Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists
Subject: Re: [Mellotronists] Moody Blues Lost Performance - A Review (??)
From: kenmerb@...
Date: 2004-06-24
In a message dated 6/24/2004 12:16:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time, MAinPsych@... writes:
For all you bottom-line people, in short, save your money. Live, my ass. If anyone was expecting a warts-and-all, bona fide live performance, you will be TERRIBLY disappointed. All backing tracks are the studio tracks. Hayward's tunes appear to feature live vocals, but John's and (thankfully) Ray's tunes are also the studio tracks, incuding vocals. And all in 5.1 Surround Sound!
THERE'S NOT A MARK II IN SIGHT!!! Mike is seated behind a Hammond C3, unattached to a Leslie or any other amplification. What's funny is that you can see him adjusting drawbars during and between songs, as if that's making a difference (?!). What's also funny (and pathetic) is Ray, the incomparable master of intonation, playing flute in unison with the prerecorded track in "Are You Sitting Comfortably". Either be prepared to split your sides laughing or have a barf bag handy.
Very disappointing, but I will probably keep mine for the entertainment value (funny is entertaining, right ;-).
So let me get this straight. No mellotron on stage at all, just a C3? So they must have lip synched the whole thing while on stage, and not just overdubbed parts in the studio later for the DVD, is that correct? Is there any mellotron in the audio? That would be a dead giveaway. I wonder how this happenned? Did all of their mellotrons break down before the show, so they stuck poor Mike out there with a Hammond C3 and proceeded to play their pre-recorded tunes over the PA? And then, 30+ years later, sell this footage as a concert DVD? Damn, I was looking forward to this, I wanted to get some MKII tips from the master. I guess I'll have to settle for your version of "Peak Hour" on Sharayah ;-).
BTW, how did you get your copy so much sooner than the rest of us? I thought June 29 was the official release date.
Ken M.
MKII #247
M400 #1217
All live