ROSFest - The Reviews

[ViolinCyndee]

Originally Posted by KeithieW

Now for the review of the bands as I remember it..


There was a party in the hotel that evening which went on until the early hours. Got to meet and hear the wonderful Violin Cyndee. Shame she couldn’t have played more. .

It was so nice to meet you too!! I was originally going to play 3 songs, but then George told me I could play 2. I just appreciated the opportunity to get to play a little.. And to join in on the party too!!

[Rick and Roll]

A little late (well ok two weeks) but here goes:

Rites of Spring Festival, Keswick Theater, Glenside, PA May 2-4, 2008 -

Having had the good fortune of seeing all of the Rosfests, it's almost routine. But it never gets old...especially when the festival is run on time and professionally. This year reminded me of the inaugural 2004 festival, where the entire weekend went off flawlessly. It was almost as if they didn't know they were a music festival! George and Tom did a masterful job in overcoing a complete change of venue, hotels, and the like. Any apprehension I had about losing the coziness and comfort of the Colonial turned out to be no issue at all. Helping matters was the return of RPWL (played in 2004), and the booking of acts that heretofore had limited exposure, and ended up gaining a whole new legion of fans. In 2004 it was Salem Hill and Little Atlas, and this year it was Ritual and Black Bonzo.

The only beef I had with the location was some of the Keswick staff. If anyone is familiar with S.A.F.E. management, you know what I mean. I run into many friends that I do not see too often, and if I want to say hi or talk, I will stop and do so in the most unobtrusive manner possible. But we were constantly herded by the staff to other areas, it was a bit annoying. But a minor thing...on to the bands themselves:

GPS -

I had heard some of the record coming into the show - their music is pleasant and professionally done, but it does not particularly move me. Also, Guthrie Govan is so miscast in this band. His fusion material and guitar work are so strong, it seems background in a melodic neo setting. The solo section by Govan was neat but so odd in the middle of the set. But again, GPS is solid and talented. Although many suggest the thing they took away from this weekend was the guitarists, I felt the vocalists (save for John Palumbo) were in top form. John Payne can really sing. And having the incomparable Erik Norlander filling in on keys was a plus. He's solid as the day is long. Overall, they were well-received by those who like their material.

Ambrosia -

A perfect litmus test of my views towards concerts. I used to worry about set lists, and whether bands would play certain songs. I've come to terms that bands will play the material they want to, and it is up to the listener to put himself in the proper frame of mind to enjoy it. I had heard that they would do their "prog" songs (this one of only three times I will mention that word in this review). I took that to mean they would concentrate on their material from the first four records, eliminating the blockbusters "How Much I Feel" and "Biggest Part of Me". I like those those songs, but if they played them they would be wearing tomatoes! Plus, David Pack is long gone from the group.

Their performance was everything I'd hoped. Joe Puerta is a commanding presence - comfortable in his talent and having a great time. Again, vocals were handled very well by Shem Von Schroeck and Puerta. "Nice, Nice, Very, Nice" was a perfect opener, done without rushing and with bravado. Almost all of their selections featured extended solo passages, many of them drifting into jazz sections. The twin keyboardist barrage of longtime member David Cutler Lewis and original member Christopher North were a lot of fun. Their solos were one-trick ponies (Lewis had the overamped Jan Hammer keys, and North had the Hammond) but the tricks were definitely treats. They closed with a song that's a personal favorite, "Holdin' On To Yesterday". It lost a little without the violin and was a bit rushed, but it's still one of the greatest songs ever written. The encore was the powerful "Life Beyond L.A.".

Speaking briefly to Puerta, I complimented him on his work in the Range (Bruce Hornsby), and shared a few jokes. At the end of the little meet and greet they were packing up and Burleigh Drummond (who was in absolutely fine form on drums) had to pack up their wares and the whopping $160 from the CD sales...such is the life of a band.

Although I'm not going to bore/regale you with personal stories, I will say the band at the bar Friday night was GREAT. They were the Rebel Wheel from Ottawa. A mix of VDGG, Giant, and straight rock, they were exciting. Now I have to get on my horse and check them out. Angie MacIvor's sax was the highlight of the set.

Blind Ego -

Most of the set was from their enjoyable "Mirror" record. And of course, Rosfest would have not been complete without John Jowitt. I joked with him the night before that "you should play one of these". As usual he was great. I was orginally disappointed with this booking - having them and Blind Ego, sharing two members, I thought was shorting deserving bands to play Rosfest. Plus, I was put off a few years ago when "Neo" played, a band formed for the sole purpose of playing Rosfest. All that said, I needn't have worried. Kalle Wallner could have played five times over the weekend and I wouldn't have minded. His playing was flawless and uplifting. And Yogi Lang handled the keys beautifully, while providing the backing vocals.

