Aural Moon - Progressive Rock Discussion - Ambrosia, RPWL, District97, miRthkon @ CalProg

CalProg is pleased to announce the line-up of the 7th annual progressive rock festival held in Whittier on October 2 at the Center Theater. This 12 hour event features some of the finest in new and classic prog available today in an intimate theater setting where you can spend time listening to music, sharing stories with other music fans and getting to know the performers. In addition there will be vendors with extensive catalogs of both label and indie artists.

Here’s our lineup on the main stage:

Ambrosia (California)
RPWL (Germany)
District 97 (Chicago)
miRthkon (Bay Area)

Please visit the CalProg website to read about the bands and to listen to sound samples.

Tickets on sale now!

$100 – All Seats Reserved

http://www.calprog.com

ABOUT THE BANDS

Ambrosia: Hailing from the South Bay area of southern California, this band released its first album back in 1975. They have collaborated with cultural icons like Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Alan Parsons. While most people know them as a pop hit band (they have had 5 Grammy nominations), their roots are clearly in progressive rock and they have agreed to do a set that spotlights that material. “We are so excited to be able to return to our progressive roots and do an all prog show here in southern California” says drummer Burleigh Drummond. “This is going to be great!”

RPWL: This German progressive rock band was formed in 1997 in Freising, Germany as a Pink Floyd cover band. The band's name comes from the first letters of the original four members; Phil Paul Rissettio, Chris Postl, Karlheinz Wallner, and Yogi Lang. After three years they started to make their own music based on their influences from their cover band era. Their debut CD, "God Has Failed" was met with international enthusiasm, praise and excellent reviews in all the major progressive rock music magazines. Since then they have gone on to make a number of studio albums of all original material. Their music while obviously influenced by Floyd is also melodic, dynamic, and at times symphonic. It’s all about textures and layers and never about shredding. While they have toured extensively in Europe, they have only appeared at BajaProg and ROSfest in North America and are very excited to return, this time to the golden state.

District 97: This is a young band hailing from the Chicago area that is getting rave reviews across the prog community. They sport a hard edged sound tempered with the exquisite contributions of a cellist from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as the contemporary female vocals of a finalist from American Idol. If you haven't heard this band yet, you will very soon. They are destined for great things, not the least of which is their festival debut at CalProg. If progressive rock is to survive it will have to adapt and appeal to a new generation of musicians and fans. With District 97 it is in very good hands.

miRthkon: This band hails from the Bay Area of California and features exceptional musicianship with quirky and complex compositions. I suppose they could be compared in some ways to Zappa and Bubblemath (remember them?). But they also have a jazzy / metal quality. The only real way to get a read on them is to listen to their latest CD Vehicle. Their multi-media show is scheduled to kick off the festival.

We hope to see you all there!

PJ