Spock's Beard (Crack in the Big Sky - LIve 2008) KnR's First Reaction

[@hannahm9517]

This is so cool. My Dad is the man who sent this song in to you guys, and yesterday he sent us the link in our Family group chat. He was over the moon that you guys listened to this song and were so into it!!!!! ☺️

[@RandyLott]

Nick D'Virgilio is a phenomenal drummer, ketboardist, guitarist, and singer. He was actually a composer for Cirque Du Soleil. He also plays for Big Big Train and has done gigs for Karmakanic.

[@Aranes68]

And he played with Genesis and Peter Gabriel...

[@bobford1581]

Oops, my mistake. I should have said Alan Morse, on guitar, not Neal. Anyway, thanks for listening to the track, and so glad you liked it....

[@davidford3060]

Nice pick Dad :)

[@TerryKrysinski]

@@davidford3060 why not pick the studio version with Neal? Or at least a live vid that didn't cut off the end of the song like that?

[@xara6657]

To clarify, this track was written by Neal Morse (original featured on the 1999 release "Day for Night") but he is not part of the line up anymore at this point. The lead guitarist is his brother Alan Morse.

[@АнтонЧернецов-д6о]

"At The End Of The Day" from V album!

[@gooysda]

Spock's Beard, YES! These guys have so many great songs and this is one of the best. Keep up the great content!

[@jimsmoker8072]

Love Spock's Beard and this song so I loved your reaction to them. Thank you for that! If you love Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, etc., then Spock's is for you! Next songs? Maybe try June, The Light, or At the End of the Day (or the Great Nothing... too many to choose from....!)

[@matthewchance8835]

Never heard this song until now, two words "Freakin' EPIC!!" Have to add it to my music library. They remind me a little bit of early Kansas & E.L.P.

[@uapuat]

I've heard (and enjoyed) Spock's Beard before but I've never heard this. Love it. Thanks!

[@VoIcanoman]

I was fortunate enough to see Spock's Beard on the first leg of their 2007 US tour, at BB King's in New York City. A friend and I took a bus down to NYC from Montréal, stayed literally one night at a cheap hostel* in the Big Apple (the night of the concert - incidentally, this remains my only trip to New York City, barring a couple airport transfers that don't really count), and along with a friend, witnessed one of the best concerts I've ever seen. _Crack the Big Sky_ was a highlight, as were _On a Perfect Day_ and _Thoughts (Part II)._ My friend had an acquaintance who worked for the band's label, so we also got early entry (we witnessed the sound check and snagged great seats), and backstage access after the show (so I got to meet Nick, Alan, Dave, Jimmy and maybe Ryo...I don't remember meeting him, this was roughly 16 years ago). I still think Nick is a more talented and technically-sound singer than Neal (gauntlet thrown?), but I Neal's mind was clearly behind all of their master compositions, and his emotionality came to define those songs long before Nick took over as front-man. Also, yes it was as amazing as it appears, to see Nick go back and forth, sometimes singing while drumming (a la Phil Collins), sometimes letting Jimmy do the drumming (they had a pretty great dual drum solo as well), and playing some critical keyboard and guitar parts. All in all, it was a privilege to see this band at all (since they rarely tour, and when they do tour they generally are limited to a few major cities which never coincide with where I am living, hence the choice to spend ~18 total hours on a bus in order to get ~26 hours in New York!!!), but especially THIS version of the band, which is extremely underrated (I'd put their 9th, self-titled album, up against anything in which Neal participated...well, maybe not "V," but anything else). After Neal buggered off to follow Jesus's (obviously extremely-serious and consequential) orders, it looked pretty dire for Spock's Beard...and also for Transatlantic, perhaps the top prog supergroup of the last 25 years. But Nick and the others kept The Beard going with some exceptional albums, and eventually Jesus changed his mind and Neal started to write and tour again with Transatlantic, as well as do a few appearances on-stage with his former bandmates in Spock's Beard (usually just contributing for a song or two). The most significant of these, however, was 2016's Morsefest, where they performed "Snow" in its entirety, with all 3 front-men for the band continuously participating (which is a useful thing for a band that writes insane vocal harmonies, including many elaborate polyphonic passages). I'm sorry I wasn't able to see that momentous event in person, but I do have the DVD. All in all, amazing band. It is, however, a true shame that this band has never been able to "quit their day-job," so to speak. They've produced some of the most influential prog rock of the last 30 years, and yet they still cannot leverage that for a sufficiently-livable and sustainable income. I guess if your goal is to break with convention and do something different, there's a chance that the "different" art which you create is not accessible enough to be profitable (of course, it can go the other way to - plenty of artists have travelled this particular road, and many of them have made an indelible mark on popular culture). Oh well; at least they didn't give up on the dream and continued to push forward, despite the roadblocks holding them back. Better to have "unsuccessful" amazing music than no music at all! *Incidentally, that "cheap" hostel charged 40 USD a night per person for what amounted to dorm-style accommodation (i.e. a room sleeping six people in 3 bunk beds, 4 of whom were strangers), but I guess that's par for the course in New York. No AirBnB in 2007!

