I still can’t believe their production people didn’t say, “Hey, let’s get good video of this since we are getting all the audio.” Then the sales manager says, “Great idea!!! We can package it and make a great immersive DVD experience!!” Talking about falling asleep at the wheel!
There are very few vocalists that sound as good live as they do the album, but Joel is definitely one of them. When I first heard him, I thought he's just a cheap knockoff of Mikael Åkerfeldt but boi was I wrong XD
The Thing is what I always recommend to people who love Alien (my personal favorite movie of all time) - almost on the same level. Very similar premise (Dan O'Bannon who wrote Alien was directly inspired by his work on Dark Star w/Carpenter as well as Thing From Another World/Who Goes There?, on record as saying (paraphrasing), "If I couldn't make a silly/funny alien, I wanted to make a scary one" - and oh boy he did!) but completely different atmosphere. Alien is more or less played seriously (though there are definitely funny moments) but The Thing has such a fantastic sense of humor and is also very serious and scary at the same time. Wilford Brimley's entire character lives rent free in my head. Interestingly I've been trying to get my dad to watch The Thing for years because he and I both love Alien - but he hates most other horror. Couldn't stand The Fly and doesn't like much body horror. Think he would love The Thing if he gave it a proper chance though.
I have to say that Mangini is kicking some major league ass on the drums, he did an excellent job playing the Bozzio parts and it was a nice treat to hear him play a smaller kit instead of his much more larger scaled set up that he always played with DT. He matched up very well with Jobson, Wetton and Machacek who all sounded amazing as always. This UK live lineup even though it was very short lived and only last a handful of shows was very fantastic. RIP John Wetton. One of the greatest singers ever
I have to say out of all of the live performances i have seen of UK playing the entire 'In The Dead Of Night suite', i have to say that this one really stands up as one of the best ever. It sounds absolutely incredible, everyone is on top form. John Wetton is on top form, both musically and vocally as this sadly would turn out to be his final ever live performance before his passing, Eddie Jobson is a monster on both keyboards and violin, Alex Machacek is more than a worthy successor for the legendary Allan Holdswoth delivering great playing that would make the man himself very proud and Mike Mangini who came on aboard for the final shows delivers one of his best drum performances ever, he not only stays faithful to the style of the legendary Bill Bruford but remains true to his own drumming. He did an excellent job. All four musicians as a band sound great. RIP John Wetton and thank you for all of the legendary music. One of the true iconic voices
Back in 1979 UK played in Puerto Rico my first concert. I still have the ticket. 13 Bucks about 6 Rows in front of us in Arena. It is the most amazing experience in my life. it made me a musician It was one of the best shows ever in Puerto Rico but for me the best I've seen Rush ,ACDC, Van Halen , Judas, Maiden, Scorpions ,Toto Kansas and some more But Terry Bozzio played like a crazy man in complete control and gestures , Jobson was magical in fact we were seated in the center on that row like 6 Row I saw the show Bozzio was insane
The Thing (1982) directed by John and Alien (1979) directed by Ridley Scott to me both of them are all about fear and paranoia and isolation and most important of all horror so as a 90s kid and an early 2000s kid i have considered both The Thing (1982) and Alien (1979) the greatest sci-fi horror movies ever created as well:).
1000000% agree with you. Though I'm personally partial to Alien, Alien was actually inspired directly by The Thing, obviously before Carpenter's The Thing was actually made. Alien screenwriters Dan O' Bannon and Ron Shusett (sp?) worked with Carpenter on Dark Star and were inspired by both that and the source material for The Thing (The Thing From Another World and Who Goes There?). (They also wrote Verhoeven's Total Recall. How the fuck can you be so talented as to write two completely different but equally brilliant sci-fi scripts?) EDIT: Shusett did not actually work on Dark Star, that was all O'Bannon.
I saw the 1978 tour and at the beginning of the set, I felt rather than heard the opening note of Alaska. The CS-80 made sounds that even Rick Wakeman & Patric Moraz hadn’t played when I’d seen them during Relayer and Going For The One. Eddie is a consummate multi-instrumentalist and composer. And the violin solo on Time To Kill, had Eddie beaming a laser through the his acrylic violin. I was mesmerized. I had seen John with Uriah Heep after Gary Thain died before and was quite familiar with John and Bill Bruford, with their playing for Yes and King Crimson. Subsequent to that tour, I had the opportunity to meet both Allan and Steve Morse, when they toured together in the early 80’s. I am a guitar player that grew up on Jazz, Blues, Classical and Latin music. I still love progressive fusion in its’ many forms. There were absolute GIANTS in this genre. I am blessed to have seen many of the prog tours that came through DFW, at that time.
Incredible performance. I prefer when they play their pre Viva Emptiness songs in their original tuning like they did here. They often just play them in C standard which kind of messes with the tonal vibe of those songs. Wish this song would be more of a live staple.
I saw them on March 22, 1984, in Eugene, Oregon. It was the Love At First Sting tour, and it kicked ass! John Butcher Axis opened. I met Mathias afterward. What a fun night!
