Sights and Sounds: 'Human Rights Concerts' box-set, Dream Theater, Shelby Lynne, William Shatner

Tracy Chapman, Sting and Bruce Springsteen.

Good morning, here is a weekend roundup of some musical odds and ends worth sharing...I am particularly excited to watch the forthcoming "A Conspiracy of Hope" DVD since I was at the performance on June 6, 1986 staged at The Forum in Inglewood, California. It was pretty incredible to catch Peter Gabriel, Sting, U2, Bryan Adams and other greats in a single day!

Shout! Factory to issue 'Released: The Human Rights Concerts 1986 - 1998' on DVD; 6-disc DVD box-set to see release on November 5, 2013

The Human Rights Concerts were a series of international music events staged between 1986 and 1998 presented by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Amnesty International to raise funds and awareness for the fight for worldwide human rights.

This six-disc DVD box-set features more than 12 hours of concert performances by many of the world's top musicians including U2, Sting, Jackson Browne, The Police, Tracy Chapman, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

For more information on this exciting release, please visit www.HumanRightsConcerts.com.

DREAM THEATER

LIVE GOOGLE+ HANGOUT ON AIR CHAT

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013 – 3 p.m. EST

On Friday, November 1 at 3 p.m. EST, Dream Theater will participate in a live chat via Google+ Hangout On Air. Fans can post their questions about the upcoming Live At Luna Park DVD via Facebook and Twitter, using #LiveAtLunaPark. A live video URL will post on Dream Theater’s website, Facebook, and Twitter, so fans can view the chat.

 

Live At Luna Park will be released on 2DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Video, and Deluxe Editions on November 5 via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The concert was filmed over two nights in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the final leg of their 2011 “A Dramatic Tour Of Events” world tour.

 

Follow Dream Theater at:

Website: http://www.dreamtheater.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreamtheaterofficial

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dreamtheaternet

 

INDIE ARTIST SHELBY LYNNE SAYS

“THANKS”

Thanks EP, Out Digitally On November 19 And Physically December 10,
Is The Latest Release On The GRAMMY® Winner’s Own EVERSO Records

Thanks, a new five-song EP from Shelby Lynne, will be released digitally on November 19 with the physical release to follow on December 10. The collection is her latest release on EVERSO Records, the independent label she founded in 2010. Thanksfeatures five brand new songs written and produced by the iconic artist, who won a GRAMMY® award following the release of her breakthrough album, I Am Shelby Lynne, in 2000. See below for track listing.

“As a musician, these songs are a way to express my love and gratitude to the universe and to all of the music appreciating souls out there for the friendship and fellowship that music brings us…all in the name of love and sharing,” saysShelby .

Lynne recorded Thanks at EVERSO Studio in Palm Desert , CA with co-producer Ben Peeler, who also played lap steel and guitars and contributed background vocals. In addition, the EP features the legendary Maxine Waters on piano and vocals, Michael Jerome on drums/percussion and Ed Maxwell on upright and electric bass, Wurlitzer, Moog and background vocals.

Thanks follows 2011’s Revelation Road , which Blurt hailed as “the finest work she's done at least since 2000's game-changing I Am Shelby Lynne.” The New Yorker called it “deeply personal,” USA Today praised Lynne’s “earthy, elegant vocals” and MOJO, Uncut and AmericanSongwriter.com each awarded it four stars. As label chief of EVERSO Records, Lynne raised the bar for deluxe editions when she included two additional full-length works in 2012’s deluxe edition of Revelation Road:  Live At McCabe’s, which marked her first-ever live album, plus the DVD Live in London . She launched EVERSO with a pair of 2010 releases – Tears, Lies And Alibis, a Top 10 hit at Americana radio, and Merry Christmas, which Parade Magazine called “an instant classic.”

Thanks – Track Listing

1.      Call Me Up

2.      Forevermore

3.      Walkin'   

4.      This Road I'm On

5.      Thanks  

William Shatner review, slide show available on Orange County Register Web site

Finally, if you are an Orange County Register subscriber, make sure to check out my review of William Shatner and CIRCA that ran online yesterday. There is a great slide show of images that noted photographer Kelly A. Swift shot at the show. Click here to see more...

