ALESSANDRO DEL VECCHIO & FRIENDS with TOBY HITCHCOCK – Live At Frontiers XX Anniversary (2016)
ALESSANDRO DEL VECCHIO & FRIENDS with TOBY HITCHCOCK “Live At Frontiers XX Anniversary” – a strictly limited edition CD (500 copies) – documents the extraordinary show this band did few months ago.
Recorded last February 27th in Napoli, Italy, at the party organized to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Frontiers Records, the label wanted to make things really special. So Frontiers president asked Alessandro if he wanted to be part of the celebrations and if he wanted to perform a few songs live – as an unforgettable moment for all business partners, friends and journalists attending the event.
Del Vecchio assembled the band, and further discussions brought Pride Of Lions singer Toby Hitchcock into the picture. He agreed to come over from Indiana and have a stab at some true AOR and Melodic Rock classics “in his own way”.
So the set includes a few tracks which showcase some tunes originally written by Alessandro and then performed by other artists, while the bulk of the show sees Toby Hitchcock taking care of lead vocals on classic favourite songs originally recorded by Surivor, Journey, Bad English, Foreigner and of course Pride Of Lions too.
Alessandro Del Vecchio says: “When I was asked to perform at the XX Anniversary party, I just couldn’t say no. Frontiers to me is not just a label I work with. I’m proud to be part of the working team behind these great albums.
I called in some of my best buddies in music and after a rehearsal with Toby, we flew down to Napoli, hoping we could burn the house down. Well, we did and with a lot of fun too!
Frontiers president asked us to perform his ‘dream setlist’, as we called it, and we took the challenge to go out and play those songs with barely 2 hours of getting together, to give it a flavour of a jam among friends more than a regular gig.
The atmosphere was awesome and the smiles on people’s faces were just worth the challenge!”
Toby Hitchcock adds; “What an incredible honor to be a part of this celebration. When I was asked if I could fly to Italy to sing for this event, I didn’t hesitate one minute! It was an amazing experience for me to play for the Frontiers crew, but also share the stage with Alessandro and the guys.
What an incredible group of musicians! I hope to rock the stage with them again someday. Thanks for having me Frontiers. Here’s to 20 more years!!”.
I usually don’t rate live albums as ‘must have’ but… this is not your typical live record.
First of all is not that stadium-packed / huge reverb kind of recordings. It was performed in a small theater for business partners, friends and journalists, so the sound is warm, earthy, like a studio record played live.
Second, we have the opportunity to listen some of the greatest AOR / MR songs of all time performed by Toby Hitchcock… WOW, this guy not only is one best singers around these days, but in the genre’s history.
Listening to Hitchcock performing ‘Faithfully’, ‘I Can’t Hold Back’ and especially ‘Mother, Father’ – one of Journey’s most underrated songs and one of their best – it’s priceless.
Seriously, his vocal output is out of this world sending chills all over your spine… lots of water has passed under the bridge since the last time a tune moved me like Toby’s does with ‘Mother, Father’… this track alone turns this album essential.
It’s not perfect, in fact, you can hear the few rehearsal time (especially some guitar parts) but that only adds even more charm to this record. And honestly, the star here is Toby Hitchcock, always putting magic in everything he touches.
So my verdict is; yeah, A MUST HAVE.
You’ve seen it first here, at 0dayrox
01. The Road To Nowhere*
02. Here Forever*
03. In The Name Of The Father (Fernando’s Song)*
04. It’s Criminal
05. Straight To Your Heart
06. Faithfully
07. Sound Of Home*
08. Mother, Father
09. I Can’t Hold Back
10. Man Against The World
11. That Was Yesterday
12. The Courage To Love Somebody
13. Don’t Stop Believin’
Toby Hitchcock: lead & harmony vocals
Nik Mazzucconi (Edge Of Forever): bass
Marco Di Salvia: drums
Francesco Marras: guitars
Alessandro Del Vecchio: keyboards, backing vocals, co-lead on *
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