Transatlantic Official Thread

[The Letter M]

https://twitter.com/MikePortnoy/status/1514756326219526149?t=KtXauwmJNw4EAo1ZiXyHfA&s=19

A short clip of the band practicing vocal harmonies for TAU!

I hope everyone going to tomorrow's show has a good time! Can't wait to see the set list!

-Marc.

[425]

I'm also betting on MP noticing, as I have noticed, that Suite Charlotte Pike has not been played in two decades, and has never been played on its own, without the Beatles medley.

Even longer since "Mystery Train" has been played live. I hope both it and "Suite Charlotte Pike" get played at Morsefest to have definitive versions of both on live albums, and without the Beatles stuff mixed in - just pure Transatlantic.

This is true! The only difference is that I don't care much for Mystery Train, so I'll be far less sad if it doesn't get played.


I'm unfortunately not going to be able to see them. I don't live within 1,000 miles of any of the shows and a trip doesn't make a lot of financial sense right now. Plus, the fact that I wasn't in love with TAU sort of reduces the motivation for me to spend that much (I'd still definitely go if they were in driving distance). Mainly, I'm looking forward to the obligatory Morsefest Blu-Ray.

[faizoff]

I was really hoping to see Morsefest this year, didn't realize until much later that it's not in Sept anymore and in April instead. Can't make the trip now, but after seeing MP's tweet and comment on the animation of the Blu-ray visual, I'd have to agree it is really trippy and actually quite interesting. Though some of the physics are video game like, but for the most part it's a great companion to the music. I'm also listening to it on 5.1 and have to say the mix is really intriguing. I normally prefer stereo mixes over surround but this one is really enjoyable.

I've also never listened to any other versions of the album other than the 2 CD Extended Forevermore version and that has been so engrained in my head that it's pleasant to notice the difference in the Ultimate edition. It sometimes felt like listening to a new album but with the same familiarity. I know the Morsefest show will be recorded, I'm really hope the wait isn't too long.


The animation in 'The Darkness In The Light' is so out there lol, I can only wonder how it would be to watch it high on drugs.

[Tick]

I'm also betting on MP noticing, as I have noticed, that Suite Charlotte Pike has not been played in two decades, and has never been played on its own, without the Beatles medley.

Even longer since "Mystery Train" has been played live. I hope both it and "Suite Charlotte Pike" get played at Morsefest to have definitive versions of both on live albums, and without the Beatles stuff mixed in - just pure Transatlantic.

Come to think of it, I know "Stranger In Your Soul" has been played at Morsefest several times, but has "Duel With The Devil" ever appeared at Morsefest? If not, I think we can guarantee it'll appear there. As far as epics, I'd be willing to be DWTD and "Into The Blue" will be played at Morsefest. I could also see "Black As The Sky" as the only other representative of Kaleidoscope, and it'll probably make it onto the tour as well. As for the main show predictions, since Mike has said it'll be a three hour show, here's what I predict:

Set 1:
The Absolute Universe (Ultimate Mix)

-Intermission-

Set 2:
Duel With The Devil
Suite Charlotte Pike
Black As The Sky
We All Need Some Light (w/Neal & Roine intro)
My New World

Encore:
The Whirlwind Medley
-Overture
-The Wind Blew Them All Away
-Rose-Colored Glasses
-Is It Really Happening
-Dancing With Eternal Glory/The Whirlwind (Reprise)

It's pretty close to three hours, but they could totally do it.

Alternatively, they could do a reverse-chronological set and do something like this:

Set 1:
The Absolute Universe (Ultimate Mix)

-Intermission-

Set 2:
Into The Blue
The Whirlwind Medley (~25-30 minutes)
Duel With The Devil

Encore:
All Of The Above

It would literally be nothing but epics after TAU, and it might be a bit tiring, so I'm not sure they could handle all of that non-stop playing, but who knows! I have faith in them to be able to pull off whatever whacky set list Mike has had in his mind for years for this tour (because at this point, it's been 2.5 years since the TAU sessions).


-Marc.

On the Whirlwind tour they played the album. Took a break and played 3 epics plus another song

[Kram]

I'm betting that they will definitely play All Of The Above at Morsefest.  It's the first song any of us ever heard from them, and IMO, it's still their best song.  I'm sure they'll want to document a "definitive" version of it at MF.  I would also bet that Duel with the Devil will be played at MF as well.  And I'm still wagering Daniel Gildenlow will make a surprise appearance at Morsefest, so I'll go with Into the Blue being played one of the nights.