[@brendo9672]

Wow! IQ and Spocks Beard

[@PaulHilburger]

A.C.T is awesome

[@gabrielmekler4757]

You mean "Last Epic"?

[@brendo9672]

@@gabrielmekler4757 hahaha Yes. I was at work when I posted this. This is why I do not type here while doing paperwork ;) First financial week haha

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

Spock's Beard now is fronted by the singer of Enchant. I really like Enchant. I am pretty sure you will like them too.

[@timstarkes173]

June.. such a good song too

[@TheTobyT]

Love Spock's Beard! This was actually the band I was listening to when Spotify suggestet IQ to me (ref. my last comment in the IQ video ) :-)

[@gradypatterson1948]

Nick is quite a talented multi-instrumentalist and singer. The guitarist who at first glance looks like Neal is Alan Morse, Neal's brother.

[@A30ot6]

Spock's Beard is from the ST episode "Mirror, Mirror". (1967) A Transporter event (ion storm) makes Kirk, Bones, Scotty, and Uhura switch places (our Kirk goes..) to where the Federation is a brutal Empire and the Spock of that alternate universe has a beard.

[@HollowGolem]

And "Spock's Beard" was Kirk's first indication that something was wrong. "Spock's Beard" is a bad omen, a warning of danger. That's how I always interpreted the band's name.

[@olubcs44]

This was really good, thanks guys for showing me new // unknown bands.

[@sammarsh3679]

Nice to see this. I know these guys (the current band), good people.

[@bobbycoulombe9069]

I have been a big Fan of "The Beard" for a longgg time. I would suggest these songs from the different era's for the Beard. For the Neal Era, The Light, Harms Way or Flow. For the Nick Era, With Your Kiss, She is Everything and On A Perfect Day, and for the Ted era Something Very Strange or Waiting For Me. I can provide links if needed :)

[@waynetitus4507]

I just ran across you guys a week ago and it took all of 7 minutes to fall in love with you guys (ok maybe it was a bit longer). I really love learning about and experiencing new music and you guys seem to find the best. Looking forward to seeing what you find in the future.

[@PaulHilburger]

Yes more prog rock!

[@batfang5583]

I've seen Spock's Beard a few times. The first time in the early 2000s when Neil was still with them, and everyone played a variety of instruments and sang. At one point Neil took over like half the drum set and slowly moved into the drummer's place while the drummer came out with an acoustic guitar and then they switched back the same way and not a beat was missed.

[@prs149]

I've always been into prog music since late 70s I've heard of this band but I've actually never heard the music

[@docwobbles]

This was freakin' EXCELLENT! Oh and when viewing your .WTF page on a Windows PC the request form is not on the left, but just right-of-center. Thought you should know.

[@Kel.N.RichReactions]

Glad you enjoyed it RA. Yes. Agreed. Request is on right. We had so many switches to the page, we got confused!

[@dewapd1169]

Spock's Beard is NOW fronted by Ted Leonard of ENCHANT!!!!!

[@AliothSenator]

The Tangent: Proxy.

[@williambevins]

I have a few Spock's Beard CDs from the Neal Morse era. Saw Nick play drums for Fates Warning back in 04 after FWs drummer left the band. Did an excellent job filling in on tour. SB is a very underrated prog band.

[@c.willharden9589]

I swear I'm going to have another freak out if you don't do another Queensryche song soon. Lol HELP ME!!!!

[@ItsLoriK]

Unless you haven't requested one already. Then you need to go to KNR.wtf & scroll down for the request form.

[@ItsLoriK]

@Ariel Wainzinger I feel the same way. I haven't even requested via the site bc I feel I did enough in the beginning. But when I see others wanting Rush, Queensryche, or Fates Warning I encourage them. 😁

[@Every_Day_Adventure]

It was an alterior universe when crews from the enterprise crossed over to the evil enterprise in a twist of transporter fate where we see Spock with an eeeevil beard. Sup Kel

[@sidecardog5244]

New to these guys. But holy fuck! Best progressive music I’ve heard since Steven Wilson. Currently listening to ‘The Water’ and ‘Edge of Darkness ‘. Where has this band been all my life? Better late than never I guess.

