One of my dreams came true on February 9, 2014. On
that very special day I had the chance of going to a Transatlantic´s live
concert at Highline Ballroom, Manhattan. Simply unforgettable!!! I stayed all
the time very close to the stage where I had a privileged view of all the
members, principally Mike Portnoy, as you can see below:
Transatlantic is a multinational progressive rock
supergroup with members of different bands: Neal Morse (ex-Spock´s Beard),
Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) and Pete
Trewavas (Marillion). They formed the band in 1999 as a side project to their
original bands, disbanded in 2002 and reunited in 2009.
Daniel Gildenlow (from the Swedish band Pain of
Salvation) is not an official member but he often joins them during live
concerts. However, due to illness, he was replaced by Ted Leonard (Enchant)
during the 2014 tour. What a pity!
Their first album was released in 2000. It was called
SMPT:e which is a play on words, as a combination of the members´ last name
initials as well as a common machine protocol used in recording. It received
strong critical reviews including “some of the best progressive rock music ever
produced”
The second album, the 2001´s Bridge Across Forever had
only four tracks; very long songs as you can imagine. One of them is the
26-minute “Duel with the Devil”.
The Whirlwind is their third album, released in
October 2009. A special edition of the album was also released including a
second disc with four additional original tracks and four cover tracks.
And they have a fourth album the 2014´s Kaleidoscope.
In 2014 they toured in the United States and Europe, including a special
performance on the “Progressive Nation at Sea” cruise created by Mike Portnoy.
The band played two shows, with the first featuring the entire Kaleidoscope
album and the second including guest performances by famous progressive rock
artists such as Jon Anderson of Yes. On September 11, 2014, Kaleidoscope won “Album
of the year” at the third annual Progressive Music Awards.
By Milton França – with some information from www.wikipedia.com
Feel free to get in touch: email: miltonfranca@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/miltonbfranca whatsapp: +5598991992887
