Ayreon / Electric Castle live .......

[LarryD]

I just got my Bluray in at lightning speed from The Lasers Edge ....... it's still in the wrapping, the unveiling comes tonight complete with the show and plenty of drink to go with it .....

I'm sure others have ordered this already - haven't read much anticipation about it, surprisingly, but here it is ... and it's going on tonight. Guests include, Simone Simons, Damian Wilson, Fish, Anneke, and others ...... I'm anticipating a fantastic show with the same in audio and video quality ........ will report in tomorrow.

At this terrible time in our lives, when we can't attend shows, this is truly the next best thing ....... notwithstanding the fact that most of us won't get to see an Ayreon show live (Mardoch I'm looking at you), I'm really looking forward to this one .......Ayreon Universe was beyond special, I'm betting that this one will surpass all expectations as well ......

My personal pipe dream would be The Final Experiment in it's entirety on bluray --- but I'm almost positive that will never happen ......this is definitely a worthy pipe dream replacement show ........

[introclaus]

I only got the audio for this (iTunes), as I realized I never made it through the entire Ayreon Universe blu-ray, so there's no reason to spend money on something I won't ever look at. I just don't care about watching live shows on the TV ... I've watched the King Diamond DVD from last year once, the Myrath special once, and the Helloween show once ... and that's about it - no need for me to keep shelving out money for something I won't watch, whereas the audio will get plenty of spins.

Now, as for the "Electric Castle Live" show goes - it sounds awesome (good recording), and obviously great song choices (the entire Into the Electric Castle album). The choice of "bonus songs" is a bit strange though, as it's one song from each of Arjen's other projects (Stream of Passion, Guilt Machine, Ambeon, Gentle Storm, Star One and his "lost in the new real" solo album) + a cover of Marillion's "Kayleigh" (I guess if you pay Fish to come out for a show, you'll have to make him sing this one, haha). Most of those side projects I didn't "love" nearly as much as I do Ayreon, so besides the Star One tune the solo stuff is a little less interesting to me.

C.

[BC]

I’ve been enjoying John de Lancie ham it up as Forever. He’s channeling Q from Star Trek and Discord from My Little Pony, and it is GLORIOUS!

[LarryD]

I got through the main show last night - meaning, the entire show is 2hrs - 45 min long --- I just wanted to get thru the Electric Castle show, which is about 1hr 45 min if I remember.......

Rather than go through the entire show - piece by piece - I'll just hit on some highlights ......

The show is fabulous - even if you're not a complete fan of the album, which I half am, you will love this show regardless. It's classy, corny, and everything that makes Ayreon great. I now look forward to going back to the original album and re-living the greatness.

I won't get too negative, because we are all victims of it, but time has taken it's toll on lots of people in this show. A few times I cried out, " that is so and so " ? Be prepared for this.

The technical quality of the show is..... Video / 10. The bluray version of this is astounding. The video quality is superb and there should not be any complaints here.
Audio / 8. Here's why. The music itself is exquisitely mixed. Standouts are the drums and keyboards, but the bass is on another level and so tight and precise. You can't ask for better quality of the music recording. I take away 2 points because the vocals are a bit back in the mix. I tried every trick in the book to fight this but I lost....the vocals are simply too far back in the mix and it's not because the music drowns them out. Fish, is the Highlander character. He comes out quite a bit. I did not hear one word e sang throughout the show. Damian Wilson - you know this guy is heard no matter what he sings. Nope, not here. I had to struggle to hear anything he was singing. This is such a shame for a story that is being told and needed to be heard. Only John De Lancie, the narrator, could be heard above all because there was no music when he spoke. And is voice was powerful and projected. The dude also brought some comic relief to the show.

Arjen Lucassen - the Hippie. Good to see Arjen part of this project and on stage as the Hippie. He played a great role, and was fun to watch.

Stand out musician - Marcel Singor, the main guitarist. Absolutely amazing and mesmerizing to watch.

Stand out vocalist - John Jaycee Cuijpers. He stole the show on Ayreon . Universe, and even more so here. This guy is godly on vocals, and not only sings the parts perfectly, but this guy looks like he belongs in Ayreon. Such power and regal looks. I remember the last time I asked about this guy, Glenn said he was the singer for Praying Mantis I believe ...... this guy is unreal.

The show is filled with such awesome players, and the stage show itself is brilliant .... this show is absolutely essential in every way possible. Do not wait on this one........ during this terrible time we are going through, this show will put a smile on your face, while solidifying the genius of Arjen Lucassen.

Mardoch - if this is show you went over to see, I hate you.

PS: the remainder of the show were songs from Gentle Storm, Ambeon, Stream of Passion, Guilt Machine, Star One and others ........ magnificent.

