Awesome video takes! This is the first time, I can watch Kansas in action from the stage edge. It's great to see and listening to these musical artists, performing this sophisticated and beautiful masterpiece. Thank you so much! 🏅
I saw them just before "Carry on" came out at the Main Point in Philly, then at the Tower theatre in Philly in '78 with the original lineup still. I saw them again in 2017 in New Jersey they were still great. Finally, I saw them last year at Philadelphia Park Casino. They still got it. I miss Steve, Kerry and Robbie, but they are still great.
I gave my brother and his girlfriend the 2 tickets I had for that show, because I had to work. I didn't end up getting to see them until 12 years later. (But it was 2 shows in one night, down in IB, which sort of made up for it, and my friend and I got to meet Phil Ehart and his mother, which was cool. I think she said that she lived in Spring Valley. Got a drumstick, and he signed my ticket stub. My buddy asked his mom for her autograph, too, which we all thought was funny.)
Every time I listen to this song, I'm more and more impressed with Joe D, the new violin player. I'd swear I was listening to Robby when he was in his prime. Joe seems to capture Robby's vibe with the technical clarity of Rags. I especially love his performance at the very end. At 9:07 Joe appears to stomp on a pedal. On his next stroke of the bow, we hear some thick powerchord distortion that appears to come from his violin!!! I will say that prior to this video I've never heard a violin make a rhythm guitar sound that was so thick and distorted. Bravo, Joe.
I couldn’t agree more.. I just saw this in Pensacola, after 8 Kansas shows, this fan has never heard them sound better.. IMHO , The Pinnacle should be a playlist staple, as much as DITW
Agree! I was tired of being teased with bits and pieces. This has always been one of my favorite Kansas songs. Now they need to bring back Incommudro Hymn to the Atman!!!
Kudos to Tom for really taking the time to replicate all those great keyboard parts authentically...plus the talent to pull it off so well can't be ov erlooked.
No offense, but the keyboard parts in The Pinnacle are not that difficult at all… especially compared to the Yes material he had to learn in 2000 for the symphonic tour. He does do a great job with ALL of the Kansas material for sure.
@@chrisrickert8638 It takes chops to accurately play Walsh's organ solo, along with the correct tonality and Leslie speaker trigger. The piano part resembles Yes's South Side Of The Sky and would suffer from sloppy playing. Tom has the talent to render these parts accurately and with the correct sound.
@@DropAnchor1978 the chops for Walsh’s keyboard parts are about average difficulty. All Tom needs is a stereo Leslie setup with either a Hammond XB-2 ( which he has ) or a Crumar Mojo ( which Steve used post 1978 after getting tired hauling the C-3 around lol ); the other tones, especially the pianos are quite easily replicated. Also, the synth parts can all be sampled, but Tom chose to deliver them quite accurately with his own hardware. He does a good job, for sure.
@@chrisrickert8638 I suppose it is all relative, Chris. I guess to Keith Emerson, perhaps Walsh's solo would not be as challenging. I say this not to plug my own pedigree or skill level, but I have learned many of those Kansas songs as a keyboardist. I found a lot of neat and challenging chromatic runs and counter melodies as well as parts that require a certain precision. The Spider is a good example, to list a different song. All in all, kudos to Tom, kudos to YES and all the great prog keyboard players.
@ 5:18 This video clears up a mystery, or does it? I used to wonder if the electronic percussion sounds that we hear at 5:18 made by Kerry or Phil. The actual sound was produced by a Minimoog (or perhaps another Moog synth). There were two common ways of triggering the Minimoog to make this sound. 1) The keyboard player (Kerry since he owned the Minimoog) could strike a key on his Minimoog's keyboard using a fast, snappy keystroke or 2) the drummer could strike a small drum, called a Moog drum, with his drum stick. The Moog drum was not a real drum, it was a drum pad in the form of a small drum, and when you hit its head, it would then send a trigger signal (s-trig) to the minimoog keyboard telling it to produce the sound. In regards to this performance, we can clearly see Tom striking a key on his Minimoog Voyager to the rhythm of this percussive sound so we can safely assume it was made by Tom. However, it could have been triggered by Phil's Moog drum during the actual recording. On one of the early Kansas albums, either SFA or Masque, Phil is credited with playing a Moog drum. (I might add that shortly after this song was recorded, drum synths like Syndrums and the Synare-3 became popular with drummers. The Syndrum, which was based-upon the Moog drum/Minimoog, approach, had a drum-like pad that the drummer could hit to trigger the sound along with a separate synth with controls that allowed him to shape and color the sound. The Synare 3 was a one-piece futuristic, saucer-shaped drum that had the electronics built into the casing. Both these synths were much simpler, more compact, and cheaper than buying a Moog Drum and a Minimoog although the Minimoog would let you create more advanced sounds.)
The original was definitely the Moog synth drum; still in the final design phase that Dr. Moog was working out with Carl Palmer, who used Moog percussion extensively in the early 70’s. It’s a correct assumption that the S-trig was used for the patch that was being used, which came from the Minimoog. By 1977, Dr. Moog had perfected the synth drum, as well as the Moog synth bongos ( Steve would’ve had fun with those! ) without the need for the s-trig connection to the Moog. So, it was Kerry AND Phil if you want to get technical; but it was Phil who triggered Kerry’s Moog.
