Also see: Par Lindh Project ~ Alaska
From: Roy DeRousse
Par Lindh Project, Barry Palmer/Dave Duncan, and Alaska will play a long format concert on
June 5, 1999 at Centenary Church in St. Louis and also at Off Broadway Nightclub on June
7. This includes the world premiere of Barry Palmer's material on radio or in live
performance. You will hear Barry's vocals on classic Triumvirat songs supported by Swedish
keyboard maestro Par Lindh and the Par Lindh Project and with Alaska. The Triumvirat
Tribute material has not been played in 2 decades. The church will let the concert go as
long as the artists want to play and all artists are cooperating with each other now for
these concerts which give you the best of the individual groups plus the bonus of a
historic Tribute to Triumvirat Music. Check out www.triumvirat.net for updates as they
occur such as venue photos, ticket sales, videos sales, and more.
From: Steve Taaffe <>
I just got back last night (Tuesday) from the St. Louis concert featuring Barry
Palmer(Triumvirat), Alaska and Par Lindh Project. In a word it was incredible.
Barry was over to St. Louis from London for his only US visit and played several
of his new songs he is working on for release later this year. Barry gave me a
copy of his demo cd to play on Radio Free Kansas which I will be doing next
week. He had John and Al of Alaska backing him up while he also played the
classic Triumvirat songs including "I Believe". Alaska had the
Triumvirat sound down perfect. Alaska's own set of music was from the cd that
they have out now plus they played several ELP tunes. John's keyboard work was
fantastic as was Al's drumming skills. The first concert was on Saturday June
5th at the Centenary Church in St. Louis which featured the turn of the century
authentic pipe organ which Par Lindh played. Everybody there was in awe as Par
played it. Par Lindh Project, from Sweden, played a lot of their music from the
cd's that they have released. The interaction between all the members of Par
Lindh was incredibly tight. One special treat for those of us attending the
second concert, which was on this past Monday night at The Off Broadway Club in
St. Louis, was that Par Lindh played the Hammond C3. It was very cool to hear
that. I had permission to tape all the musicians as well as Rob LaDuca, who
manages Par Lindh and Alaska and plan to have the real audio interview on the
website within one week. Rob said the concert tour has been a huge success and
was also looking forward to NEARFEST concert coming up. Par Lindh still had
Chicago and Detroit to play before returning to Sweden. Those e prog members in
those cities should make plans to see Par Lindh because they rocked the house.
Oh yea...bring your ear plugs cause you will need them.
From: all4rains@webtv.net (Brett Rains)
Went to The House Of Blues here in Chicago last night for the Par Lindh
Project/Gong show, & man, what a show. Gong aren't exactly my cup of tea, so
I'm not going to comment on them here, but PLP were amazing. These guys really
must be experienced live as they are certainly more powerful on stage! I got to
the hall early to stake out a good spot. Chicago's House Of Blues is a beautiful
venue, with a sort of southern-gothic feel, & a great ornate decor. Got to
meet Mr. Rob LaDuca & hang out with him awhile before the show (pleasure,
Rob!) & watch him hawk some PLP souveniers. As we were talking, none other
than Par Lindh himself arrived, & I was introduced to Par by Mr. LaDuca. Got
a gracious handshake from Par & he even signed my copy of "Mundus
Incompertus"! As for the show, the word 'majestic' comes to mind...it don't
get any better than this. The band played a one hour set that was fantastic!
There were a few small problems with the mix, but the sound was great. And loud!
The setlist started with "Baroque Impression #1"; followed by
"The Cathedral"; then a new, extended piece that Par joked "has
no name & might be on the next album" (great!); & closed with the
entire "Mundus Incompertus" suite. The band has really evolved into a
tight, muscular unit. MVP award has to go to guitarist Jocke Ramsell--the
harmony runs he & Par pull-off effortlessly are awesome. This guy is one
talented picker. The Nisse Bielield/Marcus Jaderhom rhythm section was rock
solid & I was impressed at how powerful a drummer Nisse really is. And
Magdalena Hagberg! Not only is this lady beautiful, but she could sing the phone
book & make it sound like angels from Heaven. Her violin playing was the
surprise of the night--impressive! I didn't know she played violin. Par was in
top-form as well. I was standing no more than 10 feet from his battery of Roland
keys (no Hammonds on the road, sorry Jeff!), & was close enough to read the
labels (in Swedish) on his synth dials, & he is incredible to watch. While
he is controlling 4 sets of keys at the same time, he is also leading the band
like an orchestral conductor, giving various cues to the players with a simple
nod or a hand gesture. The entire band constantly kept their attentions on his
side of the stage. Par is in the same league as the Old Masters, Emmo, Wakey,
& Fritz (sounds like a law firm, lol), IMO. The crowd was great & very
receptive, & the turnout was good (Gong had a lot to do with this, I'm sure).