William Shatner riveting at rare gig in San Juan Capistrano

My William Shatner review was originally posted on The Orange County Register Web site on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013.

Backed by a primo prog-rock outfit featuring former members of Yes, the live version of his latest opus, Ponder the Mystery, held a capacity crowd rapt at the Coach House.

At 82, William Shatner shows no indication of retiring from his wide-ranging career as actor, director, comedian, product pitchman, talk-show host, author, sci-fi convention attraction, pop culture icon – and now prog-rocker.

Next at the Coach House: Dread Zeppelin, Oct. 31, $15; DSB (a Journey tribute) with Alter Ego, Fleetwood Max and Hemispheres, Nov. 1, $15; Lisa Marie Presley, Nov. 2, $20; Cowboy Mouth, Nov. 3, $15; Buddy Guy, Nov. 7, $75

Call: 949-496-8930

Online: thecoachhouse.com, ticketfly.com

Friday night (Oct. 25) the Emmy winner made the final stop of a short trek promoting his recently released fourth album, Ponder the Mystery, bringing his latest musical venture to the Coach House for a rare club experience as unique and entertaining as its charismatic captain. A capacity crowd filled the San Juan Capistrano venue early and was rewarded with an engaged Shatner supported by celebrated progressive rock band Circa, featuring two former members of Yes, guitarist Billy Sherwood and keyboardist Tony Kaye, plus bassist Ricky Tierney and drummer Scott Connor.

On record, an array of guests helps flesh out this latest opus, from guitar virtuosos Steve Vai and Al Di Meola to Foreigner’s Mick Jones and the Doors’ Robby Krieger, plus a slew of keys masters, including Edgar Winter, the late George Duke and another Yes man, Rick Wakeman. But here, with backing boiled down to just the Circa quartet, the group and its star storyteller delivered a magnetic 90-minute version of Mystery, capped by a 20-minute encore more focused on the group’s skills.

Although seated and using a workbook to guide him through lines and cues, Shatner's exaggerated spoken-word style – which has been lampooned over the years as much as praised, gaining considerable credibility with 2004’s Ben Folds collaboration Has Been – here blended with dazzling near-symphonic compositions penned by Sherwood, who also produced the new disc.

As Priceline’s pitchman noted early in the night, his current creation is about a guy who regains his joy of life over the course of an hour while sitting on the beach at sunset. That sounds like a fairly simple concept, yet it provided room for lengthy essaying in verses dealing with loss, the beauty and mystery of nature, mortality and personal redemption.

From the opening lyrics – "Where it's gone, I don't know, I'm missing something, give it back," his protagonist grappling with the realization of a life gone wrong – to the final Mystery track, the more hopeful "Alive," there were countless moments for Capt. James T. Kirk to employ his distinctive baritone while the band provided tuneful elements. Sherwood often added his strong tenor voice to choruses or played artful electric guitar solos that lighted the way for Shatner's lyrical trajectory.

Billy Sherwood

"Manhunt" was one of several songs that fused melodic rock reminiscent of Asia with sharply imagistic storytelling. It certainly heightened the atmosphere that the audience, while cheering mightily after each selection, was otherwise quiet and tuned in during the songs themselves.

The title piece benefitted from rich harmonies by Sherwood and Tierney, as well as some of the headliner’s most dramatic poetry, his evocative lines placed amid Circa’s fills and counterpoint vocals. Even more beautiful was "Sunset," treated to a jazz-tinged backdrop and Kaye's textured orchestrations.

In all, it was a most unusual yet rewarding encounter, a contemplative piece of prog-rock theater that proves Shatner continues to go where no man has gone before.

Photos: Kelly A. Swift, for the Register

Make sure to check out this video I found on YouTube of the performance of "Manhunt," as well as Mr. Shatner's notes about the genesis of the project: