Progday 2008 review

[Rick and Roll]

A bit late but testing the theory of better late than never:

This year I wasn't really concerned with the bands. The 3RP festival the previous weekend was a cornucopia of musical enjoyment, and I was psyched about catching up with some good friends more than hearing music. But as usual, the music ended up generally being really nice. I'm glad it was Progday, where freedom of movement and an unstructured environment made it a welcome change from last week's intense atmosphere.

I have a few cool pictures from my less than $10 Walgreen's camera, but since I'm only up to Rosfest in compiling my pictures, it's looking like it will be another month or two.

The drive down Friday from Baltimore was a bit more traffic-challenged than usual, but my typical long-drive fare of Devo, Rush, Sabbath, some FM, and current favorites like DFA helped...after checking in, met up in Todd and Susan's room with Bryan, TJ, Scott, Steve and Laurel, and the Vaxman himself (I have some decent pics of him taking pictures over the weekend)...everybody was already well on the way to partying it up...but by the time we finished an excellent dinner at Kanki's I was caught up too. Steve Sly spent a good part of his meal receiving a call from Mike Reiss who got into an auto accident...fortunately Mike was ok when i saw him the next day.

We made it to the preshow (navigating through some nice UNC coeds) a few minutes late. Just my luck, I missed my favorite Kinetic Element song "Now And Forever" but Mike V. and the boys powered their way through some technical difficulties to deliver a powerful set. The Blues Variation cover is always a highlight, and I really like the Riding In Time midsection. That would be a great place for some egotistical keyboard soloing if Mike was so inclined...all in all a nice set - the song selection from Starship Universe was well done.

Speechless was loud and proud. Vader's Boogie started out the show and was an excellent choice. Their longest song, something to get the crowd into it right away. The playing was quite technically proficient and rocked - always a good combination. Spidercrawl was especially ass-kicking. unfortunately I missed the cover medley - looking at the reviews and the songs played, my loss.

The venue was a small bar, that was laid out fairly long front to back, but narrow. For some reason I was expecting a small hall. I'd never been to a Progday preshow before and got confused. At least it was good to go back and order drinks without having to yell.

vonFrickle opened up Saturday. I wanted to get there on time so I cut my exploration of the UNC disc golf course short...I had not heard of vF before a few weeks back, when I decided to explore their sound. I was very pleased and surprised with what I heard on CD. Live they were just as good, but seemed more monochromatic. It was in a Crimson vein, with angular guitar and tight rhythms. Although it wasn't as developed as it seemed on record, the stage show was great. The band was tight, and the space uniforms added a fun dimension to the presence. Held my interest throughout the set, a good time.

I failed to obtain the Jameson necessary for the annual tradition of drinking car bombs...which would have helped with the next band, Holding Pattern. I like heavy rock, and guitar whiz Tony Spada is a ringer for Steve Morse, and Steve is my favorite guitarist. But there was a bit too much wankery and not enough definition in the music for me. It was one big guitar lead. But it was not unpleasant, and it held enough of my interest to stick with it.

Abigail's Ghost was up midday. I was conflicted with them. Their CD is really done well, and songs like Monochrome, Dead Peoples' Reviews, and Love Sounds are excellent. But they really resemble Porcupine Tree. Now of course, Marillion with Grendel was the Genesis clone, but they turned out ok. So I was hopeful live their sound would be their own. And it was. The set was very raw and kicked ass. None of the clean, processed sound that's present (and welcome) on CD. Was talking to some of the band a few minutes before showtime waiting to use the wonderful portable toilets, and they seemed ready to go (play that is!). Tried to get some of the old fogies into it more than they wanted, but everyone seemed to like the energy. Looking forward to the Rosfest appearance....and hope the band returns to a more normal situation in New Orleans, after the hurricane.

Ain Soph - great stuff. Every year the Japanese bands at the festivals blow me away. Naikaku, Gerard, Kenso (yeah!)...and Ain Soph, while more calm than those bands, still kicked my ass. Ride on A Camel lived up to its name. Very much like Camel and such a good song. I was very impressed with the musicianship and the songwriting.
And they stuck around most of the weekend. I bought their DVD - not the smartest move since I'm about a year and a half behind on watching them but that's the way it goes.

Saturday PM - drinking, etc. Spent a lot of the evening chatting with George Roldan (Iggy), who was at his first Progday. It's great to see the camraderie between festivals and George is always fun to hang around with.

Sunday morning was more of the disc golf course...and got to the venue in plenty of time to see Cheer Accident. A perfect Mike Potter band, this proved to be a fun set. The musicianship of Thymme Jones (you can call me Tim) was amazing. he was the best singer, keyboardist, and drummer on the stage). I was also enraptured by Laura Boton's little dances during some of the songs. Some of the music annoyed me a bit, only because some of the funny bits were drawn out. But when they jammed they jammed. I can't figure out how they keep it all straight with no mess ups. Awesome.

There was a slow song that Thymme sung that was wonderful and very passionate. Highlight of the show. they also did "The Day After I Never Met You" which I told them the day prior I thought sounded like 10cc. They took it as a compliment, as intended. We spent a lot of the time having fun with their record covers.

Pinnacle was up next, and was a pretty good short set. I finally got to meet Mr. Coffee himself, Greg Jones. We'd conversed via the Salem Hill boards a lot but never met. I was somewhat bored with some of the songs, and singing was a bit flat, but the musicianship was top-notch, especially the guitar. I liked the passages where it was more acoustic rock, faster passages.

Canvas Solaris was tight as hell. I've seen where they're compared to Spiral Architect, a one off band that I liken to a mix between Judas Priest and Gentle Giant Canvas is instumental, which makes it a more demanding listen - plus some of the music runs together too much. but I was amazed by the synchronicity of the playing.

Mirthrandir I'd seen at Rosfest, and with the rain I retreated to the pavillion for an ass kicking at Rummy (thanks Susan!). I think she packed Aces with her before the trip...so I was enjoying the music w/o the visuals. They are to be commended for playing with bags over the speakers with the sometimes heavy rain.

Secret Oyster was awesome. Seasoned, professional musicians that were as good as they were at Nearfest. I thought thay saved Fusion Friday at Nearfest, and their rain soaked performance here was excellent.

Next year I'll drink lighter beer - all the Porter made me not even want any Sunday night. But the pool party was nice....I hate goodbyes so I said them quickly then and the next morning scooted out. Decide to take an hour and play the disc course at Duke...a small course, got the ego up Made it home a lot easier than the way down.

Want to thank Steve and everyone who has a hand in making Progday so much fun, and worth the drive and family separation.

Rick

Excellent review as ever Rickster.

I'll check out some of the bands myself now.......as soon as my funds are replenished.

[museman]

Great Review Rick,musically and your connection with others