The original was played by Kerry both studio and live, which would explain the difference. Rich always has his own way of performing Kerry’s solos live.
@ 4:28 This bridge part of the song featured 8 bars of some very cool arpeggios originally played on a Hammond organ by Steve as it is here by Tom on his NORD. However, during the live shows of the Masque Tour, Steve would play these same arpeggios on his ARP Pro-Soloist (or Pro-DGX) (using the fuzz guitar 1 preset) so they would stand out a bit more in the mix. It appears like Tom chose the recorded version and this is why these arpeggios are a bit difficult to hear..
This version of the band is as good as any version I've ever heard. The new violin player is awesome. He has the technical skills of Rags and the feeling/energy of Robby plus that 7-string viollin sounds great. Tom Brislin has also been a huge boost to the keyboard dept. They'll miss Zak, but mainly as a composer rather than for live shows. But Tom can write songs and so can this new fiddle player.
First time I saw them they were the front band I never heard before. Immediately I was BLOWN AWAY! They were so far ahead of the curve. Like nothing I’d ever seen or heard before. In fact, their music is still ahead of the curve. Not bad for a bunch of midwestern hillbillies from Topeka.
I was sitting right in front of a floor speaker in front of Richard Williams. When I panned to the right, the phone was about 45 degrees from the sound source.
Ah, you miss Don Montre, Lynn Meredith, Dan Wright. When I saw them in '87 they had no Robby Steinhardt, , no Kerry Livgren, , No Dave Hope... no violin! They're less of a cover band today than in the Drastic Measures era.
Awesome video takes! This is the first time, I can watch Kansas in action from the stage edge. It's great to see and listening to these musical artists, performing this sophisticated and beautiful masterpiece. Thank you so much! 🏅
I saw them just before "Carry on" came out at the Main Point in Philly, then at the Tower theatre in Philly in '78 with the original lineup still. I saw them again in 2017 in New Jersey they were still great. Finally, I saw them last year at Philadelphia Park Casino. They still got it. I miss Steve, Kerry and Robbie, but they are still great.
Ronnie does a great job, but when Steve sang it in the 70's it was just stellar ... one of the greatest singers ever.
They were awesome... Guitar player 73 years old. Simply amazing
Kyle Henderson managing this this song so well...The Producers were such a great band. They deserved better.
Like the new lineup. Seen them in Elkhart Indiana. Sure miss Steve, though.
Excellent. I saw a Kansas concert in San Diego in 1979. Great then and great now.❤
I gave my brother and his girlfriend the 2 tickets I had for that show, because I had to work. I didn't end up getting to see them until 12 years later.
(But it was 2 shows in one night, down in IB, which sort of made up for it, and my friend and I got to meet Phil Ehart and his mother, which was cool. I think she said that she lived in Spring Valley. Got a drumstick, and he signed my ticket stub. My buddy asked his mom for her autograph, too, which we all thought was funny.)
Love the current line-up
Every time I listen to this song, I'm more and more impressed with Joe D, the new violin player. I'd swear I was listening to Robby when he was in his prime. Joe seems to capture Robby's vibe with the technical clarity of Rags. I especially love his performance at the very end. At 9:07 Joe appears to stomp on a pedal. On his next stroke of the bow, we hear some thick powerchord distortion that appears to come from his violin!!! I will say that prior to this video I've never heard a violin make a rhythm guitar sound that was so thick and distorted. Bravo, Joe.
I couldn’t agree more.. I just saw this in Pensacola, after 8 Kansas shows, this fan has never heard them sound better.. IMHO , The Pinnacle should be a playlist staple, as much as DITW
Yes! Absolutely!
Thanks for a superb video - one of the all time great Kansas songs.
So good. Love that they are playing the entire song.
Agree! I was tired of being teased with bits and pieces. This has always been one of my favorite Kansas songs. Now they need to bring back Incommudro Hymn to the Atman!!!
Thanks for this, sounds GREAT! I'm going to see them on the 2nd, 3rd KANSAS show, 1st with this lineup
Kudos to Tom for really taking the time to replicate all those great keyboard parts authentically...plus the talent to pull it off so well can't be ov erlooked.
No offense, but the keyboard parts in The Pinnacle are not that difficult at all… especially compared to the Yes material he had to learn in 2000 for the symphonic tour. He does do a great job with ALL of the Kansas material for sure.
@@chrisrickert8638 It takes chops to accurately play Walsh's organ solo, along with the correct tonality and Leslie speaker trigger. The piano part resembles Yes's South Side Of The Sky and would suffer from sloppy playing. Tom has the talent to render these parts accurately and with the correct sound.
@@DropAnchor1978 the chops for Walsh’s keyboard parts are about average difficulty. All Tom needs is a stereo Leslie setup with either a Hammond XB-2 ( which he has ) or a Crumar Mojo ( which Steve used post 1978 after getting tired hauling the C-3 around lol ); the other tones, especially the pianos are quite easily replicated. Also, the synth parts can all be sampled, but Tom chose to deliver them quite accurately with his own hardware. He does a good job, for sure.
