Review by Shawn Perry
Photos by Ron Lyon
The opening night of a rock and roll tour is typically something special. Seeing Flying Colors, a band who has only toured once before, on the opening night of their second tour was beyond your garden-variety special. It was extra special. They played the same venue of their very first show two years before — the low-key, inconspicuous, off-the-mainstream-grid James R. Armstrong Theatre. No beer garden or cocktail bar, but water was only a buck; with a bag Doritos, another fifty cents.
Situated in the middle of the Torrance civic center, the James R. Armstrong Theatre isn’t part of a multi-tiered entertainment complex; it leans more toward community theater and local events. I got the sense that Flying Colors had their reasons for keeping this show on the down low — to the level of its usual roster. Clearly, they wanted to work the kinks out, test the waters, and see how the new album, Second Nature, worked out on concert stage. And who better to judge than 200 diehard fans, many coming in from out of state (there were only two other U.S. dates, in Chicago and Philadelphia, booked for the year).
Anyone who saw the band on their last round got a big surprise with a revamped setlist. Instead of playing the whole first album and filling in the gaps with bits and pieces from each members’ past, tonight it was all Second Nature (except one song), select cuts from the debut, and an acoustic number from singer Casey McPherson’s other band, Alpha Rev.
Canadian prog band Sinister Bend opened with a swift and steady 30-minute set that’s somewhat difficult to pin down. My first impression was that they fall somewhere in the mix of Iron Butterfly-meets-Pink Floyd-meets-BigElf, if that makes any sense. They have a drummer whose ride cymbal stood to the left of his hi-hat (?) and plenty of Fender Rhodes-like electric piano, so it made perfect sense when they encored with Supertramp’s “The Logical Song.”
At around 9:15, with the Beatles’ instrumental “Flying” filtering in, the five members of Flying Colors scattered over the darkened stage to take their places. It felt unreal to see this high caliber of musicianship preparing to unfold in such an intimate setting. This band belongs in an arena, even if their brand of music isn’t exactly filling arenas these days. They certainly have the experience, the attitude, the chops, the songs, and everything else that goes over so well in bigger venues. The only thing lacking was gratuitous flash, which simply had no place in this show.
Like Second Nature itself, the set was pretty much book-ended by the album’s two epics — “Open Up Your Eyes” as the opener and “Cosmic Symphony” as the climatic closer (“pretty much” because “Mask Machine,” the album’s single, was “officially” the last song of the main set). With the songs already lengthy and thorough in the solo department, there was little room for improvisation. Even with the melodic overtones, the songs aren’t formulaic; they are articulate pieces without excessive baggage or solo overload. Steve Morse might soar and explore a little more than he does with Deep Purple, but it certainly isn’t without purpose.
Mike Portnoy was the one I watched most of the night. Despite a few minor technical issues with his cymbals and overhead vocal mic (Portnoy’s tech had his work cut out for him), he is clearly the heartbeat of the band. When he wasn’t playing the drums, he was clapping and standing, encouraging the audience to clap and stand with him, which they dutifully did. The finesse and dexterity of his drumming, of course, help drive the songs to extraordinary places.
The night’s most valuable player award, however, goes to bassist Dave LaRue. My only previous exposure to LaRue was through Steve Morse with his own band and the Dixie Dregs. With Flying Colors tonight, the able-bodied four-stringer grabbed the spotlight and dropped jaws on “Forever In A Daze” and the catchy intro to “Mask Machine.” It would be interesting to see what else LaRue and Portnoy could do as a rhythm section with another set of musicians, because they seem to share a respectable chemistry. It’s more than likely that could happen when you consider how many different people these guys work with.
In addition to “Open Up Your Eyes” and “Cosmic Symphony,” every other track but one from Second Nature was trotted out. Five from the band’s debut — “Kayla,” “Shoulda Coulda Woulda,” the aforementioned “Forever In A Daze,” “The Storm” and “Infinite Fire” (the encore) — also made the cut. It might have been nice to hear “Everything Changes” or “Better Than Walking Away,” but you can’t have everything. Neal Morse — who clapped and stood just as enthusiastically as Portnoy — skillfully aligned the keyboards to match the songs, without making too much of a fuss. He and McPherson capably brought the vocals to the forefront, proving once and for all that these are real songs, not window dressing for instrumental prog indulgence.
McPherson was also trading licks with Steve Morse, a tall order for any guitarist. As he told me during an interview we did two weeks prior, he is playing “secondary” parts, not leads or filler, essential to the pieces, most of which were presumably overdubbed by Morse in the studio. At one point, on stage by himself, he took up an acoustic and played “Colder Months,” a song he recorded with his other band Alpha Rev. This only helped to solidify his role as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the band.
As this review goes online, Flying Colors are making their way across Europe, perhaps, as I suspect, playing bigger venues and blowing more minds. Fans in Europe have a different sort of appreciation for this kind of music that’s much more widespread. That’s why Deep Purple is more on regular rotation there than here in the States. And they reportedly can’t get enough of Portnoy in the Netherlands (so I’ve heard). As with all things Flying Colors, there’s a method with the schedule. Just days after the tour wraps in Paris, the five members of Flying Colors will likely scatter the planet to honor other commitments. And the wait for a third coming will begin. You can bet I’ll be in line.
