Published on Dec 4, 2002
“Daddy, what’s wrong with the dinosaur?”
In 1975 at the Sydney Myer Concert Bowl in Melbourne Australia
30,000 music fans were treated to an hour and a half of Rick
Wakeman in the midst of what many consider his most energetic and
productive period. Smack dab in between the 1973 release of
The Six Wives Of Henry VIII and the 1975 release of
The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The
Round Table came
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. Touring in support of
the
Journey album, which was inspired by the Jules Verne book,
Wakeman used a full orchestra and a narrator who read passages from
the book to enhance the mood for the audience. This performance is
definitive “Classical Rock” and someone had the presence of mind to
tape it.
1975 is a long way back so as I sat down to watch and listen to
the DVD I wondered how it would stand up to the test of time. With
rum and Coke in hand and youngest daughter colouring peacefully
nearby on the carpet I pushed the play button. Hours later, having
rerun the DVD three times, with rum and Coke long drained and
daughter now safely ensconced on my lap I had to force myself to
get up and not play it for the fourth time. The legs were a little
stiff after sitting for so long. Frankly, the music has held up
infinitely better than I have.
My youngest daughter is just seven years old, but she has seen
Rick Wakeman twice in his latest visit back with the Yes crew. (She
sat right in front of him this summer at the Toronto show and loved
every minute!) To her, Rick Wakeman is a keyboard player who is
part of Yes, is a little older than her dad and occasionally wears
great big glasses when looking over sheet music of Yes’ later
works. But seven years olds are wondrous things. Still young enough
to accept seemingly contradictory data without rejecting it out of
hand; they have very few preconceived filters. So moving her
backwards in time to 1975 through the technological wonder of the
DVD is no major accomplishment. Accepting that the young (oh, SO
young) man with the very long blond hair and the outrageous cape is
the same Rick Wakeman that she saw in Toronto took nothing more
than assurance from the old man that this was indeed the same
guy.
So, accepting Wakeman on the screen as Wakeman from Yes was no
problem… I wish I could say the same for the dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs? Yes, there are dinosaurs in this video….
You see, seven year olds know ALL about dinosaurs. Seven year
olds in the year 2002 have seen dinosaurs on TV, dinosaurs in
books, dinosaurs in movies and dinosaurs in full motion video on
the computer. Dinosaurs to a seven year old are fluid, moving,
animate animals. They are not plastic blow-up dolls. But alas, in
1975 blow-up dinosaurs were all we had. The youngster was very
confused as to the identity (“That’s not a Dinosaur!!”), and
purpose (“A special effect??”) of the air filled apparition.
My point? The only things wrong with this DVD are things that
cannot be helped because it was made in 1975. Where to
start… well I guess I better explain the dinosaurs. At a
certain part in the story of
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, the group of underground
travelers encounters dinosaurs. At that point in the concert two
air filled plastic dinos of quite large size appear on stage behind
the orchestra. It is, to say the least, a dated effect. There are a
few other inevitable 70’s drawbacks:
The vocalists are pure 70’s stereotypes. With shirt unbuttoned
to the navel and gold chain prominently displayed, Ashley Holt is a
picture of 70’s style. His vocal counterpart, Gary Pickford
Hopkins, is wearing a shirt that can only be described as
proto-Britney. However, more importantly, all of the vocals sound
not just dated, but frankly, off key much of the time. (I kept
expecting Holt to break into the “Love Boat” theme at any
second… too much rum perhaps….) The sound quality is
actually worse that I expected, even for a seventies recording, and
the orchestra is overhyped and underused. So, I must hate the whole
DVD then, right? On the contrary. For under all of the layers of
seventies dust is Wakeman at his pretentious best.
Talent of this caliber breeds its own atmosphere. Two vocalists,
an orchestra, a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, two plastic
dinosaurs and Lord knows what else that I might have missed still
can’t begin to enclose the talent that Wakeman exudes. He brought
them all along to show us that he could outdo them! And he does.
Like a radioactive element Wakeman is too hot to hold for this
vessel.
There is only one container that can hold and enhance Wakeman’s
talent – but Yes is not a part of this particular picture. Yet, I
cannot help but wonder how Anderson and Squire might have improved
the vocals; how Howe might have added some particular nuance to the
atmosphere and how White or Bruford might have brought the
acceptable percussion up a level or two. Of all the Yes alumni,
Wakeman is the best solo artist. Yet even he is better with, than
without them. There is a reason that Wakeman keeps rejoining Yes
and I think it has a lot to do with symbiosis.
Although there are other musicians physically on stage with
Wakeman they are not with him musically. His fingers fly across the
multiple stacked keyboards. Melodies and rhythms churn from within
his smoky circle of magic. He closes his eyes and the music flows
from within his soul and pours onto the audience held rapt within
his grasp. The orchestra and other accompanying artists can only
chatter and twist in the turbulence of his passing.
The concert is at its best when everyone else shuts up and
Wakeman flies off by himself, but this is definitely an “A” DVD.
Wakeman is like Porsche; There truly is no other.