[BC]

Your issues with the vocals seems strange. I’ve been listening to this in my truck as I’ve been running errands and the vocals are very clear with John de Lancie’s narration being somewhat drowned out. The music is as you described and absolutely fantastic. I love ITEC, so I’m having a blast with this.

[LarryD]

Your issues with the vocals seems strange. I’ve been listening to this in my truck as I’ve been running errands and the vocals are very clear with John de Lancie’s narration being somewhat drowned out. The music is as you described and absolutely fantastic. I love ITEC, so I’m having a blast with this.

***BC - not sure how you are listening, but the narrator's vocals are the clearest part of the show...... even my wife noted how clear his voice was but some of the singers drowned out ..... could be the DVD-audio vs how you are listening to it ..........

[introclaus]

Your issues with the vocals seems strange. I’ve been listening to this in my truck as I’ve been running errands and the vocals are very clear with John de Lancie’s narration being somewhat drowned out. The music is as you described and absolutely fantastic. I love ITEC, so I’m having a blast with this.

***BC - not sure how you are listening, but the narrator's vocals are the clearest part of the show...... even my wife noted how clear his voice was but some of the singers drowned out ..... could be the DVD-audio vs how you are listening to it ..........

I agree with BC - vocals are clear and loud enough. Granted, I haven’t watched the Blu-ray so I don’t know if it’s mixed/mastered differently from the cd but ...

[Mardoch]

Mardoch - if this is show you went over to see, I hate you.

It is. It was worth every damned penny, too.

[BC]

Where’s the damn Like button. : )

[BC]

Your issues with the vocals seems strange. I’ve been listening to this in my truck as I’ve been running errands and the vocals are very clear with John de Lancie’s narration being somewhat drowned out. The music is as you described and absolutely fantastic. I love ITEC, so I’m having a blast with this.

***BC - not sure how you are listening, but the narrator's vocals are the clearest part of the show...... even my wife noted how clear his voice was but some of the singers drowned out ..... could be the DVD-audio vs how you are listening to it ..........

I’m listening to MP3s from iTunes. I’m guessing it’s what introclaus said, different mixes between DVD/Blu-Ray and CD/digital.

[LarryD]

I went back and played around with the sound settings a bit ......I originally chose the 5.1 surround setting and that routed lots of the music through my center channel speaker...... I switched over to pure stereo, and the sound got much better ...... the vocals got a bit clearer, so I will leave on stereo when I play the show, but I'm guessing that the 5.1 surround mode isn't that great ......

I'm going to agree that the mixing is a bit different between the formats .... but I will say this, it does seem like you guys are playing it through your cars and earbuds, mine is through a main system that is very revealing ..... that could also be the difference......I didn't get the CD version so I can't test it, but a couple of differences are definitely at play here ..... let's not forget as well, that's a hell of a lot of people / instruments they have to mix there..... I remember Star One was only presented in stereo, and that was a tough listen as well, although I seem to remember that the vocals were really clear on that show ......

I'll be playing Ayreon Universe dvd soon -- I'll see how that sounds vs this one ......

[introclaus]

I went back and played around with the sound settings a bit ......I originally chose the 5.1 surround setting and that routed lots of the music through my center channel speaker...... I switched over to pure stereo, and the sound got much better ...... the vocals got a bit clearer, so I will leave on stereo when I play the show, but I'm guessing that the 5.1 surround mode isn't that great ......

I'm going to agree that the mixing is a bit different between the formats .... but I will say this, it does seem like you guys are playing it through your cars and earbuds, mine is through a main system that is very revealing ..... that could also be the difference......I didn't get the CD version so I can't test it, but a couple of differences are definitely at play here ..... let's not forget as well, that's a hell of a lot of people / instruments they have to mix there..... I remember Star One was only presented in stereo, and that was a tough listen as well, although I seem to remember that the vocals were really clear on that show ......

I'll be playing Ayreon Universe dvd soon -- I'll see how that sounds vs this one ......

For the record, I didn’t listen through car or earbuds ... lol

[LarryD]

For the record, I didn’t listen through car or earbuds ... lol

****Then.....how ?

[introclaus]

For the record, I didn’t listen through car or earbuds ... lol

****Then.....how ?

I have my entire home hooked up with Sonos all throughout. It’s not a $50.000 solution like you might have but it sounds great for what I need it to do.

[LarryD]

It’s not a $50.000 solution like you might have but it sounds great for what I need it to do.

***You surely have me mistaken for someone else good sir ........

[LarryD]

So after much tweaking and trying to find out what the hell is wrong here -- I did end up finding out that some of my settings were off in my receiver. Without getting into the jist of it, suffice it to say that I now have full vocal sound on the this show and it sounds wonderful ........

I have the Damian Wilson DVD to thank for it - that's how I discovered something was off ...... thank you Damian.