Transatlantic Official Thread

[Metro]

Transatlantic confirmed for Morsefest 2022

Today, we are excited to announce that Transatlantic will be appearing at Morsefest 2022, which will take place on April 29-30, 2022!

We know that many of you are planning to be on Cruise To The Edge and we wanted to give you a heads up to save the date for two nights of Transatlantic in Tennessee the weekend before the cruise departs.

Of course, more details will follow but you can expect all the “trimmings” associated with previous Morsefests plus much, much more! Watch out for more details soon.

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

From an email I just got from Radiant

[darkshade]

Don't want to take this further off topic, but an interesting comparison: Haken vs Transatlantic

Transatlantic obviously has their influences, and so do Haken.

TA's sound hasn't really shifted in sound like Haken's has. TA"s evolution has been more gradual and more of a maturing process.
TA hit the ground running, just like Haken. TA more influenced by 70s prog, Haken more influenced by 90s prog (metal).

When I want to listen to TA, or Neal Morse, I know what I'm getting into. Roine Stolt not as much, TFK have mixed it up way more than Neal. When a new TA or NM album comes out, I know what I'm getting into. If a new album comes out and I'm not in the head space for that style of music, I take that into account when I listen, or I just hold off on checking out the albums until I'm in the mood again. I'm not always in the symphonic prog mood. Stylistically, however, Neal Morse basically puts out the same albums every time. It's always exciting, though, if that's the music you want to hear. It takes others around him to shake it up, which is why Transatlantic is almost always some of the best Neal-related music out there. All that said, I respect the musicianship and enjoy the melodies and the occasional riff and the general "epicness" of it all, so it doesn't bother me that Neal's music hasn't evolved much over the years.

Changing your sound drastically album per album, or every 2 albums, has it's inherit risks of turning off fans. Some will obviously be along for the ride.
I'm totally into bands mixing it up a lot on each album, but for me, Haken's last two albums were "samey" compared to one another, and I didn't like the overall sound the first time, so to keep that feel of the music going a second time, had me giving up on the band (not to mention lack of keyboards.) If their last album was different from the previous, or more like their early stuff, but maybe harder or heavier, then I could maybe go back and appreciate Vector more for what it is, but if the band is staying in this space, musically, I'm out, and I'll always have the first 4 albums plus demo and EP to enjoy.

I'll try to give Haken's last 2 albums another go some time soon, hopefully, so I can maybe update my opinion on those albums since it's been a while. There is always the issue of not being in the right head space for a band's music when they change and you were hoping for more, or something else.

[KevShmev]

Transatlantic confirmed for Morsefest 2022

Today, we are excited to announce that Transatlantic will be appearing at Morsefest 2022, which will take place on April 29-30, 2022!

We know that many of you are planning to be on Cruise To The Edge and we wanted to give you a heads up to save the date for two nights of Transatlantic in Tennessee the weekend before the cruise departs.

Of course, more details will follow but you can expect all the “trimmings” associated with previous Morsefests plus much, much more! Watch out for more details soon.

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

From an email I just got from Radiant

 

Hoping for evening shows again and reasonable prices, but I am likely in for this no matter what. 

[Nick]

Yeah, as much as I planned to see them on the cruise anyway, I've wanted to do MorseFest and TA with all the trimmings is exactly what I've been waiting for, I'm a 99% lock for that. I'll finally get to see Kev and Gary.

[Cocopjojo]

Transatlantic confirmed for Morsefest 2022

Today, we are excited to announce that Transatlantic will be appearing at Morsefest 2022, which will take place on April 29-30, 2022!

We know that many of you are planning to be on Cruise To The Edge and we wanted to give you a heads up to save the date for two nights of Transatlantic in Tennessee the weekend before the cruise departs.

Of course, more details will follow but you can expect all the “trimmings” associated with previous Morsefests plus much, much more! Watch out for more details soon.

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

From an email I just got from Radiant

I've been pretty disappointed in Morsefests over the past 5 years. They used to be an opportunity to celebrate unique music that couldn't be played anywhere else. Now the main draw is simply a "plussed up" version of whatever has been played on the most recent tour.

