Mike Portnoy has admitted to Prog Magazine that Transatlantic's upcoming live release, The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia, and a planned Morsefest live release later this year, will be the band's last.
Released on February 17 through InsideOut Music, The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia captures Neal Morse, Pete Trewavas, Roine Stolt and Portnoy at the Paris venue on the last night of their The Absolute Universe Tour in July 2022.
"It’s no secret,” Portnoy says in the band new issue. “We alluded to it several times on social media throughout the tour. It really feels like the end of an era. We all felt a tremendous sense of finality, like we were taking this as far as it can go, both in the studio and on stage. We couldn’t have been happier with the way it ended.
“This was one of those nights where all the stars aligned. I think it was the best we played on the entire run. The ovations between the songs and at the end of the show were just spine-tingling. Neal was broken down crying, everybody really felt the emotions in the air. If it indeed ends up being the last show we ever play, we could not have ended on a higher note.”
The Final Flight will be released as both a three-CD/single Blu-ray Digipak and a mammoth four-LP gatefold package, covering over three hours of music. However, Portnoy reveals that despite the band calling it a day, this won’t be the last Transatlantic record to emerge. In late 2023 they plan to release recordings of their weekend performances at Morsefest, back in April.
“We did two nights,” Portnoy says. “Not only was there The Absolute Universe in its entirety but The Whirlwind too, as well as a few other songs that we had never played live, accompanied with strings and a choir and all that. It’s really another must-have for the completists."
You can buy the new issue of Prog Magazine here.
