Rick Wakeman / London Palladium 2023 / 4CDR / Amity The Palladium, London, UK 22nd & 23rd February 2023
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Eternal virtuoso on the 50th anniversary of The Six Wives of Henry VIII: Rick Wakeman. The latest special performance that reproduces the literary trilogy has arrived.
What is imbued in this work is two consecutive night performances at one venue. It is the best audience recording set of “London performance on February 22/23, 2023”. Since last year, Rick has been performing live under the name of solo and “RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE” in parallel, and this work is the latter. In order to grasp such a recent situation, let’s first take a bird’s eye view of the recent activity situation.
● 2022
・ February 22-March 13: North America # 1 (13 performances)
* March 30-April 3: UK #1 (4 performances)
・November 24-December 21: UK #2 (17 performances)
● 2023
*February 22nd + 23rd: London (2 performances) ← This work
《“A GALLERY OF THE IMAGINATION” will be released on February 24》
・ March 14-April 15: North America # 2 (18 performances)
This is the schedule for 2022/2023 that has been announced so far. The “・” mark is a solo tour, and the “*” mark is a performance under the name of “RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE”. The North American tour will start in mid-March, but this work was performed in London 2 before that. And these two performances are also a topic because they featured Rick’s “literary trilogy”. The set was completely replaced in two days, and each was reproduced in total. This work is a 4-disc set that completely recorded the two days. Let’s organize the structure of this work here.
● First day: February 22 performance
・ First half (DISC 1) “Henry VIII’s Six Wives” (about 53 minutes)
・ Second half (DISC 2) “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” (about 54 minutes)
●Day 2: Performance on February 23
・ Early stage (DISC 3) YES set (5 songs, about 41 minutes)
… and it looks like this. Among the trilogy, on the first day, the two works with the theme of the Middle Ages, “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” and “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” were performed, and all the songs were played while changing the order of the songs slightly. On the second day, while focusing on “Underground Exploration”, it was a composition that arranged YES songs in the beginning and encore (it was a bit surprising that “Starship Trooper” before joining Rick was the ending). And not only the set but also the performance is gorgeous. Both performances feature the English Chamber Choir, conducted by Guy Proslow, with Haley Sanderson on lead vocals.
It is two performances full of special feelings, but this work that conveys it is special to the sound. It is the latest recording that is currently boiling the collector world, but this is already super and superb. Rick’s talking scene and applause between songs also feel the tone that seems to be an audience recording, but when the performance starts, I forget that fact. When turned on, the thick core reaches your ears with zero sense of distance, and even if you listen carefully with headphones, you can’t hear the hall noise component. There is also a feeling of pouring symphonic rock, so it may actually absorb the hall sound, but the details are so clear that it is difficult to distinguish.
A literary trilogy that has been performed in full several times. However, it is unheard of to show off all three at once without suffering a single song in two days. Moreover, a symphonic rock concept album that boasts a detailed composition of each piece. While reaching the age of 73, there is nothing but admiration for Rick, who does not care about huge rehearsals. This work is a blockbuster that allows you to fully experience such a conceptual full show 2 performances.
A masterpiece of symphonic rock born in 2023, half a century after “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”. Please enjoy it to the fullest.
★ The best audience recording of “February 22/23, 2023 London performance”. The English Chamber Choir also participated in the special performance of “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”, “King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” on the first day, and “Underground Exploration” on the second day. group. Moreover, the sound is super and superb. When turned on, the thick core reaches your ears with zero sense of distance, and even if you listen carefully with headphones, you can’t hear the hall noise component. A masterpiece of symphonic rock that was born on the 50th anniversary of “The Six Wives of Henry VIII”.
そんな本作に吹き込まれているのは1つの会場の2夜連続公演。「2023年2月22日/23日ロンドン公演」の極上オーディエンス録音セットです。昨年からリックはソロ名義と“RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE”名義のライヴを並行しており、本作は後者。そんな近況を把握するためにも、まずは近年の活動状況を俯瞰してみましょう。
●2022年
・2月22日ー3月13日:北米#1(13公演)
*3月30日ー4月3日:英国#1(4公演)
・11月24日ー12月21日:英国#2(17公演)
●2023年
*2月22日+23日:ロンドン(2公演)←★本作★
《2月24日『A GALLERY OF THE IMAGINATION』発売》
・3月14日ー4月15日:北米#2(18公演)
これが現在までに公表されている2022年/2023年のスケジュール。「・」印がソロ名義のツアーで、「*」印が“RICK WAKEMAN & THE ENGLISH ROCK ENSEMBLE”名義の公演です。3月半ばから北米ツアーも始まりますが、本作はその前に行われたロンドン2公演でした。そして、この2公演はリックの「文芸三部作」をフィーチュアした事でも話題。2日間でセットを完全に入れ替え、それぞれトータル再現したのです。本作は、その2日間を完全収録した4枚組なのです。それでは、ここで本作の構成も整理しておきましょう。
Disc 1(53:24) 1. Rick Introduces Six Wives of Henry VIII 2. Catherine Of Aragon 3. Anne Boleyn 4. Jane Seymour 5. Anne Of Cleeves 6. Catherine Howard 7. Catherine Parr
Disc 2(53:42) 1. Rick Introduces King Arthur 2. King Arthur 3. Lady Of The Lake 4. Guinevere 5. Lancelot And The Black Knight 6. Sir Galahad 7. Excalibur 8. The Last Battle 9. Encore 10. Intro 11. Merlin The Magician 12. Outro
The Palladium, London, UK 23rd February 2023
Disc 3 (41:16) 1. Rick Introduces Yes Set 2. Roundabout 3. The Meeting 4. Wondrous Stories 5. South Side Of The Sky 6. And You And I
Disc 4 (73:53) 1. Rick Introduces Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 2. The Preface 3. Journey Overture 4. Journey’s Dawn 5. Crystals 6. The Gothic Cathedral 7. A Quest For Water 8. The Hansbach 9. Fervent Prayer 10. The Recollection 11. Lost And Found 12. Echoes 13. Four Miles 14. The Reunion 15. A New Vista 16. A World Within A World 17. The Raft 18. The Battle 19. Cumulous Clouds 20. The Storm 21. The Cemetery 22. Quaternary Man 23. Mastodons 24. The Forest 25. Ages Of Man 26. The Tunnel 27. Hall Of The Mountain King 28. Mount Etna 29. Encore 30. Intro 31. Starship Trooper 32. Outro