I expect Transatlantic's appearance to be TAU Ultimate Edition with string and horn accompaniment - when a Transatlantic appearance at Morsefest could have been something like SMPTe in its entirety, or a recreation of Live in Europe (both things that I assume would excite MP, since he has such a fan's mind for these things) But I'd be shocked if it's not just TAU with more bells and whistles, which is a shame because TAU will (presumably) have already whole tour dedicated to it.

I hope I'm wrong! If so then I will definitely attend. But if it's just the same music that's been played on the tour then I'll sit it out as I have the past several years.

[Kram]

I'm guessing one night will be TAU (Ultimate or Forevermore version), then a "best of" their older releases for the second night.  Or maybe The Whirlwind in full for the second night?

[The Letter M]

Transatlantic confirmed for Morsefest 2022

Today, we are excited to announce that Transatlantic will be appearing at Morsefest 2022, which will take place on April 29-30, 2022!

We know that many of you are planning to be on Cruise To The Edge and we wanted to give you a heads up to save the date for two nights of Transatlantic in Tennessee the weekend before the cruise departs.

Of course, more details will follow but you can expect all the “trimmings” associated with previous Morsefests plus much, much more! Watch out for more details soon.

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

From an email I just got from Radiant

I got that email this morning too, and I've gotta say, what a pleasant surprise! I did not expect another Morsefest so soon, since they usually happen in the late summer, but I suppose this makes sense since they'll be preparing to play aboard Cruise To The Edge, they'll want to nail down the new material as much as possible for the cruise audience, and what better way to do that than to play it for a Morsefest!

As for the weekend itself, since it's the FIRST Transatlantic Morsefest, I suspect that night 1 will be older material. It would not surprise me if they tried playing most of the first two albums live as the first and second sets of night 1, with a Whirlwind Medley as the encore. They could probably play almost all of SMPTe (minus the Procol Harum cover), and do all of BAF (getting a non-Beatle-fied "Suite Charlotte Pike" would be awesome), and then close the night with the typical Whirlwind Medley. Then night 2 could be The Absolute Universe Ultimate Version, with an encore of "Into The Blue" (Surprise appearance by Daniel Gildenlow?). Just wishful thinking, but if they want to make it a spectacular TA Morsefest, I'm sure they'll want to go all out.

-Marc.

[Kram]

Transatlantic confirmed for Morsefest 2022

Today, we are excited to announce that Transatlantic will be appearing at Morsefest 2022, which will take place on April 29-30, 2022!

We know that many of you are planning to be on Cruise To The Edge and we wanted to give you a heads up to save the date for two nights of Transatlantic in Tennessee the weekend before the cruise departs.

Of course, more details will follow but you can expect all the “trimmings” associated with previous Morsefests plus much, much more! Watch out for more details soon.

Blessings,

The Radiant Records Team

From an email I just got from Radiant

I got that email this morning too, and I've gotta say, what a pleasant surprise! I did not expect another Morsefest so soon, since they usually happen in the late summer, but I suppose this makes sense since they'll be preparing to play aboard Cruise To The Edge, they'll want to nail down the new material as much as possible for the cruise audience, and what better way to do that than to play it for a Morsefest!

As for the weekend itself, since it's the FIRST Transatlantic Morsefest, I suspect that night 1 will be older material. It would not surprise me if they tried playing most of the first two albums live as the first and second sets of night 1, with a Whirlwind Medley as the encore. They could probably play almost all of SMPTe (minus the Procol Harum cover), and do all of BAF (getting a non-Beatle-fied "Suite Charlotte Pike" would be awesome), and then close the night with the typical Whirlwind Medley. Then night 2 could be The Absolute Universe Ultimate Version, with an encore of "Into The Blue" (Surprise appearance by Daniel Gildenlow?). Just wishful thinking, but if they want to make it a spectacular TA Morsefest, I'm sure they'll want to go all out.

-Marc.

Well, I see POS is also supposed to be on the Cruise, so it's possible.

