RE: ONE STOP PROG SHOP THREAD
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 12:14 PM
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Next, the review:
NEARfest band by band, Day the First
Riverside: We got going a smidge late, though through no one’s fault. As such, we didn’t pull into the venue parking lot till about 20 minutes before show. Still, it was enough time to get my shirt, program and pint glass, as well as get waylaid by Andy Sussman from Frogg Café, who was more than willing to take a 20.00 bill in exchange for a copy of the new album and a black t-shirt. My purchasing cherry broken for NF 2010, we meandered into the theatre for the first band of the weekend.
Riverside, for those of you not familiar with them, hail from Poland. They played NF in 2006, and I enjoyed them back then. For some reason, their performance on Friday night left me cold, and it’s a shame because I think they were in many, if not most, ways superior this year. They were tighter, less self-conscious, and played very well. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I had in the past. I wish I could say some of it is unfamiliarity with the material, but I doubt that is the case, as that hasn’t stopped me before. It may well just be an indication of where my head is at musically these days. In any event, solid performance, very good stage presence, very good playing, but I didn’t connect, though through no fault of the band.
The break between sets allowed me to pick up a few more choice goodies from the merch rooms and get bombarded with people saying hello. It got a little overwhelming after a while, but it was good as always to see so many people I don’t get much opportunity to spend time with for one reason or another. Finally the doors opened and we settled back in for an encore performance, 8 years on, from…
Steve Hackett, formerly the best known of the guitarists who played with Genesis. His solo career has been long and variegated, and I was looking forward to his performance. What struck me almost immediately (as I hadn’t read the program yet) was that he had a larger band than in 2002, and that things seemed a lot more vocally orientated than in years past. This would be a nice addition to things, and the band cruised through a tight and memorable performance. I teared up a little on Carpet Crawlers, not knowing that we’d also get a full version of Firth of Fifth and Blood on the Rooftops, which were stunning. He also pulled out some new material from Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth, some choice pieces from To Watch the Storms (Serpentine Song and Mechanical Bride, both as Crimsoid as ever), and a wonderful classical set. He was in fine form, humourous and talkative, and his backing band (the classic King/Townsend/O’Toole quartet, aided and abetted by Nick Beggs on bass and stick and Amanda Lehmann on guitar and vocals) was superlative. For me, the biggest highlight was ‘Everyday’ with Hackett and Lehmann doing some excellent harmony playing on the solos. Brilliant stuff. It was a great way to really get the festival off on the right foot, and I left the first night with a smile on my face.
NEARfest band by band,Day the Second
SATURDAY MORNING came way too early. This would be a harbinger of things to come, I feared, and it was true. Oh so very true. Still, we dragged ourselves out of bed, showered, I transferred my photos over to my PC, posted a few, off loaded my swag (I love that word. Swag. It’s a cool word) and prepped for the first full day of shows.
I had been going from table to table looking for the new Enid album, and no one had it. Everyone said only the band was bringing it. And there was no one at their table. They were conspicuous by their absence. Due to the legal stuff going around with them, I didn’t want to bring my copies of In the Region and Aerie Faerie Nonsense as I’d feel awkward asking them to sign them. So I figured I’d wait…and hope.
In any event, the doors opened, and it was time for ASTRA from California. They’re described as kind of spacey, kind of psychedelic, and they had those qualities in spades. Apparently they did their entire album as a suite, and so it really felt like they just kept going on and on. I don’t have an issue with long songs, obviously, nor do I have an issue with repetition (I’m a Magma fan, after all!), but I just felt like…well, at one point they hit a cadence that felt like an ending, and then they repeated it. And again. Around the fifteenth false cadence I was thinking ‘This is the song that never ends, it just goes on and on my friends…’
Having said this…double neck guitar! Made me happy. Nice keyboards. Great use of projections. There was good in there, and I wasn’t cold to them. I enjoyed what I heard…not enough to buy the album yet, but maybe someday soon.
