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Day 2
As good as day 1 was, in my opinion day 2 blew it away! Opening act was Underground Railroad - a great new band, with Genesis influences (not quite as good, but does that mean they're not really good?) My least favorite act of the day, and I REALLY liked them. Look for their debut album on the station soon. Second act was Djam Karet - they ROCKED!! Djim's favorite band of the festival. I picked up three more CDs of their's - (listening to "Burning The Hard City" as I type) - look for that, "Suspension And Displacement" and "Still No Commercial Potential" (great album name, hah?) on the station soon. They were touring with a new bass player, but it did not show - if they get better with more time together, I can't wait until the next time I see them. I'll probably write a little dissertation on them as a separate thread in the next day or so - but take my word for it - request "The Sky Opens Twice", "Topanga Safari", "Run Cerberus Run", or anything from DK soon. Third band - California Guitar Trio with Tony Levin. Wow! I saw CGT warm up for King Crimson in San Diego a few years ago, and they were even better this time. Tony really added a nice element to them (as you might imagine), and their compositions, and particularly their song selection was excellent. In addition to their originals, there were covers of Heart Of The Sunrise, Bohemian Rhapsody, Ode To Joy (from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony), and a couple of KC songs. Picture Heart Of The Sunrise done as an instrumental, with the audience singing "sharp.....distance.....etc" as accompaniment - (and we were pretty good (myself excluded)). After Crying was the fourth act - I wish I'd learned how to say wow in Hungarian - picture an excellent band with drums, bass, guitar, keys, and vocals. Now add a second keyboardist. Oh yeah, the first keyboardist also plays trumpet (simultaneously at times, trumpet in left hand whilst playing keys with right); the bass player also plays cello; the guitarist also plays keys; and the sound guy plays the flute. Now picture them all as virtuosos, and you have After Crying. Super talented. Final act was Banco - incredible! I still have a soft spot in my heart for PFM, but those are the only two bands that even have a claim to the best Italian Prog band. Banco was definitely on for NEARfest - Francesco's vocals were incredibly passionate; Vittorio compares with Emerson on the keys; and Allesandro on woodwinds is a phenomenon. Add in two excellent guitarists and a great bassist, and you have a fitting end to an awesome festival.
The other point I'll reiterate is how accessible all of the artists were - today, for example, I chatted with Djam Karet, Tony Levin said hi to me, and I was able to give thanks to California Guitar Trio at one table, and Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and Roger Dean at the next. And this was in a five minute period. Davin and Karen were more diligent than me, and I think they have autographs from 8 out of 10 bands - and AM's verdict is that they're all really nice people.
Hope to see many of you at NEARfest 2002, and let us know if you heard about us for the first time at NEARfest.
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