[gmillerdrake]

I tried to listen to 'The Absolute Universe' efforts again and it's just not there for me. It's all just a mish mash and rehashing of everything they've done to date. The Whirlwind was the last album from them I truly dig.....including their first two albums. Kaleidoscope and 'Universe' completely miss the mark for me and are pretty boring to my ears. There are moments within both that sound cool but it's not worth the effort to listen to get to those moments. I think the real creative train has left the station on Transatlantic.

[darkshade]

I tried to listen to 'The Absolute Universe' efforts again and it's just not there for me. It's all just a mish mash and rehashing of everything they've done to date. The Whirlwind was the last album from them I truly dig.....including their first two albums. Kaleidoscope and 'Universe' completely miss the mark for me and are pretty boring to my ears. There are moments within both that sound cool but it's not worth the effort to listen to get to those moments. I think the real creative train has left the station on Transatlantic.

I think that's been said of this band, Neal, and Roine, for at least 20+ years now. 

I think the album is as good as these guys will put out at this stage in the game. What band or artist is killing it 30 or more years into their career?
(Transatlantic is 22 years old but the guys have been writing music for decades, Roine has almost 50 years worth of music under his belt.)

[KevShmev]

Yeah, as much as I planned to see them on the cruise anyway, I've wanted to do MorseFest and TA with all the trimmings is exactly what I've been waiting for, I'm a 99% lock for that. I'll finally get to see Kev and Gary.

 

[KevShmev]

I've been pretty disappointed in Morsefests over the past 5 years. They used to be an opportunity to celebrate unique music that couldn't be played anywhere else. Now the main draw is simply a "plussed up" version of whatever has been played on the most recent tour.

I expect Transatlantic's appearance to be TAU Ultimate Edition with string and horn accompaniment - when a Transatlantic appearance at Morsefest could have been something like SMPTe in its entirety, or a recreation of Live in Europe (both things that I assume would excite MP, since he has such a fan's mind for these things) But I'd be shocked if it's not just TAU with more bells and whistles, which is a shame because TAU will (presumably) have already whole tour dedicated to it.

I hope I'm wrong! If so then I will definitely attend. But if it's just the same music that's been played on the tour then I'll sit it out as I have the past several years.

I get what you mean. 

My first Morsefest was in 2017, with T2 night 1 and Similitude night 2.  Similitude is now one of my 10 favorite all-time records, but night 1 was for me a bit more satisfying, as the end of the Similitude night was a tad underwhelming for a brief moment.  Don't get me wrong, the performance of it was great, and the encores were great (ending a show with The Call is always a major win), but it was the same as what they had been playing all year, and I guess I was waiting for that something different in the encore and we never got it, so there that was brief moment of, "damn, nothing new or special."  Still an amazing show, but night 1 gets the nod as that was 100% satisfying from start to finish (and T2 is one of my two or three favorite solo records of Neal's, it is number 1 some days).

[KevShmev]

I'm guessing one night will be TAU (Ultimate or Forevermore version), then a "best of" their older releases for the second night.  Or maybe The Whirlwind in full for the second night?

My guess is that both Neal and Portnoy want to check that "playing all of The Whirlwind at a Morsefest with Transatlantic" box, so my prediction is all of The Whirlwind one night and some variation of the Ultimate Edition of The Absolute Universe the other night.  With material from the other albums of course to fill out the rest of the sets both nights.  Would be awesome to see them finally bust out Spinning or Lenny Johnson for one of these shows.

[KevShmev]

I tried to listen to 'The Absolute Universe' efforts again and it's just not there for me. It's all just a mish mash and rehashing of everything they've done to date. The Whirlwind was the last album from them I truly dig.....including their first two albums. Kaleidoscope and 'Universe' completely miss the mark for me and are pretty boring to my ears. There are moments within both that sound cool but it's not worth the effort to listen to get to those moments. I think the real creative train has left the station on Transatlantic.

I won't go that far, but I am standing by my opinion that both versions needed more work.  Neal was right in that the Forevermore needed a little editing down, but he went too far with it and cut too much of the record's nuts off with The Breath of Life, leaving both versions feeling not quite perfect.  The Ultimate Edition I made for myself (which differs from their Ultimate Edition) works great, but even that has a few songs I usually avoid, like Solitude as Pete's vocals are just too brutal to endure, but left in for the sake of flow and continuity.

