[Rick and Roll]

Sleepytime - yes, I did like them. I would never buy their music, but let's review the facts. A great wake-up choice on Sunday AM (did we forget the abysmal Underground Railroad)? Very professional and well-thought out and a great effort. The homemade percussion and the bass player's other instruments were great. I think the crowd dug it. Do NOT explain it to a child.

Glass Hammer - what a bunch of posers. I saw them in 1995, and while the drummer turned guitarist has improved, come on! They had an 18-person chorus, for nothing! They delayed the entire day by an hour (setup and breakdown). The bass player can't sing, and after the first 20-minutes of decent music, the selections were horrible. I an really pissed at Rich Williams of Kansas, who with his blistering guitar work on "Portrait" (what a treat!), woke me up from a great nap.

Kraan - I had forgotten what they sounded like years ago - college will do that to you - they were GREAT. Helmut Hattler is a very good bassist. For old farts, they rocked. A lot of people half their age should take notice. A real enjoyable set.

Anglagard - I like their studio stuff. BUT - A typical song - three minutes of a depressing piano lick, six minutes of boring non-melody, and four minutes of industrial noise. What a major bore! And the coup de grace - two encores, when the Flower Kings weren't allowed to play one (after the audience had a near-riot)? Please, where's the justice? Jim, you didn't miss a damn thing, and I don't want to talk about it.

Camel - due the prior band and Glass Hammer, they didn't hit the stage until late - hey Rob DeLuca, how about only 4 bands on Sunday next year? People have lives, you know. I knew most of their stuff, but was never a rabid fan, and was skeptical because of only Latimer still in the band - but they kicked ass. Yes, the keyboardist has big fingers - and it helps that he had the keyboard tilted down. He's the guy who did such a great job with Yes 2 years ago.

I liked this incarnation of Nearfest better than last year's - and Miriodor on Friday was excellent. I missed IZZ, but they did play acoustic on Saturday at the hotel and we all had a lot of fun.

I would have said hi Jim, but I didn't recognize you. It turns out I was sitting three seats from Sean McFee and didn't know it either.