progSfest in UK, Oct. 30-31

[mossy]

I mentioned this in another non concert happenings thread, but just to do it properly...

http://www.geocities.com/progsfest/home.htm

IQ, Tangent, Tantalus, Pineapple Thief, Magenta, The Progs, Galahad and Ray Wilson are appearing.

m

I know at least 3 Moonies who will be there on the Saturday.

I'm looking forward to this day out with mossy and RogorMortis.

Should be a blast!

[Rick and Roll]

A full report is expected and welcomed. "The Progs"...are thay a folk band?

I try to be a Pineapple Thief as often as possible.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally posted by mossy
I mentioned this in another non concert happenings thread, but just to do it properly...

http://www.geocities.com/progsfest/home.htm

IQ, Tangent, Tantalus, Pineapple Thief, Magenta, The Progs, Galahad and Ray Wilson are appearing.

m

If this wasn't over Halloween, I might have considered flying over for it.
Airfare is cheap (about $600) and I could apply freq. fliers miles to make that price even cheaper. Between gas, hotels, meals and beer, I spent more than that on a week of Marillion gigs. Sadly, I need to be here over Halloween to make sure the little vandals don't arson the vans or the house.

[mossy]

A shame, vax.

You could have brought them over and stayed for Guy Fawkes Day where they could see that setting fire to things is actually a commemorated semi-holiday.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally posted by mossy
A shame, vax.

You could have brought them over and stayed for Guy Fawkes Day where they could see that setting fire to things is actually a commemorated semi-holiday.

Over here we have fire setting when sports teams win.

Try saying Guy Fawkes really fast...it's fun!

A shame? I call it a close call!

Originally posted by Rick and Roll
A shame? I call it a close call!

It's a HUGE shame. Gigging with VAX, Jam and RM a few months back was great. I'll never forget everyone "getting on down" at that Yes gig.

C'mon VAX. Leave the little blighters with a relative.

You know it makes sense.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally posted by Keith Waye
It's a HUGE shame. Gigging with VAX, Jam and RM a few months back was great. I'll never forget everyone "getting on down" at that Yes gig.

C'mon VAX. Leave the little blighters with a relative.

You know it makes sense.

It sure was! I was also informed that the 30th is a trip to the School of Performing Arts in Philly with my bwitch. A day with her or a day with you guys -- which do you think I'd choose and enjoy more.

Mid-march is just around the corner. We'll work out something so we can get together.

Friday came and Rogor Mortis arrived at chez Keithie just in time for dinner. It must have been OK because we were still walking the next morning.

After filling up the car with fuel we headed off West to Chippenham with a feeling of expectation. We were not dissapointed.

We got to the venue and decided that some stomach liner would be in order as we discovered that there was an en-suite bar at the concert hall and they were serving Guinness and Cider. It turned out to be a good call!!!!!!!!!!

The merchandising stalls opened early and so we thought it would be a good idea to check them out before the masses arrived. There were a lot of good CDs on sale, some rarities too and Rogor dug deep and bought another 11 albums to add to his collection. Your humble reporter, however, thought better of it as Pam had just seen the latest Keithie aquisition arrive and was asking questions like "Who the HELL is Captain Beyond?". I thought I might wait for the individual bands stalls to open later in the day but amazingly I never got around to it so returned home CD and T-shirtless. History had been made.

All of a sudden the door to the hall opened and the room got brighter. It could only mean one thing. We turned around and there was mossy. What a beautiful lady she is! Next to her was her son Phil (good looking boy) and her man Michael, all 6 foot five of him (it's rare that I have to strain my neck to look at someone but with him........my neck still hurts although that might have been from the moshing that went on later).

After the hugs we decided to make our way to the bar (amazing, eh?) and the first of a few pints were quaffed in no time at all.

There was some more activity on stage and before we knew it the event organisor, Shaun, was introducing the first band.

Tantalus came on and played for an hour and a bit. There were a few problems with the sound for the first few numbers but they eventually got it right and played a rather good set. I thought it difficult to describe them but I think they sounded like Iona at times. One song which included an alto recorder was rather beautiful.

mossy and Phil were a bit tired as they had only arrived in the UK at 6:30am that day and Michael had been awake since 3am as he had to go to the airport to pick them up. I think they enjoyed the set though. We met up with the guitarist later in the day and Phil got his autograph.

