THE NEAL MORSE BAND Announce North American, UK And European Tour Dates For 2017

As Radiant Records gears up to announce details of the new concept album from The Neal Morse Band this weekend, they have gone ahead and confirmed the outfit’s 2017 tour schedule. Dates are currently as follows:

January
15 – Nashville, TN – venue tba
17 – Seattle, WA – Triple Door
18 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
21 – Whittier, CA – Center Theater www.calprog.com
22 – Phoenix, AZ – Nesbitt-Elliott Playhouse Theater
24 – Denver, CO – Oriental Theater
25 – Dallas, TX – Curtain Club
27 – St Charles, IL – Arcada Theater
28 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
29 – Toronto, ON – Mod Room
31 – Montreal, QC – Club Soda

February
1 – Quebec City, QC – Salle Jean Paul Tardif
2 – New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
3 – Washington DC – State Theater

March 
22 – Barcelona, Spain – Apoloa
23 – Milan, Italy – venue tba
24 – Pratteln, Switzerland – Z7
25 – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colo-Saal
26 – Berlin, Germany – Lido
28 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja Music Zone
29 – Hamburg, Germany – Markthalle
30 – Verviers, Belgium – Spirit of 66
31 – Cologne, Germany – Stollwerck

April
1 – Malmo, Sweden – KB
2 – Tilburg, Holland – O13
4 – Luxembourg – Rockhal
5 – Paris, France – Divan Du Monde
6 – Birmingham, England – O2 Academy 2
7 – Glasgow, Scotland – O2 Ritz
8 – Manchester, England – O2 ABC 1
9 – London, England – O2 Islington Academy
12 – Tel Aviv, Israel – Havana Club

May 
6 – Gettysburg PA – RosFest

Drum legend Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, Flying Colors, ex-Dream Theater), who is a member of The Neal Morse Band, recently checked in with the following update:

“OMG… I am BLOWN AWAY….

I know I’ve been posting teases for months throughout the making of this album, but I just spent the last 1hr & 50mins listening to the completely finished, final mastered new Neal Morse Band double concept album in its entirety and I am completely floored…

By the time I was rounding the album’s grand finale, the goosebumps were so overwhelming I actually uncontrollably wept like a baby!!! (I swear…..)

In my 30+ year career, I consider myself to have made two masterpiece concept albums: Dream Theater’s Scenes From A Memory and Transatlantic’s The Whirlwind.

Ladies & Gentlemen, in my opinion, we have absolutely topped them both! This is the album of my (& Neal’s) careers. It’s so monumentally epic and perfect in every way. I will be so bold as to put my balls on the table and say I think this album can even sit side by side with The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia, Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, and Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Yes, I said it!!! : )

Thank you to Neal Morse, Randy George, Eric Gillette and Bill Hubauer for the honor of writing and performing such incredible music with you and to Jerry Guidroz and Rich Mouser for making it sound so amazing.

The official Press Release with more info on this incredible album, as well as US & European Tour Dates, is coming this week! So stay tuned for more….”

Stereoboard.com recently spoke with drum legend Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs), who discussed his departure from Dream Theater, Flying Colors, and his musical relationship with ex-Spock’s Beard frontman Neal Morse. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Stereoboard: You made my favourite album of 2015 in the shape of The Neal Morse Band’s The Grand Experiment. You’ve worked with Neal so much over the years, is he your musical soul mate?

Portnoy: “He definitely is my musical soul mate, at least in the prog world.  He and I have now done, I think, 16 studio albums together and we’re currently in three bands together. So my relationship with him is as deep as it gets and I think a lot of it is mutual admiration and respect. He is one of my favourite songwriters of all time. I was a huge fan of what he was doing with Spock’s Beard in the mid ‘90s, but once we began working together in Transatlantic, and then on his solo material and with Flying Colors, he and I have created this bond that is musical but also personal. He’s one of my dearest friends and has helped me through some heavy times and I’ve helped him through some of his heavy times. We’ve been there for each other. We love working together.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.