There are few things sadder than saying goodbye to an old friend, especially one that has seen you through your lowest of lows, and highest of highs. Lasting memories and mementos have a way of making the parting a little easier at least. And so it is that after five albums and twenty years, we have to say goodbye to the prog supergroup Transatlantic. Since they got together and released their debut back in 2000, Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt, and Pete Trewaves have made some of the best and most respected music in modern progressive rock. So when it was announced that their final utterance would be the aptly named ‘The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia’ fans were both grieved to say goodbye, and thankful that we were at least given a final Blu-Ray concert to enjoy for years to come.
The film was shot on the final night of their European tour in Paris. The fact that they managed a tour at all was itself a bit of a gift. Their final album, the incredibly ambitious ‘The Ultimate Universe’ (a song/album that has no less than three unique versions) was recorded and released in the heart of covid when touring wasn’t possible. Coupled with the four band members all having primary (and in a few cases secondary, and third) bands to focus on, any chance of touring wasn’t guaranteed. Thankfully however their schedules managed to line up, and a limited tour for both North America and Europe. The result was something I wasn’t fortunate enough to see, but judging by this release, was truly a delight and a fitting farewell.
As I mentioned above, their final album consists of one song that is broken into chapters for ease of navigation. They released three versions of it in 2021, the shortest 60-minute version ‘The Breath of Life’, a 90-minute version ‘Forevermore’, and finally on Blu-Ray only a 100-minute version known as ‘The Ultimate Edition’. The first two versions contained different sections, and in some cases different lyrics and singers for the same musical segment. The final version put together by Mike combined the best of both worlds to mark the ultimate in prog excess. It had always been the intent if they ever toured to perform the final version in its entirety for the first set, and that is precisely what they did. The band does note, however, that given the momentum of a live performance, and the sheer volume of material being played, they don’t necessarily play everything exactly as it is on the records. You could, according to Neal, look at this as a fourth version of the piece. Personally, I think that’s a bit of a stretch, as live recordings are always a bit different from studio recordings anyway, but it’s a fun idea to kick around, and fans will inevitably form their own opinion after watching it a few times.
The show kicks off with the “Prelude” and the customary establishing shots of the stage, and the guys coming on. On this tour as with their last, they are joined by Ted Leonard (Spock’s Beard, Enchanted) who fills in on additional guitars, keys, percussion, and vocals. The crowd is enthusiastic from the get-go, and they remain so throughout the show. The theater is quite attractive, with ample seating, which given the three-and-a-half-hour run time of the show is pretty much a requirement for the band these days. It is of course rather a chore to try and go bit by bit through a song that lasts for nearly an hour and forty minutes without any real break, as each movement flows directly into the next. That being said, my favorite moments are the same as on the studio album, the emotional and moving “Take Now My Soul” which moves directly into the dark, and heavy “Looking For the Light” are even more powerful live than they are on disk. The second of these mainly features Mike on lead vocals. Now anyone who has been following Mike and his singing since the days of DT will admit that early on they were pretty rough. It is both remarkable and quite enjoyable to hear how far he’s come over the years, and I now fully enjoy his slightly rougher style.
There is a brief pause in the music around the 48-minute mark, where Mike takes a bit of a break to thank the crowd, and of course tease Neal about his tendency to cry, well pretty much every time he performs. But his passion is why we love him so much, so no fan can fault it. The second half starts with “The Sun Comes Up Today” which is mostly sung by Pete, who is usually the quietest of the four when they sing, so hearing him take lead is always a treat.
Special note should also be taken of “Owl Howl” as this section has been released as the music video for this film. It also rather fittingly shows everything that I like and dislike in the filming of this show. As for most prog DVDs, this one gets a lot right, which is to say the focus is on the musicians, the shots tend to give us close-ups of their hands and instruments, and the shots are held for a decent amount of time. For my money (and yes I’ll be buying this when it’s released), the best live films are those that make it as close to possible to the experience of being there, and with the best seats in the house, and this film does just that. The downside however is something that keeps popping up during the live DVDs of Neal’s main band, mainly the constant insertion of graphics and projections over the band. A lot of bands do it, some people may love it. I hate it, it drives me nuts and takes me out of the intimacy that the show strove so hard to achieve by covering up the entire show with goofy graphics. I should mention that they don’t do it on earlier releases, so why it’s happening now, I don’t know. But this is of course a personal preference, it might not bother some at all, but this is my review so I’ll complain about it if I want. It ultimately doesn’t keep me from enjoying the show, but I’d like it even more without it.
The first half reaches its climax beginning with the “Lonesome Rebel” and “Can You Feel It” sections about 80 minutes into the show. These two songs in this combination were previously only heard on the Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray, so fans who only listened to the regular albums are in for a treat to hear how it all fits together. This climax continues and reaches its height in the “Looking For the Light (Reprise)” that soon follows. It is some of the heaviest music in the evening, and the band really opens up and plays it in a way that only musicians of this caliber can. This section shows more of the crowd getting into it as well, so you can feel the band feed off the energy. The song concludes with “Love Made A Way” which is fittingly emotional, and the crowd gives them a well-deserved ovation before the intermission.
The entire concert consists of only 4 songs, because it’s Transatlantic, and that’s just what they do. The second half begins with “The Whirlwind Suite,” a condensed 30-minute version of their third album “The Whirlwind” which consists of another single song clocking in at just over 78 minutes. It is impressively done, and pretty much the same as they played on their previous tour, hitting all the main spots of the song. For me, the “Is This Really Happening” section that kicks off the final 18 minutes or so of music remains the best piece of prog rock written in the past 20 years. It never ceases to give chills and receives the crowd’s most enthusiastic response up to that point (and shots of the crowd even prove that there were some women in attendance!).
This is followed by their classic “We All Need Some Light Now” which is a staple, and has appeared on each of their previous concert releases. Still, this beautiful song never gets old, and Ted taking over the middle verse gives it a bit of new life for people like me who already own five different versions of it. The final song is fitting, “The Final Medely,” which also lasts for a little over a half hour. The viewer could consider it a “best of” medley as the band manages to take three songs each around a half hour in length and squish them together along with a few deeper cuts thrown in for good measure. I’m not going to go in bit by bit and list all the songs played, most fans can probably guess, and there is a bit of fun in spotting the bits from the lesser-played songs that make it in. I will say that all the music comes from the first two albums, leaving only ‘Kaleidoscope’ unrepresented for this final show. The ending is magical as always, and for once Neal isn’t the only one standing in line crying. In fact, I doubt there was a dry eye in the house.
Transatlantic has been a special band for a long time. And one thing they have always done is film their tours for those of us who couldn’t make it. This is their sixth concert film release, and I could argue their most complete. ‘The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia’ is a beautifully shot, crystal clear-sounding concert film, and one that I will long treasure as part of my collection. For fans of the band, it’s a no-brainer. It is indeed sad to have to say goodbye, but they left us a wonderful parting gift and a legacy and collection of music that will be revered in the annals of progressive music for years to come.
