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Flying Colors — Live in Europe
Flying Colors will release Live in Europe on October 14 via Mascot Records. It is a recording of their performance in Tilburg, Netherlands, on September 20, 2012.
Available formats will include:
- 2CD
- 3LP (clear vinyl, limited to 1000 copies)
- Blu-ray
- DVD
Preorders made through Mascot webstore will come with the following bonuses:
- free MP3 download of The Storm (live) with download link in confirmation email
- free poster
- free MP3 downloads of Blue Ocean and Love Is What I’m Waiting For (recorded in Hamburg on September 9, 2012) with download links sent when your order is shipped
The Blu-ray and DVD includes the 45-minute documentary First Flight featuring interviews with the band members, meet & greet footage and candid moments on the road captured backstage, in the dressing rooms, the band bus, and during tour rehearsals. The documentary also features excerpts from songs recorded during the band’s very first show (LA, USA), first show in Europe (Hamburg, Germany) and final show (London, UK) of the tour.
The 3LP pack will be available separately or as a bundle with an exclusive t-shirt.
Track list:
- Blue Ocean
- Shoulda Coulda Woulda
- Love Is What I’m Waiting For
- Can’t Find A Way
- The Storm
- Odyssey
- Forever In A Daze
- Hallelujah
- Better Than Walking Away
- Kayla
- Fool In My Heart
- Spur of the Moment
- Repentance
- June
- All Falls Down
- Everything Changes
- Infinite Fire
Mascot records webstore: Europe, rest of the world
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
DVD and CD on the way, might have to buy the vinyl, tho. I sure hope this has good vocal coverage, it seemed to be an issue on playbacks, but that is usually the case. Mixed up, not down, hopefully.
September 3rd, 2013 at 20:58Really looking forward to this. One of the years best albums and a great gig at Shepherds Bush.
September 3rd, 2013 at 21:35what does this band have to do with deep purple?
September 3rd, 2013 at 23:02Hopefully soon we’ll have another album by FC. I loved the first one.
September 4th, 2013 at 17:52Great! The studio-album “Flying Colors” was one of the best things I’ve heard for years! Can’t wait to see the whole concert!
September 5th, 2013 at 08:43Does anybody know something more about the song “Hallelujah”? Is this a Leonard Cohen-Cover or perhaps their interpretation of the first MK II single from 1969?
Pity now that I did not go the Tilburg gig.
For me thats almost around the corner for crying out loud.
Based on recordings then I thoughjt the singer was dissappointing compared to the album.
Maybe I was wrong.
Always cool to have a professional recording of a gig one went to though 🙁
September 5th, 2013 at 09:54Not interested…why? I just don’t like their music…
September 5th, 2013 at 12:30I just viewed a clip (The Storm) over at Classic Rock, a good song, but please can Morse play some sort of different guitar solo? Man that is the same old same old from him again. That is the only thing that annoys me with his playing at times. So many solos have the same sweep picking twiddly dee thing in them. Predictable indeed! Cheers.
September 5th, 2013 at 21:03@3: Flying Colors is part of the huge Purple-family. PAL, Rainbow, Gillan, BCC, they all are history now. I think, Whitesnake and B’s Night will be history soon too. After some shows with “Living Loud”, Steve Morse formed “Flying Colors” with old bandmates and the fantastic ex-drummer from Dream Theater. This may be his musical future, when finally DP fades away 🙁
Another information just for you: Steve Morse is the current lead guitarist for Deep Purple.
September 5th, 2013 at 21:32Oh dear lord, Roberto. Did you see this, I have worked with the PR guy for years. I’m sure I might not be the only sending this in, but that’s the breaks. http://www.progrockmag.com/video/flying-colors-premiere-the-storm/
September 5th, 2013 at 21:43@Crab, really?! Eat Raven with the rest of those who seem to have disappeared since Now What?! was released. Opinion certainly honored, always, but the senselessness, well that’s another animal to chew on.
September 5th, 2013 at 23:09What a shame they didn’t include the second encore of Space Truckin’ on this. I downloaded it from YOUTUBE but now it has been removed. Great version with the band jumping in on alternate percussion.
