The Alan Parsons Live Project thrilled fans with classic songs on their Greatest Hits Tour 2016.
When you’ve sold over 50 million albums and worked on Beatles and Pink Floyd records, what do you do? If you’re one of the greats in the music business, you keep playing, touring, and gaining new fans.
That’s what the Alan Parsons Live Project did on Friday at the sold-out Majestic Theater. Alan Parsons and his ever-evolving band thrilled the crowd with 22 of the greatest hits from his long and illustrious career.
Starting as an engineer/producer on the last two Beatles albums and Dark Side of the Moon, he became well-known in the industry before ever forming a band. With co-founder, the late Eric Woolfson, the Alan Parsons Project became one of the top sellers of the 70s and 80s.
They performed all their hits on this night. They walked onstage to play the instrumental “I Robot” with stunning precision. Lead vocalist P.J. Olsson then came out and added an extra level of vibrancy when singing “Damned If I Do.”
Parsons sang the hit song “Don’t Answer Me” as saxophonist Todd Cooper turned it into a real love song. “Time” and crowd favorite “Psychobabble” preceded the big seller, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You.” It featured throbbing guitar and bass solos from Alistair Greene and Guy Erez, respectively.
They played several songs from The Turn of a Friendly Card album, including parts one and two from the title track. The drum heavy “Snake Eyes,” the rock opera-sounding “Ace Of Swords,” and the soulful harmony on “Nothing Left To Lose” completed songs from the album.
Another hit was “Breakdown/The Raven,” progressive rock at its absolute best. The terrific music kept coming with “Days Are Numbers (The Traveller)” with more blended harmony from the band. A guitar face-off between Parsons and Greene highlighted “Lucifer.” Alan paid tribute to Eric Woolfson, drawing a huge reaction from the well-versed audience, which led into “Limelight.”
A haunting keyboard intro by Tom Brooks began “Don’t Let It Show.” It started as a slow song, then a drum beat change by Danny Thompson turned it into a jam. The cohesive harmony of “Prime Time” kept the crowd engaged and enthralled.
Parsons introduced this incarnation of the band after “Sirius.” A long intro turned into another jam session before their biggest US selling song, “Eye In The Sky.” The set-ending song, and all the music of the night, earned them a long and heartfelt standing ovation.
The ovation lasted until the band came back out for an encore. Their first single, “(The System Of) Dr. Tarr And Professor Fether,” was mid-70s rock and roll that has stood the test of time.
The crowd kept rocking for “Games People Play.” Everyone got a solo and then they all joined together for a jam on the last song of the night. The appreciative look from Alan Parsons showed that he still cared about delivering a quality show to his legions of fans.
Local radio personalities Bo Roberts, Jim White, Randy James, and Rick Burt told this reporter what a great show this was. They all agreed this was one of the few groups they still wanted to see after attending so many concerts over the years.
Alan Parsons also told this reporter how much he loved playing at the beautiful Majestic Theater. He also said, “It’s great to be back in Dallas for the first time since 1998.” He was both approachable and personable, even after performing for two-and-a-half hours.
The knowledgeable fans knew every word of every song and loved what they heard this night. Parsons has always puts together talented musicians who have a passion for his prog-rock sound. Their chemistry and cohesion shined through all night. The expertise of the sound and lighting techs also added to the quality of the performance.
They finish this leg of their tour next week before starting up again in May 2017. True fans will seek them out and make it a point to attend a show.
Special thanks to the staff at the Majestic Theater for their help during the night.
Joe Guzman of National Rock Review was on hand to record the event.
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