I was glad to see this, as I heard the showing for the gala St. Louis shows was
pretty disappointing. All in all, great show...did I mention these guys are
awesome? Blah, blah, blah, you get the point. Par plays Detroit this Friday
before going back to Sweden--how much is air fare?
From: Steve Taaffe <>
Just wanted to comment on Brett's review which was a very accurate description
of what I experienced in St. Louis. The word "majestic" definitely
fits Par's work. I also got a copy of the guitarist, bass and drum player for
PLP... they have two cd's out and they really rock. I interviewed the members of
PLP and you can hear the Real Audio interview complete with music on our
website. Par's name is actually pronounced "Pear". For those not
familiar with PLP you can hear some of their music starting on Monday on our
LIVE webcasts. Now that Anglagard and Anekedoten are not around anymore Par
Lindh's music will fill the void very nicely. I'm looking forward to their next
release. You should have seen him play the turn of the century church organ as
well as all his other keyboards...mind blowing to say the least.
From: Mike Flemmer <>
My copy of the St. Louis Centenary Church Keyboard Extravaganza video arrived
today. This video concert features Par Lindh Project, Barry Palmer, and Alaska
from a concert on June 5th, 1999. (more info and to place an order at: www.triumvirat.net
) Ladies and gentlemen, PLP turns in an outstanding performance, satisfying in
every way. Many thanks go to Joe Toohey for organizing the event and capturing
it on video! THANKS, JOE! (thanks also to the Centenary Church!) The video comes
on two tapes with Alaska and Barry Palmer on tape 1, PLP on tape 2. I'm not an
Alaska or Barry Palmer fan, so my review will only be about PLP on tape 2.
However, if you are a fan of Alaska and Barry Palmer, I'm sure you'll like their
performances. I'll let someone else review them. I'm reviewing PLP only in this
post. The star of the show was PLP and they pull 'all the stops' (literally). My
expectations have been exceeded. Every now and then, the right combination of
musicians happen to find each other and the result is a group that has that
extra 'something'. PLP has that extra 'something'. NO doubt about it. First, let
me say what could have been better about the production, then I'll review PLP in
detail. It's obvious that big money could not be spent on production costs
because the production is grade C. If you've ever seen the ELP 'Pictures' video
from the 70's, this looks very similar. However, I'd rather have a grade C video
than no video at all. The first problem is that the audio is mono, not stereo!
This is upsetting, as stereo certainly can't be that expensive to produce,
right? Even in mono, I still enjoyed it. The other problems are:
-camera work doesn't know how to follow the music (this would take full
rehearsals and more costs)
-audio problem on the organ
-the piano is actually off stage, out of view
Even with a grade C production, I still thoroughly enjoyed watching PLP perform.
All the musicians are superb and the group is very tight (which is not easy considering
the complexity of their music, which often has several slow/fast changes in each
peices that have to be executed with utter precision).
---------------- The Musicians --------------
-PAR LINDH is an astonishing musician. Not only is he a classically trained
pianist/harpsichordist/organist, he writes the groups excellent music, each
piece an outstanding prog work. These are compositions that rock, and yet also
have slow sections. Something interesting is always happening every 16 bars. The
compositions have 'forward' motion, either building to a climax, or exploring a
harmonic progression. Solos are rarely improvised and they never venture out of
context. It's remarkable to watch the guy play every type of keyboard with equal
skill. I have no doubt he could play a Rachmaninov Piano Concerto one day, and
then give a Bach organ recital the next.
-JOCKE RAMSELL on guitar is excellent. Solos are virtuosic.
-NISSE BIELIED, drummer, is working his butt off!
-MARCUS JADERHOLM, bass, never gets a solo (I think), but he is also virtuosic
as well.
-MAGDALENA HAGBERG, vocals, violin. Sounds as good live as she does in
recordings! Always perfectly on pitch. It's evident she loves the music and
since ladies in prog are very rare - let's hope she sticks with this group for a
long time.