This is a must have. Been spinning the studio CD quite a lot lately. Would love to sit down and watch a full length concert. Especially since they didn’t make it around here on tour. If they do another CD, I believe they will surpass the first. Great stuff for sure.
!Ch-BeerZ?
September 6th, 2013 at 01:37I know Larry you are a fan, I have the album and now I watched the video too…I love Morse and Romaine playing but despite this I hate that modern/alternative vibe…it’s a matter of personal tastes…
September 6th, 2013 at 12:15@12 I watched that “ST” version…it was embarassing in my opinion…that’s why, I guess, they didn’t include it…
September 6th, 2013 at 12:17No, I just think it’s a matter of narrow genre horizon, breathe, pal! 😀 It’s all about stretching outward, not inward to fit anyone’s taste but their own, and catch a bonus if it snowballs with the people as they repeat themselves better than most ever have, can, or will. But seriously, that has always been my only problem with Purple and hard/rock/classic rock fans who don’t give progressive rock any credence, being that is essentially what Deep Purple are. This has finally been proven in the studio for once by a musically directional, professional producer who’s finally captured much more than a mere essence of that. I will say that MB did not even attempt to do so, ie, epic fail! Opinions all aside, let’s dwell out of that and into some factual base, at least. I don’t care if you like it or not, if I did, then fair enough every post in here should be simply, “I like it or I don’t?!” Yawn, if so, ’cause that’s all it would make me do. But, now let’s go listen to some Doobies, instead of mkIII, ’cause I prefer their vocal harmonies to the pseudo funk!
September 7th, 2013 at 03:26Btw, I’m a fan of music, a merchant of it with copyright control of many songs, you seem to be hung up on the categories, not me.
September 7th, 2013 at 03:30Elevator Music
September 7th, 2013 at 15:34Despite everyone’s expectations I quite like(d) the studio album.
Space trucking indeed was the final nail during watching the YT’s. I m not sure what word describes it best. Yeah, emberassing maybe.
September 8th, 2013 at 09:19MacGregor @8…..I agree. Steve Morse is an excellent guitar technician, but frankly his solos are very repetitive. His playing on Now What!? shows much more restraint than he usually shows in live concert…probably the influence of Bob Ezrin brought to bear on studio proceedings. Much as Steve is a very good guitarist, he simply does not have the same emotional melodic feel that Blackmore had when playing live. Every Blackmore solo was unique….they stood out….I can’t same the same for Steve Morse. Unfortunate, but that’s the way it seems.
September 8th, 2013 at 10:34Larry, toghether with hard rock, progressive music it’s my favourite genre…I’m just giving my opinion on this forum and if you don’t care about mine what should I say? I could only suggest to not make easy provocations (Doobie/MkIII) instead of saying what I should be hung up on the categories (which is more a common music journalists thing…)
September 10th, 2013 at 11:49Another time: Take it easy Larry…
Deeperpurps@ 19- yes I agree, I have commented earlier in regards to Morse ‘holding back’ on NW, a much more melodic restrained approach works well IMO. I noticed back in the 80’s with the ‘newer’ guitarists that emerged, that they just played too much at times when soloing. The sweep picking thing really is annoying with certain guitarist’s, but each to their own. I remember reading a few interviews from the ‘old school’ musicians in regards to ‘modern’ guitar players. Many of them state that it is often what someone ‘doesn’t’ play that can get the message through. Leave it out was another comment, don’t play anything, leave it space to breathe etc!
September 10th, 2013 at 21:46Of course the maestro David Gilmour always springs to mind in regards to that sort of thing! Cheers.
MacGregor @21 – Exactly…David Gilmour is the perfect embodiment of the “less is more” approach, the most melodic guitar player ever. Blackmore too was very melodic, but with speed.