[The Letter M]

I'm guessing one night will be TAU (Ultimate or Forevermore version), then a "best of" their older releases for the second night.  Or maybe The Whirlwind in full for the second night?

My guess is that both Neal and Portnoy want to check that "playing all of The Whirlwind at a Morsefest with Transatlantic" box, so my prediction is all of The Whirlwind one night and some variation of the Ultimate Edition of The Absolute Universe the other night.  With material from the other albums of course to fill out the rest of the sets both nights.  Would be awesome to see them finally bust out Spinning or Lenny Johnson for one of these shows.

Sadly, I think you might be on to something with the whole "Play all of The Whirlwind at Morsefest" idea, as much as I wouldn't want to see that happen. I think being their first time at a Morsefest, I would rather see them play all of BAF or all/most of SMPTe (I could do without "In Held (Twas) In I"), especially since we've never gotten non-Beatles versions of "Mystery Train" and "Suite Charlotte Pike".

But I could see them pulling out "The Whirlwind" as a whole as it sort of relates to The Absolute Universe, and it might benefit from having the horns/strings/choirs added to it to make it distinct from the prior live versions they've released.

Either way, I'm certain they will play TAU Ultimate Version on the 2nd night, and probably play one singular epic as the encore (mostly because I really hope it isn't a medley, but if it has to be a medley, I hope it isn't one they've played before).

We also have to keep in mind that this is probably a weekend of two shows that are designed for them to warm up for the Cruise To The Edge concerts, where they will probably play 2 or 3 headlining shows, so the amount of material probably won't be too expansive. I guess it'll come down to what they want to bother re-learning, on top of learning how to play 100 minutes of NEW music (and who their 5th man will be). I'm sure they'll be planning all of this after Mike and Neal are done with Morsefest later this summer.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I have never seen Transatlantic, so all of The Whirlwind would be just fine with me.  I just hope we don't get some medleys in regards to the epics from the first two albums and Kaleidoscope, but Portnoy loves throwing together medleys that seem to make no sense sometimes , so I almost expect it.  With two nights of Transatlantic, I would hope All of the Above and Stranger in Your Soul would both get played in full (one per night), instead of one or both being relegated to abbreviated form in some mish-mash medley.

[The Letter M]

I would hope that because it's the first time Transatlantic will properly play at a Morsefest that Mike will have the foresight to forego any major medleys. I'd rather them play less songs in full than cover more material by taking them to the chopping block and mashing them up together. I think they also know that Kaleidoscope probably hasn't been as well received as any of their other albums, so if they ignore that album completely, I wouldn't blame them, especially since their last live release covered that album thoroughly (with multiple nights recorded for audio and video).

But I agree, full versions of AOTA and SIYS with real strings, brass, and choir would be amazing. Oh, and the "Motherless Children" portion of DWTD would be a treat to see them play live with a choir, which is why I hope for at LEAST a full play through of BAF in full, no medleys, no Beatles, just the whole album front-to-back, almost non-stop, but I also wouldn't mind a (near) complete play through of SMPTe as well, especially since that album cover has been featured in the Morsefest logo since 2014, and it's one of 3 albums featured in that logo that they haven't played in full live yet at a Morsefest (the other two being Lifeline and Momentum, and with the former, I think Neal knew that it wasn't as well received as his other solo albums at the time, and for the latter, it was played nearly in full not too long before Morsefest).

EDIT - I *just* realized that both Pain Of Salvation AND Pattern-Seeking Animals will be on Cruise To The Edge, which means both Daniel and Ted will be present. Now that makes it impossible to deduce who will be their fifth man...UNLESS, they decide to ask both of them to play?!? I do wonder if one or both of them will be present for Morsefest as well. I would assume so since they would want to learn all of that material (presumably 3 hours worth) with them in the weeks/days ahead of Morsefest and CTTE.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

I don't see them ignoring Kaleidoscope given that it's their 2nd most recent album.  I would think if nothing else that Shine will get played, probably on the opposite night of We All Need Some Light.  If Gildenlow is their DH this time instead of Ted Leonard, In the Blue is probably a given, just so they can finally play that song with him doing his vocal part in Written in Your Heart.

