Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds, Alive On Stage at
Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall, The Netherlands, 24th November 2010 (2010-11-24)


RECORDING:

Type: Audience (master), recorded front of house, centre of row 2, seat 40
Source: 2 x DPA 4060 mics -> DPA MMA6000 amplifier (100 Hz low-cut filter) ->
Edirol R-09HR recorder (44.1 kHz/16 bit WAV)
Lineage: Audacity 1.3.12-beta (tracks split, fades added ->
FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]


SET LIST:

01. The Prequel (Part 1)
02. The Prequel (Part 2)
03. The Eve Of The War
04. Horsell Common And The Heat Ray
05. The Artilleryman And The Fighting Machine
06. Forever Autumn
07. Thunder Child
08. The Red Weed (Part 1)
09. The Spirit Of Man
10. The Red Weed (Part 2)
11. The Artilleryman Returns
12. Brave New World
13. Dead London (Part 1)
14. Dead London (Part 2)
15. Epilogue (Part 1)
16. Epilogue (Part 2) NASA

Running time: 106m 09s


LINE-UP:

Jeff Wayne conducts the 10-piece Black Smoke Band and 36-piece ULLAdubULLA
Strings.

Actors:

Justin Hayward - The Sung Thoughts Of The Journalist
Rhydian Roberts - Parson Nathaniel
Liz McClarnon - Beth, Parson Nathaniel's Wife
Chris Thompson - The Voice Of Humanity
Jason Donovan - The Artilleryman
Michael Falzon - William Rowland and Jerome Marvin Krauth
Lily Osborne - Vera May

The Black Smoke Band:

Huw Davies - Guitar
Andy Holdsworth - Guitar
Chris Spedding - Guitar
Herbie Flowers - Bass Guitar
Neil Angilley - Keyboards
Kennedy Aitchison - Keyboards
Steve Turner - Keyboards
Gaëtan Schurrer - Keyboards and Persian Tar
Gordon Marshall - Drums
Julia Thornton - Percussion and Harp



NOTES:

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds is back and Amsterdam
has the privilege of kicking off the tour for a two night stint in the
Heineken Music Hall.

The event had been on my calendar for a year; my ticket in the top drawer for
the same length of time. Rarely have I purchased tickets for an event a whole
year in advance.

The prequel has been extended with two new live actors and the martian
fighting machine now emits a real, eyebrow-singing heat ray. Other than that,
the changes from the 2009 tour are more subtle.

The line-up of musicians seems to have remained intact. All of the big names
from the Black Smoke Band are still there, the vast majority of whom played on
the original 1978 album. This greatly contributes to the authentic feel of the
event.

Also making a return was the overpriced merchandise. €20 for a programme is a
bit steep, but if you want a signed copy -- signed only by Jeff Wayne, I might
add -- the asking price is €35. On the other hand, the gear was flying over
the counter, so it's hard to fault Jeff's pricing from a purely economic
perspective.

The concerts from last year's tour were recorded and released by Concert Live
for immediate purchase on the night. This year, however, recordings aren't
being officially released, so it was down to me to produce my own souvenir of
the event.

The sound quality is excellent, but with a little more reverberation than you
may be used to from me. This is because it was a seated event and I couldn't
get close to the PA, which was, in any case, elevated high above the ground in
the cavernous Heineken Music Hall.

I have to say that the 2010 stage production is even more impressive than
2009's. The new actors were very good in their roles, although I think Liz
McClarnon doesn't really possess a powerful enough voice for her role. Of
course, finding a successor for the original album's Julie Covington is no
mean feat.

Even Jason Donovan, who, until last night, was etched in my mind as the
performer of a string of cheesy hits for Stock, Aitken and Waterman at the end
of the eighties, gave a great performance and won my acceptance as the new
artilleryman.

I sat in the centre of the second row, which afforded me excellent sound and
good stereo imaging. The recording reflects this. I have not post-processed it
in any way, so you will hear it the way I did.

I have included a few photos of dubious quality, taken with a Google Nexus
phone. Whilst not great, they provide a useful visual aid for anyone who
hasn't seen the stage production.

Enjoy!