After autographs, We popped outside for lunch. I got a burger at the little stand they had outside, and honestly I was pretty happy with it. I finished eating and was interviewed on camera by Tom Gagliardi and Krys Papineau, for what purpose I did not know. But there was a chest bump involved, and honestly I feared this would not end well. Following on from this we moved back inside (it was starting to get warm, but not unbearable), and it was almost time for another of the bands I was most looking forward to…
The Forgas Band Phenomenon. I was introduced to them a few years back by Bob Netherton, who raved about their Soliel 12 album, which I bought and enjoyed greatly. When they were signed for NF ’10, I knew I’d enjoy them, and I did. Loads of horns, sweet violin playing, and a fantastic drummer who could groove and swing in odd time signatures. The bassist was solid and laid it down, and the guitarist played his butt off. They were funny at the mic as well, perhaps a bit awkward speaking in English but making the effort and laughing at themselves when they just didn’t get it quite right. They played bits off Soliel 12, L’Axe du Fou, a piece off their soon to be recorded album, and a number of other compositions I wasn’t immediately familiar with, but enjoyed greatly. As far as ensemble playing went, FBP was maybe the tightest group over all, and I really really loved them.
Following on from the break, IONA was up third and I had a feeling that they might be a let down for a lot of people. For one, their material is not as intricate as a lot of bands, their sound lighter and less incendiary, and their lyrics are somewhat message driven. Still, I’m a sucker for Celtic influenced music, and for me, that was enough to find stuff to enjoy. Joanne Hogg has a lovely voice (and is enjoyable on guitar and keys as well), and was quite funny between songs, telling stories and interacting with the audience. I think she may have pushed the long songs/prog thing a bit hard, perhaps because their material is perhaps not what a hardcore prog audience would expect. Maybe if she was less up front/persistent about that, it might not have seemed as big an issue, but for me, it almost felt like they were trying to implore people to listen, where just playing and joking about the other things they joked about might have succeeded more. I also enjoyed the uilleann pipes playing from new member Martin Nolan, and I think they were very enjoyable and pleasant to listen to.
I wish I’d had a chance to get them to sign, but it was the first full night, and we had dinner to go to. We made it to the Brew Works in record time, even with the GPS (as I was nervous about my abilities to get us there) screwing up, forcing me to become the GPS. I got us to the right road, at which time the GPS chimed in ‘In point three miles, arrive at destination on the left.’
Gee, thanks.
We got seated in the Fishbowl, ordered drinks and dinner, and got Andy Sussman from Frogg Café to take a shot of the five of us at dinner. Andy hung around and chatted with us for a good bit, and finally food came. I decided to splurge and ordered the Kobe beef burger, which was probably the most amazing burger I have ever eaten. We hung, and chatted, and laughed, and finally headed back to the venue for the headliner for day 2…but before that, I took one last pass by the band room upstairs in hopes that the Enid had finally gotten there. Indeed they had, and I almost literally ran in, grabbed copies of the 2 new CDs (Journey’s End and Arise and Shine). I also ended up chatting with the merch person a bit about future releases (a DVD from Birmingham with 10 cameras, Francis Lickerish and the Chaldean Brass doing Fand among the other new and old stuff in the current repertoire). I was happy…they didn’t have the Hammersmith DVD, but I got the new stuff…
This meant it was time for
THREE FRIENDS, essentially Gary Green and Malcolm Mortimore from Gentle Giant, with a bunch of other musicians. This was going to be a nostalgia trip, and nothing more, but it was a wonderful one. Gary’s a stunning guitar player, Mortimore was pounding the skins with abandon, and the rest of the current crew were excellent, playing very intricate and complicated Gentle Giant material like they were born to do so. I don’t recall the name of the guy who sang (they brought in a new singer 2 weeks before the show), but he was excellent. I was thrilled to hear Boys in the Band and The Advent of Panurge and Prologue/School Days and Proclamation and…so many other songs. Gary was dead chuffed to be on stage playing to 1000 people, and his comment about this being more than three friends now, and how that probably means having to do a new album (‘Oh shit, what did I just say?’) was met with much applause and laughter in the audience. They were wonderful to talk to after the show as well…relieved, I think, that it went off so well, and genuinely touched by the response they got.
