Rick Wakeman "The Six Wives of Henry VIII Live at Hampton Court Palace"

[Guy Robinson]

Okay, if you like this music this BR is stupendous. One of the only concerts I have heard with orchestra, chorus and rock band (with keyboards) where the instruments remain fairly distinct and the sound doesn't become muddy. Brian Blessed is a hoot as well. It looks like they have positioned his intros for each of the sections at the end of the previous one. In this way when the music is done for one you can skip the intro and go to the next piece of music. Well thought out. Anyway, one of the top ten in my BR concert collection which has now reached a count of exactly 80. With the addition of this and the "Santana presents" BR, my want list for concert BR's is now complete. Time to wait for some more releases to come out!

 

[timbre4]

This was always my favorite RW solo album, glad to hear the favorable review. I'll set out to nab one!

 

[Guy Robinson]

This was always my favorite RW solo album, glad to hear the favorable review. I'll set out to nab one!

This may become your fav BR then.

 

[elmer]

First let me state that I very much enjoyed LISTENING to this disc -I was always of fan of the original on vinyl. I have to say however, that for me, the over the top, grandiose spectacle of it all, is comical at best. Conceptually it's a great idea. Construct a massive stage on the front lawn of one of Henry VIII's actual party pads, assemble an orchestra, full choir and rockband placed under blinding lights, hire one of England's most recognizable " Royal theatrical voice's in Brian Blessed (from Black Adder) and completely flesh out the original album beyond the confines of vinyl's 40 minute limitation.

Someone forgot to tell Rick Wakeman that if you're over 60 and gaining on 300 lbs, a red cape with gold lame fleur de lis and a white furry collar is not a good look. It's not as if anyone else on the stage was wearing period costumes. The band is a decked out in various states of rock n roll gear and the orchestra and choir is dressed like an orchestra and choir. Brian Blessed (he is wearing a sweater & khaki's) intrerrupts each piece as he stumbles out on stage holding a crumpled script and sputters and fumbles his way through a few historical points - must have the remote in hand for this. Not sure which is more Spinal Tap like - the cardboard fake castle turret surrounding Wakeman's keys or the neon lit stairway that he ascends (after changing into a full gold lame cape) up to the fake massive pipe organ.

Sonically it's good - like Guy says with everything going on the separation of instruments is quite good. The songs are all well performed and with the exeption of the occasional guitar solo - it is ALL Rick Wakeman - and he is a phenomenal player. The surround mix is ambience and audience in the rears. The drums sound a bit weird to me - very distant.

Watching this the first time is quite entertaining - I do not think this will fare well under repeated viewings. I guess I will just have to make sure that the remote is always nearby.

 

[Guy Robinson]

I know what you are saying but what was presented here was exactly as I expected in the way of "pomp and circumstance". It wouldn't be Wakeman without it.

 

[elmer]

I know what you are saying but what was presented here was exactly as I expected in the way of "pomp and circumstance". It wouldn't be Wakeman without it.

No argument here - it's not the pomp and circumstance that I object to as much as the shoddy execution of it.

 

[John Svensson]

Sounds like Rick should have listened to Jon and not eaten that whale....
300 ya say? John S.

 

[ingresman]

He is a big guy but keeps his weight down because of his heart. Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8305000/8305344.stm I have a lot of time for Rick and have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. A realy nice guy with time for his fans. As for the cape - well bring it on !
Just a word about Brian Blessed, he's a bigish star in the UK known for much for than black adder, he was the leader of the bird men in Flash Gorden, he climes mountains and is a 100% british ecentric !

 

[elmer]

He is a big guy but keeps his weight down because of his heart. Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/tv_and_radio/newsid_8305000/8305344.stm I have a lot of time for Rick and have had the pleasure of meeting him a few times. A realy nice guy with time for his fans. As for the cape - well bring it on !
Just a word about Brian Blessed, he's a bigish star in the UK known for much for than black adder, he was the leader of the bird men in Flash Gorden, he climes mountains and is a 100% british ecentric !