[The Letter M]

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/transatlantic/2022/keswick-theatre-glenside-pa-3bb6d444.html

Eagerly awaiting the updates, especially since I'm stuck at work til at least 11:30pm.

-Marc.

[425]

Looks like someone has populated it. Spoilers below, obviously...





It seems MP has reached medley apotheosis with this setlist. Hard for me to imagine what this closing medley is going to sound like. Also kind of disappointed that this Whirlwind Medley seems to tread the same ground as the 2014 version.

[DTwwbwMP]

ABSOLUTELY.BEST.CONCERT.OF.YEAR. for me. This was my 6th show this year and they've all been great, but tonight's Transatlantic performance at the Keswick was simply INCREDIBLE! This was also my 73rd MP show since '92, and this quite possibly may have been the greatest performance I've ever seen from him. To me, that's like Picasso topping himself, but he was simply ON FIRE tonight. If not for a family engagement, I would be at the Wellmont Theater Saturday night with FRIGIN BELLS ON!!!!!!!!!! If you CAN go..............GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mladen]

No YouTube clips yet? 

[goo-goo]

What are they selling in the merch stand?

[frogprog]

Spoilers





Great show last night. While not completely full, there was certainly more in attendance than a few weeks ago at the NMB show. Being the first show of the tour, there were quite a few hiccups that I'm sure they will work out. Neal had quite a few instances where his one keyboard was cutting out and Roine was try to get the attention of the sound guys ( Jerry G. and Rich Mouser). MP was on fire and I love " sideways Mike"! He really was the glue that held everything together and he stopped a few mistakes before they turned into trainwrecks. He cued quite a few of the vocal parts and he beat he hell out of his Tama's And Sabian cymbal. My guitarist had never seen Mike live before and after watching him straight on from the 10th row, he was blown away and said he had never seen anything like it!
Pete was on FIRE! His vocals sounded surprisingly good. Its funny, cause I know he doesn't get to play bass like that in Marillion anymore and he was having a blast. Who wouldn't want a guy like that in the band?! He has such a determination and joy when he plays. Neal had a few mistakes but his vocals really helped elevate the sound. He spent the entire night on his riser, for a good deal of the technical parts focusing across the stage on Mike.(first night of a tour and they are not playing easy material) It' s amazing how much music the two of them have played together over the years and they are like one musical mind when playing. Ted helped fill things out with his vocals doubling Pete's parts as well as the other vocal sections. He also filled in some of the keyboard parts that Neal wasnt able to do and he really beefed up the guitar sound....which brings me to....
Roine.
 I don't know, and this is my opinion, but....he was not good. He missed quite a few guitar cues. Quite a few of his solos just meandered off into WTF? Quite frankly, I've been in on TA since the beginning,  but I never really got why he's in the band. There were a few parts where the song is hanging on a single guitar note and he got most of them wrong. During a medley part from SMPTe, I'm not sure exactly which song, there was a technical part with a pretty fast guitar unison, and he was leaning back against his amp arms crossed looking bored while Ted did the guitar work. His vocals were very spotty and his mic technique was horrible. I know it's not the same band, but 3 weeks ago I saw Eric Gillette with Mike and Neal and he was spot on with every part and had vocals like an angel. I can only imgine how he would have handled the guitar work.
Sorry for the Roine bashing!
My other gripe was the total shit show that was their merch operation. I have never seen anything so mis managed. I went home with $100 that should have been in their pocket. Merch was open before the show (mega line) during intermission and after the show. I was about 20th in line during intermission and the solo merch guy processed 3 (!) customers and then shut down operations. The line after the show was crazy and again there was 1 guy fumbling around. I would estimate they lost thousands of dollars in sales and I hope for their sake's they are aware of that and sort things out.
All in all, great show and I was feeling lucky to have the opportunity to have seen it. My 6th TA show and it was a treat. I hope they have a blast with the tour.

[XeRocks81]

 I think the thing about Roine is he really does have a very different style than the others, maybe I’m giving him a pass but he just comes from a more improvisational school.  In TA interviews he always said he wishes they would jam more when they play live.   Also his songwriting is a core part of the sound just like Pete and Neal.   If I recall in previous tours he was always the roughest in the start of the tour and usually got into the groove as gigs went along but when there’s so few gigs it can be disappointing for fans in the early dates.  Just my 2 cents

[425]

Yeah, I also recall people expressing on previous tours that Roine's early performances were a bit rough, so I'm not that surprised to hear that. Glad to hear that everyone else was on point, though!

