THE SECURITY PROJECT rolled into The Paramount in Huntington, playing some rare jewels that Peter Gabriel has not been covering himself on recent tours.  Led by Westchester’s own (and former Peter Gabriel bandmate) Jerry Marotta on drums, the band traveled the terrain forged through most of the artist’s solo career.  Newcomer and Liverpudlian Brian Cummins handled the vocals remarkably, he managed to sound like a Gabriel clone while remaining both original and spontaneous.  Since Marotta was returning to the area where he once called home, it seems fitting that he handled the lead vocals with Cummins on ‘Back In New York City.’  The rest of the night, we had Cummins standing in as a human radio antennae plucking the waves of Gabriel’s actual voice somehow from The Paramount’s air. 

Jerry Marotta told L4LM some tid bits about his impressive career.  Listed on Paul McCartney’s Press to Play album as having an ‘Unknown Contributor Role,’ Marotta clarified that Paul “hired me to play on it.”  Marotta would play weekdays with McCartney during the recording, and travel to “Bath, where Peter (Gabriel) lives on weekends.”  Aside from playing as a member of Orleans, and with no less than Elvis Costello, Stevie Nicks, and Los Lobos, Marotta was splitting his week up between McCartney and Gabriel sessions.

The spacious Paramount was a fine venue for hosting the sound of the ‘prog rockers’, and visually there is not a bad seat in the house.  The 14-song set included ‘Moribund the Burgermeister’, ‘D.I.Y.,’ ‘Fly On A Windshield,’ and ‘Broadway Melody of 1974.’  Many in the crowd sang along with Cummins on the classic ode ‘Biko,’ as the life of the anti-apartheid martyr was remembered.  Cummins dedicated the song ‘Father/Son’ to the band’s manager, who sat with his own son in the audience. The movie screens around the stage displayed images which enhanced the subject in each song, but the music did not really need any help in holding the crowd’s attention.

Trey Gunn (formerly of King Crimson) handled Warr Guitar, and background vocals in his Braveheart-like kilt.  Fuzzbee Morse played guitars and flute, while David Jameson handled keyboard and eigenharp.  Marotta informed L4LM that the eigenharp “triggers the sounds” it makes, but “the instrument actually has “no sounds in it.”  The drummer will have to complete his explanation more fully the next time we are fortunate enough to catch the band on tour, which he says may resume after a short rest of this round of shows. 

Live for Live Music was able to have a chat with lead singer Brian Cummins:

1. How did you wind up in Peter Gabriel’s shoes?

Haha, nice question to start off with! I’m not quite sure really. I have been a Genesis/Gabriel fan since I was a kid and listened to all the usual Prog albums growing up and I suppose as a result it must have rubbed off on my subconsciously.

I decided to fulfill a lifetime ambition in 2005 and form a Genesis tribute band and it kicked off a wonderful sequence of events which brought me here today.

2. What songs were the most challenging for you to sing?

With The Security Project? Hmm, I actually don’t find the Gabriel material difficult as I luckily have a similar range and tone to the great man, but I suppose this last tour it was the songs with the ‘breaks and jumps’ into falsetto like ‘I don’t remember’ and ‘Not one of us’ which I struggled with as I caught the customary ‘Winter Flu and Cold’ and the falsetto is the first part of your voice to disappear when you’re tired and ill. Also, ‘Father Son’ and ‘Biko’ were difficult to sing, but for the reason of holding back the tears.

3. Wll you tour again with Security Project?

Yeah of course! We are already looking at future dates and tours across the US and further afield to Europe.

4. Have you met Peter Gabriel; and has he heard you sing his songs?

I haven’t been lucky enough as of yet to meet Peter, but meeting Jerry for the first time was a great day, add to that on our first day of rehearsals at Dreamland a certain Mr. Tony Levin popped in to say ‘Hi’ and I couldn’t believe it! There stood in front of me was one of the best rhythm sections in history! I also had the pleasure of meeting Larry Fast on this tour who is a truly lovely guy and was so interesting to chat to. (L4LM Note: Larry Fast was in the audience at the Paramount, and took a bow after being announced). 

5. Where else can fans look for your work besides with Security Project?

Well my main band outside of TSP is The Carpet Crawlers (www.carpetcrawlers.com) a Genesis tribute based in the UK. We cover both eras of the band’s history but this year we’re touring the 40th Anniversary of ‘The Lamb’.

I also was lucky enough to perform with another idol of mine Mick Pointer the founding member and original drummer of the band ‘Marillion’ who I was a HUGE fan of as a kid. We toured the album ‘Script for a Jester’s Tear’ with a great lineup of British Prog musicians for the last 6 years and recently released a double Live Album of the show ‘Mick Pointer – Marillion’s Script Revisited’ and it’s receiving rave reviews but it was one hell of a show and it’s been captured brilliantly! (www.mickpointer.com)

6. Could you also describe for me how you came to play with Security Project?

Well last year I decided to stretch myself and do a ‘one man’ Gabriel show. It initially started off as a kind of ‘unplugged’ idea but I felt a lot of the songs just needed that ‘drum’ vibe so I bought in a ‘loop pedal’ and started creating the drum patterns from the songs on the guitar and building that up. I then felt some of the songs missed the ‘synth’ sounds so then a ‘midi-synth guitar’ was brought in so I could emulate the ‘San Jacinto’ and ‘Biko’ soundscapes, I even managed to pull off ‘Signal to Noise’ which sounded EPIC! It was a really ambitious show, very taxing on the brain but I loved that. I was literally building up the song from scratch LIVE in front of the audience and I don’t think they quite knew what to expect either.

Well it was actually immediately after my first show in Holland in August last year that I got an email from TSP saying they were auditioning singers and they’d seen a promo I did for the project and seemed to like it.

I was sent some music to record my voice over at my studio and then was brought over in November to Dreamland Jerry’s studio to meet the guys and I was in! It really all has happened so quickly, but I’ve loved every minute!

– Bob Wilson

 Photos by: Wayne Herrschaft  www.headlampdigital.com   

SET LIST: San Jacinto, I Have The Touch, Humdrum, Moribund The Burgermeister, No Self Control, White Shadow, I Don’t Remember, Mercy Street, Biko, Here Comes The Flood, Intruder, D.I.Y., The Family And The Fishing Net, Father/Son, Games Without Frontiers, Wallflower, On The Air, Rhythm Of The Heat, Fly On A Windshield, Broadway melody Of 1974, Back In NYC (Cummins and Marotta on lead vocals).