The Official Flying Colors Thread

[Adami]

New music would be cool. But is Steve Morse with them on tour? He resigned from Deep Purple because he wanted to care for his ill wife and therefore stay close to home. A cruise isn't exactly that.

I wonder if that's why the photo is of figures and not identifiable people.

[Stadler]

New music would be cool. But is Steve Morse with them on tour? He resigned from Deep Purple because he wanted to care for his ill wife and therefore stay close to home. A cruise isn't exactly that.

I wonder if that's why the photo is of figures and not identifiable people.

I feel ike that's 100% him on the left.  He made it clear in one of the posts that the INTERNATIONAL aspect of it was a big deal.  Remember, Purple is a touring machine.  They play everywhere, year round, and are HUGE in Eastern Europe and Asia.   Morse is in Florida; this cruise is not hemispheres away. 

EDIT: Bear in mind, too, Steve Morse is a consummate professional and a stand up guy.  He's bristled at the Purple touring schedule for years, but has been committed because that's who he is.  I'm not at all suggesting he's throwing his wife under the bus, but I think this is a confluence of things.  It's possible that this is as much a graceful way of getting off the Purple merry-go-round as anything else. 

[Kwyjibo]

I thought more in the line of 'he's on a ship for several days with no easy opportunity to leave should the need arise'. But you're right, that figure could be him.

[HOF]

Off topic, but I like how the cruise is apparently using a Journey/Escape theme for its branding this year.

[Orbert]

First thing I thought of when I saw those graphics:

[HOF]

First thing I thought of when I saw those graphics:

I half expected them to announce Journey were headlining.

[countoftuscany42]

Spoke to Dave LaRue at the LA JP/MP show, he hinted that Flying Colors might be on CTTE coming up since I brought my copy of Third Degree for he and MP to sign, nice to see it's actually happening!

Also asked him about Steve Morse, it sounds like he and his wife are doing alright all things considered.  It's definitely the intensity of the Deep Purple touring schedule that was the biggest deciding factor, I never interpreted his statements as a full retirement from live performing.  Dave also mentioned a new Steve Morse Band album could be happening in the near-ish future, so hopefully things go well enough that they're able to record and maybe even do a limited tour for that material. 

[HOF]

So my wife bought me Second Flight as an anniversary gift (thanks, babe!). Just finished watching it, and it’s a nice concert. I have to say though, the way Steve Morse holds his pick is driving me nuts. Looks really uncomfortable and awkward, but I’m no guitar legend so who am I to question? Note: he was also wearing a brace of some sort, so maybe he was having to work around that? Can’t say I’ve noticed him doing that before, but haven’t watched much of his playing.

[Mladen]

Yeah, it looks like his hand is seriously twisted. Such an odd way to hold a pick.

[Stadler]

First thing I thought of when I saw those graphics:

Some of the fragments are the exact same shape...


As to Steve Morse: he's alluded in the past to having a medical issue with his hands; I don't know if it's carpel tunnel or what, but I think I remember him saying he had to sort of rethink how he (physically) did certain things on the guitar as a result.

[HOF]

As to Steve Morse: he's alluded in the past to having a medical issue with his hands; I don't know if it's carpel tunnel or what, but I think I remember him saying he had to sort of rethink how he (physically) did certain things on the guitar as a result.

That would make sense and explain the brace.

[KevShmev]

The exciting thing about this I can't believe they'd plan a one-off this far in advance, so I suspect there are tentative plans to record a new album, probably for release later in 2023 or at the start of 2024, with a tour of some sort to coincide with the timing of the cruise.  I'd love to see them actually dedicate actual time to a tour this time around, as it felt like the last one was over before it even started.

[ytserush]

Flying Colors is officially announced for Cruise to the Edge in March of 2024. Not sure if that means there will be new material and/or another tour around this or if it'll be more of a one-off.

It would be a shame if it was just a one-off, but I totally get why it would be

[ytserush]

The exciting thing about this I can't believe they'd plan a one-off this far in advance, so I suspect there are tentative plans to record a new album, probably for release later in 2023 or at the start of 2024, with a tour of some sort to coincide with the timing of the cruise.  I'd love to see them actually dedicate actual time to a tour this time around, as it felt like the last one was over before it even started.

That would be nice. We'll see what the future holds. I don't see this as being a Winery Dogs type of tour. I don't think the Flying Colors tour would be much bigger than the last time, but maybe just limited to North America.

[HOF]

There’s probably a better place to put this, but a new Rick Beato interview with Steve Morse just dropped today. Checking it out now.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jxp9k72M1c

[DoctorAction]

Listened to the FC debut a couple of times over the break. Such a great record still. There are tracks i like more than others but it just came together beautifully.

[Cocopjojo]

Flying Colors show on CTTE tonight was great. The band seemed excited to be playing together again. And they were surprisingly tight - especially with the keyboard/guitar unison moments. And Dave LaRue was killing it! He sounded great. So did Steve as well. Mike seemed particularly energetic with his fills. And of course Casey and Neal sounded very strong vocally. My wife said afterwards that she thinks Casey is her favorite male singing voice.

The crowd was into it - there were 3 or 4 standing ovations.

Setlist:

1. Blue Ocean
2. A Place in Your World
3. More
4. Kayla
5. Geronimo
6. Forever in a Daze
7. Peaceful Harbor
8. The Storm
9. Cosmic Symphony
10. Mask Machine
11. Infinite Fire

Cosmic Symphony was especially strong. The latter part is really just perfect for Casey’s voice.