As for Roine's presence in the band, to me it makes a lot of sense just on a basic level that the four members come from four of the leading bands of the 90s prog revival. And I think he's contributed a lot from a songwriting perspective. A disproportional number of my favorite parts of TAU have his fingerprints on them—especially The World We Used to Know and The Darkness in the Light.

[Kram]

Spoilers





Great show last night. While not completely full, there was certainly more in attendance than a few weeks ago at the NMB show. Being the first show of the tour, there were quite a few hiccups that I'm sure they will work out. Neal had quite a few instances where his one keyboard was cutting out and Roine was try to get the attention of the sound guys ( Jerry G. and Rich Mouser). MP was on fire and I love " sideways Mike"! He really was the glue that held everything together and he stopped a few mistakes before they turned into trainwrecks. He cued quite a few of the vocal parts and he beat he hell out of his Tama's And Sabian cymbal. My guitarist had never seen Mike live before and after watching him straight on from the 10th row, he was blown away and said he had never seen anything like it!
Pete was on FIRE! His vocals sounded surprisingly good. Its funny, cause I know he doesn't get to play bass like that in Marillion anymore and he was having a blast. Who wouldn't want a guy like that in the band?! He has such a determination and joy when he plays. Neal had a few mistakes but his vocals really helped elevate the sound. He spent the entire night on his riser, for a good deal of the technical parts focusing across the stage on Mike.(first night of a tour and they are not playing easy material) It' s amazing how much music the two of them have played together over the years and they are like one musical mind when playing. Ted helped fill things out with his vocals doubling Pete's parts as well as the other vocal sections. He also filled in some of the keyboard parts that Neal wasnt able to do and he really beefed up the guitar sound....which brings me to....
Roine.
 I don't know, and this is my opinion, but....he was not good. He missed quite a few guitar cues. Quite a few of his solos just meandered off into WTF? Quite frankly, I've been in on TA since the beginning,  but I never really got why he's in the band. There were a few parts where the song is hanging on a single guitar note and he got most of them wrong. During a medley part from SMPTe, I'm not sure exactly which song, there was a technical part with a pretty fast guitar unison, and he was leaning back against his amp arms crossed looking bored while Ted did the guitar work. His vocals were very spotty and his mic technique was horrible. I know it's not the same band, but 3 weeks ago I saw Eric Gillette with Mike and Neal and he was spot on with every part and had vocals like an angel. I can only imgine how he would have handled the guitar work.
Sorry for the Roine bashing!
My other gripe was the total shit show that was their merch operation. I have never seen anything so mis managed. I went home with $100 that should have been in their pocket. Merch was open before the show (mega line) during intermission and after the show. I was about 20th in line during intermission and the solo merch guy processed 3 (!) customers and then shut down operations. The line after the show was crazy and again there was 1 guy fumbling around. I would estimate they lost thousands of dollars in sales and I hope for their sake's they are aware of that and sort things out.
All in all, great show and I was feeling lucky to have the opportunity to have seen it. My 6th TA show and it was a treat. I hope they have a blast with the tour.

I've never seen TA live, or Roine live for that matter.  But I've seen many live clips where yes, he doesn't sound so good.  I would say he's definitely the weakest "live performer" in the band if you will.  But he is a good songwriter, and can certainly capture the "magic" with his guitar work in the studio.  For me, TA is about the contrasting styles of Neal and Roine, with the kick ass rhythm section of Mike and Pete.  And yes, Eric Gillette is a beast of a musician and live performer - but I can't really compare him to Roine - apples to oranges.

[KevShmev]

Despite the medley , looks like a great set list. Interesting that the band ignored the 4th album.  It's almost like they know it is by far the weakest link of the five (or significantly the least best, to put it nicer).  Hopefully, some or all of those songs in the medley will get the full song treatment at Morsefest.

[425]

I definitely figured they'd downplay Kaleidoscope given how hard it is to include everything and that it seems to have had the worst reception of the five (I fully disagree with this, putting it at #3 behind the obvious two). Hopefully they play something from it at Morsefest, even if it's just Black as the Sky.

[The Curious Orange]

I'd rather have had any one of those encore songs in full over  than a melody of them, but wow, I wasnt expecting that much at all - I thought we'd be lucky if we got more than WANSL as an encore - everyone must have been exhausted after that!

