Hi everyone!

I know that my presence here has been pretty scarce since Yanni announced his Voices project. That was mostly not by my choice, but some of it was my decision.

I, like many Yanni fans, am a pretty opinionated person and sometimes we don't all agree, but that doesn't make us right or wrong. It's just opinions and feelings based on what we experience as we listen to the music or see a live concert.

That being said, I really tried hard to reserve my complete opinion on Yanni's new venture until I saw the concert, and I didn't think I was going to have a chance to do so this season, but an opportunity came up to go to Dallas with my father and stepmom, who I got hooked on Yanni's music back in the 90s, so I bought them tickets, booked a hotel, and off we went after I had a few concerts of my own to play at South Padre Island, Texas.

The opening number leading into "Santorini" was just beautiful, and its segue into Yanni's famous piece that opened the Acropolis video was unexpected and yet, perfection.

I was also impressed with the lighting design and the way that the veil was used to create an ambiance in the gigantic performance venue, as well as the media presentation with the images and effects portrayed on the veil.

The talent onstage is undisputed in my book. There is no question in my mind that as young, up-and-coming performers, Nathan, Leslie, Chloe, and Ender (ESPECIALLY Ender!) deserve to be up there. The orchestra was a collage of faces old and new, and to see the rising star of Anne Marie Calhoun (whose presentation was very sultry during the lead-in to her solo on "Within Attraction") go up against the fire that is Samvel Yervinyan was very inspiring to me as a violinist.

It was also fun to see Yanni let Victor and Cesar (WOW, Cesar... WOW!!!) have at it with their harp and classical guitar duet. I love Latin music so as a whole, the concert didn't let me down as Ender's shining moments took me back to my younger years of listening to Spanish boleros and dance songs.

After just over two hours of music, my overall feeling was not necessarily negative or even disappointed, because Yanni and his team always know how to deliver a show.

However, I felt, as someone who has been inspired by Yanni for years to create my own instrumental pieces (my lyrical songs are more inspired by the work of George Michael, Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie Wonder), that the entire thing was a little anti-climactic, especially towards the end of each "set" or "act". It has NOTHING to do with the music or the lyrics vs. instrumental thing that has been going on in the fandom since this was announced in Fall 2007.

In the past, Yanni has finished the first set with explosive songs like "Within Attraction" and "Aria". Finishing with "Omaggio/Tribute" was a bit of a let-down - and I'm not talking about Nathan's performance, because he is a show stealer. I'm talking about populating a set of music with so many slow songs and ballads and then finishing with one. I just wish that there had been more energy, and that Yanni had arranged the pieces in a manner that would reflect his traditional style of putting on a concert...

He said to "forget what Yanni has done in the past", but I can't forget. How can I forget him opening with an explosive opus like "Desire", "Keys to Imagination", "Deliverance", or "On Sacred Ground", then rolling it back a bit for "Until the Last Moment" or "Enchantment", and then blasting back with a song like "The Rain Must Fall", "Renegade", or "Playtime"?

It has to do with opening strong (which he did last night), then going down a bit, then up, then down, then up, but constantly pushing forward and upward until the finish of a set.

Last night felt too low-key. Mind you, YES, I'm an instrumentalist and I loved Yanni's symphonic pieces, but this has nothing to do with me not liking the Voices, because I like this new direction and long for more new music for these young talents (I'm older than all of them so I can say that!).

Yanni really needs to inject some more energy into the show and maybe not focus so much on his older songs or slow ballads, but something that really pumps it up a bit more like the Live tour did...

And another note on the music - PLEASE take "Standing in Motion" back to the way that it used to be. Don't segue into "Nostalgia"! You go from this huge buildup, expecting the second half of that song that made "Acropolis" so famous, and then go into "Nostalgia"? Granted, "Nostalgia" is a beautiful piece, but the two don't really fit together. That'd be like going from "Keys to Imagination" into "Felitsa". I just wish he'd leave his old songs be and not cut them to pieces.

Oh well - it's not really about that anymore, right? It's about the Voices.

That brings me to the next opinion - this is the "Voices" tour, right? We had great seats and a great view in the Nokia Theatre. We were by no means in the nosebleed section. We could hear everything in the orchestra and band CRYSTAL CLEAR, with Yanni's keyboards and piano at the forefront, as they always have been, in the audio mix.

I guess I'm going to be technical here, but if this is the "Voices" tour, we had a hard time understanding the Voices themselves. They sounded muffled in the mix, buried by the band, and in any presentation where a singer is the forefront of a song (no matter whether it's Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli, Luis Miguel, Celine Dion, or Josh Groban), YOU CAN HEAR every word they are singing and their voices are equalized with no discrepancy.

Nathan and Ender were easier to understand because of their stronger male voices, and Chloe was all right most of the time, but we struggled the most with Leslie's voice. My father, who is my manager and also oversees the sound equipment with my sound team at my concerts, even asked several people during the break if they felt the same way and they agreed, and they were all sitting in different spots, so this has nothing to do with where you were sitting.

