Concert Review: Transatlantic – L’Olympia, Montreal, February 6 2014

As with most supergroups, it’s always an event when Transatlantic hits the road. The band, made up of Mike Portnoy (ex Dream Theater and member of a dozen more bands), Neil Morse (ex Spock’s Beard), Pete Trewavas (Marillion) and Roine Stolt (Flower Kings), is promoting its fourth studio album Kaleidoscope  with an “Evening With” type of show that also features Ted Leonard as the 5th touring member. (This role was supposed to be filled by Daniel Gildenlow of  Pain of Salvation who unfortunately got sidelined by illness before the tour started)

The mostly male crowd spanned a few generations, from twenty somethings to white haired fans who went back to the first generation of prog rock. The one thing uniting the crowd was their love of epic 30 minute songs featuring virtuosity and dense, complex arrangements. And they were well served by the band’s set in that regard, considering that they finished their 3rd song of the night at the 1 hour mark! Over the course of their 2h45 performance, Transatlantic played tracks from their 4 albums, navigating all the complex parts with complete ease. This isn’t easy music to follow but the crowd knew the material inside out, even for the latest album that had been out barely a week.

Some of the highlights included a trimmed down version of what is, in my opinion, their magum opus: The Whirlwind, a rousing version of Black is the Sky and the introspective We All Need Some Light. Great musicianship all around and an epic set made this a perfect prog rock evening!

Setlist:

• Into the Blue (With an extended intro as their roadie tried to fix the malfunctioning bass)

• My New World

• Shine

• The Whirlwind:
  • Overture (Abridged)
  • Rose Colored Glasses
  • Evermore
  • Is It Really Happening?
  • Dancing With Eternal Glory (Abridged)

• Guitar Solo

• We All Need Some Light

• Black as the Sky

• Kaleidoscope

Encore:

• All of the Above (First half)

• Stranger in Your Soul (Second half)

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Jean-Frederic Vachon

By day, Jean-Frédéric is Head of Development Services at videogame developer Behaviour Interactive. Rock journalist by night, Jean-Frédéric fills every waking moment of his life with music. Diary of a Music Addict is the little corner of the Internet he's claimed for himself to share his passion with the world.

He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage

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