Alan Parsons Live Project – Estepona (Malaga).
16th May 2004

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It is seldom that quality recording artists perform live close to home and such occasions one cannot miss these events.

Alan Parsons although quite well known within musical circles is not a top 40 artist as such but little do most know that he has produced some of the most influential albums of all time including, from being assistant engineer on the Beatles "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road” to most importantly being the engineer behind Pink Floyd's legendary "Dark Side of the Moon" album.

Having seen Alan Parsons in Malaga in 1997 I knew roughly what to expect although the “Alan Parsons Live Project” line up differs from the previous band I had heard which included long time collaborators such as Ian Bairnson on Guitars and sax Stuart Elliott on Drums.

The new “Alan Parsons Live” band line up includes,

  • Alan Parsons: Guitar, Vocals, and Keyboards.
  • Godfrey Townsend: Guitar.
  • Steve Murphy: Drums.
  • Manny Focarazzo: Keyboards.
  • John Montagna: Bass.
  • P. J. Olsson: Vocals.

The venue chosen for the concert was the “Palacio de Congresos” in Estepona (Malaga), a place usually reserved for corporate events, such as exhibitions etc. The place itself is in the format of a large hall with a tent-like structure with very dry acoustics.

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The concert started with a introduction with sweeping low sounds and electronic sequences, been panned between the speakers, we were in the centre of the hall so the stereo imaging was perfect, a familiar synthesized sequence then started trigged from what seemed like a vintage sequencer Alan Parsons had behind him and the band walked on stage and broke out in “I Robot” to the delight of the crowd.

The band then played a selection of most of Alan Parsons hits including “Can't Take It With You “, “Don't answer me”, “Damned if I Do” (original album version), a fantastic “Lucifer/Mammagamma” instrumental medley and of course towards the end “Sirius/Eye in the Sky” which was well received by the crowd.

The band was very energetic and seemed to be having a great time on stage and this projected onto the crowd, P J Olsson the front man also was also very charismatic and succeeded in getting the crowd going, especially during “Eye In the Sky” where everyone made an “Eye” symbol with their hands. Although I haven’t seen anything in his biography to indicate so one got the impression from his the P J Olsson had performed previously in West End Shows.

All the band members were also very skilled in at their instruments with a special mention for Godfrey Townsend’s fantastic guitar work and also very impressive was Steve Murphy’s ability to sing and keep tempo in these complex songs.

The crowd was also treated to a new song "More Lost Without You", from the next album “A Valid Path" which is currently in production and set for release in August.

For the encore they played two more songs played finishing with a superb version of “Games People Play” a crowd favourite.

After the concert, and after most people had left the band came out for signing (this had been announced during the concert but it seems most people did not realise), we were very fortunate and I managed to get my “Eye in the Sky” CD cover signed by Alan Parsons as well as getting a concert t-shirt signed by the whole band.

A fantastic concert indeed.

By Ernest H Slade – www.gear-review.co.uk


Credits:
Cover Art from www.alanparsons.com
Photograph by Mike Mantei http://www.aplp.tk

More Information

Set List (Partial)

“I Robot”
“Hyper-Gamma-Spaces”
“Can't Take It With You “,
“Don't answer me”,
“Damned if I Do” (original album version),
“Lucifer/Mammagamma”
“Sirius/Eye in the Sky”
“Games People Play”
"More Lost Without You", from the next album “A Valid Path"

Websites

www.alanparsons.com - Alan Parsons
http://www.247pj.com - PJ Olsson

 

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