We returned to the bar for another pint and before we knew it The Tangent were starting. There was a problem in that someone had taken Roine Stolte's English lyric sheet so Andy Tillson did all the vocals and made a really good job of it too.

This was a scaled down Tangent though. No Guy Manning and no Theo Travis. Andy played all the reed parts on keyboards. Still great though. It's amazing how the brain compensates when your in a live, blissed out environment.

They played really well. Needless to say I went into seventh heaven when "The Canterbury Sequence" was done and RM and I were down the front dancing and singing along.

What a superb bunch of musicians they are!!!!! I was really impressed with the guitar solos of Roine, the Bass lines of Jonas and the superb drumming of Zoltan. Sam Baine was in fine form too. Very attractive lady indeed. She can play too .

The Tangent played most of the material they have released on their two albums and all I can say is if you get the chance to see them, even this scaled down version, take it. You will not be disappointed!!! They even finished up with a version of "America" a la Nice but the Organ was too far down in the mix I thought and it didn't really come across to my ears. No problem though, the rest of the set was brilliant and I stand by my "Go see them" comment.

There was a two hour break then so we took the opportunity to walk into Chippenham and grab a curry..........and a few more pints.

When we got back to the hall. Pineapple thief were setting up and hadn't yet done a sound check. They did a very brief run through and went straight into their set.

They did quite a few numbers from their latest album "12 stories down" and I have to say I was a little disappointed....sorry guys. Too sombre for my taste. Beautifully played though and the songs from the earlier albums were more to my taste. I thought that with the acoustic guitar high in the mix they reminded me of Radiohead and when I mentioned this to RM a guy standing next to me said "I've just said the same thing to my friend". A very good band if not totally to my my taste. There were a lot of their fans there though and they went down well with the crowd as a whole.

A few more pints and then it was time for IQ. I was impressed with their show. VERY impressed indeed. They played a set of nearly 2 and a half hours with excellent slide projections. They played songs from "Dark matter" (obviously) and others from throughout their history. A great set indeed.

I came to the conclusion that IQ are better than the current Marillion line up and Pete Nicholls is a better frontman than Hogarth....sorry VAX. It just seems that they're an entity and not just the singers backing band.

Two thirds of the way through the set mossy, Phil and Michael had to leave as they were VERY tired. We took a bit of a time out and a few photos were taken as a reminder of the day. We said our goodbyes and then RM and I got back to the music.

When it was over, we staggered back to our hotel and ran into a wedding reception that was going on in the bar there. I must be getting old because a few years ago we might have tried to crash the party but all I could think about was sleep.

All in all a FABULOUS day. I hope the second day went as well as the first and I hope that Shaun can get it together again next year. He mentioned that he was trying to get Jan Akkerman and Thijs van Leer to reform the classic Focus line up for it!!!! Time will tell.

See here for a few pics of the day.

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...gor+Mortis.jpg
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...4/Tantalus.jpg
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...04/Tangent.jpg
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...2004/Roine.jpg
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...pple+thief.JPG
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...t+2004/iq1.jpg
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/KeithieW/P...t+2004/iq2.jpg

[RogorMortis]

Everthing Keithie has written is true (for a change)

Pineapple Thief dissappointed me too - they kept playing in the same key for song after song.

IQ were superb and polished playing a lot from Dark Matter plus "Failsafe" from Subterranea´and the title track from Seventh House plus "The Wake" among others. Highly recommended.

Originally posted by RogorMortis
Everthing Keithie has written is true (for a change)

Cheeky sod!!!! Everything I write is true.

I love Don Caballero..............oops, shot myself in the foot again.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally posted by RogorMortis
Everthing Keithie has written is true (for a change)

Pineapple Thief dissappointed me too - they kept playing in the same key for song after song.

IQ were superb and polished playing a lot from Dark Matter plus "Failsafe" from Subterranea´and the title track from Seventh House plus "The Wake" among others. Highly recommended.

Alot of Dark Matter?? Seeing as there are only five track in total, what would have been most? I very much looking forward to seeing IQ ar the next NEARfest unlesws their booked for something sooner here in the states.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally posted by Keith Waye
We got to the venue and decided that some stomach liner would be in order as we discovered that there was an en-suite bar at the concert hall and they were serving Guinness and Cider. It turned out to be a good call!!!!!!!!!!

