Giraffe performs The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway live

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Giraffe

Recorded: November 8, 1994 Released: 2014 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: progressive rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway [6:07] Fly on a Windshield [1:21] Broadway Melody of 1974 [3:23] In the Cage [9:11] The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging [2:54] Back in N.Y.C. [7:03] The Carpet Crawlers [6:44] Lilywhite Lilith [2:54] The Lamia [7:52] The Colony of Slippermen [6:29] In the Rapids [2:21] It/Watcher of the Skies [8:42] The Musical Box [8:28] Songs written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford. The Players: Kevin Gilbert (vocals) Dan Hancock (guitar) David Kerzner (keyboards) Stan Cotey (bass) Nick D’Virgilio (drums)

Rating: 2.517 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

About the Album: Anyone who does any reading on Kevin Gilbert will quickly note how he name checks early Genesis amongst his progressive rock influences, specifically “conceptual masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” MO-PA the 1974 double album that was then-lead singer Peter Gabriel’s swan song with the band. In his own words, KG says, “I’d put it right up there with Tommy and Quadrophenia,” CH two albums by The Who that are perhaps the best known and most critically acclaimed rock operas ever conceived. Gilbert seemed determined to put The Lamb on its proper pedestal. As he said, “I think that’s a great lost piece of work…People have forgotten it, at least in the genre of rock music that is also story.” CH “I used to rehearse that when I was a kid…I’d close the door, I’d put on my leather coat, and I would perform The Lamb from start to finish. I probably performed it a hundred times.” CH He “had a burning desire to perform [it] in its entirety” MO-PA outside of the confines of his childhood bedroom. This wish was fulfilled at ProgFest 1994 at the Variety Arts Center in Los Angeles. With a reformed Giraffe (containing a then unknown Nick D’Virgilio on drums), Gilbert wowed the audience with a performance worthy of Genesis themselves.” MO-KG “This show, although never officially released, has become the stuff of legends.” MO-PA Dave Kerzner, who played with Gilbert at that gig and on KG’s subsequent Thud album and tour, recounts how it came about. “One day I got a phone call from Kevin because he had heard I had a studio filled with vintage keyboards. He wanted to see the various Mellotrons and Chamberlins I had, so I invited him over.” DK “We talked, and I played him some tunes I was working on at the time…He…commented…about how he knew I must be into Tony Banks because I had every keyboard Tony ever used. At the end of our first ‘hang,’ he said ‘You know, we should get a bunch of guys together and play The Lamb’! I just looked at him in disbelief and said ‘Sure, that would be awesome!’” DK “At the end of 1994, Kevin came to me and said ‘Dave, still want to play The Lamb? I know the perfect place to do it. It’s called ProgFest.’ So I said, ‘Yeah, I am totally up for the challenge but who else can we get to do this?’ Kevin explained to me that he had played with a drummer named Nick D’Virgilio who was a huge Phil Collins fan. He was very confident that Nick could pull it off.” DK Nick met Gilbert at a ski resort gig. He later drummed for Gilbert on 1995’s Thud and was responsible for completing The Shaming of the True after Gilbert died. The Progfest program says that “Nick divulged his Collins obsession and mentioned that he had learned to drum by playing along to The Lamb.” PP Rounding out the band were Dan Hancock took on the Steve Hackett role and filling in for the part of Mike Rutherford was Gilbert’s ex-Giraffe bandmate Stan Cotey. With two ex-Giraffe members on board, the gig was billed as Giraffe, largely out of Gilbert’s trepidation of having it viewed as a solo project. The show was at the Variety Arts Center in Los Angeles on 11/6/94. “Widely hailed as a brilliant performance,” MG it was a “brilliant dedication to one of prog rock’s hallmark records.” SF “If you’re a musician, you probably know how impossible it is to perform any song from The Lamb, and musician-wise it’s a fabulous performance (some instrument parts are played ‘better’ than on the original record).” SF The program does note, however, that “Due to time considerations, this evening’s performance is a slightly chopped Lamb. But…the band assures you the task they did not crave was what to kill and what to save and they’re sorry if they skipped your fave.” PP Kerzner fondly remembers the performance: “We all got to play one of our favorite records of all time in front of a crowd of several thousand screaming prog fans that knew every note! And most of all, I am happy we were able to provide the background for one of Kevin’s fantasies, to play the part of Rael.” DK “This concert was a big highlight for me because not only was it the most challenging gig I ever played, but the best feeling I ever had on stage was at the end of ‘Watcher of the Skies’ with that big grandiose ending along with the crowd reaction after. What a feeling that was!” DK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for the original Genesis’ album: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1994) DMDB encyclopedia entry for Genesis SF Sol Friedman, New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock CH Christine Holz (co-editor). Music News Network. Toying with Kevin Gilbert (11/94-1/95). DK Dave Kerzner (as interviewed by Debbie Miller). Two Thuds and a Lamb – An Introspective by Dave Kerzner MO-KG Michael Ostrich, KevinGilbert.com (KG bio) MO-PA Michael Ostrich, ProgArchives.com PP Progfest ’94 program. ‘A 20th Anniversary Performance of Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ First posted 3/6/2010; updated 6/4/2021.

