Search - Rick Wakeman: Live on DVD

Wakeman's fingers

Synthesizer fan | USA | 12/08/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There's awesome playing by Rick Wakeman (as always) on this DVD. Wakeman makes use of incredibly fast fingers to play blazingly fast melodies, solos and multiple keyboards simultaneously. Disappontments that I have are that 2 copies of this DVD have video problems on my DVD player (square colored "tiles" on the screen). It could be a hardware problem on my end (Sony DVP-S500D) as it plays fine at the store where I bought the disc. This is however, the only DVD that does not play correctly out of the 30 or so titles that I've used in the player. My second disappointment is that Wakeman does not play the same keyboards that he used when he first recorded these songs. The new breed of keyboards are capable of remarkable new sounds (which he uses) but for performing these great songs of the past I can't help but feel that part of that classic sound is lost in the transistion. On the good side, there's Wakeman playing live (!) which is great to watch and I'm very happy with the camera angles and closeups. The sound is nice and clear...very good actually, but the audience's clapping is too loud in the mix (imagine crumpling a brown paper bag right on a microphone's pickup at full volume with the bass up). The track listing is:
Catherine Parr
Elizabeth Rock/Make me a Woman
Anne Boleyn
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Merlin the Magician
Musicians:
Rick!- keys
Ashley Holt- vocals, electronic percussion
Tony Fernandez- drums, percussion
David Paton- bass

Andrew's overall summary:
A must have DVD for Wakeman fans.
"

OUTSTANDING!!!

Synthesizer fan | 08/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an incredible performance by former YES keyboardist Rick Wakeman. The audio sounds like a studio recording and there is also a lot of great camera angles to make you feel like you're right there with Rick and his band (which incudes awesome drum work by Tony Fernandez). The running time is only an hour, but at least that hour is jampacked with fantastic music performed by the best keyboardist ever to walk the planet Earth."

Very Nice & Intimate Performance

Roger | Castles | 02/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this video back in 1994 or so. It was my first time to see Rick Wakeman in action, so far I only had Six Wives of Henry the VIII and that was it.
This video made me want to know his music better and started to collect him, then I became a fan.
This is a very nice and intimate performance by a great band. David Paton on bass is excellent, Tony Fernandez on drums(who has been playing with Rick since 1976) & Ashley Holt on vocals and percussion (who sang in the classic albums Journey and Arthur).
My main point to write this review is because it upsets me some review I read here.
I think Ashley Holt's vocals are gorgeous.
The rendition of Merlin, The Magician is great too. Like I said up there, I didn't know Rick's music so well when I first saw this video, so this was my first listening to the song. Then I bought Arthur and found out it was instrumental there. Well, so what? Let's enjoy both versions. If someone likes the instrumental one watch Rick live in Australia 1975, and if you like the sang version, here you go. In my case, I love both so I enjoy watching both videos ;-) Now, the idiot BALOONBOB from Japan is so very stupid that I can't believe it. Where the heck does he have his eyes? During the drum solo, it's Rick Wakeman playing the percussion on his keyboards. Can't you see the video Bob????? They show it there very clear :-S So you are very wrong saying that Ashley Holt ruins it with his toys. And the drum solo is not ruined by Rick anyways. Balloonbob, you are such an idiot going out there talking bullsh*t without knowing what you are talking about. What a person you are. Anyways, coming back to the video. Yes, there's just one thing dissapointing, and it's the vintage keyboards are not there. I know it's a pain travelling with all of them, but I'm glad that these days he's taking the MINI-MOOG again with him, along with the other Hi-Tech Keyboards.You will enjoy this video if you like good music, it's not just for Wakeman fans, it's for people with good taste.5 stars - the performance
5 stars - the quality and cameras angles
5 stars - to balloonbob for stupidicity ;-) see ya"

REFINED CONCENTRATED VIRTUOSITY! STUNNING!

Robert Dyer | Ichikawa, Chiba Japan | 06/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rick Wakeman's return to stage during his limited 1990 tour (which barely covered England and Europe) featured a very tight band. Notable here is Tony Fernandez, who does a stunning job on the drums (although his drum solo is ruined by Ashley Holt). His renditions are nothing short of breathtaking. There is even a place where his fingers, on a close up min-cam wave hello with two fingers while in the middle of a solo! Each song is note-perfect, especially Merlin The Magician and Elizabethan Rock. The bring down was the decision to bring back Ashley Holt, the vocalist from RW's famous Sydney live concert feed in 1975 for Journey to the Center of The Earth. This man is talented, bu obviously a has-been. His voice is still quite good, but he tries too hard and ends up failing miserably, especially on "Make Me A Woman." His, dare-I-call-it percussion during Tony's drums solo was unforgivable! Obviously he and Rick are old friends and Rick is doing him a favor, but the feel of the drum solo is totally ruined by Holt's banging away on his Simmons Pad toys. Overall a great video to own, but a bit flawed. The sound quality is crisp, full and direct. Flawless. Once you get past the Holt Issue, you have a fantastically inspiring concert. Very intimate. If you are a RW fan, BUY IT!"