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Alan Parsons Project - Third Time Is the Charm at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville

by Rich and Laura Lynch

Following two postponements for the pandemic and later surgery - Alan Parsons and his Alan Parsons Live Project finally made it to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, June 30, 2024 - and by all accounts the performance from the living musical legend and his stellar 7-piece band was more than worth the wait.


This full band made it a prog-rock party at the Mother Church in June.

Parsons is perhaps best known for his work engineering one of the best-selling rock albums of all-time - Pinks Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. He also took a job at Abbey Road as a teenager and had a hand in assisting with the making of several iconic albums by The Beatles. So, when it came time to create records of his own he had so much quality experience to draw upon when he set out on what was at first intended to be just a studio only project. In the 90's the band began to tour. Through the years, APP landed many radio classic rock favorites including "Don't Answer Me" which closed out the opening three pack of the night.

Of course, "Eye in the Sky" and "Games People Play" came near the end of the nearly two-hour concert that was broken up into two sets with a fairly swift intermission to allow Alan and his talented cast to grab a "cup of tea".

In between, there were several rarities including "(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" that dates back to the 1976 debut from the band. The heady track was based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story. More recently, Parsons and company played a show in Israel with a full orchestra released as One Note Symphony: Live In Tel Aviv where the title track explores the source of resonant frequency left over from the creation of the universe.



Alan Parsons and bandmates- Todd Cooper & P.J. Olsson - finally made it to Nashville in 2024.

Alan's Live Project band was quite remarkable with every player having a chance to make their own mark on the performance. But, if we had to vote our co-V.I.P. honors would be directed to guitarist Jeff Kollman who had that cool rock-star look along with the chops to back it up that were consistent, steady and precise as needed. Not to be outdone, singer P.J. Olsson was visibly moved as he left it all on stage early in the night during a take on "Time" that seemed to take on new meaning for the fans in attendance.

You see, one notable curiosity about this near sell-out sold-out concert was that its audience was made up of mostly elderly Caucasians. It was also one of the loudest (as in appreciative and expressive) crowds that we have seen at the Ryman in recent memory. That demographic will get another chance to raise the roof at the Mother Church when two more related offerings take place at the venue later in the month when Geoff Downe's revamped ASIA comes to town on July 17. A week later on the 24th will find the voice of YES Jon Anderson taking center stage with his critically acclaimed show featuring the Band Geeks that promises a night of YES epics, classic and more with Carl Palmer's "The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer" opening the very proggy proceedings.

SETLIST: May Be a Price To Pay (Intro) | Standing on Higher Ground | Don't Answer Me | Psychobabble | Time | Breakdown / The Raven | I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You | What Goes Up... | Don't Let It Show | One Note Symphony | Damned If I Do | Old and Wise | Can't Take It With You | Prime Time | Sirius / Eye in the Sky | (The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether | Games People Play



Guy Erez on bass and guitarist Jeff Kollman helped make this night one to remember in Mid-Tenn.

Related Links: For more information on the ALAN PARSONS and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links - Alan Parsons | Ryman Auditorium


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