Ah Tilburg...the famed location in Holland where so many modern day progressive rock bands have played live and recorded those performances over the years is staggering. From Transatlantic, to Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Flying Colors, Spock's Beard, and Neal Morse solo just to name a few have released stunning albums from performances in the Netherlands, and now you can add The Neal Morse Band to this list. Performing the entire The Similitude of a Dream concept album from 2016, this supergroup of Neal Morse (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals), Randy George (bass), Eric Gillette (guitar, vocals), and Bill Hubauer (keyboards, vocals) completely knock it out of the park on this thrilling live CD/DVD combo pack, which includes four discs in total, two of each format.
While the spiritual messages that's always present in Morse's lyrics still remain here with The Similitude of a Dream, with this line-up he's created music that's much heavier and raucous than the Neal Morse solo material, closer actually to progressive metal in spots, thanks to the ever present drumming from ex-Dream Theater legend Portnoy and the bone crunching & nimble picking of Gillette, a real guitar hero in the making. Let's also be clear, this is indeed a BAND, with all the members taking an active part in the arrangements and the vocals, and though Neal is still the centerpiece, he equally gives the spotlight to everyone in the group. Track by track, they tear through perfect renditions of some of the most memorable pieces from this stunning album, including "City of Destruction", "Makes No Sense", "Back to the City", "So Far Gone", "The Mask", "The Battle", and of course "Sloth". Great to see so many fans bringing their stuffed sloth animal toys to the event as well. As always Morse is a fantastic frontman, whether he is behind the keyboards or strapping on his Fender Stratocaster or acoustic guitar (the guy also plays a mean guitar), and vocally he is in fine form too. Gillette is also a damn good singer as well as ferocious guitar player, and Hubauer also lends plenty of lead vocals to these songs. Just a great, great all around performance.
The visuals and audio presentation are top notch here, as we've come to expect from these Tilburg shows. The Similitude of a Dream is one of the best prog-rock concept albums to come out in recent years, and as immediate and powerful the studio album is, it's even better performed live. This is a must have live set folks, and one of the best of 2018!
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
Disc One:
1. Intro
2. Long Day
3. Overture
4. The Dream
5. City of Destruction
6. We Have Got to Go
7. Makes No Sense
8. Draw the Line
9. The Slough
10. Back to the City
11. The Ways of a Fool
12. So Far Gone
13. Breath of Angels
Disc Two:
1. Slave to Your Mind
2. Shortcut to Salvation
3. The Man in the Iron Cage
4. The Road Called Home
5. Sloth
6. Freedom Song
7. I'm Running
8. The Mask
9. Confrontation
10. The Battle
11. Broken Sky / Long Day (Reprise)
12. Momentum
13. Author of Confusion
14. Agenda
15. The Call
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