I suspect My New World will be given this tour off since it was played on the last one.

Duel with the Devil was given the last tour off, so I would think that would return, and yeah the Motherless Children part with the live choir would certainly be killer.  That seems natural, so let's hope they don't overthink it.

Spitballing, if they are doing their normal length shows both night (which would be a massive undertaking), they could do this:

Night 1
Set 1:
All of The Whirlwind suite from Disc 1

Set 2:
Duel with the Devil
Shine
Mystery Train
Suite Charlotte Pike

Encore:
All of the Above

Night 2
Set 1:
The Absolute Universe - (some variation of) The Ultimate Edition

Set 2:
In the Blue
We All Need Some Light
Spinning
Kaleidoscope

Encore:
Stranger in Your Soul

[HOF]

EDIT - I *just* realized that both Pain Of Salvation AND Pattern-Seeking Animals will be on Cruise To The Edge, which means both Daniel and Ted will be present. Now that makes it impossible to deduce who will be their fifth man...UNLESS, they decide to ask both of them to play?!? I do wonder if one or both of them will be present for Morsefest as well. I would assume so since they would want to learn all of that material (presumably 3 hours worth) with them in the weeks/days ahead of Morsefest and CTTE.

-Marc.

I don’t know if this means anything, but when Ted did that promotional interview of Neal, he mentioned listening to the album and thinking about how he was going to have to learn how to play stuff from it. It was kind of joking so maybe it didn’t have anything to do with any definite plan, but I’m guessing he’s up for taking on that role if needed again.

[The Letter M]

I don't see them ignoring Kaleidoscope given that it's their 2nd most recent album.  I would think if nothing else that Shine will get played, probably on the opposite night of We All Need Some Light.  If Gildenlow is their DH this time instead of Ted Leonard, In the Blue is probably a given, just so they can finally play that song with him doing his vocal part in Written in Your Heart.

They did play "Into The Blue" with Daniel live at least once. I saw a YouTube video, which I think was shared in this thread, where they played a festival show in 2014 and Daniel came out and sang his part for that song, and I think joined them for the remainder of their set from that point on. But like in my edited post above, I did just realize both Ted and Daniel will be on Cruise To The Edge, so it's anyone's guess as to who they'll have be their fifth man, or perhaps they'll have both play!

I suspect My New World will be given this tour off since it was played on the last one.

Duel with the Devil was given the last tour off, so I would think that would return, and yeah the Motherless Children part with the live choir would certainly be killer.  That seems natural, so let's hope they don't overthink it.

Both very valid points, which is why I think seeing BAF live is certainly a possibility, at least more so than SMPTe live.

Spitballing, if they are doing their normal length shows both night (which would be a massive undertaking), they could do this:

Night 1
Set 1:
All of The Whirlwind suite from Disc 1

Set 2:
Duel with the Devil
Shine
Mystery Train
Suite Charlotte Pike

Encore:
All of the Above

Night 2
Set 1:
The Absolute Universe - (some variation of) The Ultimate Edition

Set 2:
In the Blue
We All Need Some Light
Spinning
Kaleidoscope

Encore:
Stranger in Your Soul

Night two seems... a BIT long. 100 minutes for the first set alone?! Then an extra 110 minutes for the 2nd set and encore?! That would certainly be a marathon night of nearly 3.5 hours of music, even with an intermission. I doubt they'll play that much. I think their recent Morsefest concerts have been less than 140 minutes, so I doubt they'd do over 200 minutes of music in just one night.

If they must do all of The Whirlwind live, I could see this happening:

Night 1: (150-160 minutes)
The Whirlwind Live
(Short Intermission)
Spinning
Lenny Johnson (these two are wishful thinking of course, if not these two, then Suite Charlotte Pike after Duel would be fine)
Duel With The Devil
Encore: Bridge Across Forever & Stranger In Your Soul

Night 2: (About 140 minutes)
The Absolute Universe Ultimate Version (First half, up to TWWUTK)
(Intermission)
The Absolute Universe Ultimate Version (Second half)
Encore: Beyond The Sun & Kaleidoscope

Sure, it's missing anything from SMPTe, but they've played those songs SO much over the years, I could live with them not playing AOTA or WANSL ever again, especially given that they've got 100 minutes of new music to play.

