needs to go all the way.  That's where someone like Derek Shirinian really impresses me.  He has a much better feel for sounds and patches, and is also willing to take an actual B-3, Moog, or Mellotron on the road to make things sound the way he wants them to.

Wholeheartedly agreed. Derek definitely outshines JR in the taste department. I really appreciated that he hauled around a Leslie speaker with DT, his organ sound is the best thing about Once in a LIVEtime (listen to Metropolis between 03:20 - 04:08, I especially miss that gritty glissando @ 03:44 from every other version of the song). I asked Jordan on his forum, since he used so much organ on ADTOE, why doesn't he use a Leslie at least. His answer:

I'm sorry you feel that way!! I'm primarily a synthesist and pianist with a lot of experience designing exactly the sound I want to hear. If I use an organ very often it is a specific model that I created to blend with the Dream Theater sound all around including the way it rotates... That said- maybe next time I'll try that in the studio and see if it makes us smile!!

JR

Anyway, the thought of learning Tarkus with (or in this case, without) sheet music reminded me of this incredible person: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLT3Cb96-Mk

[Prog Snob]

Anyway, the thought of learning Tarkus with (or in this case, without) sheet music reminded me of this incredible person: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLT3Cb96-Mk

Beautiful