---------------- The Concert ---------------
A very polished show and superb musicianship. Highly satisfying to watch. These pieces
really do rock in a live concert! And, these people are nice. They thank the
audience for applause and Par even bows his head in thanks almost like a pianist
would in a recital (something maybe now a habit from when he use to give
harpsichord recitals). Here' what they played:
1. BAROQUE IMPRESSIONS (EXCERPT)/THE CATHEDRAL
Outstanding! Excellent opener. Here's what Par Lindh has around him: a synth
facing the audience set for harpsichord tone, 3 synths in a stack facing the
guitarist, and something really beautiful on his right - a 4 manual pipe organ
with a mini-moog on top! Unfortunately, every time Par plays the pipe organ, the
audio goes out! You can still hear the organ, but at 80 percent volume
reduction. There is an obvious short in the mike. Only once, at the end of The
Cathedral, is the pipe organ audio ok and the conclusion of Cathedral is highly
satisfying, with Par playing what sounds like a Bach fugue.
2. JERUSALUM / CONCLAST (?)
They play ELP's arrangement of Jerusalem! Then they go into another song, but
I'm not sure the name.
3. PIANO CONCERTO (by Par Lindh)
Par plays solo on the piano. He says he is working on this work - a piano
concerto. We hear what sound like the opening section, about 5 minutes. It's a
very Emersonish piece, lots of runs up and down the keyboard, a soft moment here
and there. One problem- the piano is not on stage! Par leaves the stage to play
a piano that is off stage, out of camera range! We can however, just barely see
his face, and thankfully, somebody remembered to put a mike near the piano, so
we can hear it ok!
4. GREEN MEADOW LANDS
A nice work featuring Magdalena on vocals. She is outstanding on every piece.
5. BUXTEHUDE PRELUDE
Par solos on pipe organ with a prelude by Buxtehude. But again, the audio is
out- we can hear it, but it sounds far away.
6. INTRODUCING A "NEW SONG"
This nifty work rocks and yes, they don't have a name for it yet! But, they said
it will appear on their next album.
7. CRIMSON SHEILD
If this isn't a prog masterpiece, I don't know what is! Excellent video of
watching Par's hands on the keyboard (harpsichord sound). Magdalena sounds as
good live as she does on the CD!
8. MUNDUS INCOMPERTUS (21:40)
About 5 minutes shorter than the CD, I think the opening is skipped. Still, a
great piece of music. Standing ovation.
9. (ENCORE) ?
I don't know the name of this piece but I like it.
Nothing bugs me more than the fact that many ELP concerts were not filmed for
future prosperity! Too many incredible ELP concerts were never filmed! How often
does an Emerson come around? Not often! Let's not make the same mistake with PLP!
I hope more filming of their concerts takes place! Again, I am very thankful
again to the organizers who made this event happen and had it recorded on video
in the USA! That had to be a challenge. The rewards were worth it. I feel like I
have a concert of PLP that I can watch again and again. Maybe it's even
historic. The first PLP concert filmed in the USA for commercial release? A must
have for fans of PLP, even considering the grade C production. Thoroughly
enjoyable.
From: Joe joe@triumvirat.net www.triumvirat.net
(non-member)
Let me reply to a few things that you should know. View all of both tape 1 and
tape 2 to the end. A lot of time went into the credits and PLP's full Gundlev's
Round and Night on Bare Mountain plays during credits on tape 1 while Alaska's
Anyman's Tommorow plays to credits on tape 2 from June 5. There is a lot of
information in addition to a lot of music. The tune is The Iconoclast after
Jerusalem which is on Gothic Impressions and the encore is a Bilbo Medley which
is a new compilation of pieces from the Bilbo CD. I suggest you get the June 7
Off Broadway video set because tape 1 and 2 of that are in stereo and the PLP
concert on tape 2 is left in HI-FI audio also. Most of the audio blame goes to
the company JTS at Centenary (in the credits). They didn't let us know that the
soundboard feed on the 2 channels to DAT and the Videographer were not stereo.