NEARfest band by band, Day the Third
Saturday night ended much like Friday…drive home, offload pictures (this time so tired I left the camera on overnight, plugged into my PC), sleep. Sunday morning came earlier than Saturday did, and again, I posted a few teaser photos, tried to eat breakfast, and we headed off, a bit later than the day before, but all in all not too bad. I did my last purchasing for the weekend, and ambled into the theatre for MORAINE. Coming from Cascadia (the Pacific Northwest), their music is occasionally melodic, occasionally angular, occasionally noisy, but played with a lot of skill and subtlety. I think they have loads of room to grow, and they have great potential to be a force in the years to come if their first album is any indication. I do not think this performance will be spoken of in the same kind of reverent tone as other Sunday openers from the past (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum 2003, Hidria Spacefolk 2004, Guapo 2006), but this only means that there’s time for them to grow and evolve and progress.
Lunchtime came again, and again it was a burger from the outside tent. I was too lazy to go anywhere, and it was too hot. In any case, the burger was again good, and I risked some cheese on it. It was nice to get some air, and relax, and talk to people, and not feel rushed at all. I had no idea how much fresh air I’d be getting.
Band 2 on day 3 was THE PINEAPPLE THIEF from the UK. I have 2 of their albums…the 2 CD compilation 3000 Days and the newest studio album Someone Here is Missing. I was somewhat less than impressed with the albums after repeated listens, but still was hoping that perhaps the band would be more energetic on stage. I went in with no expectations of hopes, and discovered something…it is in fact possible to have zero expectations and still not have them met. It was shoegazer music of the worst kind, with whiney vocals and a plodding morose mid tempo beat that only succeeded in beating into my head just how gray their music is. I don’t mind maudlin, morose music…I love the darker Cure stuff, and Depeche Mode, and Radiohead, and so on, but this was just blah in extremis. Comparing them to Radiohead is an insult…to Radiohead. In the end, and trying to say something positive…I enjoyed every minute of their performance…that I spent outside, getting fresh air. I didn’t like them, and am not ashamed to admit it.
For me, tension was starting to mount a little bit. THE ENID was the band I had most wanted to see (in case you’d not already guessed), and honestly I was beginning to think that maybe I was building myself up too much. I was trying to will the time to pass more quickly so they could hit the stage. When we finally got in there and were seated, I had about 90 seconds of pure, unadulterated, undistilled terror sweep over me…’there’s no way they’re gonna live up to my hopes oh dear sweet merciful Yahweh what have I done to myself?’ I had been talking them up to all of my friends, and how would I face them after they failed to live up to my glowing and running commentary?
Well…
The first 6 or 7 minutes were sublime. I was totally unfamiliar save for a listen that morning in sleep induced coma of the new album, so my first real listen was when they played. And it was interesting and different…a melding of Something Wicked This Way Comes and Six Pieces. Lots of layered, processed, vocodered vocals, and tympani and guitars and layers of keys, and I was getting into it, and…
Then disaster struck.
The PC that handled the band’s effects and sound processing/shaping crashed. The band stopped. There was no way they could continue. And I died a little inside. Whilst the crew tried to get them band off and running again, the audience began calling out for a drum solo. Dave Storey obliged, adding in Summer Holiday as last seen on the Hammersmith live DVD. I think the fact that they didn’t all leave the stage, but tried to entertain and keep the audience happy in the midst of crisis, was a huge factor in their favour. When things finally got up and running again, instead of picking up where they left off, the band started from page one and began their set all over again. Journey’s End was intense stuff, and at the end of that part of their set they got a loud and rapturous ovation from a very appreciative crowd. The second part of their performance was a selection of mostly older material, going all the way back to In the Region of the Summer Stars. They started things off with Judgment and Under the Summer Stars, and my jaw dropped when the tympani drum opening on Judgment led us into the second set. I see that as an encore piece for some reason, so it was ballsy (to me) to kick things back off with it. Robert John Godfrey also offered up a lovely piano rendition of The Lovers, also off In the Region, and Sheets of Blue was another excellent piece. At some point I did start floating around the theatre…I was gobsmacked.
