Some leaders lead from the back. Record producers, audio engineers, composers, and music directors like Alan Parsons fall into this category. They allow others to handle instrumental solos and lead vocals.
Parsons took this a step further at the Rivers Casino Event Center in Des Plaines Friday evening. Throughout the performance, he sat at the back of the stage while the spotlight shone on his band of singers and instrumentalists. Parsons sang lead on only two songs - "Don't Answer Me" and "Eye in the Sky." For the rest of the show, he strummed an acoustic guitar while others in the band alternated lead vocals and performed solos on guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. Guy Erez's creative bass solo on "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" was especially impressive.
Alan Parsons gained worldwide fame as the co-leader of The Alan Parsons Project, along with the late Eric Woolfson. Although Eric sang lead on many songs, Alan's name appeared in the band title. The two hired many session musicians and singers to perform on their eleven studio albums. Before teaming with Woolfson, Parsons made a name for himself by producing classic albums like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and engineering the latter of the Beatles' albums.
Parsons has been releasing albums under his own name (sans "Project") since the breakup of The Alan Parsons Project thirty-five years ago. But Friday evening's performance consisted almost entirely of songs from his collaboration with Woolfson in the 1970s and 1980s. This set list delighted a crowd that sported a lot of gray hair. I was happy to hear compositions from the underrated "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," APP's first album that failed to chart on its 1976 release. The classic "Breakdown" from the more commercially successful second album "I Robot" led seamlessly into "The Raven" from the debut album. The encore set began with "(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" - one of my favourite songs!
The 76-year-old Parsons is showing his age. He walks with a cane and requires assistance climbing on and off the stage. However, the progressive rock music he created decades ago holds up well, and he has assembled a collection of top musicians to share that music with the world.