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By Mark Derricutt

Artist: Jordan Rudess

Date / Venue: Sunday November 25th, 2018 - The Tuning Fork, Auckland

It was a wet Sunday eve as I headed to town to bear witness to The Wizard as he shared testimony through song and spoken word.

I was not alone as a small but dedicated few gathered at Auckland's Tuning Fork for Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess to take us on a journey - his journey, through music; from attending the prestigious Juilliard school, to discovering The Moog, Genesis, Yes, ELP and their life changing album Tarkus; and onward to joining Dream Theater.

Armed with only a Korg Grandstage performance keyboard and iPad - the night was comprised of humorous anecdotes which tied together improvised tunes, classical pieces, Dream Theater arrangements, a moving rendition of David Bowie's Space Oddity (complete with Jordan singing), and an iPad shred piece using the recently released GeoShred application, culminating with an exceptional encore performance of the beginners classic Chopsticks.

With the exception of a few people annoyingly talking during the performance, the whole room was enthralled; and even now - several hours later I'm still without adequate words to describe the event, other than to say that Jordan is a humble, down to earth entertainer whose command of the keyboard leaves me nothing more than my own version of Images and Words with a selection of photos from tonight's performance.