After 30 years as one of rock's greatest keyboardists, Rick Wakeman remains blazingly prodigious in this performance from September 2000. Recommended above other Wakeman DVDs, Live from Buenos Aires finds the synth wizard "in the zone" with his handpicked English Rock Ensemble, featuring Wakeman's son Adam (also on keyboards) and rock-solid drumming by longtime associate Tony Fernandez. Excerpts from "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" wisely eschew the storybook narration, focusing on the musical ambition of Wakeman's prog-rock opus. And while Damian Wilson's vocals are adequate (his version of Yes's "Starship Trooper" makes you yearn for Jon Anderson), Ant Glynne's fiery guitar is a fine match for Wakeman's warp-speed arpeggios. Unfortunately, the accompanying Official Bootleg CD is as bad as the DVD is good; it's an amateur one-mic recording from 1997, and the song listing is inaccurate. "1984" replaces "Robot Man/Paint It Black," Yes's "Wurm" is listed but not included, and Chrissie Hammond's exquisite vocals deserve a better showcase. The DVD's enjoyable interview clips offer modest compensation. --Jeff Shannon
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: DELIGHTFUL !!!!! Comment: Very emotional performance of this icon of progressive symphonic rock.Recorded in my natal city,Buenos Aires,in 1993,at the Gran Rex theatre,a place I'm very familiar with,having attended many concerts there,this very one included,I can tell you it has PERFECT acoustics,hence the mightiness of the sound.100'+ of PERFECT picture,countless camera angles,and a very young Adam Wakeman as a second keyboardist.The sound is very good only like 45% louder on the left channel,easily compensated for by the balance knob.The bass drums and tom toms are so dynamic I could barely handle them with my speakers (you'd better have a subwoofer).Ant Glynne,the guitarrist,treats us to a quasi heavy metal performance during the many solos he plays,making the overall sound very different from that of the studio records,a gorgeous feature if I may add.This has got to be if not the most pefect,the better,hottest,most emotional Rick's performance ever captured on video.As a plus,the extras feature a very interesting 15'interview in which Rick speaks about his musical carrer and the history of the shooting of the video.Long live the master !!!!!
On the other hand,the bonus audio cd is actually recorded from a cable TV broadcast,and is awful,making it the perfect gift for that in-law relative you love so much...... Customer Rating: Summary: One of the Best!! Comment: This is one of the best RW DVDs I've seen.
Set list:
1 Lancelot and the Black Knight (from "Myths & Legends...")
2 Catherine Howard/Catherine of Aragon (from "Six Wives...")
3 The Visit (from "Phantom Power")
4 Journey to the Centre of the Earth
5 Catherine Parr (from "Six Wives...")
6 Merlin the Magician ("Classic Tracks" version-with vocals)
7 Buried Alive (from "Returnt to the Centre of the Earth")
8 1984 (medley)
9 Starship Trooper (from "The Yes Album")
musicians:
Rick Wakeman - keyboards
Adam Wakeman - Keyboards & Backing Vocals
Tony Fernandez - Drums & Percussion
Damian Wilson - Vocals
Ant Glynne - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Lee Pomeroy - Bass
The sound is excelent, evey musician VERY talented.
Not just keyboards. Both the guitarrist and the bass player
have their solo parts.
A wild concert. HIGHLY RECOMENDED
Customer Rating: Summary: Great performances - good transfer, lousy vocals Comment: This is a must if you're a fan of Wakeman with a band, which I am. The concert really rocks with a great setlist, including the 2 Catherines (the best live recording of this medley I believe, with Rick playing that wonderful Korg Prophecy during the Celtic jig part); Merlin, featuring son Adam and Rick jousting with each other and their keytars which is fantastic (Adam really shines and lags not an iota behind his Dad in the slick fingers department); and an awesome version of Starship Trooper - well, Wurm really. Damian's vocals on Starship Trooper are cringeworthy but Adam and Ant Glynne really make up for it during their solos, and Rick brings in the Moog at the end for a really rollicking version of the Yes classic.
Rick has a good keyboard setup as well, featuring mainly his trusty Roland XV (streets ahead of that tinny Kurzweil he fancies on other recordings and which doesn't seem to get played here); the Minimoog, Roland 700 piano, Korg organ, O1W Pro X, and the Korg Trinity and Triton. All get a workout and it sounds great, strong and rocky enough to compete with the rest of the band and the Moog comes through very nicely, unlike some other Yes recordings where it seems to get drowned in the mix.
Lancelot is the opener and is also very tight and nice to hear played by the band. The sound quality is very good, much better than the accompanying CD which is pretty muddy; however Robot Man and After Prayers feature on that so it's worth listening to even if it does sound like it's coming through a mattress. After Prayers sounds wonderful and even Damian seems well-suited to its bluesy style. Apart from these two, the CD is not really memorable.
I won't say any more about Damian Wilson's vocals - either you like him or you don't. The grit-your-teeth section for me comes during Merlin where Damian sings lyrics. Bleah. Not a good move on Rick's part as I can't see where Merlin ever needed lyrics. Whatever the reasons he came up with, a great track is spoiled as a result.
Not much else on the DVD except an appealing interview with Rick about his career from early days to present, which you can now listen to word for word on the Yes Speak DVD, which is not a patch on this one in terms of spirit and atmosphere and pure rockin' fun. However you really don't need special features here, just the live concert is enough reason to buy this disc.
A keeper - great performances all round from Ant Glynne, Tony Fernandez, Lee Pommeroy, Adam Wakeman and of course the ol' legend himself, even if he did have to wear that funny cape for contractual reasons.
Customer Rating: Summary: Not so horrible !!! Comment: I bought this CD here in Brazil for U$4,00 mainly because I watch the show in Via Funchal here in my country, as part of the same Latin America tour. The sound is no so good but is a good CD. As previously commented the vocal is horrible but in the show it appears good for me, I think that the studio operator makes a horrible work. In live the vocal voice is good, believe me, but is not comparable with Anderson (Yes). Customer Rating: Summary: PERO��..........Y RICK WAKEMAN ? Comment: Si, solo se ve, pero no se escucha para nada. Es Rick Wakeman & The English Rock Ensemble o, The English Rock Ensemble & Rick Wakeman?, como es posible que siendo Rick el dueño y señor y la estrella principal, es el músico que menos se escucha. CONTRAS: 1. Porque hay una guitarra en la música de Rick Wakeman, si el guitarrista no aporta absolutamente nada, no toca bien y solo sirve para quitarle presencia a otros instrumentos y musicos especialmente a Rick?. 2. De donde ha sacado Rick a un cantante tan malo, pero tan malo como Damian Wilson, su voz solo provoca dolor de cabeza. 3. Es el peor mix de sonido que he escuchado en toda mi vida; no hay un volumen constante de los instrumentos, hay sonidos abruptos que aparecen de repente, la calidad deja mucho que desear............y lo principal............ 4. Cuando se tiene la responsabilidad de lanzar un DVD al mercado yo creo que lo principal es saber lo que realmente es la calidad de un DVD, sino entonces nos regresamos a las cintas BETA de por los 80's; como es posible que un músico como Rick, pudo haber sacado un DVD tan terrible. En que pensaban el y su producción?, PROS: Bueno ninguna, ok, talvez una, en el duelo de teclados que hace Rick y su hijo en Merlin.
Realmente una decepción de magnitudes astrales, y lo peor que no lo esperaba de un músico como Wakeman; y ni siquiera hablo del CD Extra, porque es malísimo, pero mil veces mas malísimo que el DVD. Creo que Rick debería buscarse otros ingenieros de sonido para la próxima.
