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A somewhat different and
low key start to this much-anticipated concert - Edgar Froese began the
proceedings by coming to the front of the stage from behind a set of
black drapes that covered the main stage, and taking a seat at a Yamaha
baby grand piano to play the opening piano part of Ricochet. An unusual
beginning perhaps, but it helped to heighten the anticipation factor.
And the comical way in which Edgar tossed his towel into the crowd after
wiping his brow was a nice touch, and an oddly intimate moment for a
band not generally noted for their intimacy with the audience.
Once Edgar had finished his piece, it was time to reveal the main stage
set - and boy was it worth waiting for. The first thing that caught your
eye were the three large banks of modular patchboards behind each
keyboard player, evoking wonderful memories of those early synth
patchboards with wires everywhere that used to accompany the bands 70's
stage shows (In fact, a closer look revealed
they were actually plasma screens displaying the information from the
keyboard players’ laptops, but it was still very impressive all the
same). Above them were circular shapes and globes that evoked memories
of the Logo's era stage design from the 70's - clearly a lot of effort
and thought had gone into the stage design, with lots of little nods to
the past.
Once Edgar was seated behind his control console alongside new keyboard
player Thorsten Quaeschning and son Jerome, the show started proper with
the familiar opening chords of Phaedra. There were whoops and cheers of
delight from the audience. Another nostalgic touch was having all three
band members with their backs to the audience for most of the first half
of the show.
As with the previous UK concert
two years ago, the music was played almost continuously, with occasional
newer linking pieces of music between the more familiar tracks. The
difference this time is that this was very much concentrating on old
favourites. In this first half, the most recognisable pieces played were
excerpts from Poland, Rubycon, Force Majeure, Tangram, Logo’s,
Underwater Sunlight, and I also recognised Choronzon, Silver Scale,
Warsaw In The Sun and Desert Dream. For some of the numbers the band
were joined on stage by the striking blonde percussionist Iris Camaa,
prowling around on a raised stage behind the guys and seemingly hitting
and shaking everything in sight.
It was great to hear those familiar sequencer runs and waves of synth
washing over you (especially during Rubycon), and this was not simply a
carbon copy of the album versions either. Though the tracks were
familiar and sounded pretty much as you remember them, there were some
embellishments and additions just to keep things interesting. Of course
Edgar Froese has been remixing and re-recording older pieces for some
time now so this should be nothing unusual for the fans – and it
certainly sounded like everyone present tonight was well into it.
At the end of the first half, a change of pace as Thorsten came to the
front of the stage to perform a beautiful solo piano piece, which was
improvised around Song Of The Whale.
After this it was into what has
come to be known as “The Melrose Years”, incorporating a lot of the
Dream Mixes material from recent years. Oriental Haze kicked off this
part of the set, and a huge cheer went up as Linda Spa arrived on stage
with her saxophone. This was the part of the set that got the audience
moving their heads and tapping their feet (including some of the bar
staff). Zlatko Perica was also on hand to provide some wonderful guitar,
and even Jerome got a chance to show us his guitar skills on Backstreet
Hero. They took us through a superb selection of tracks including
Towards The Evening Star, Catwalk, Melrose, Lamb With Radar Eyes and
Meta Morph Magic, with Thorsten joining Iris on percussion at one point.
I am a big fan of the Dream Mixes era particularly so this was anathema
to me.
The reaction of the crowd was incredible, and there was no way they were
going to get away without an encore or two. In fact we got three, one
being an interesting new track (which I believe may be on Edgar’s
upcoming solo album) on which he was using an interesting vocal-style
guitar effect. But the icing on the cake was where he got to cut loose
on the final track Purple Haze.
Edgar commented from the stage at
the end that even though they had played 3 hours of mostly older
material, they had approx 250 hours of music to try and choose from. But
I got the impression that the band have been talking and listening to
the fans to find out what they wanted from a Tangerine Dream
anniversary-style concert, and from the reaction tonight and also the
comments on the bands website since it’s clear that this was nothing
short of a triumph. I personally loved it, it was like a musical journey
that you just got swept up in and carried along with for the duration of
the concert.
I was also mightily pleased to see that it was filmed, so here’s looking
forward to a live DVD at some point in the future.
I am not sure if the band are intending to take this show on the road to
other countries, but if they do make sure you don’t miss it.
John Morley |
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