I know after the performance people asked me if my expectations had been met, and honestly, as lofty as they were, not only were they met, but exceeded. So much so, in fact, what when RJG and the band got up to the tables, I had a hard time expressing how much the music meant to me. I got to hug RJG as well, which is insufficient means for expressing my love of his music, but it has to do.
Dinner break, last day, and most of us went our separate ways. I ended up at Campus Pizza, as I usually do, and had a couple slices. I was already beginning to feel the crash coming as the end of the weekend approached. Finally making it back to the venue, I ran into Jon Yarger, who asked if I was ready to have my ass musically kicked. I said that honestly I was probably gonna end up hanging out with Brett Kull in the recording booth, and was told he’d not be there, as the headliner had specifically demanded no filming or recording. This, coupled with the strict no cameras policy for his performance, started leaving a bad taste in my mouth…a bad taste that would be build up as an 830 pm start slipped to 9 slipped to 930…when we were finally let into the theatre. As we waited, another film showed, similar to the one screening each morning, about how NF is all about the people, and this is where I got nervous. I had images of ill-advised chestbumps on screen, and when I saw the first one, I feared mine would be in there. I was relieved that instead people were only subjected to me saying this was my ninth NEARfest,and my rambling semi-lucid ramble about why NEARfest is so special. Then I watched as Ray and Jim and Kevin and Tom, in my eyes clearly uncomfortable, began stalling for time. I don’t care who you are, there’s no excuse for rockstar attitude and prima donna acts. I was growing increasingly disgusted with the situation, and when the lights finally went down, and I watched 5 lighting trusses descend to the stage, I think I was done.
I still gave EDDIE JOBSON AND THE ULTIMATE ZERO PROJECT (alternatively Eddie Jobson and the Eddie Jobson Ultimate Eddie Jobson Zero Eddie Jobson Project, starring Eddie Jobson) a chance. 7 minutes of noise which I assume was actually impressive (to someone) violin playing led into individual introductions for Billy Sheehan and Mike Mangini and T.J. Helmerich and Marco Minnemann. The band shifted into King Crimson’s Indiscipline, and while I’ll admit the song choices were good (a bunch of UK, including Ceasar’s Palace Blues, Nevermore, In the Dead of Night, Danger Money, and more; Crimson’s Indiscipline and Starless; ELP’s Bitches Crystal), the playing left me cold, save for Billy Sheehan’s always enjoyable bass playing, and Minnemann’s excellent drumming. Jobson was more impressive on keys than violin, but on Starless all the life and space was sucked out of it, leaving it dense, overpacked, and less than the original. When you have a guy like Helmerich who can play 8-finger tap guitar, you do not have him playing the staccato violin part while you play Robert Fripp’s lines. It was a vanity and ego stroke of epic proportions, and it feels awful and horrible saying this about a band signed as a headliner, but I felt nothing from it. At all. So much nothing, in fact, that not only did I step out early, I didn’t go to get any signatures. Instead I spent the last hour of the performance talking to some friends and hanging out. After the festival finally let out, and most everyone queued for signatures, I waited, chatted with a few more people (Adam and Don and Andre, Cyndee and Jeff, Jen from PE, Adam, and far too many others to remember them all), and started feeling the comedown actually coming down.
The drive home was eventful, punctuated by miles of roadwork that delayed my return home. Due to work today, I transferred my pix overnight (burning through another set of batteries) and woke up, not rested at all. I burned off a copy of the pix for Mark G., who was returning to Ohio, and went back to bed for another few hours until I was rested enough for work.
And that’s where I am now.
Bill K
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'in death's garden all the roses are blue...'