Also, they forgot that the church organ mic needed to be turned on for DAT and
video even though it wasn't needed for the audience. In edits I had Bob Gill
turn up the audio on those parts where the organ sound was picked up by other
mics. I orginally had to turn up the TV to hear the organ, so in having Bob
raise the volume you can hear it along with white noise. This is the fault of
JTS, not Bob Gill who could have used his own mics instead of soundboard if we
had known in advance. Centenary would not let us put the grand piano on stage
because it could get out of tune doing that. Until JTS came, the grand was easy
to see. All of that sound equipment made the grand impossible to see unless you
sat on the right side of the church. However, with 3 cameras being used, at
least 2 cameras were able to zoom into the person playing on the grand. Another
reason to get June 7 video set is that the stage setting is different. The drums
take center stage with Par on the right side and a Hammond C-3 organ in front
with his keyboard on top of it (the one at the church on my single keyboard
stand). I had to drive about 30 miles away to find a 3 keyboard stand to rent
since Par's was left in San Francisco by accident. Also Par does his version of
Rondo on June 7 which is about 4 minutes longer than on his CD. It has a lot of
clever intervals from ELP, Bach, etc. and appearing to be improvised. It appears
that you might prefer the stereo HI-FI June 7 tape which has no mic problems
like the church organ or view problems like the grand. Bilbo Medley, Piano
Concerto, Jerusalem, & Crimson Shield were only done on June 5. There is
more of a Rock and Jazz flavor to the Nightclub presentation than the more
Classical presentation on June 5. Par wears a shirt with an ELP logo on it at
the Nightclub and highlights of that night were a great instrumental Tarkus done
by Alaska, an awesome Spartacus by Alaska/Barry, and PLP doing Rondo (not to
mention Mundus and the other pieces). The ending credits on June 7 tape 2 are
done to Gunlev's Round & Night on Bare Mountain in HI-FI mode also. PLP
starts with Iconoclast and follows a different order and arrangement (Hammond
& synths vary from method used on June 7). Par started out as a straight
classical musician and brought Magdalena's classical background into play with
the other 3 rock players. The fusion of genres is pure genius on most songs. The
live version is way better since Magdalena does all the vocals compared to the
male singing on the CDs. That has been pointed out by many people familiar with
PLP.
It should be noted that Barry never met Alaska or PLP until June 4, there was
only 1 hour to rehearse with sound at Centenary, and Bob Gill had never heard
any of the music before. Bob did a fantastic job with split screens, multiple
camera shots, slow motion, many special effects, titles, and the final edits. A
single camera would have cost a lot less, but have been way too boring. Much of
these considerations will get high reviews compared to single camera events. You
probably have a smaller collection of videos than a lot of us since the picture
and sound quality of June 5 & 7 is better than at least 90% of my video
collection which has most of everything out there by ELP, NICE, Renaissance,
Wakeman, Kansas, Emerson Solo/BEST/ELPowell/THREE/, YES,TULL, etc. Most of the
older stuff is all from TV shootings that have found their way across the world
by trading and newer stuff by both legitimate and bootleg shootings. The rating
system a lot of us use, is A+, A, A-, B+, B and anything below that is unable to
be watched or unable to be heard at all most of the time. These tapes were made
off master Super VHS tapes directly and the sound & picture quality both
rate an A when compared to the majority or progressive videos out their that are
mainly bootleg shootings and TV broadcasts in various countries. The
entertainment factor of Spartacus, Mundus, Rondo, & all the other portions
drives the rating up to A+ for much of the concert while the soar throat of
Barry and technical glitches take away from that in other portions. You will
probably enjoy it more watching again and give it a higher rating if you had a
bigger collection of poorer quality prog videos. In your case, I hope you get
the June 7 set which overcomes a lot of the faults you have with June 5. Let's
see what other's think in the coming weeks!
From: Mike Flemmer <>
A few days ago I wrote this in regard to the new PLP June5th video: >A must
have for fans of PLP, even considering the grade C production.>Thoroughly
enjoyable. I just wanted to clarify that what I meant by grade C. I was
comparing the overall production to something that might be produced in
Hollywood such as 'ABC In Concert'. My grade C refers to the fact that the
production is more of a lower budget production, without the use of 10 cameras,
etc... But let me clarify that there is a standard video quality rating system
on the internet that uses grades A, A+, B, B+, C, C+ etc.. to describe videos
for sale from all types of individuals who sell copies of concerts. This PLP
video is a grade A ( IMO), when applied to this rating system. The visual is
excellent. The audio is excellent (except it's mono). The are also several slick
double screen shots used.
