NEAL MORSE BAND Playing Morsefest UK 2024 Two-Night Stand In London This Weekend
January 12, 2024, 10 months ago
Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has checked in with the following update:
"Hello England!! We are here and ready for Morsefest UK!! This is going to be a very special weekend for so many reasons: the final performance of both Testimony and Testimony 2 in their entirety (possibly ever??) and the last Neal Morse Band show until (???). This band and this music is so special, we are going to soak it in and enjoy every moment of it! PS - it’s still not too late to come out and enjoy these shows in person…catch us while you can!"
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In July 2023, NMB (Neal Morse Band) presented An Evening Of Innocence & Danger: Live In Hamburg, a live recording of their 2022 tour in support of their most recent studio album. Recorded live in Germany, this 3-disc release captures the band in fine form, presenting Innocence & Danger and more over nearly two and a half hours of music, and is out now. Listen and order here.
Listen to the bands stunning live performance of the epic 34-minute track, "Beyond The Years", below:
Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Randy George, Eric Gillette & Bill Hubauer demonstrate a chemistry like no other on this musical document of that tour, supporting their fourth studio album, released in 2021. “NMB’s Innocence and Danger tour was an amazing experience all the way around and the Hamburg gig was a real stand out!”, says Neal, “The band was firing on all cylinders and the audience was so close to us and roaring from the very first note.”
Mike Portnoy continues, “It was our first post-Pandemic tour so everybody (including the audience) was just happy to be at shows again experiencing live music together. We particularly felt the love and emotions this evening in Hamburg which has always been an amazing audience for NMB.”
Tracklisting:
CD1:
"Do It All Again"
"Bird On A Wire"
"Your Place In The Sun"
"Another Story To Tell"
"The Way It Had To Be"
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"
"Waterfall"
CD2:
"Not Afraid Pt. 2"
"Beyond The Years"
CD3:
"The Great Similitude Medley"
"Another Story To Tell" static video:
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" static video:
The Markthalle in Hamburg is a venue the band have played many times before, and as Bill Hubauer explains, it’s a place they hold very dear: “There is always something warm and magical about the audiences at Markthalle. This show was closer to the end of the tour and I was getting tired. I remember looking at the itinerary and seeing Markthalle coming up and feeling so happy about it. I knew it was going to give me the boost of energy to get through the rest of the tour. It's very much one of those "home away from home" tour stops!” Randy George adds, “It’s always a great show at the Markthalle! The tour was going well and the wonderful fans in Hamburg made it a wonderful evening.”
The band played the vast majority of their acclaimed latest album, including a mesmerizing rendition of their arrangement of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, a track that quickly became a favourite of fans during the tour. Portnoy comments, “I loved the format of this tours setlist, breaking the show into two halves similarly to the Innocence And Danger album. The 1st half the shorter more concise songs and poppier side of the band, and the 2nd half with the huge sprawling Prog epics.” The massive set concludes with the "The Great Similitude Medley" which features highlights from the band’s previous two records The Great Adventure and The Similitude Of A Dream.
The result is a sprawling evening of incredible musicianship, that demonstrates a band at the very top of their game.