Rick Wakeman - Made in Cuba (2005) 
DVD-9: NTSC 4:3 (720x480), VBR | Dolby AC3, 2 ch / Dolby AC3, 6 ch / DTS, 6 ch
Progressive Rock | DVD Classic Pictures | Cover Included | ~ 8.1 Gb Made in Cuba"", presents Rick Wakeman with his band the New English Rock Ensemble
performing to a capacity crowd live at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana,
Cuba. In April 2005, invited by the Ministry of Culture, the Cuban Music
Institute and the Swiss foundation, ""Association Friends of Cuba"" -
Rock Keyboard legend Rick Wakeman traveled to Havana, to perform a
series of concerts that will forever be recognized internationally as an
enormous event for the Cuban people, and a historic moment marked by
the importance of one of the first and largest official Rock concerts
ever to be performed on the Island. This DVD captures the spectacular
performance and the momentous event which will undoubtedly be worthy of
an entry in the chronicles of rock music history...
~ amazon The live performance presented here is admittedly not one of perfection,
but it is, however, a presentation of perfect band chemistry, great
passion for music and immense instrumental skills of all involved. These
things count for more than mechanical perfection in my book. The
picture quality is great, the sound quality is great, the set list is
fantastic, the band brilliant and the performance is simply amazing!
Both the audience and the band are having a great time here and that
feeling spreads to the viewer/listener at home.
With many timeless classics performed, often in new and interesting
arrangements, this live concert video should appeal both to beginners
and to hard core fans. Rick's very best albums are all represented with
cuts from The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, The Myths And Legends Of King
Arthur, No Earthly Connection and Out There all making the set list.
Plus, an excellent, condensed, new version of Journey To the Centre Of
The Earth, that easily surpasses its original recording in my opinion!
The sometimes annoying narration in the original version is here removed
and more space is left for instrumental workouts. Yes is also
represented with an exhilarating version of Starship Trooper,
incorporating snippets of Heart Of The Sunrise!
The vocalist here is none other than Ashley Holt, the original vocalist
on such albums as Journey To Centre Of The Earth, King Arthur and No
Earthly Connection and many others. He has still got an excellent set of
pipes! The rest of the band are amazing and all members do extended
solos. Rick is a very 'democratic' leader of the band here and he does
not need to be at the centre of attention all the time. This creates a
strong band feeling and the musical atmosphere benefits greatly from
this. The bass guitar solos from Lee Pomeroy are especielly brilliant
and new drummer Ashley Soan does a great performance despite being
recruited only a short time before this concert. The guitarist is hardly
a Steve Howe, but there are a few passages when he truly shines.
The imperfections I mentioned at the start of this review occurs mainly
when Rick's Moog synthesiser runs amok and goes out of tune here and
there. There are also a few minor mistakes in the performance, most
notably by the old guys, namely Rick himself and vocalist Ashley Holt.
Holt did not have the chance to rehearse the material on which he was
not the original vocalist. But these small mistakes do no ruin my
overall impression of the show as a vey good one. For the most part they
get it right completely and all band members have their moments of
utter brilliance. Despite not being perfect, Made In Cuba is still the
best Rick Wakeman concert film I have (and as far as I know I have them
all)!
If all you know from Rick Wakeman is his early albums, this DVD will
surprise you as it rocks harder than you probably can imagine! It brings
together some of Rick's very best songs and presents them in a new
fresh way, the conclusion can only be that this DVD is both an excellent
place to start if you want to discover Wakeman's solo career and an
essential purchase for his most devoted fans. However, as I have
mentioned there are some mistakes and technical problems. Therefore, I
cannot give the highest rating. There is a live album called Out Of The
Blue that is even better than this as it doesn't suffer from such
imperfections.
As a bonus, there is an insightful interview with Rick that adds great
value as well with very interesting and sympathetic views on the
relation between politics and music among other things.
Highly recommended!
Review by SouthSideoftheSky Tracklist: 1. Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
2. The Recollection/The Spaceman
3. Catherine Parr
4. The Visit/Return Of The Phantom
5. Jane Seymour
6. Shed Building
7. King Arthur (Medley of Arthur/The Last Battle/Lancelot and The Black Knight)
8. Cathedral Of The Sky
9. Merlin The Magician
10. Starship Trooper/ Wurm
Special features: "The Road To Cuba": a documentary capturing the behind the scenes action on Rick's visit to Cuba / Photo gallery (around
180 different pics!) Line-up / Musicians: - Rick Wakeman / клавишные
- Ashley Holt / вокал
- Lee Pomeroy / бас-гитара
- Dave Calquhoun / гитара
- Ashley Soan / ударные
- Erik Jordan / клавишные
All thanks go to the original releaser Disponible sólo a los usuarios 