[@Kaos1989]

Listen to #Transatlantic #DuelwiththeDevil it has Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy in a super prog band. Song is like 25 minutes.

[@gradypatterson1948]

Regarding your story - was the bass player named Tony Levin? Just kidding, Tony is older than that - but that is pretty much his story - he started in classical, but found more joy in jazz and progressive - and now he has played with King Crimson, Liquid Tension Experiment, the ABWH offshoot of Yes, Peter Gabriel, his own band Stick Men (I'll be requesting some of their songs on the new website!), and probably hundreds more!

[@peterichards3261]

The guy who sent it to you meant Alan Morse on guitar Neal's brother who was still in the band

[@ProgressiveTechnical]

Love the SB! Putting in another vote for some A.C.T - Fantastic band!

[@АнтонЧернецов-д6о]

do the whole V and Octane albums, seriously.

[@fabioriato]

The Light, Snow and X are also highly recommended

[@6lillium]

Yup, back in my wheelhouse... another great band.

[@jtv5370]

Spock's Beard is fantastic! Brendo is right, check out A.C.T, another amazing group.

[@davshaw5]

Listen to the album “Snow”, it an absolute masterpiece, a modern Rock Opera…..

[@xara6657]

And no, the song was not over.

[@kirbymfurlong3561]

3 bands, 3 songs....kingsx believe....eruca sativa tarara...band maid thrill.....enjoy

[@TedSchoenling]

you so need to see Big Big Train, the band Nick D'Virgilio is in now...

[@robertwolstein8111]

Neil's Brother Alan has always played lead guitar.

[@arthur1078]

Check Enchant Pure

[@josesalas1174]

React to more rock Progressive. Exemple: Vanden Plas (stone rose) Pallas(the cross and crucible)

[@michaelhintz6187]

#vandenplas "January Sun"

[@sopwithsnoopy8779]

#VandenPlas Rush Of Silence (official live video)

[@perhenninghagen3782]

Check out Neal Morse after his SB career.

[@tarmotyyri6733]

Beam me up Scotty!

[@alanalanis2257]

Hi RnK Could please react to Voluntary Slavery and This Matter of Mine today? I would appreciate it.

[@thatsriiight5047]

Can we get some more Stevie Ray Vaughn? Lenny at el Mocambo

[@robertwolstein8111]

Ryo Okimoto is on keys.

[@fabioriato]

Okumoto 😉

[@ShadowhispersBand]

Yes !!! Spock's Beard. Too bad you didn't pick an earlier song. If you want to really get impressed, Try "Alive again" by the Neal Morse Band: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3rFaXV4gK-naNk Never seen such virutosity live before, and I've been to concerts.

[@richardnelson2895]

CCR

[@TheFundead]

I got so burned out on these guys back in the day, i cant even listen to it anymore..... theyre still great but uuuggggghhhh i'm burned on so much prog... you guys arent doing any of the so many Euro power metal bands and stuff thats out there.... you know i'm a diehard and part of the team, but almost all of the recent songs just make me wanna cry, cuz i really wanna watch, but i guess i'm a music snob...lol.... Elvenking has like 7 albums and you've never played one song yet, so much stuff out there most people have never seen and i think you'lll be blown away by most of it...

[@williambevins]

Elvenking is awesome folk metal.

[@GregoryDSelwah]

#NealMorse - Broken Sky / Long Day (Reprise)

[@couyonuniversity96]

Please react to apocalyptica: bittersweet

[@mamad.biasab]

You should do more slipknot. We are waiting for more corey's shits.

[@michaelhintz6187]

#eaglesofdeathmetal Cherry Cola and or High Voltage Be the first to react to this world wide known band that is the most sexy funk dance rock out there. Wrong song for Spocks Beard. #spocksbeard Climbing up that Hill

[@jpirard]

this is a Neal Morse era song but he was not ion this lineup at all.

[@isaiasesssaearealidadebati2673]

Ice nine kills=a grave mistake.my opiniom

[@franckb8279]

Loved Spock's beard, love the first 2 albums, The light and Beware of darkness.... but I lost interest after that, they became caricatures of themselves, Snow was a pale "imitation" of The lamb lies down on Broadway. Neal Morse is over productive, he should slow down. Notice that Nick D-Virgilio played drums as guested drummer on the last Genesis studio album "calling all stations" in 1997.

[@louiegarcia1848]

Neil Morse has a new album.Jesus Christ The Exorcist. A Progressive rock musical about the story of Jesus