All of a sudden the door to the hall opened and the room got brighter. It could only mean one thing. We turned around and there was mossy. What a beautiful lady she is! Next to her was her son Phil (good looking boy) and her man Michael, all 6 foot five of him (it's rare that I have to strain my neck to look at someone but with him........my neck still hurts although that might have been from the moshing that went on later).

Michael doesn't look all that tall in the picture. Mossy looks tired; understandable after that long trek to get there.

A few more pints and then it was time for IQ. I was impressed with their show. VERY impressed indeed. They played a set of nearly 2 and a half hours with excellent slide projections. They played songs from "Dark matter" (obviously) and others from throughout their history. A great set indeed.

I came to the conclusion that IQ are better than the current Marillion line up and Pete Nicholls is a better frontman than Hogarth....sorry VAX. It just seems that they're an entity and not just the singers backing band.

Why would you apologise to me? Dark Matter is a very good album.
I've not see IQ do recent material live so I can't compare them with current Marillion gigs.

[Rick and Roll]

Originally posted by Keith Waye


The Tangent played most of the material they have released on their two albums and all I can say is if you get the chance to see them, even this scaled down version, take it.


Too sombre for my taste. A very good band if not totally to my my taste. There were a lot of their fans there though and they went down well with the crowd as a whole.

I came to the conclusion that IQ are better than the current Marillion line up and Pete Nicholls is a better frontman than Hogarth....sorry VAX. It just seems that they're an entity and not just the singers backing band.

He mentioned that he was trying to get Jan Akkerman and Thijs van Leer to reform the classic Focus line up for it!!!! Time will tell.

I've seen Jonas, Zoltan, and Roine three times and I couldn't agree more.

About Pineapple Thief - this is the issue I have with recent Nearfest shows. Bands like that, Univers Zero, etc. are rabidly supported, but are more enjoyable if they played with other bands that mix better. It's very polarizing and it seems it would be better for their fans to see them without the non-fans.

Very interesting about the IQ/Marillion comparison. Although I do not care for later Marillion, it should be pointed out that the IQ members were not even in the same continent on the recording of the last few albums before Dark Matter (not sure of that one). It's good to see thay were good - bodes well for a fence-sitting IQ fan such as myself. I hope it is similar to Porc Tree, an band I'm lukewarm on (and is also a loose entity) but livened up their performance when I saw them.

Focus played with their new guitarist at Prog Day - did anyone see them? Focus 8, with Jan Dumee is more jazzy (and good!) and Jan Akkerman's into different stuff - I'm not sure if it's a good mix if they reformed. And that's coming from a huge Focus fan who's a bit too young to have seen them in their original form.

Glad you all had fun, I sent a message to Mossy but she had left wishing you well on your operation and you all well on your traveles.

[mossy]

It was a lovely time.

It was surreal having relatively big name proggy bands play in a room the size of a church hall. I felt very honoured. Thats the UK for you though. Guess I've become too used to the oversized overpriced Vegas venues.

Aside from Keith's moshing, Tangent was the highlight for me. Also for Phil. Again, couldn't believe they were playing that tiny room. That's the way to experience music. Andy Tillison on vocals was superb. He was unbelievably good! It seemed as if it gave Roine room to focus entirely on his guitar. It's been a long time since I've seen such an inspired set.

Michael and I are both big Pineapple Thief fans, but a lot was lost in the mix at the gig. I waited for the lead guitar parts that made the songs soar on Variations on a Dream, and they either weren't played or they were so low in the mix as to be inaudible. Great to see them, though. You would have been happy, tee.

IQ wasn't a highlight for me. They opened with Sacred Sound....beautiful. But the rest of it didn't really resonate. Surprising, as RM and K liked the set so much. Ah well.

My only regret? Being so dog tired. Vax, swamp traveller, recommends a number of things to alleviate jet lag and I'll have to see to it that I do one or more of them next time.

And there will be a next time. Shawn was adamant he would get the original Focus line-up on stage next year ("Once I set my mind on something, I do it"), so I'm sure we'll be back. Another curry RM and K? And a few more pints, for sure.

Glad you enjoyed my moshing. I didn't realise you were watching.

I think you would have enjoyed IQ more if you hadn't been so tired. We'll have to plan next year a little better so that you arrive with a bit of recovery time built in.

As for the curry. I'll eat a Chicken Dhansak, Pilaf rice and Nan bread with you anytime you want.