From: Joe joe@triumvirat.net www.triumvirat.net
(non-member)
Yes, a of folks can't afford stereo TVs and VCRs. A lot of people say they can
only afford one video set, but there is no best set for everyone since both have
their merits. Remember that June 7 is through the nightclub soundboard which
means zero audience noise (except for a few very loud whistles during some
exciting moments (not proper at a church). The slow sections have zero noise and
Bob Gill used a lot of video effects during the Barry Palmer slow songs. PLP did
not get any edits which is why that tape was left in HI-FI as well as stereo.
You have the correct PO BOX and amount. I prefer checks, since I already have
one person checking what happened to a money order that I never received. I do
wait for checks to clear, and people forget that places like my credit union
issue bank checks at no charge which is like a cashier check and safer than
losing a money order. I knew your were rating against expensive productions like
Pay Per View videos such as ABWH, but most of the old Kirshner & ABC rock
concerts have poorer video quality and sound from age. Beside owning the ELP Pix
at Exhibition (Rock & Roll Your Eyes) 90 minute video, I saw it in the movie
theatre back when it first came out in the early seventies under the title
"Emerson, Lake, & Palmer in the Movies". I sat through it twice to
hear the music, but we all gave boos every time that stupid color effect like
acid drugs went on the screen or the dumb cartoon overlays. Cheers went up every
time those stupid effects went off the screen. I would not ruin a good concert
film by taking away from the artists for so long with such stupid effects that
hide them. The standard PLP concert is Nightclub style. St. Louis was the only
Church gig in the USA and was totally unique. I could not allow it not to be
captured on video since rock concerts simply can't get access to such a great
venue like Centenary. The other reason was Barry Palmer only did St. Louis and
this was the moment to join with Alaska & Par since nobody else would bring
them together if I didn't put up the money. June 7 is what you would see if PLP
came anywhere near you. There may be an effort to have colleges invite PLP
across the USA by Rober LaDuca eventually. I only handled the St. Louis concerts
since I live here and wanted the revival of T'rat music along with PLP, Alaska,
& Barry's solo works. The extra ELP works thrown in was a bonus treat by the
performers. The chances of Florida getting PLP are actually better than St.
Louis. You have people like Mark Glinsky in Orlando and other folks that would
help out. Someone has to take care of expenses and the rest falls into place.
These videos are the only chance of me recovering huge financial loss from
gigantic expenses and very small crowd turnout in St. Louis. Par would like to
come here to play with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and now I have video to
show to the business people in attempting this with their funding in the next
year or two. So far, Japan is the most interest foreign country in these videos
and there will be coverage in Progression Magazine along with an ad of mine to
help spread the word. If word gets around, these videos will sell. You need to
check out Triumvirat if you don't have any of there music. Old Loves Die Hard
& Pompeii are CDs that are easy to get now. The rest get re-released later
this year with bonus tracks.
From: Mike Flemmer <>
>The same thing happened to me with Par Lindh Project-Mundus Incompertus.
Too many drums. The album could be better if the drums played calmly.
> Nah, I like the drumming on MI. The dude is great!
I understand both viewpoints. After watching PLP on the new video just
released I can tell you the drummer is working his butt off - very much in the
style of Carl Palmer, and just as hard. Great, tight, complex drumming. The
drummer is superbly keeping the band together and the fast/slow sections are
perfectly executed. The musicians often don't even have to look at each other
for cues. I can understand how someone might want less drumming on the CD so
they can hear the melodies and music more. I kind of thought that too on first
hearing. I thought, "were the drums really necessary when the music is this
good on it's own?" Yes they are. After watching PLP in concert, I now
consider the loud drumming essential to the music, as much as it was for ELP.
However, the CD doesn't have a live feeling- it's a clean studio performance and
raw, loud drumming may indeed sound a bit too much. But the drummer is just
playing in the studio as he does in concert. In concert, you'll love it.
From: Mike Flemmer <>
PLP Off Broadway June 7th video (1999): I'm half way through watching tape 2 of
the just released Keyboard Extravaganza video from www.triumvirat.net. This is
another outstanding performance of the P? Lindh Project. Highly recommended!
I'm wearing headphones and playing the video on a stereo VCR. Yes- tape 2 (PLP)
is in full HI-FI stereo and the audio is outstanding! I'm blown away. Also,
xxcellent close ups of the drummer, guitarist, and singer Magdalena.