Erik Norlander's vision to take the many creations of the late Bob Moog to new heights is quickly being realized in his new outfit The Galactic Collective. This sizzling concert, filmed in May of 2011 at the Rites of Spring Festival (or RoSfest as most of us like to call it) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was not the first time that Norlander has appeared at the yearly festival, but was the first time this new group made their debut at it. Featuring the same line-up that we saw on The Galactic Collective CD (Norlander, guitarist Freddy DeMarco, bassist Mark Matthews, drummer Nick LePar, and vocal help from wife Lana Lane & Debrissa McKinney), the band once again recreates all those songs for the RoSfest audience, plus another hours worth of familiar material to fill up a 2 hour set.
All those sensational instrumentals are here, including "Arrival", "Neurosaur", "Sky Full of Stars, "Astrology Prelude", "Trantor Station", "After the Revolution", "Dark Water", "Garden of the Moon" and more, each one coming from a different album that Norlander's been involved in, whether it be his solo albums, Rocket Scientists, or Lana Lane. With his huge 'wall of doom' behind him (I'm not kidding you, his keyoard rack is so immense that Keith Emerson is probably shaking in his boots at the sheer size of it!) Norlander and the troops tear into all these wonderful, keyboard drenched symphonic rock, hard rock, and prog pieces with plenty of virtuoso flair. Great to see Lana out there too, belting out a couple of vocal numbers, especially the heavy "Secrets of Astrology". Moog fans are in for a treat, as Erik made sure that all the RoSfest fans in attendance got a healthy dose of the legendary synthesizer that is so beloved by prog rock lovers.
The camera work throughout is very good, the picture quality crisp, and the audio on both the DVD and CDs are dynamite, quite excellent for a live recording. As with any Norlander release, the package comes with a thick booklet filled with photos from the concert, lyrics, track info, and commentary from Erik himself. Basically, you can't go wrong with this, and if you are a fan this set will be a mandatory purchase.
Track Listing
Disc One
01 Arrival
02 Neurosaur
03 Fanfare for Absent Friends
04 Sky Full of Stars
05 Capture the Sun
06 Astrology Prelude
07 Secrets of Astrology
08 Trantor Station
09 After the Revolution
Disc Two
10 Garden of the Moon
11 The Dark Water
12 Sunset Prelude
13 Into the Sunset
14 Dreamcurrents
15 Hymn
16 Into the Sunset Reprise
17 Sunset Postlude
Disc Three-DVD
Full show, plus Erik Norlander commentary to audience in between songs, and "Garden of the Moon"-Live in Cleveland clip
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