Giraffe released The View from Here this month

The View from Here Giraffe

Released: March 1989 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: neo prog rock

Tracks: Click on a song title for lyrics. Home [1:47] Progress [8:15] From Here to There [2:34] All Fall Down [6:22] The Way Back Home [5:01] Waiting for the Rain [4:29] Holding on with Both Hands [4:43] I Will Survive [5:26] Air Dance [5:46] Welcome Home [5:05] Total Running Time: 48:58 The Players: Kevin Gilbert (vocals, keyboards, bass, guitar) Stan Cotey (guitar, keyboards) Michael Abowd (keyboards) Chris Beveridge (bass) J. Scott Smith (drums) Additional Musicians: Robert Ferris (keyboards, vocals) Tom Politzer (sax ensemble and solos on “All Fall Down” and “Waiting for the Rain”) Susan Moretti (vocals on “Air Dance”) Steve Watts (drums)

Rating: 3.065 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: The View from Here was the second and final studio album from Giraffe, “a pretty good bay area pop band led by Kevin Gilbert…[whose] sound leans toward progressive and maybe even fusion a little.” SF “Kinda danceable poppy prog.” SF The View from Here is loaded with great hooks, excellent vocals, and taped gimmicks between the tracks to give sort of a continuity feel.” SF Giraffe member Scott Smith says of the album, “This was another stellar Kevin Gilbert production. It had vision, great songs, and kept the whole progressive, yet commercial aspect of Giraffe intact. I still think it’s a wonderful record.” SS The album was finished fresh off the band’s return from Band Explosion, an international competition for unsigned bands in which they took second. Ironically, the band’s success would be their undoing as Gilbert would be approached by producer Pat Leonard, a judge from the contest, about forming the band Toy Matinee. Both this album and its predecessor are very rare, reportedly with only printings of 500 for the first and 1000 for the second. However, most of the songs from the two albums were made available on the 1999 Giraffe compilation, available through PopPlusOne.com. The View from Here was represented by 8 tracks; only Waiting on the Rain and I Will Survive failed to make the cut. Two of the songs from this album would also show up again on future Gilbert solo releases. An altered version of All Fall Down graced Gilbert’s first solo effort, 1995’s Thud. The updated version added a third verse that more subtly built into the “all fall down” chorus. The original chorus, with the line “Down, down, down, they all fall down/ Buildings and bridges while we just stand around” was modified in the ’95 version to close the song. The stronger verse says “Buildings and bridges all leveled to the ground/ Cities and nations and we stand around/ Someone unlocked the big cage and the beast cannot be found/ So strike up the music and we’ll all fall down.” Compare the lyrics for the two songs here: 1989 lyrics for “All Fall Down” 1995 lyrics for “All Fall Down” Similarly, the song From Here to There was revisited years later on Gilbert’s posthumous second solo album The Shaming of the True. It wasn’t lyrically changed, but it’s theme of finding a way back home fit well into the latter album’s concept of a fallen rock star trying to, well, find his way back home. Notes: The Kevin Gilbert estate released the two Giraffe albums, The Power of Suggestion and The View from Here, in a set with a DVD which features a nine-song live set from the Gold Star Café at Mountain View, California on April 28, 1988. It also has an interview and the two songs they performed at the Yamaha Soundcheck National Finals at the Universal Ampitheatre in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 1988; an interview by Michelle Blaine with Kevin Gilbert; and video of the Band Explosion World Final at the Fuji Television Studio in Tokyo, Japan, from February 9-12, 1989. Finally, the DVD includes a video of “This Warm Night.” The set is available at PopPlusOne.com.

