Wetton, John: Live Via Satellite

John Wetton is a progressive rock legend so a long background introduction is not needed on these pages. The man has been quite busy lately, releasing the live recording New York Minute in 2015 along with the album I now hold in my hands, Live Via Satellite.

This is an interesting live effort from Mr. Wetton. The first disc comes via Stockholm, Sweden from a venue Wetton describes as "what appears to be a circus tent in the middle of what seems to be a fairground." Armed with only his acoustic guitar and is still wonderfully warm and melodic voice he gave the audience a different take on fourteen tracks spanning his entire career from King Crimson to UK to Asia to more recent solo material.

The Swedish concert begins with the ambient and lovely orchestrated short instrumental "the Circle Of St. Giles" and quickly segues into the Asia classic "Heat of the Moment". I appreciate the different version here with lovely acoustic arpeggios and Wetton's classic voice. Crimson's "Book of Saturday" is next showcasing a slightly moodier vibe with Wetton's vocals as poignant as ever. "Battle Lines" is the title track taken from his solo discography and is another reflective offering with a tinge of sadness detected in the vocals. Another highlight has to be the beautiful "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", the Asia classic taken from the Alpha album and ideally suited for the acoustic treatment. Wetton's vocals are spine tingling good. The bluesy "Easy Money" with Wetton's emotive vocals, taken from Crimson's Larks' Tongues In Aspic is another highlight. Here Wetton's acoustic rhythms and picking vary in intensity giving the track some nice dynamics.

The second disc was recorded during Wetton's full band North American tour in 2002 at XM Radio Studio One, Washington DC. A small audience was invited to hear this one off concert as again it is just Wetton and his guitar. Four years later his voice is still pure gold. The track listing is nearly identical which is a bit unfortunate but there are subtle differences and the recording quality is excellent on both discs.

In the accompanying booklet Wetton says, "join me in my journey through decades of my music" and to "immerse yourself in the music and accompany me through space and time." Well, all I can say is any longtime fan of Wetton will welcome this collection into their music library as it easily demonstrates a musician clearly at peace with himself and his music.

Track Listing:
CD 1
1. The Circle of St. Giles
2. Heat of the Moment
3. Book of Saturday
4. Battle Lines
5. Arkangel
6. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
7. Easy Money
8. Emma
9. 30 Years
10. Hold Me Now
11. Rendezvous 6:02
12. The Night Watch
13. You're Not the Only One
14. Starless
CD 2
1. Introduction
2. The Circle of St. Giles
3. Heat of the Moment
4. Mondrago/Book of Saturday
5. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
6. 30 Years
7. Hold Me Now
8. Arkangel
9. Emma
10. Sole Survivor
11. Rendezvous 6:02
12. The Water is Wide
13. Starless
14. Battle Lines
15. The Celtic Cross

Added: May 24th 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 1587
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]