Classic Albums Live
Canadian musical group
Classic Albums Live is a concert series based in Toronto, Ontario, in which musicians perform a classic rock album in its entirety. The series was founded in 2003 by Craig Martin, a musician who had previously produced a series of boutique cabaret shows as well as composed music for television and film. The company produces approximately 150 shows annually across the United States and Canada, occasionally staging multiple performances on the same day.
History
Before founding Classic Albums Live, Martin sang lead for a Rolling Stones cover band. However, he felt that cover bands were “concerned with putting on a great show,” rather than focusing on the quality of the music. This led him to form a company focused exclusively on performing albums “note for note, cut for cut,” which is the company slogan.
Format and Style
The musicians aim to faithfully recreate every sound on the original album. They have performed with orchestras, sitarists, choirs and schools. Unlike many tribute bands that aim to emulate the style and stage presence of original artists, CAL adopts a neutral aesthetic, presenting shows as recital-style performances. The musicians follow an all-black dress code and do not speak between songs so as to preserve the original listening experience, with the album being performed in its entirety, followed by a second set featuring the 'greatest hits' of the featured artist.
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This entry incorporates text from “Classic Albums Live” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.