Wow, and I really mean Wow!
A smorgasbord of the finest keyboard talents in the world. Unfortunately I am not familiar with all of the artists that were there, and they did a great job too, but we had many of the big names. I will focus, in this review, on the artists that I know.
To start, I must mention how much Bob was missed, by myself and everyone else there. This was a continuation of his vision, and a tribute to all he has given us. I believe everyone who was there felt his spirit with us.
I arrived a little late. Bernie Worrell was dishing out his usual stream of inspired jazz-funk. Bernie is always a treat. His jazzy, full-tilt jam was not to be missed. His music has a life of it’s own and seems to go where it wants.
The Mahavishnu project was a real treat. The eastern melodies and 70’s fusion jazz backbeat was everything I remember from Mahavishnu orchestra.
Jordan Rudess from Dream Theatre did an incredible performance. Most impressive was his demo of the new Little Phatty. He told us about how he used to get “space sounds” out of his first synthesizer. This is the way I started on an old Moog Modular system. He played a piece that he said he wrote when he was younger. It was like the beginning of Rush 2112, The synth break in ELP’s Tocatta, and the synth break in Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein all in one. Totally far out sounds, but what amazed me is that all that sound was coming out of this small, inexpensive, unassuming synth with a handful of knobs and all the look of a Moog synth. I was blown away. I own a Moog Voyager, and would never have imagined that you could get that much sound out of Moogs new, affordable synth. There seemed to be no limitiations to the pallette of sounds you can get. For all you gear heads that can’t swing a Voyager, this is a great new board. You will not be disappointed.
Jan Hammer was cranking out slabs of retro synth leads and haunting melodies, as I have become accustomed to from him over the years. He even played Led Boots and Blue Wind from Jeff Beck’s wired album. Two of my favorite Moog Lead songs. They sounded dead on. Great performance. Glad to see he is still rocking.
Last but definately not least. All hail Emo! Keith Emerson, with the mighty Moog Modular towering over him, started off with a sequence which quickly evolved into the filter sequence at the beginning of Karn Evil9. This was enough to get my adrenaline levels soaring. He then gave his fans a full dose of classic ELP. His extended Jam from Tarkus was not to be missed. Lot’s of action and antincs. No knives though, but I think he was ready to stab his ribbon controller, which unfortunatelly malfunctioned. Like the consummate professional he is, he quickly compensated with some screaming leads and continued with Lucky Man. When he hit the low notes in the Lucky Man solo, the room shook so much I thought the building was going to collapse. It was a true pleasure hearing that classic solo from the old modular beast. Finally he did a quick, but rousing encore of Fanfare for the Common Man.
Add to that, the virtuoso performances of the other artists, awards, and a touching speech from Bob Moogs children, this was a great time. I hope this short review does Moogfest justice.
Thanks to the folks at Moog Music for putting together this incredible performance.
Rob Littauer
Ultraworld Studio
www.ultraworld-studio.com