[gzarruk]

No YouTube clips yet? 

There's a bunch here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLZoY6c3lgI_-hL-6Pdyr5w/videos

[jasc15]

Hey all.  I'll be at the show tonight in NJ.  I was in touch with Stadler who had to bail, and he mentioned a few other folks that were going.  Anyone here going?

[The Letter M]

No YouTube clips yet? 

There's a bunch here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLZoY6c3lgI_-hL-6Pdyr5w/videos

Thanks for the link! And even though I'm only four minutes into the first video, I can definitely agree that Roine seems the least prepared. Then again, I do recall hearing/seeing those comments from their last two tours early on, so hopefully he tightens things up by the end of the tour.

I was thinking the other day that it's pretty interesting that both Roine and Pete *just* came off of doing shows with their respective bands while Neal and Mike have had some time off from the I&D Tour (over a month) to really prepare for this tour and Morsefest. Even so, it sounds like Pete definitely did his homework, but between him and Roine, he definitely seems like the type to really practice a lot and get things down as good as he could before the tour began. Roine seems like the go-with-the-flow kind of player and is more open to improvising some of his parts on stage rather than being close to the album, much like Mike does with most of his fills, but unlike drum fills, flubbing lead melodic lines is a bit more noticeable than a drum fill that is different than it is on the album.

I'd rather have had any one of those encore songs in full over  than a melody of them, but wow, I wasnt expecting that much at all - I thought we'd be lucky if we got more than WANSL as an encore - everyone must have been exhausted after that!

I kind of agree, but doing a medley is just the best way to represent those first two albums at all on this tour, and they probably did it this way because those songs might get played in full at Morsefest, so rather than not practice ANY part of them during the tour, they decided to chop them up and make it the closing medley.

As for not doing ANYTHING from Kaleidoscope, I do find that a bit surprising. I was sure they'd do either "Shine" or "Black As The Sky", but I guess not! Hopefully there's at least one Kaleidoscope song at Morsefest.

Can someone confirm if they've downtuned at all? I'm listening to "Reaching For The Sky" and I can't tell if it's downtuned or not.

Edit - listening to "The Greatest Story Never Ends" and they completely cut out over 2 minutes from the Ultimate version, from the a capella part nearly to the end. A shame, I was hoping they'd sing that part live. Maybe for Morsefest??

-Marc.

[Ben_Jamin]

The issue with Roine. I can understand why. He has so many songs that he knows, is doing other musical things, and just doesn't have as much time to practice all those guitar parts that Transatlantic requires, also he comes from a band that is more improvisational live so he doesn't really remember the studio parts exactly note for note. So it doesn't surprise me if it takes him time to get all the Transatlantic songs down, especially when he is performing a new album in it's Ultimate form and having to remember transitional cues during two Medleys. That's a lot for one guy to take in and remember with that short amount of rehearsal time. In others words, I forgive Roine for not having it all down, not everyone can have Mike Portnoy memory.

Also, when you're improvising in music live, sometimes the ideas work and sometimes they don't.

[PowerSlave]

Me, my brother and our cousin made the trip to Philly from Ohio yesterday. This was my first time seeing TA, and I'm very happy that I went. That being said, I have to agree with everyone else that has mentioned Roine not having a good night. Each guy had at least one minor slip up last night, but considering the fact that it was the opening night of the tour I can understand why.

However, Roine seemed to be having a tough go of things. There were certain spots in the show where he was right on, though.

On a side note, this was my first time traveling over there for a show, and I really liked the venue and the area that it was located in.

[KevShmev]

Roine definitely had some rough moments based on a few clips I watched, but, to be fair, he was not the only struggling.  I watched some of the clip of the medley and was surprised to see that Neal sang the first Duel chorus by himself, as he was really struggling with it. I was surprised a couple of the guys didn't give him a little backup help.  He was looking around at the guys right after that, so maybe they were supposed to do and didn't and he was like, "Guys, where were ya?"  First show, and the songs and arrangements are obviously pretty difficult to pull off, so might take them a few shows to really get up to speed.

[DTwwbwMP]

Yes there were a few first show of tour mishaps, mostly by Roine, but also Neal and MP's drum tech with the mic. I did notice all of it, but for me it didn't hinder the concert one bit.