The show started 45 minutes late (shocking, I know), and Flower Kings was playing pretty soon afterwards, so I’m curious if they cut anything for time. They play again near the end of the cruise for the other half of the boat who didn’t attend tonight, so I guess if anyone keeps track of that setlist then we’ll see if they get an extra song.

Regardless, it was a great show. Really great to see them back together and putting on such a fun show.

[HOF]

Pretty cool. That's a great setlist. Who knows if there will be more Flying Colors shows after this cruise. Agree that Cosmic Symphony is Casey's strongest moment.

[King Postwhore]

Kayla gets me every time.

[Kram]

Cosmic Symphony is my favorite Flying Colors song. Agree, that's a great setlist! I'm envious you're on the boat with all these great bands.

[Stadler]

Kayla gets me every time.

Boom, me too. 

[The Letter M]

Flying Colors show on CTTE tonight was great. The band seemed excited to be playing together again. And they were surprisingly tight - especially with the keyboard/guitar unison moments. And Dave LaRue was killing it! He sounded great. So did Steve as well. Mike seemed particularly energetic with his fills. And of course Casey and Neal sounded very strong vocally. My wife said afterwards that she thinks Casey is her favorite male singing voice.

The crowd was into it - there were 3 or 4 standing ovations.

Setlist:

1. Blue Ocean
2. A Place in Your World
3. More
4. Kayla
5. Geronimo
6. Forever in a Daze
7. Peaceful Harbor
8. The Storm
9. Cosmic Symphony
10. Mask Machine
11. Infinite Fire

Cosmic Symphony was especially strong. The latter part is really just perfect for Casey’s voice.

The show started 45 minutes late (shocking, I know), and Flower Kings was playing pretty soon afterwards, so I’m curious if they cut anything for time. They play again near the end of the cruise for the other half of the boat who didn’t attend tonight, so I guess if anyone keeps track of that setlist then we’ll see if they get an extra song.

Regardless, it was a great show. Really great to see them back together and putting on such a fun show.

That's a pretty good setlist! Looks like all songs they played five years ago on their last tour, and a fairly balanced selection given the circumstances:
Debut - Five songs
Second Nature - Four songs
Third Degree - Two songs

They definitely cut out more of the TD songs like "Love Letter", "The Loss Inside", and "Crawl" in favor of older songs they probably remember more. I hope this cruise is the spark to light the fire for them to record a fourth album! If all of Mike's side-projects, I'd love for him to revisit Flying Colors the most, and given how busy the other members are, any tour would be difficult to line up even if Mike wasn't back in DT, so it wouldn't make much of a difference I don't think. I feel like Mike would need more commitment for groups of NMB, but Flying Colors seems perfect for Mike's current situation. I also just really want more FC music.

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Well Mike just posted this:

Some photos of Flying Colors’ Q&A Session on Cruise to the Edge. I may as well address the Elephant in the room with the most burning question asked: What will happen to FC now that I am back in DT…? 🤔

My answer was/is this:
This is really nothing new for Flying Colors as we’ve ALWAYS had to be very strategic with our scheduling as all 5 of us have always functioned in FC while in multiple other bands…

It was always especially difficult navigating while Steve was in Deep Purple as we always had to work around his availability from Purple. And I assume it will be similarly challenging now with me back in DT…especially as I plan on spending these first several years back focused primarily on DT’s schedule which will surely be very busy touring throughout 2024 & 2025…

But once the smoke clears from all the upcoming planned DT activity in the coming year(s), inevitably there will be some downtime and I know all 5 of us in FC would love to continue making music together as we all really love this band and the magical chemistry we have together…

So we just need to be strategic and we ALL just need to be patient! 🙏😉

In the meantime, I can’t wait to play again tomorrow night and soak in every moment while we’re together!

📸 : @joeschaefferphotography

https://www.facebook.com/share/VTpNvKGQUhnnqfvh/?mibextid=oFDknk

I guess that answers my question!

-Marc.

[HOF]

You beat me to it. Just posted this in the DT album thread since he states they’ll be touring this year which seems like news!

[Setlist Scotty]

That's good to see. I had kinda written FC off as done because of Casey (from what I understand) pretty much retiring from music to focus on a cure for his daughter, so I'm happy that there may be an opportunity for more FC down the road. It's one of MP's post-DT bands I was most interested in.

[DTwwbwMP]

BEST thing for me out of the Q&A was that DT WILL be touring in '24!

[ytserush]

Flying Colors show on CTTE tonight was great. The band seemed excited to be playing together again. And they were surprisingly tight - especially with the keyboard/guitar unison moments. And Dave LaRue was killing it! He sounded great. So did Steve as well. Mike seemed particularly energetic with his fills. And of course Casey and Neal sounded very strong vocally. My wife said afterwards that she thinks Casey is her favorite male singing voice.

The crowd was into it - there were 3 or 4 standing ovations.

Setlist:

1. Blue Ocean
2. A Place in Your World
3. More
4. Kayla
5. Geronimo
6. Forever in a Daze
7. Peaceful Harbor
8. The Storm
9. Cosmic Symphony
10. Mask Machine
11. Infinite Fire

Cosmic Symphony was especially strong. The latter part is really just perfect for Casey’s voice.

The show started 45 minutes late (shocking, I know), and Flower Kings was playing pretty soon afterwards, so I’m curious if they cut anything for time. They play again near the end of the cruise for the other half of the boat who didn’t attend tonight, so I guess if anyone keeps track of that setlist then we’ll see if they get an extra song.

Regardless, it was a great show. Really great to see them back together and putting on such a fun show.

Nice set. Casey is awesome. I'd love to see this band again one day. Until then I'll enjoy the the live CDs/DVDs.