@@chrisrickert8638 I suppose it is all relative, Chris. I guess to Keith Emerson, perhaps Walsh's solo would not be as challenging. I say this not to plug my own pedigree or skill level, but I have learned many of those Kansas songs as a keyboardist. I found a lot of neat and challenging chromatic runs and counter melodies as well as parts that require a certain precision. The Spider is a good example, to list a different song. All in all, kudos to Tom, kudos to YES and all the great prog keyboard players.
@ 5:18 This video clears up a mystery, or does it? I used to wonder if the electronic percussion sounds that we hear at 5:18 made by Kerry or Phil. The actual sound was produced by a Minimoog (or perhaps another Moog synth). There were two common ways of triggering the Minimoog to make this sound. 1) The keyboard player (Kerry since he owned the Minimoog) could strike a key on his Minimoog's keyboard using a fast, snappy keystroke or 2) the drummer could strike a small drum, called a Moog drum, with his drum stick. The Moog drum was not a real drum, it was a drum pad in the form of a small drum, and when you hit its head, it would then send a trigger signal (s-trig) to the minimoog keyboard telling it to produce the sound.
In regards to this performance, we can clearly see Tom striking a key on his Minimoog Voyager to the rhythm of this percussive sound so we can safely assume it was made by Tom. However, it could have been triggered by Phil's Moog drum during the actual recording. On one of the early Kansas albums, either SFA or Masque, Phil is credited with playing a Moog drum. (I might add that shortly after this song was recorded, drum synths like Syndrums and the Synare-3 became popular with drummers. The Syndrum, which was based-upon the Moog drum/Minimoog, approach, had a drum-like pad that the drummer could hit to trigger the sound along with a separate synth with controls that allowed him to shape and color the sound. The Synare 3 was a one-piece futuristic, saucer-shaped drum that had the electronics built into the casing. Both these synths were much simpler, more compact, and cheaper than buying a Moog Drum and a Minimoog although the Minimoog would let you create more advanced sounds.)
The original was definitely the Moog synth drum; still in the final design phase that Dr. Moog was working out with Carl Palmer, who used Moog percussion extensively in the early 70’s. It’s a correct assumption that the S-trig was used for the patch that was being used, which came from the Minimoog. By 1977, Dr. Moog had perfected the synth drum, as well as the Moog synth bongos ( Steve would’ve had fun with those! ) without the need for the s-trig connection to the Moog. So, it was Kerry AND Phil if you want to get technical; but it was Phil who triggered Kerry’s Moog.
@ 5:32 Awesome organ solo followed by a great guitar solo by Rich (and a little bit different than the original solo).
The original was played by Kerry both studio and live, which would explain the difference. Rich always has his own way of performing Kerry’s solos live.
Love those trills Joe did….💥
Sounds great. So many great keyboard parts and sounds !!
@ 4:28 This bridge part of the song featured 8 bars of some very cool arpeggios originally played on a Hammond organ by Steve as it is here by Tom on his NORD. However, during the live shows of the Masque Tour, Steve would play these same arpeggios on his ARP Pro-Soloist (or Pro-DGX) (using the fuzz guitar 1 preset) so they would stand out a bit more in the mix. It appears like Tom chose the recorded version and this is why these arpeggios are a bit difficult to hear..
Absolute mastery !
This version of the band is as good as any version I've ever heard. The new violin player is awesome. He has the technical skills of Rags and the feeling/energy of Robby plus that 7-string viollin sounds great. Tom Brislin has also been a huge boost to the keyboard dept. They'll miss Zak, but mainly as a composer rather than for live shows. But Tom can write songs and so can this new fiddle player.
First time I saw them they were the front band I never heard before. Immediately I was BLOWN AWAY! They were so far ahead of the curve. Like nothing I’d ever seen or heard before. In fact, their music is still ahead of the curve. Not bad for a bunch of midwestern hillbillies from Topeka.
Those Viper violins free the chin up plus 7 strings and even frets if you want them!
Great vid. You know a guy knows the music when he pans to the soloist(s) at just the right time. But who is the substitute bass player?
The bassist is Kyle Henderson from the band The Producers. Billy Greer missed two shows, Dallas and Tulsa, due to a brief illness.
Where is Billy Greer and Phil?
Billy Greer missed some shows due to illness and Phil has missed shows due to an arm injury.
@@gkirms Thanks!
Where is Billy? 🤔
Who is that on bass and drums?
Why do some phones change the mic levels based on the camera zoom setting? :|
I was sitting right in front of a floor speaker in front of Richard Williams. When I panned to the right, the phone was about 45 degrees from the sound source.
Great song by a great band that is nothing more than a shell of itself now...
Now is truly a cover band. I don't like it!
Ah, you miss Don Montre, Lynn Meredith, Dan Wright. When I saw them in '87 they had no Robby Steinhardt, , no Kerry Livgren, , No Dave Hope... no violin! They're less of a cover band today than in the Drastic Measures era.