EDIT - I *just* realized that both Pain Of Salvation AND Pattern-Seeking Animals will be on Cruise To The Edge, which means both Daniel and Ted will be present. Now that makes it impossible to deduce who will be their fifth man...UNLESS, they decide to ask both of them to play?!? I do wonder if one or both of them will be present for Morsefest as well. I would assume so since they would want to learn all of that material (presumably 3 hours worth) with them in the weeks/days ahead of Morsefest and CTTE.

-Marc.

I don’t know if this means anything, but when Ted did that promotional interview of Neal, he mentioned listening to the album and thinking about how he was going to have to learn how to play stuff from it. It was kind of joking so maybe it didn’t have anything to do with any definite plan, but I’m guessing he’s up for taking on that role if needed again.

I do remember that! I think he'd be willing to do it, but that would mean learning up to 3 hours of Transatlantic material, plus a mix of 3 albums of Pattern-Seeking Animals songs in preparation for Cruise To The Edge, so who knows...

-Marc.

[axeman90210]

They definitely did Into the Blue with DG doing his vocal spot on CTTE 2017, though I guess technically that wasn't all of Transatlantic.

[kirksnosehair]

At this point I think if you're expecting Transatlantic to do something different from what they've been doing since they were originally formed then you're probably going to be disappointed.  The same applies to Neal Morse.  Neal writes the bulk of the music and like every breathing musician on the planet he's got a limited musical vocabulary.  Granted, Neal Morse's musical vocabulary is vastly larger than most mortal musicians, but it's not infinite.  So, expecting a Transatlantic album to sound different now is just going to end in disappointment. 

[KevShmev]

Yeah, I guess I did make that set list for night 2 way too long. 

Given that TA always plays long shows, I hope they don't go the shorter route for both nights at Morsefest with the thought that "hey, you are getting two shows, so we are going to make them a little shorter."  Of course I am thinking of it from a purely selfish standpoint and wanting them to play as much as possible since it will be my first time seeing them (assuming we can get tickets). 

[XeRocks81]

a two night stand is kind of the ideal situation for these guys right? They can do all of Absolute Universe one night and do a « greatest hits » the second.  Yeah I think I may try go there. 

[Nick]

I know for Portnoy it's no big deal, but given that Roine has to play a full set on the cruise with The Flower Kings, and Pete has to play a full set with Marillion, I wouldn't be shocked if the TA portion of MorseFest was TAU + a little bit more for one night and something else the other night. I know we obviously know Transatlantic will be at MorseFest, but did the announcement say it's exclusively TA at MorseFest?

[The Letter M]

I know for Portnoy it's no big deal, but given that Roine has to play a full set on the cruise with The Flower Kings, and Pete has to play a full set with Marillion, I wouldn't be shocked if the TA portion of MorseFest was TAU + a little bit more for one night and something else the other night. I know we obviously know Transatlantic will be at MorseFest, but did the announcement say it's exclusively TA at MorseFest?

https://twitter.com/nealmorse/status/1401180785927933958?s=19

"Two nights of TA in Tennessee" sounds like confirmation to me.

-Marc.

[gzarruk]

I know for Portnoy it's no big deal, but given that Roine has to play a full set on the cruise with The Flower Kings, and Pete has to play a full set with Marillion, I wouldn't be shocked if the TA portion of MorseFest was TAU + a little bit more for one night and something else the other night. I know we obviously know Transatlantic will be at MorseFest, but did the announcement say it's exclusively TA at MorseFest?

https://twitter.com/nealmorse/status/1401180785927933958?s=19

"Two nights of TA in Tennessee" sounds like confirmation to me.

-Marc.

Maybe they'll play a half set each night

(joking, obviously )

[XeRocks81]

I know for Portnoy it's no big deal, but given that Roine has to play a full set on the cruise with The Flower Kings, and Pete has to play a full set with Marillion, I wouldn't be shocked if the TA portion of MorseFest was TAU + a little bit more for one night and something else the other night. I know we obviously know Transatlantic will be at MorseFest, but did the announcement say it's exclusively TA at MorseFest?

