Transatlantic - The Official Site

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Jun. 23rd, 2000 - New York, NY (Wetlands, with Scott McGill's Hand Farm)

(Thanks to Angie for the photo)

"When Mike Portnoy announced that his next side project was going to consist of a vintage prog/classic rock type of direction in late 1998/early 1999, I quickly anticipated the day of its release. A year or so later, the day finally came and the results were anything but disappointing.

Transatlantic's 'SMPTe' is one of the best releases of 2000 and I definitely dug hearing Portnoy in a slightly different direction than the metal-dominating sounds of Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment (not that I'm complaining of course). The only thing better than this album is hearing these guys live. And I finally got the opportunity to witness that when the band played NYC's Wetlands on June 23.

Scott McGill's Hand Farm opened up the show at around 9:30 PM. Man, they were sick!!! Definitely one of the best jazz-fusion bands around today. Then the moment finally came at around 10:45 PM when Mike Portnoy, Pete Trewavas, Roine Stolt, and Neal Morse finally took the stage. As I expected, their musicianship and showmanship was incredible along with their sense of humour. From the 30-minute opener "All Of The Above" to the closing "Other Bands Medley" where the band played a medley of songs from their respective bands, the show was an absolute marathon with each song being an event.

After the show ended, me and my friends waited later in the back of the club to wait for the band to come out so to get their autographs and compliment the guys on a job well done. I got my ticket stub (submitted here) autographed from all four members of the band, who were all really cool guys. Talking to Neal, Pete, and Roine was easy because at the time I wasn't too familiar with their material, but I was so starstruck meeting my hero Mike that I was unable to come up with anything else to say other than "Awesome show, man!" despite him being very fan-friendly. But nonetheless, he was still very warm and took the time to show his appreciation to thefans. I'll definitely anticipate the next album's release and the next show.

SETLIST:
- All Of The Above
- Mystery Train / Magical Mystery Tour / Strawberry Fields Forever
- We All Need Some Light
- Genesis Medley:
a) Back In N.Y.C. (acoustic version by Neal)
b) Watcher Of The Skies (intro)
c) Firth Of Fifth
d) Broadway Melody Of 1974 (bass & drum riff only)
- My New World

Encore:
- Dream Theater / Spock's Beard / Marillion / Flower Kings Medley:
a) There Is More To This World
b) Go The Way You Go
c) The Great Escape
d) Falling From the Moon
e) Finally Free ("One Last Time" part)
- She's So Heavy"

Written by Luigi Giugliano

(Thanks to Angie for the photo)

Hello everyone,

Last night at the Wetlands (or as it really was, the Sweatlands), Transatlantic put on the most entertaing show I have ever seen. After seeing them at Nearfest, I figured it couldn't get much better than the first time I saw them, but I was wrong.

I got to the venue around 6:00 p.m. and there were already people on line. The guy I was standing next to went to Nearfest also, so we traded NF stories, which made the 2+ hour wait a lot more tolerable. When we were finally let in, I found a spot in the front row right in front of Roine's monitor (which was nice since I have something to lean on).

Scott McGill's Hand Farm opened the preceedings and they did a great job warming the crowd up. McGill is a monster on the guitar and his drummer, Vic Stevens, is even better. His drum solo was phenomenal. The bassist, whose name I forget, was playing his first gig with the band and he did an admirable job.

Then after about a 45 minute wait, the classical intro came on and it was about time for TA to hit the stage. Mike Portnoy walked to his drum kit, Pete picked up his bass, Roine his guitar and Neal perched himself in front of the keys and they were off! I have never seen a band have so much fun. The faces Neal, Pete and Mike made amongst each other were hilarious. I think Neal is the best showman in prog today! Roine seemed to be in his own world and was on fire. The only problem he had was that he couldn't hear his acoustic guitar out of his monitor (maybe because I was leaning on it?).

(Thanks to Angie for the photo)

After a blistering "All of the Above," they played "Mystery Train", "Magical Mystery Train", "Strawberry Fields Forever." The latter song was done much better than at NF. Again, these guys were just having so much fun up on stage and so did the crowd. Oh, and one of the funniest lines of the night came from Mike between the first and second songs. The lighting guy was having fun trying to do a light show. So Mike says (I hope I get the quote right): "Hey lighting guy. We aren't fucking Pink Floyd playing Giants Stadium here. I rarely get to play with these guys. I want to see them."

"We All Need Some Light" started with a jam between Neal (on guitar), Roine and Pete. From there, they were to go into the normal Genesis medley of "Watcher of the Skies (intro)", "Firth of Fifth" but since this was New York City, Neal decided to play an acoustic version of Genesis' "Back in NYC." Pete and Roine did a good job backing Neal, but Mike didn't know the song too well. Neal forgot the words to start the second verse, so he asked the audience for help. Nobody could help so he screamed "Come on people. This is your life!" (So true for some, Neal). Mike then says, "Come on Neal, these people didn't get into Genesis until ABACAB!" Mike then tries to play drums again, but exclaims "Wait a minute, I got into Genesis at ABACAB!" Priceless! After two verses of "Back in NYC" (I don't think Neal wanted to attempt the "No time for romantic escape..." part), they did the normal Genesis medley, with the bass and drum line from "Broadway Medley..." for a few seconds to end it.

It was on to "My New World," which was my highlight of the night and that ended the set. The normal "Other Bands" medley followed. I though Roine did a great job handling the guitar parts for all of the songs from the other three bands. Pete did an all right job handling the vocals on "The Great Escape." Mike transformed into his "Animal" persona for the end of "Finally Free."

And that was that. I really do hope they do another album and tour. It was great to see a band really having fun on stage.

Written by Adam Perkowsky

I had an absolutely amazing time at the Wetlands show, June 23rd, in NYC. The guys were relaxed and having a wonderful time, minus a few sour notes, and some "Back in NYC" blues. I admired Neal's very brave accoustic version of the Genesis song -- Now if only he knew the words! I was right behind Mike Portnoy. The times that Mike did turn to make at a face at me, my camera was never ready! But he made up for it by giving me one of his sticks after the show -- thank you, Mike! In my top ten list of most memorable concerts that I have been to, this concert bumped Roger Water's for the number one spot! Great show! I hope to see Transatlantic at the Wetlands again next year...and a special thanks to Roine for listening to me : )

Written by Angie

(Thanks to Angie for the photo)