Resources and Related Links: SF Sol Friedman, New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock SS Scott Smith, Giraffe website First posted 4/2/2008; updated 6/5/2021.

Giraffe released The Power of Suggestion this month

The Power of Suggestion Giraffe

Released: April 1988 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: neo prog rock

Tracks: Click on a song title for lyrics. Overture [1:36] The Last Thing on Your Mind [4:07] In Every Line [3:38] This Warm Night [4:27] Imagemaker [4:30] Because of You [5:05] Everything We Are [4:23] New Patriots [2:30] Can’t Make This Love Go Away [4:48] The World Just Gets Smaller [5:28] Power Reprise [1:10] Because of You (11th Hour Mix) [9:26] Finale [1:57] All songs are produced, engineered, arranged, and written by Kevin Gilbert, copyright 1987 at The Recording Studio, Sunnyvale, California, during the winter of 1987. If you listen very carefully you can hear it raining between cuts. IT The Players: Kevin Gilbert (vocals, piano/keyboards, bazooka) Stan Cotey (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) Michael Abowd (keyboards and sequences) Chris Beveridge (bass, backing vocals) J. Scott Smith (drums, triggers, loops, backing vocals)

Rating: 2.971 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Band member Chris Beveridge explains the origin of some of the songs: “There was a collection of songs left over from a few different projects: This Warm Night and World Just Gets Smaller from the earlier Giraf, Because of You and Imagemaker from a band Kevin, Scott and I previously had together and these tracks and a few others became the first CD.” CB “Given the time it was released, [The Power of Suggestion is] an interesting and worthwhile effort. The style is very much European sounding dance pop, with some progressive rock elements creeping in amongst the conventional structures, but only a little. Really it’s a Gilbert solo album, in that he played all the instruments as well as singing (The View from Here, which followed, has Giraffe expanding into more of a band). The vocals here are good, but with less of the sardonic expression characteristic of Gilbert's later work. The lyrics are better than average for this style and he proves his potential already both as a singer/songwriter and as a musician.” IT “What's most interesting is the inclusion of vocal phrases, picked up from various sources, in a way that…anticipates some of the later work of Porcupine Tree (both are probably influenced by Pink Floyd)…A cute example is the closing one, taken from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ‘We are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.’” IT “Mostly though, these quotes tie into the loose theme of suggestion, with many sounding like they are from self-improvement tapes. The drum machines get a bit relentless in places and the music is sometimes a bit underworked and simplistic (more guitars and less keyboards might have broadened the sound) but, as a whole, it works and does include some fine songs. An indication of greater things to come.” IT Notes: It is assumed that the 11th Hour Mix of “Because of You” was not on the original release, but this is not known for sure. The Kevin Gilbert estate released the two Giraffe albums, The Power of Suggestion and The View from Here, in a set with a DVD which features a nine-song live set from the Gold Star Café at Mountain View, California on April 28, 1988. It also has an interview and the two songs they performed at the Yamaha Soundcheck National Finals at the Universal Ampitheatre in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 1988; an interview by Michelle Blaine with Kevin Gilbert; and video of the Band Explosion World Final at the Fuji Television Studio in Tokyo, Japan, from February 9-12, 1989. Finally, the DVD includes a video of “This Warm Night.” The set is available at PopPlusOne.com.

Resources and Related Links: CB Chris Beveridge, ShadowSelf.com. No longer online. IT Ian Thomas, Roadkill.com First posted 4/2/2008; updated 6/5/2021.