Alan Parsons Live Project delivers a history lesson at The Fox

BY DANIEL GLUSKOTER and HELEN LAME’

Over a half century after manning the control booth for some of the greatest albums of all time, Alan Parsons continues to leave his mark on Rock n’ Roll history with a string of solid albums of his own.

Parsons first gained notoriety by talking his way into a job at Abbey Road Studios as a teenager, earning engineering credits on such iconic albums as Abbey Road, The Dark Side of the Moon and Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat.

Forming the Alan Parsons Project with songwriter and lyricist Eric Woolfson in 1975, the band released ten albums over the next 12 years, utilizing a revolving cast of elite studio musicians and a string of vocalists while never performing live.

After Woolfson departed to pursue a career in musical theatre and The Project formally disbanded in 1990, Parsons continued his illustrious career releasing albums as a solo artist and ultimately starting to perform live in the mid 90’s.

Appearing as the Alan Parsons Live Project Thursday night at the Fox Theater in Oakland, the eight piece band delivered a flawless career spanning performance of greatest hits and classic rock staples, surprisingly refraining from performing any cuts from 2022’s stellar From The New World, just their second studio release in nearly two decades following a slew of live albums. None of the musicians in Parsons’s current band performed with the original Project.

Opening with “Standing on Higher Ground” from 1987’s Gaudi with P.J. Olsson on lead vocals before Parsons was able to show that his chops haven’t lost a thing with a beautiful rendition of “Don’t Answer Me,” the band’s use of multiple singers throughout the evening was quickly highlighted. Olsson, also a solid front man, joined forces with Parsons in 2003 and has been able to rather seamlessly put his vocal stamp on early Project songs originally sung by Woolfson (who died in 2009) and others. He’s a large part of the reason that the absence of Woolfson and others such as Lenny Zakatek, Allan Clarke and Chris Rainbow (all original lead vocalists on early APP hits) has been minimized in their live presentations.

The propulsive “Psychobabble” from 1982’s Eye in the Sky preceded Parsons and Olsson’s soul clutching delivery of The Turn of a Friendly Card‘s lovely ballad “Time.” Parsons, 75, who underwent spinal surgery limiting his mobility in 2022, held court throughout the evening from a riser on the rear center of the stage, mostly seated behind an organ while also adding numerous guitar contributions.

The first of three tracks from 1977’s I Robot “Breakdown,” gave drummer Danny Thompson and keyboardist Tom Brooks a chance to shine, followed shortly by the funky “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You” from the the same album featuring Jeff Kollman’s incendiary licks on lead guitar. Almost everyone including the brilliant Todd Cooper on sax and percussion took turns on lead vocals, along with Dan Tracey on guitar.

Next up was “One Note Symphony,” the most recent selection played, from 2019’s The Secret, the fifth of Parsons six solo albums. The eloquent “Don’t Let It Show” gave Olsson another chance to show his vocal range and versatility as the band took a brief break for intermission before returning for an energizing version of “Damned If I Do” to open the second half of the show.

Parsons would next dedicate “Limelight” to Gary Booker, the founder and lead singer of Procol Harum who died in 2022 at the age of 76, asking the crowd to turn on the flashlights of their cell phones to join in on the tribute. “Old and Wise” saw Cooper flex his muscles taking center stage with a powerful saxophone solo.

Ammonia Avenue’s “Prime Time” gave the band another chance to showcase their perfectly synchronized harmonies before the unexpected anthem “Sirius” led into “Eye in the Sky” and another chance for Parsons to deliver his unmistakable imprint on lead vocals, bring the main set to a rousing conclusion.

Returning to the stage for a two song encore, first up was “(The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether,” setting the stage for the show stopping crowd elevating “Games People Play.” Parsons and Olsson providing lead vocals while Brooks enthusiastically displayed his virtuosity on the keyboards and Cooper blasted some final sax solos, the band delivering on all cylinders as a thoroughly enjoyable show came to an end.

Some will call it classic rock while others might call it progressive or symphonic, but six decades into performing, there’s no mistaking the classic nature of any Alan Parsons Live performance.

The Alan Parsons Live Project continues their “Reset and Power Back On Tour” Friday night in Reno at the Grand Sierra Resort.