Review of Spock's Beard in Downey
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Spock’s
Beard Appearing For One-Night Only In U.S... Now Onto Europe Tour
Downey,
CA -- Prog-rock band, Spock’s Beard appeared for one night only in
Downey, CA, this past Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 8 p.m. As the one
and only U.S. show of the band’s “X” Tour, promoting their most
recent CD release, simply entitled “X”, the show was presented by
CalProg at the Downey Civic Theater. The
band performed “X” in its entirety and then treated fans to a few
tried and true oldies, including “On A Perfect Day”, “Thoughts”,
and finished up with “June”. The
performance of the new album left some fans speechless, others commented
“I couldn’t believe that SB could ever get better, but I was
wrong.” “They out did themselves.” “SB is tighter than ever
before.” “Nick’s voice was filled with more confidence and a
quality that far exceeded my expectations.” “Nick’s stage presence
and performance really branded the show with fun this time out.” This
performance was the virgin outing for the band and this material.
According to Nick, they are still working out some of the kinks in the
show, but if he is saying it can only get better, U.S. fans have a lot
to envy those that will be attending the upcoming European tour, which
starts Wednesday, Sept. 15 in the Netherlands.
Also
joining the band on stage was guest guitarist Stan Ausmus, who
collaborated with Morse on “The Man Behind The Curtain”, another new
tract from “X”. The three guitarists made quite an impact huddled
together for an instrumental lead trio.
The
thing about SB is their versatility. Composing all their own material
with the help of a few friends, they seem to easily manipulate each tune
finding a wide range of moods for the audience to experience. They can
effortlessly pound out a hard, edgy-rock tune and find a point of
sensitivity in the middle that brings the audience into a more intimate
place. Even though the whole band excelled throughout the night, it was
D’Virgilio, a true showman in every sense of the word, who was truly
showcased. He showed what he is made of moving from one area of the
stage to the next, changing instruments and duties in a heartbeat.
Delivering the most powerful vocals of his career, his voice did not
waiver at any point.
As
a band, SB is many things. It can be summed up by a few words, Power,
Versatility, and Talent. It takes talent to take a song from one end of
the musical spectrum to the other and not lose its integrity. Very few
bands can harness the attention of an audience and keep them literally
on the edge, even through the smooth parts with expectation. There is
nothing mundane or predictable with this band. Every song has a
surprise, something akin to a box of Cracker Jacks. There is
nothing stale about the show. It is impossible to say “Oh, it is just
another SB concert.” They pour something new into every show and this
time they pulled out all the stops to make it totally worth the trip to
Downey. The
band left early Monday morning to begin the European tour. There are a
couple of spots on the tour that may change, If there are any changes to
the schedule below they will be posted on their official web site www.spocksbeard.com.
They will be touring with Enochian Theory. The shows will begin
Wednesday, September 15 and conclude Tuesday, September 26. Check their
web site for a complete line-up and ticket info In
addition to the Spock’s Beard concert, CalProg will be presenting its
annual prog=rock festival in Whittier, CA, on October 2. CalProg
(the festival) is held in a traditional community theater that
holds 400 people. There isn't a bad seat in the house and the acoustics
are excellent. It is part of the Whittier community center complex and
as such there is no age restriction and no alcohol allowed on the
premises. It is a family friendly atmosphere at the venue, and both the
Whittier house staff and the all-volunteer CalProg staff work very hard
to make sure you have the best possible concert experience. This year
the festival will feature miRthkon, District
97, RPWL and Ambrosia. Visit www.calprog.com
for more information and tickets.
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Spock’s
Beard has always been known for their expertise with their instruments
and as the tightest and most accomplished group of musicians on the
planet. Being some of the very best, of the very best, the band seemed
relaxed and just wanting to have fun. And that they did, dragging the
audience along with them. Even when technical issues and mishaps
happened on stage, the band took it in stride and still delivered a
wallop of a show. Guitarist Morse, traded guitar licks with Singer and
drummer D’Virgilio without missing a beat, even when he knocked his
guitar and stand over on the stage, even when it was discovered that his
guitar was not plugged in. 
The
band continues to enjoy certain playfulness on stage, always letting the
audience in on the punch line. D’Virgilio, who played drums on
the entire recording of “X”, stayed out front for most of the night,
with Jimmy Keegan, an equally impressive drummer, filling in on drums
for the live performance. But when he is not singing or playing guitar,
he delivered just what fans remember, – monster drumming and
incredible drum solos. The most fun is always had by the drummers. The
two drummers, traditionally, will meet each other head-on sometime
during the evening for one of the most outrageous drum battles ever,
like two Titans of percussion. . This time when D’Virgilio and Keegan
swapped licks during their signature drum duet. This time the fun
carried on to the floor of the stage and they had the two crawling about
tapping on the floor and other equipment scattered about the stage
before returning to their kits for some monster drumming. According to
D’Virgilio,”
Every
song in every register was delivered clearly and powerfully. Once known
as a premiere drummer, his vocals are clearly taking first place over
his talent on the drums. That is not to say that his drumming is
slipping, quite the contrary. He hammered out every song at the drums
with equal precision and power, if not more than before. One surprise of
the evening was his performance behind the guitar. Switching throughout
from acoustic to electric guitar, he showed a vast improvement over
other times out with the guitar. But more than that, his ability
to bring the audience into that intimate place inside his head was the
most fun part of all. With a simple hand gesture or facial expression,
the fans felt they were in on whatever was happening on stage, not just
in the audience. Even when he protested, stating that he wasn’t
even sure from one song to the next what it was that he was supposed to
do yet, the audience was sure, he was always exactly where he meant to
be. He easily holds the audience attention keeping the performance fun
and energetic. 
Keyboardist
Ryo Okumoto, that wildman from Japan, seemed to be having the time of
his life, surrounded by his many keyboards, with just enough time
between licks to invite the audience to the stage for just one more
extravagant turnaround. Adding to the gyrations of D’Virgilio, Okumoto
energetically threw his body into the mix with every note. His latest
compositional contribution to “X”, the hard-hitting “Kamikaze”,
lived up to its name, so much so, that you could almost hear the rapid
machine gun fire and dive-bombing of each powerful arpeggio. But as
expected he was able to take those powerful keyboard attacks and smooth
them out to some wonderful whimsical melody. His solo thrilled the
audience as he took them on a virtual tour of every music genre, from
classical piano to twisty jazz to gospel to all out fun rock and roll,
just strutting his stuff. 
Bassist
Dave Meros, wasn’t just biding his time in the background. Out front
on many a baseline, he also contributed much to the composition of the
new CD. Most noteworthy was his songwriting contribution to “Jaws of
Heaven”, a four part composition he collaborated with John Boegehold.
Offering up an occasional bass solo, Meros, who is by far one of the
best bassists on the planet, keeps up his part and then goes some,
keeping the band honest when it came to rhythm.