Yanni's sound team needs to be more on their game with this one because the Voices are the highlight of this tour, and it's great that they look handsome and beautiful and they are having a good time, but the audience needs to understand them, over the strings (real or synth), the keys, the guitar, the bass, the horns, the percussion, or the drums.

This is their moment to shine and it needs to be treated as such in every respect, especially when it comes to the sound.

TURN UP THOSE SINGERS!

It is a good thing that this is Yanni's first go-round with this venture. He will have time to reflect on this and then go back and tweak some things. I remember how different the "Ethnicity" tour was from when I first saw it in March 2003 and then again in late 2004. Everything tightened up and I could hear the two female singers much better the fourth and fifth times around.

I hope someone like YManRep or YMusicMuse reads this so they can deliver it to the sound tea and help out these kids. They deserve it.

All in all, I had a great time because my parents had a great time. They'd never been to a Yanni concert, and I know that there were sections that really moved them. I guess my Dad felt a little out of control because when he thinks something is "out of whack" with my sound during a soundcheck or a performance, he gets it fixed and he couldn't do it this time. I guess he's always at work, even when he's not.

Good luck on the rest of the tour, Yanni and Voices! Thanks for all of the inspiration.

Very interesting comments, Omar. It's always good to get input from a professional. I mostly agree with you but I didn't care for the "veil", I thought it was distracting. And I sooo miss the full version of "Standing in Motion". Didn't you get to go to the Austin show right in your backyard?

Thanks for the review Omar

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He said to "forget what Yanni has done in the past", but I can't forget.

I totally agree with you.

Myky

Hey samisue!

I didn't go to the Austin concert because I was playing in South Padre when he was in Austin.

By the way - has anyone noticed that the introduction to Santorini is just a variation on a theme from "Nican"?

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By the way - has anyone noticed that the introduction to Santorini is just a variation on a theme from "Nican"?

I can't go to the concerts,but I've seen several videos of this introduction to Santorini on the internet.In my opinion it is more similar to the song Nightingale..it reminds me that song (especially the beginning of it).But I could be wrong....

Myky

Well, I guess I'm not the only one who experienced a sound problem at one of the concerts. The sound at Radio City when I went was a complete disaster --- specifically with Ender, Chloe, and Leslie, whose microphones were all set too high, so their voices were distorted. It seems Yanni's sound engineers don't know how to adjust the sounds for venues built for sound, which doesn't make much sense. I'm not familiar with the Nokia Theater, but based on the the name alone, I assume it's a regular theater. I saw the concert again this past week in Salt Lake City --- in a arena used primarily for basketball --- and the sound was great. So apparently the sound at the concerts was designed for arenas where Yanni's people can use all their own speakers and equipment. But when they go into other venues that are pre-wired for sound, everything goes out the window. Sounds like he needs new sound engineers to me.

Hey Greg - long time no see. Good to see you.

I agree with you. Yanni's sound team needs to wrangle with every possible situation and it only makes sense for them to focus on the Voices and Yanni, first and foremost. The synth strings are louder than the real strings. I mean, come on! This is Yanni's show we're talking about... not karaoke.

On that note - I really wish that the majority of this show wasn't done to "playback" via Silvio's Mac (you can see it by his keyboards) and the same for previous tours. I really enjoyed the more live energy of older concerts and I don't see why they need the pre-recorded strings when they've got ten amazing string players onstage already.

*sigh*

Still, I love the Voices. It's about them this go-round, but next time, I really want to see Yanni bring out new songs like Orchid, 1001, and other instrumentals. I just miss the old Yanni - he inspired so much out of me.

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By the way - has anyone noticed that the introduction to Santorini is just a variation on a theme from "Nican"?

There's also a short passage in there from "Steal the Sky." I really love the addition of middle-eastern accents in this Nican variation.

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next time, I really want to see Yanni bring out new songs like Orchid, 1001, and other instrumentals. I just miss the old Yanni - he inspired so much out of me.

Yes! I enjoyed the live version of "Our Days." The addition of the live percussions (and a partial drum solo) made a big difference, IMHO. I wish that the voice samples had been sung live too. Throughout the concert i was half-expecting Yanni to surprise us with a live version of 1001 or Orchid, but I guess we'll have to wait (or better yet, "Forever with you"?).

Also, did anyone notice that in the Acapulco video, some of the songs were preceded by a different instrumental song? When Yanni was introducing Chole for "Change", there was an upbeat instrumental playing in the background which then faded into the beginning of Change. Same thing for "Niki Nana" - there was a slow, trance-like melody in the background. In the behind the scenes PBS video that was released before the live concert, the tracks "1001," "Orchid" and "Yanni & Arturo" were played in the background. Seems like Yanni is teasing us with music for his future albums!

Thank you Omar for your review. It is always good to hear from you. I have found in different locations, the sound varies. But that means the system should change with the venue.Maybe the next leg of the tour some changes will be made.... Let us hear from you again.