I'm sure Rick is a wonderful guy and Brian Blessed is an accomplished eccentric. Rick's choice of capes is the least of it! Perhaps Mr. Blessing was climbing a mountain instead of rehearsing for Rick's show - maybe he was doing Rick a favor - I don't know, but everytime he appears on screen I reach for the remote - eccentric is wonderful, being poorly prepared is not.

 

[Guy Robinson]

Well it's the music that is the most important thing here. BB does look like it is the first time he has read the script though.

 

[elmer]

Well it's the music that is the most important thing here. BB does look like it is the first time he has read the script though.

Yes I agree - the music - and I do like it very much (which I did comment on in my original post). And I can turn the TV off after starting the concert to avoid viewing anything I don't want to see. Unfortunately I still cannot listen unabated as I must use the remote between each MUSIC track to get past the annoying, ill prepared but charmingly eccentric BB.

 

[LizardKing]

Rented this blu-ray - as I missed out on tickets to a Rick Wakeman show here in Wellington...

Not that impressed with the surround mix - its very tame, with not much at all happening in the rear channels apart from a bit of ambience & crowd noise..

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Given the recent buzz around Rick Wakeman's re-release of "The Six Wives..." and "Myths & Legends..." I thought I would see if there was a thread about the DVD of his 2009 live performance at Hampton Court Palace. I did search but couldn't see an existing thread on this title on here, so hopefully this isn't a duplicate.

This concert was held in 2009 and fulfilled a dream of Rick's to perform the Six Wives on the green in front of Hampton Court Palace. It features all six tracks from the album, plus three extras created specially for the performance, arranged for keyboards, full band, orchestra and choirs. There's also a narration by Brian Blessed linking the tracks.

It's a 125 min DVD-V with Stereo, DD and DTS 5.1 sound. The sound quality is, in my opinion, a very good standard for this format - think Yes Symphonic and you'll be pretty close. The surround isn't fully discrete but neither is it pure ambience - it has some string, choir and keyboard parts in the surround channels as well as reverb and ambience and works pretty well.

Well worth a listen if you're a Wakey fan and/or want to hear a different take on Six Wives.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Wives-H...keywords=rick+wakeman+six+wives+of+henry+viii

 

[LizardKing]

FYI - Its also out on blu-ray:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Wives-H...=rick+wakeman+six+wives+of+henry+viii+blu-ray

 

[elmer]

Given the recent buzz around Rick Wakeman's re-release of "The Six Wives..." and "Myths & Legends..." I thought I would see if there was a thread about the DVD of his 2009 live performance at Hampton Court Palace. I did search but couldn't see an existing thread on this title on here, so hopefully this isn't a duplicate...

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...II&p=162137&highlight=rick+wakeman#post162137

I did not care for the BD originally and therefore, have not revisited this for some time. Rick's actual performance is quite acceptable. The mix and overall production not so much. I'll stand by my comments in the original thread - no offense to fans of Brian Blessed and Spinal Tap like staging.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

I thought it strange that this wasn't already covered - sorry for the duplication, put it down to bad searching on my part!

...btw I can sympathise with the Spinal Tap comments, it was always going to be OTT 'cos that's Rick! I was there on the second night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The only thing that pissed me off a bit was the fake pipe organ. The keyboard patch he used for it was very, very authentic though so I kind of forgave him for that!

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

...a request to anyone who owns this - can you confirm what audio tracks (both surround and stereo) are on the BD, please?

 

[zfox]

...a request to anyone who owns this - can you confirm what audio tracks (both surround and stereo) are on the BD, please?

There you go...

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

There you go...

View attachment 17102

Excellent - many thanks!

 

[elmer]

I thought it strange that this wasn't already covered - sorry for the duplication, put it down to bad searching on my part!

...btw I can sympathise with the Spinal Tap comments, it was always going to be OTT 'cos that's Rick! I was there on the second night and thoroughly enjoyed it. The only thing that pissed me off a bit was the fake pipe organ. The keyboard patch he used for it was very, very authentic though so I kind of forgave him for that!

No worries! Just recall commenting on this back when it first came out and found the original thread. I'm sure that it must have been a blast being at the concert. Certainly there is much to enjoy on this disc from a music performance standpoint. Too many non musical distractions and a ho hum live surround mix make this difficult for me to recommend...but if you were there...