Marillion is also theoretically doing their own Weekends in 2022 (except the one in Port Zelande, NL) so that’s THREE nights of Marillion material Pete will be working on in that period. 

[The Letter M]

I know for Portnoy it's no big deal, but given that Roine has to play a full set on the cruise with The Flower Kings, and Pete has to play a full set with Marillion, I wouldn't be shocked if the TA portion of MorseFest was TAU + a little bit more for one night and something else the other night. I know we obviously know Transatlantic will be at MorseFest, but did the announcement say it's exclusively TA at MorseFest?

https://twitter.com/nealmorse/status/1401180785927933958?s=19

"Two nights of TA in Tennessee" sounds like confirmation to me.

-Marc.

Maybe they'll play a half set each night

(joking, obviously )

So, what, just two songs each night? 

But really though, if they're playing two nights at Morsefest, I think it's safe to assume that they'll be playing at LEAST 4 hours total of music between both nights, and I think it's also safe to assume that, of those 240 minutes, 100 of it will be The Absolute Universe, so that leaves us about 140 minutes of music for them to learn.

With regards to their performances on CTTE, when they played Progressive Nation At Sea 2014, they did two shows: one of Kaleidoscope in its entirety, and another with other songs they played on that tour, plus a set of Yes songs with Jon Anderson (I'm still waiting for those Prog Nation shows to be released in full!), so looking at that, I think they played about 145 minutes of TA material, plus Indiscipline, and then learning 50+ minutes of Yes music for just one show, so a total of over 200 minutes of music. Granted, they were also in the middle of a world tour, so the regular TA material was already under their belt by then, and this time, they'll only have Morsefest before they hit the Cruise.

But Nick is right - Roine will have to learn music for TFK, Pete for Marillion, and Daniel/Ted will have their hands full with Pain Of Salvation and Pattern-Seeking Animals songs respectively, so it seems like everyone by Mike and Neal will have their hands full pulling double duty on the cruise (which is why I'm surprised that neither Flying Colors or The Neal Morse Band won't be present). It's a pretty big ask for Roine and Pete, but I doubt they'd agree to CTTE and Morsefest performances if they didn't think they could handle learning, presumably, over 5-6 hours of music between both bands they're in. They've got about 10 months to sort it all out anyway, and who knows, maybe Marillion and/or The Flower Kings will play songs they already know, a sort of Greatest Hits? Or they could surprise us and TFK could play mostly current-line-up material from Waiting For Miracles/Islands/new album and Marillion could play most of their new album as well.

I do think that we will see some of these bands use the Cruise as a springboard for launching tours next spring anyway, because they're going to take this time to learn all of this material, they might as well schedule more shows, though if TFK and Marillion hit the road first, I don't think that bodes well for a Transatlantic tour, so Morsefest and CTTE might be the ONLY time they'll ever play The Absolute Universe live.

-Marc.

[Kram]

EDIT - I *just* realized that both Pain Of Salvation AND Pattern-Seeking Animals will be on Cruise To The Edge, which means both Daniel and Ted will be present. Now that makes it impossible to deduce who will be their fifth man...UNLESS, they decide to ask both of them to play?!? I do wonder if one or both of them will be present for Morsefest as well. I would assume so since they would want to learn all of that material (presumably 3 hours worth) with them in the weeks/days ahead of Morsefest and CTTE.

-Marc.

I'm guessing both will see action.  Maybe one the first night and one the second - or splitting duties depending on the song.  It makes sense as each would only have to learn "half" the amount of material this way - making it a little easier when you consider that they'll both have their hands full with their own bands material.

[KevShmev]

Three things I will be curious about once the full Morsefest announcement comes:

1) Will the venue remain the same?  TA should be the biggest draw of any Morsefest to date and it's hard to imagine the church being big enough to handle the tickets they should be able to sell, and packing everyone in sardines like in 2019 and making it to where a lot of fans do not have seats does not sound fun.

