TAKE A BOW
InsideOut’s 25th Anniversary show with The Flower Kings and Spock’s Beard takes top billing, plus reviews of IQ, Mastodon, Rick Wakeman, Billy Cobham, Nightwish, Damien Wilson and Adam Wakeman, Knifeworld and more…
In 1993 progressive rock wasn’t technically dead, but the outlook was decidedly bleak. Since then there’s been an undeniable and significant revival, in which the InsideOut label has played a crucial part, serving as home to many key bands including Spock’s Beard and The Flower Kings. Without them, the progressive scene would be indubitably poorer. It’s also reasonable to conclude that many prog fans’ bank balances would be considerably healthier!
Ostensibly this tour is designed to celebrate the label’s 25th anniversary, but equally it serves as a European victory lap of sorts for two stalwart bands. With Spock’s being treated as the senior partners, The Flower Kings are up first in the excellent Z7 venue on the outskirts of Basel. While Switzerland may not be an obvious prog stronghold, Basel borders both France and Germany and thus enjoys a significant catchment area. With a capacity of over 1,500, the Z7 isn’t exactly rammed, but there’s a respectable-sized crowd in this highly lauded venue on the continental European circuit.
Despite releasing a new album under the banner of Roine Stolt’s The Flower King only a couple of weeks previously, the guitarist’s latest incarnation of the Kings focus on material over 15 years old, delving as far back as 1996’s Retropolis album for set highlight There Is More To This World, which combines a memorable tune with instrumental flash.
Wisely, Stolt delegates the majority of vocals this evening to long-time singer Hasse Fröberg, while newcomers keyboardist Zach Kamins and drummer Mirkko DeMaio both impress. Kamins looks like he’s on night release from a major company’s IT department, but plays with great enthusiasm and skill such that only the most sentimental Kings’ fans would pine for the absent Tomas Bodin. And DeMaio’s muscular drumming powers the band along apparently effortlessly. Last Minute On Earth, The Truth Will Set You Free and Stardust We Are round out a strong set.
While the Kings are well-drilled with plenty of recent road miles on the clock from November’s South America and Mexico trek, Spock’s are rougher round the edges. Unlike the Kings, Spock’s Beard’s set represents a much wider trawl of their back catalogue. They kick off their 75-minute set by racing through To Breathe Another Day from last year’s Noise Floor album, before revisiting their excellent cover of George Harrison’s Beware Of Darkness.
While there’s little by way of showmanship from the Kings (bassist Jonas Reingold is comparatively subdued tonight), Spock’s exude fun and bonhomie, with keyboardist Ryo Okumoto and guitarist Alan Morse as ebullient as ever. By contrast with The Flower Kings, for whom Roine Stolt has been ever-present, Spock’s Beard have the unenviable record of losing two iconic frontmen in Neal Morse and Nick D’Virgilio. It was the departure of the former that firmly put the brakes on the band’s ascent back in 2002.
The engaging Ted Leonard continues to do an admirable job fronting this third incarnation of the Beard, but the latest departure to befall the band was drummer Jimmy Keegan in 2016.
Following Keegan’s resignation, long-time fans were encouraged by D’Virgilio drumming on Noise Floor. But that reunion hasn’t extended to the live circuit, with D’Virgilio focusing on other endeavours, like Big Big Train.
So, Mike Thorne, most recently of Saga, stepped in. He puts in a perfectly adequate performance, but lacks the showmanship and charisma of his predecessors.
Perhaps pressured by the limitations of sharing 150 minutes equally with The Flower Kings, Spock’s Beard’s full-speed-ahead set threatens to overpower at times. Indeed, the decibel monitor displayed prominently on one wall of the venue – we’re in Switzerland after all – barely dips below 100 during their set. She Is Everything, from the underrated Octane album and complete with a sublime Alan Morse solo, and the mid-section of old favourite Walking On The Wind provide very welcome reductions in pace and comparative light relief. Overall, it’s a good rather than great performance.
The evening concludes with both bands convening for a somewhat haphazard joint encore-cum-love-in. After brief snatches of
New York, New York and I Will Survive, they focus on The Beatles’ Hey Jude, which is appreciated perhaps more by the musicians themselves than the audience. Nonetheless, tonight is memorable mostly for the right reasons. Here’s to the next 25 years for InsideOut, Spock’s Beard and The Flower Kings.
“OSTENSIBLY THIS TOUR IS DESIGNED TO CELEBRATE THE LABEL’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY, BUT EQUALLY IT SERVES AS A EUROPEAN VICTORY LAP OF SORTS FOR TWO STALWART BANDS.”