[frogprog]

Powerslave,
Glad you enjoyed The Keswick. I live about 2 miles from the theater and it is such a great place to see a show and a really nice neighborhood. I have seen MP and Neal more times than I can count, they ALWAYS play here on any tour they are doing. Sure the seats suck and the above stage trim work needs paint, but all the staff are really nice and I am so lucky to have this venue. Nothing beats being home 5 minutes after walking out of a show!

[El Barto]

The first show was a little rough all the way around. I didn't have any specific issue with RS, though. Really it was all of them, as they're really just learning how to play the thing. I couldn't fairly single any of them out. And truthfully, the guy with the roughest night Friday was the sound man. Some of what may have sounded like the band screwing up were guys getting dropped out of the mix. Second show was better, but still some hiccups along the way. They're getting progressively better. In truth it's still an excellent show. Every once in a while you hear something that makes you go "ooof" and a second later they're back to killing it. I certainly noticed a lot of flubs along the way, but they didn't bother me at all. The parts where they need to be on they definitely were.

Something easily overlooked, but a real stand out this tour are the visuals on the screen behind them. Perhaps the best I've ever seen. They looked great and they tied in with the music wonderfully. Numerous times I noticed thought to myself that hey hired a pretty clever bastard to do that for them. Not the sort of thing you typically notice, so it was a nice bonus.

[faizoff]

Something easily overlooked, but a real stand out this tour are the visuals on the screen behind them. Perhaps the best I've ever seen. They looked great and they tied in with the music wonderfully. Numerous times I noticed thought to myself that hey hired a pretty clever bastard to do that for them. Not the sort of thing you typically notice, so it was a nice bonus.

Is it the visual media from the Blu-ray of the Ultimate Edition? Because that was really well done. I was surprised by how elaborate it was. Add to this MP tweeted about how great the accompanying visual for the ultimate edition was right before the tour started.

[El Barto]

Something easily overlooked, but a real stand out this tour are the visuals on the screen behind them. Perhaps the best I've ever seen. They looked great and they tied in with the music wonderfully. Numerous times I noticed thought to myself that hey hired a pretty clever bastard to do that for them. Not the sort of thing you typically notice, so it was a nice bonus.

Is it the visual media from the Blu-ray of the Ultimate Edition? Because that was really well done. I was surprised by how elaborate it was. Add to this MP tweeted about how great the accompanying visual for the ultimate edition was right before the tour started.

No idea. However, they're just as good for the second, non-TAU set. Same style, and same clever attention to themes for each of the songs in the medleys.

[faizoff]

This video has the visuals from the ultimate edition.

https://youtu.be/N5tOLPWdI8s

[jasc15]

This video has the visuals from the ultimate edition.

https://youtu.be/N5tOLPWdI8s

I briefly spot checked your linked video, and most of it looked familiar from last night.  I don't know the lyrics and and only gave the album one complete listen before the show, but barto said it jived well with the music.  I think the visuals complemented the music well.  Lyrically I have no idea.

[DTwwbwMP]

Here is the entire show filmed last night at the Wellmont.

First set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJskaQwQHQ

Second set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4XXWyPqi3M

[gzarruk]

Here is the entire show filmed last night at the Wellmont.

First set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJskaQwQHQ

Second set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4XXWyPqi3M

 

[Metro]

Here is the entire show filmed last night at the Wellmont.

First set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJskaQwQHQ

I skipped to The Sun Comes Up Today in that video and it's very messy. Roine completely misses the big guitar lead after the vocal intro, and then a minute later it sounds like Ted is playing in the wrong key. I get that it's only the second show of a tour where they're playing a literal shit ton of music, and I'm sure these issues will be sorted out by Morsefest, but I'll admit it has me a little concerned for the Whirlwind set.

[gzarruk]

I think they'll do great at the Morsefest show, but I feel bad for the people attending these previous shows

[KevShmev]

Here is the entire show filmed last night at the Wellmont.

First set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJskaQwQHQ

I skipped to The Sun Comes Up Today in that video and it's very messy. Roine completely misses the big guitar lead after the vocal intro, and then a minute later it sounds like Ted is playing in the wrong key. I get that it's only the second show of a tour where they're playing a literal shit ton of music, and I'm sure these issues will be sorted out by Morsefest, but I'll admit it has me a little concerned for the Whirlwind set.

Same here.  I tried watching some of that, but turned it off because of how rough it sounded.  Could just be the recording, but they sound like a band that needed a lot more rehearsal time.  And Morsefest is 12 days away...