2) What will the price be?  Prices for both 2020 and 2021 were crazy high for Morsefest due to the limited number of tickets they could sell due to the pandemic, but assuming they can sell the max again, I hope the price is reasonable and it is not kept crazy high.

3) Will they go back to the live shows being in the evening? I get doing last year's and this year's shows in the late afternoon, which enables them to later stream it in the evening to those who could not attend, but I pray that that practice goes away next year.  To me, a lot of the fun about a concert is the slow anticipation that builds throughout the day and finally pays off in the evening.  A concert too early in the day feels like it'd be anti-climatic.

[The Letter M]

EDIT - I *just* realized that both Pain Of Salvation AND Pattern-Seeking Animals will be on Cruise To The Edge, which means both Daniel and Ted will be present. Now that makes it impossible to deduce who will be their fifth man...UNLESS, they decide to ask both of them to play?!? I do wonder if one or both of them will be present for Morsefest as well. I would assume so since they would want to learn all of that material (presumably 3 hours worth) with them in the weeks/days ahead of Morsefest and CTTE.

-Marc.

I'm guessing both will see action.  Maybe one the first night and one the second - or splitting duties depending on the song.  It makes sense as each would only have to learn "half" the amount of material this way - making it a little easier when you consider that they'll both have their hands full with their own bands material.

It would definitely makes sense for them to take advantage of the fact that both will be on the cruise to try and utilize both of them for both Morsefest and the Cruise shows. It would also make those shows EXTRA special, more different than any of the previous concerts before (outside of that one 2014 Festival where Daniel joined the band, with Ted, on stage for part of their set).

Three things I will be curious about once the full Morsefest announcement comes:

1) Will the venue remain the same?  TA should be the biggest draw of any Morsefest to date and it's hard to imagine the church being big enough to handle the tickets they should be able to sell, and packing everyone in sardines like in 2019 and making it to where a lot of fans do not have seats does not sound fun.

2) What will the price be?  Prices for both 2020 and 2021 were crazy high for Morsefest due to the limited number of tickets they could sell due to the pandemic, but assuming they can sell the max again, I hope the price is reasonable and it is not kept crazy high.

3) Will they go back to the live shows being in the evening? I get doing last year's and this year's shows in the late afternoon, which enables them to later stream it in the evening to those who could not attend, but I pray that that practice goes away next year.  To me, a lot of the fun about a concert is the slow anticipation that builds throughout the day and finally pays off in the evening.  A concert too early in the day feels like it'd be anti-climatic.

Well, I think Neal and Mike definitely left out some details from the initial announcement of Morsefest 2022 because they may try to find a different venue. It's going to be a big show, the first full Transatlantic concert since 2014 IIRC, so after eight years, a lot of fans will want to go, especially if they can't make it to the Cruise. Hopefully a bigger venue with more seating will help alleviate the cost of tickets and seating.

As for the concert times, I think by then, if concerts can be full capacity, I think they'll forego the whole streaming option, but given that this is the first TA Morsefest, he may consider the option to stream the concert, so a midday show might still happen, or maybe they'll offer the stream after the fact. Honestly, I'd rather see them perform at night, as you say, so there's a sense of hype and climax going into the show after the day has passed, and it'll give the band extra time to get ready for what will surely be long shows.

And of course, since Morsefest 2022 is happening so early in the year, I *REALLY* hope that the live home video/audio discs will release before the end of 2022. I will plunk down BIG bucks for a complete Morsefest 2022 concert box set, both nights, on BD and CD, in a lavish artbook with photos and interviews. Make it big, make it pretty, make it easy to pre-order. After the fabulous TAU box set, I would expect nothing less than an artbook for the first live Transatlantic album in eight years.

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Maybe they will play The Breath of Life one night and Forevermore the other night...

(kidding)

[RoeDent]

Right, time to throw the cat among the pigeons and debate the real issues:

Is The Absolute Universe (whatever version you choose to consider) one single piece of music?

[Stadler]

Maybe they will play The Breath of Life one night and Forevermore the other night...

(kidding)

No you're not.  You know that SOMEONE has mooted that idea at one point or another.