Curiously the first four numbers were all from Haslam’s solo career and collaborations. Things seemed back to normal, and the band kicked into the second set. Renaissance at The Egg, 10/29/17 (photo by Stan Johnson) Once more, Annie’s bright and winning personality helped smooth the situation, but really, this was totally unprofessional for a band of this vintage. He emerged sheepishly from the wings, then left again. Then there was another pause waiting for bassist Leo Traversa. Acoustic guitarist Mark Lambert ambled on stage after a few minutes. Annie and the band members looked around. The band returned for their second set after a 20-minute intermission. For the most part, the 10-piece “chamber orchestra” lined up behind the band was mixed well, but with two keyboard players already employed, musical director Rave Tesar and Geoffrey Langley, it seemed superfluous at times. In particular, Frank Pagano’s drums seemed to be miked way too loud, with a heavily reverbed and clunky snare sound obliterating much of the subtlety of his playing. Surprisingly, given this venue’s stellar reputation for acoustics, the sound throughout was, well, not very good. Although a more recent composition (from their last studio album recorded in 2013), this song neatly represents the Renaissance sound richly symphonic, melodic, “prog lite” with Haslam’s multi-octave voice soaring above. Finally, they launched into the first set closer “Symphony of Light” and Haslam’s vocals were appreciably more confident. A tech assistant came onstage and worked on the problem for 10 to 15 minutes whilst the band stood around and Annie chatted to the audience. After five songs she admitted that she couldn’t hear herself and apologized if she was going out of tune. But for all her cheerful stage presence and patter, something wasn’t right. Annie Haslam of Renaissance at The Egg, 10/29/17 (photo by Stan Johnson)Īt 75 her voice, still a beautiful instrument, has lost some of its power and range.
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