September 11th, 2013 at 16:59@Roberto, it should be very easy for any adult to be particular about something they just blanketly remark about. To excuse yourself as limited in taste is one thing, but it says nothing to back distaste for it. It will always turn a head or two when you negatively carry on without a real point. It gets old, man. I do see how I’m a common journalist, but whatever. I’m just a fan here, nothing more. There are facts about this kind of behavior, and it usually comes from something inside the person that they’re not getting enough of elsewhere, so they have to while about how something on the side rubs them. Fine, be silly, I’ll be adult and stay flexible, it’s like the difference between extreme pain and no pain. Now we await whoever got to THS first to post the Perfect Strangers DVD clip. Bring on the real Morse haters, not just the pretty gripers, but the Blackmoron’s about to raid this blog, again. Perhaps you’ll get your classic rock fill then.(btw, doesn’t just about anything beat classic rock?!) I do think the Doobies topped Purple in 1974-5 when all Purple did was add their same vocal duet style to make up for just one of the greatest, while they sit somewhere down that list to this day as the “replacements” they only added up to be in a few very short years that somehow reflect back on a kid who wasn’t even there. 😀 Btw, former journalist, current label owner.
September 17th, 2013 at 15:57Opinion is one thing, expressing it is another thing altogether. To do it without detail is just not contributing, like it or not. It’s just bitching.
September 17th, 2013 at 16:01@ 19, 21:
To me, Steve by far played his best Purple performances with Jon on organ between 1996 and 1999. I really love the DVD “Total Abandon, Live in Australia 1999”. Both, Jon and Steve, were on fire at that time and their perfomances were quite explosive and spontaneous. They totally hold up to any performance of the band with Ritchie since the reunion days. But even more important: The performances were consistently good. Back then I didn’t feel that Steve’s solos were repetitive, on the other hand I had to adjust to his guitar sound. I’m still of the opinion that a good Fender Stratocaster plugged into an old Marshall Plexi would sound a lot better than his Music Man and Engl amp. Rob Harris, who played with Don Airey on his latest solo tour, promoting “All Out”, used the Fender/Marshall combination – no comparison, what a tone.
September 18th, 2013 at 01:59Tommy H. @ 25, yes I think you have made an excellent point there about the sound and tone of Steve’s set-up. Though it is distinctive, it just doesn’t have that nasty gritty aspect to it that Blackmore’s did. Don’t get me wrong, Steve Morse is an excellent guitarist with a sound all his own – I have seen some of the early videos and have seen him in concert 3 times – the man can play, there is no doubt about that. Its just that he does tend to do a lot of the same quick runs in his solos in many songs, to the point where his solos are not particularly memorable. When he slows down, as he did do on Now What?!, his playing is a lot more tasty.
September 18th, 2013 at 13:51Tommy H @ 25 – & Deeperpurps @ -26- Excellent comments regarding guitar tone etc! I have always loved the original sound of a classic guitar through a classic amp! It is simply the greatest sound, Fender & Gibson, Marshall & Fender & Vox. Hiwatt also. I have never really felt comfortable with the ‘modern’ guitarists sound & in some cases their technique also!
September 19th, 2013 at 10:54Dare I use the words ‘Old School’ again!
I have been using that saying quiet a lot lately. I am slowly growing old as we all are, dare I say the word nostalgic even?
I viewed The Dregs ‘Sects, Dregs & Rock ‘n Roll’ dvd again a few night back! Brilliant stuff indeed & where Morse really shines IMHO, also with his power trio! I don’t mind his own guitar sound there, that is where it sounds good. But with Purple, yes, it would be good to hear a Strat through a Marshall! Having said that, it would be ‘strange’ seeing Morse with that sort of rig, as we are all used to seeing him with his own guitar over the last few decades! I do remember seeing & hearing him years ago with a Telecaster in the early Dregs days! I am not sure what other guitars he may have used also back then? Cheers.
@ 26, 27:
A musician with Steve’s abilities who plays his own signature guitar through his signature amp must have a very clear vision of the sound he’s after. One arrives at a more complex setup after a long research and sometimes experiments are successful. But it’s very hard to keep the primal character of the tone alive when changing so much. For example: The Marshall tone was born with the Plexi (JTM 45, 1959, Super 100, etc.) overdriven by a simple booster pedal and everyone who heard the difference between the quality of those amps and Marshall’s modern creations would agree with me saying that since then it went downhill and the Plexi’s soul got lost over the years. I’m happy that they still build them as reissues. In my experience it’s often for the better to leave things as they are because their concept is already perfect. Many, many awesome musicians using a product over decades must be an indicator of quality. It doesn’t take much to be unhappy about a detail regarding tone. But sometimes it takes years to recognize that e.g. the concept of a Fender Stratocaster already is as good as it needs to be apart from minor adjustments maybe.
