In this article we're going to review one of the most controversial concerts in pop rock history, the Renaissance Concert At Carnegie Hall. One may wonder why this would be such a controversial concert. After all, Renaissance was not some drug induced band with a reputation for trashing venues. There was nothing offensive about their lyrics. And yet, there were many people at the time who felt that Andrew Carnegie would be turning over in his grave if he knew that the art rock band Renaissance was going to be playing at the hall named after him. After all, Carnegie Hall was a place where only the greatest classical musicians got to play. This is where we heard the works of Chopin, Bach, Mozart and a number of other well known classical composers. This is where we heard the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This is not where you hear the likes of Jon Camp, John Tout, Michael Dunford and Annie Haslam. But here they were, in the summer of 1975 along with select members of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra playing at Carnegie Hall. Many die hard classical music fans wondered if the New York Philharmonic had nothing better to do that day. What they didn't realize is that they were about to be treated to something the likes of which would never be heard in those hallowed halls again. Renaissance was, in every true sense of the word, the poor man's classical music group. Their songs were very much styled after the classical composers of earlier times. But their sound was unmistakably rock. They combined guitars, drums, synthesizers and orchestral instruments to product a very unique sound that made them one of the most popular art rock groups of the time. Unfortunately, at the concert itself Renaissance played it safe. They didn't stray much from the original arrangements of their finely crafted tunes. Then when they did stray it was with a ridiculous five minute bass solo during "Ashes Are Burning" which surely had their die hard fans cringing. And the New York Philharmonic members who where there were pretty much just window dressing. The concert wasn't all bad though. It did introduce curiosity seekers to some of the great songs such as "Ocean Gypsy, "Can You Understand, their big hit "Carpet Of The Sun, "Mother Russia, "Ashes Are Burning, and the epic masterpiece "Scheherazade." There isn't much in this concert that you're not going to hear on their studio albums. There is a short spoken introduction to Scheherazade, but it adds very little to the song itself other than to tell a little of the story. The critics main problem with the concert was that a live performance is supposed to be a window in the soul of an artist. In this case all we were treated to was a regurgitation of what could have easily been found by simply buying one of their records. On a positive note, those who never heard of Renaissance before were treated to some music that most definitely had every right to be performed at Carnegie Hall. They just could have done a better job of performing it. |
