Portnoy Sheehan MacAlpine Sherinian - Live in Tokyo
AsSiMiLaTeD
Posts: 11,728
I picked up this up on DVD the other day, thought I'd mention it here. I'm not really doing a review, just throwing it out there in case anyone has missed it. It's another Mike Portnoy side project since leaving Dream Theater, a couple of these have turned out great and a couple only OK or yet to materialize.
This one reunites Portnoy with Derek Sherenian (also formerly of Dream Theater) on keyboards, adds in the great Billy Sheehan on bass and the very underrated Tony MacAlpine on guitar. I think is just a one-off concert, not the start of another ongoing partnership like some of the other projects Portnoy has been involved in.
They play a mix of songs from each guy on stage, it's a very good selection of songs actually. Overall, the show is fairly progressive and technical in nature. This is not mainstream rock, though if you're still reading at this point you've probably already guessed that much.
The closest comparison would probably be something like a Steve Via concert or what you'd see on a G3 tour, but I'll provide a better comparison to Dream Theater since most people picking this up will be familiar with their stuff.
For comparison I also have several Dream Theater concerts including the latest Luna Park on Blu-Ray, and this is on par with that in terms of general style and presentation. The focus is on musicianship and technical ability, not necessarily on song writing, which makes sense since this is an all instrumental concert. The material itself is actually a bit more progressive and technical than what you'll get from Dream Theater - there's more jazz influence especially on the two stringed instruments and the instrumental parts and unisons are probably a bit more involved as well. There's one song in particular that Sherinian brings to the table that's just impossible.
The effort overall is more ambitious than a Dream Theater concert, but lacks the polish and perfection that you get there. There are some missed notes here and there, and in some of the unisons you can hear that the guitar and keyboard aren't quite in sync in some places. With DT concerts you get damn near perfection across the board, and its especially apparent with the unisons between Petrucci and Rudess, that last bit of polish is lacking some here.
The concert comes across as more about showcasing the talents of the guys individually than presenting a band. If you're like me and don't mind just having your mind blown by 4 musicians that are gods on their instruments then I'd suggest checking this out. If you're looking for a coherent and polished concert with emphasis on songwriting or musical perfection or polish then this may not be for you.
This one reunites Portnoy with Derek Sherenian (also formerly of Dream Theater) on keyboards, adds in the great Billy Sheehan on bass and the very underrated Tony MacAlpine on guitar. I think is just a one-off concert, not the start of another ongoing partnership like some of the other projects Portnoy has been involved in.
They play a mix of songs from each guy on stage, it's a very good selection of songs actually. Overall, the show is fairly progressive and technical in nature. This is not mainstream rock, though if you're still reading at this point you've probably already guessed that much.
The closest comparison would probably be something like a Steve Via concert or what you'd see on a G3 tour, but I'll provide a better comparison to Dream Theater since most people picking this up will be familiar with their stuff.
For comparison I also have several Dream Theater concerts including the latest Luna Park on Blu-Ray, and this is on par with that in terms of general style and presentation. The focus is on musicianship and technical ability, not necessarily on song writing, which makes sense since this is an all instrumental concert. The material itself is actually a bit more progressive and technical than what you'll get from Dream Theater - there's more jazz influence especially on the two stringed instruments and the instrumental parts and unisons are probably a bit more involved as well. There's one song in particular that Sherinian brings to the table that's just impossible.
The effort overall is more ambitious than a Dream Theater concert, but lacks the polish and perfection that you get there. There are some missed notes here and there, and in some of the unisons you can hear that the guitar and keyboard aren't quite in sync in some places. With DT concerts you get damn near perfection across the board, and its especially apparent with the unisons between Petrucci and Rudess, that last bit of polish is lacking some here.
The concert comes across as more about showcasing the talents of the guys individually than presenting a band. If you're like me and don't mind just having your mind blown by 4 musicians that are gods on their instruments then I'd suggest checking this out. If you're looking for a coherent and polished concert with emphasis on songwriting or musical perfection or polish then this may not be for you.
Post edited by AsSiMiLaTeD on
Comments
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This is a good project, if you like this then check out The Winery Dogs another Portnoy and Sheehan project with Ritchie Kotzen on Guitar and vocals that one has been in my trucks CD player for quite sometime now.Home Theater
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