September 21st, 2013 at 14:03Tommy H @-28- Yes, I can see why certain guitarists only use one type of guitar amp, after years of trying so many different set ups, it must be a relief in many ways that they can simplify their rig & sound. Brian May has been doing that for ages, Robert Fripp also, although Fripp’s rig is a handful to ‘carry’ around. Those poor roadies & their troublesome back injuries eh? All those heavy Marshalls & other large tube amps, would have taken their toll over the years no doubt!
September 22nd, 2013 at 11:54Regarding the one guitar (and a back up course), It also negates the hassle of carrying so many different guitars around & more importantly, it reduces the chance of some scum bag stealing a guitar or two. That has happened to too many musicians over the decades!
But having said that, as a fan who doesn’t have to worry about all those issues, I have always enjoyed seeing & hearing of course, guitarist’s playing many different types of guitars at a concert. I just love the diversity of sound & technique that that brings to the music! Steve Howe still has quiet a few different guitars with him on the road. Alex Lifeson used to back in Rush’ early days. Jimmy Page also, & there are others no doubt I haven’t mentioned! Cheers.
@ 29:
Yeah, diversity is important. There are a lot of instruments which are good in their own right. At least amp setups are getting smaller due to better PA systems and micing. But a drum kit or keyboard rig still can be very extensive. Don Airey’s setup is pretty simple. More or less there are three instruments: a Hammond organ, a Kurzweil workstation (for piano and stuff) and a Minimoog synthesizer. Hammond amplification is heavy (two Leslies and a guitar head + cab) and he uses a rack. That’s it (more or less) and still a lot to haul around. A lot musicians think that their fellow keyboardist is just mirror-gazing if he decided to use more than one instrument. Even if there was an instrument which could provide the sound of a Hammond organ and piano the same way as the real instruments do, there is still a boundary regarding the keybed and action. A piano features attack, sustain and decay apart from a heavy weighted keyboard which is totally different to an organ and greatly affects the playing technique and approach. It’s not even like comparing an acoustic to an electric guitar.
September 25th, 2013 at 01:08Tommy H @ 30 – Rick Wakeman’s setup was over the top in the early 70’s! In the interview with Wakeman & Jon Lord, they chat about those sort of differences in the keyboard/piano things! And of course the’ Beast’ set up as Lord called it, brilliant stuff!
September 25th, 2013 at 09:36Keith Emerson also had a ‘few’ keyboards. Imagine being the tech for those guys, sheesh!
Rick Wright from Pink Floyd had a basic setup as well. Only 3 keys perhaps, the Wurlitzer was one I think from memory. I still find it hard to believe that Wright & Lord are no longer with us! The 2 most melodic ‘rock’ keyboard players I have heard in my time!
Tony Banks from Genesis was another outstanding & very melodic player! Cheers.
@ 31:
Of course Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman and other progrock keyboardists had much bigger setups than Jon Lord or Don Airey. I didn’t see the interview with Rick and Jon but the “beast-thing” was quite popular at the time Jon switched from Leslies to Marshalls. The problem is quite obvious: Keyboardists or organists respectively who wanted to compete with a guitar had use guitar amps or modified Leslie speakers to be loud enough. The beautiful thing back then was that the very best tube amps were still produced or at least pretty easy to get hold of if one had the money to afford them. It sounded awesome right away although it requires a totally different approach to play a Hammond through a guitar amp. I’m of the opinion that the Hammond/Marshall setup brought the best out of Jon. I still don’t understand why he has never used straight guitar amplification again after Mark II split up in 1973. It was Don who introduced the Hammond to the guitar amp again after so many years and the result is without a comparison. What a sound!
October 1st, 2013 at 18:07Tommy H @32……I have read a number of times that running a Hammond through a guitar amp requires a modification in how keyboardist plays……I have never understood what such an approach would entail. Could you kindly provide some further insights, I am very interested to know more about this Thanks!
October 1st, 2013 at 22:43After a few good looks thru the entire show I can’t knock much but perhaps Portnoy’s “front man” act. His performing otherwise is great, if a bit on the Transatlantic side. I think the singer cuts it but only because it shows in every place just who sings which parts and the backing vocals are essential to the whole vocal result, kind of like Queen or other vocal bands. It shows he’s good at all of his parts. I do not like the film edits with the shaky bits that come in left right and from above. Too busy and I don’t understand the point of all the lights which double the distraction. But I do like how it kind of feels like you’re in the house. I will get way more mileage out of the CD. Highlights for me are Forever In A Daze, SCW, Love Is What I’m Waiting For, Infinite Fire. Dave LaRue really shines, as well.
October 2nd, 2013 at 08:31@ 33:
Thanks for your interest.
At first it has to be said that an old Hammond organ (C3, B3, A100 etc.) has nine mechanical contacts below every key. There are nine drawbars per drawbar set as well, so every contact closes the curcuit for a certain drawbar. It starts out with the highest (1 foot) and the lowest contact is the 16 foot (“foot” refers to the size of the simulated pipe). If you don’t hit a note accurately this kind of “action” is very forgiving. Today’s Hammond clones (apart from the Hammond New B3 or C3) only feature one key contact. The percussion effect (e.g. Child In Time Intro) requires the 1 foot contact which deactivates the respective drawbar.
A guitar amp will feature certain frequencies more prominently than a Leslie amp, i.e. mids and treble. In most cases the bass frequencies are dramatically reduced. It is therefore a task to find an amp that doesn’t cut the bass frequencies too much. When Ritchie came up with the Marshall Major (200 Watts of tube power, 4x KT88) it is no surprise to me that Jon went for the Major as well. Not only that this monster of a Marshall provided plenty of bass, it had a relatively smooth high end as well (whatever “smooth” means to you in that regard). Because of the enhanced higher frequencies one has to be very careful with the drawbars. The highest three of them often sound terrible through a guitar amp.
What has this all to do with the playing technique? There are some dos and don’ts in order to cope with the different frequency response. Left-hand comping should be as reduced as possible because the lower notes easily tend to sound muddy. Also you have to be careful not to press too many keys at once because you’ll otherwise get all sorts of distortion which doesn’t sound good either. To put in a nutshell, you have to reduce and rearrange your playing which inevitably leads to some sort of guitar-like approach. I always liked the way Jon changed drawbar settings on the fly. This is something very beautiful to do but it requires more experience and sensitivity if you want to do that on a Hammond organ plugged into a guitar amp. The swell (= volume) pedal of a Hammond requires a technique as well and the dynamics of a guitar amp are also different than those of Leslie speakers. The Leslie speakers also cover your mistakes a lot better; they really shine through without mercy when using a guitar amp. Therefore you have to have a more accurate playing technique. The highest octave is a problem area when using a guitar amp and again requires more sensitivity regarding the drawbar setting. The Percussion effect tends to sound very sharp and you’ll need more accuracy and sensitivity as well when using this effect. The scanner chorus/vibrato thickens the sound which leads to an even more reduced playing when active.
That’s what I could instantly think of and I hope it makes sense to you ;-)!
October 3rd, 2013 at 12:42Tommy @ 35, Thank you very much for this detailed explanation. Now I understand what Jon Lord was doing in all those old videos. And his statements about what a challenge “the Beast” was to play all make sense now. I appreciate the insights you have provided on this. Best regards.
October 3rd, 2013 at 23:40Tommy H @ 35- an interesting read indeed! Cheers!
October 6th, 2013 at 01:18@ 36, 37:
You’re welcome. The Hammond is a fantastic instrument and the first time I heard Jon’s spellbinding tone and playing it was clear to me that I have to own and play a Hammond as well. That was about 13 years ago. After a few years of saving money I made my dream come true and I haven’t been happier playing music ever since. It was a live changing experience. Thank you and God bless you, Jon!
October 7th, 2013 at 11:57@ 38: … I meant “life” changing experience …
October 7th, 2013 at 11:59