Paul Wrightson was terrific. He and Wallner provided an emotional rendition of "Black Despair" and "Forbidden to Remain". Wonderful songs, grabbing at the audiences' hearts. The RPWL tune "Sugar for the Ape" was rocked out like Deep Purple's classic "Bloodsucker". Which was appropriate - The encore was "Perfect Strangers", one of the great rock and roll songs of all time. A bit fast, but intentionally so - it put the crowd in a great mood.

Ritual -

Probably the band that benefitted most from their appearance. They have been at it since the early 90's...I only had their first record - another great Swedish band (I think Sweden is the country with the greatest music...) - but what separates Ritual is the rustic passages in their music. They did a good twenty minutes of acoustic music that was beautiful. The opening song, the title cut of "The Hemulic Voluntary Band", is a dead ringer for Gentle Giant's "Experience". But hell, you never see Giant live and this was a great song. In fact, the songs from that 2007 record sealed the deal on purchasing it. I bought it immediately after the set and it is great! "Late In November" is so nice, and "In The Wild" features excellent acoustic piano (I'm a sucker for power acoustic piano in a rocking song) - and that song features what I termed "The Neil Young Memorial Progressive Guitar Lead" - one note repeated over ten times

The final song "A Dangerous Journey" was 26+ minutes of epic music. It's also on the "Hemulic" record. Like Wobbler did at Nearfest a few years back, the long song captured the crowd. An unforgettable set that was added to by the friendliness of frontman Patrik Lundstrom.

RPWL -

Markedly different from their headlinding Rosfest appearance (that was a surround sound aural palate), this was a good middle of the day rock and roll set. Yogi and Kalle are great together, and the performance was stellar. Too many songs about war/gov't, but that's their theme. They did some fun things like the "This is not a prog song"..keep on progging me baby! Just goes to show that too many people are hung up on what's prog and what's not and forget to enjoy themselves.

"Breathe In Breathe Out" was excellent, along with "Sleep" and "Roses". I was hoping the finale "Hole In The Sky" was the Black Sabbath cover (Yogi bears a resemblance to Ozzy) but oh well!

Circa -

I was not real excited about the band...I had made my mind up after a Friday night of less than 2 hrs sleep and seeing so many old friends, I was going to cut out prior to the medley. I tried to focus on the music and learning the songs. I'm not familiar with their record, so I wanted to hear it live - but I really didn't get to focus on it too much. First, the bass was amped up way too much, second, the Jimmy Haun pedal steel split my ears - unfortunately that was the only thing of his amped up. Finally, I was taken with Billy Sherwood's musicianship. He played the baddest bass, while handling the vocals nicely. I'd not seen him live and he really impressed me.

The first tune reminded me of Yours Is No Disgrace, that kind of song...and there was a dancey chorus in another song, so dancey Marla from Maryland was impressive on the dance floor...don't have an opinion on the medley, cut out early. And missed the party - I'm not a big fan of seeing more jamming after music all day - and got 8 hrs of sleep in (a record!) - served me well as I only got another two hours Sunday PM...

Credo -

Summers End, 2006 - seen Credo during a great weekend in the UK. Was looking forward to them - they are a perfect match for Sunday morning - get the blood moving British march type music, get rid of the hangovers and cobwebs. They are what Marillion may have been with Fish still there.

I had a conversation with singer Mark Colton at Summers' End in the UK in 2006. During the epic song "The Letter", Mark's lyrics and passionate performance contained so much vitriol that I feared for the safety of the woman he sung about. He assured me it was long time ago and that police protection was uneccesary! So before the song this time he pointed to me and explained our little conversation to the crowd (I spent Sunday in the front row courtest of Buster). Also, Mark was saying the day before how nervous he was...he needn't worried. The band kicked Rosfest ass.

"Turn the Gun Around" was another highlight. Mark told a long story about how Americans kill those they really like who become famous. He mentioned that he was talking to his son about John Lennon - and his son hoped that Credo would not be famous! So Mark says, "if you end up liking us, our name is Magenta" ... He also threatened to kick someone in the audience's ass, jokingly of course....I hope.....the Gun song reminded a lot of Gabriel's "Family Snapshot", same theme for the lyric. When the assasination was impending the music was rushed and intense, then after the shooting, it was plodding and riveting. A great effect.

Tim Birrell on guitar reminded me a lot of Martin Barre, from the appearance, to the PRS, to the tasteful playing. A very professional band.

Black Bonzo -

I was most interested in seeing BB. I'm taken by their 2 discs, a nice mix of retro rock and contemporary sound. I've heard the Uriah Heep comparisons but personally I don't see it. I find them similar to Magic Pie, great new music with a hand in the past.

They had a lot of fun during the set. When they said they were to play the title cut from the "Sound of the Apocalypse" I asked what's the name of the song.....they picked up on that pretty fast...

Considering all of their challenges over the week, they came through with flying colors. They played in VA the night before and hauled ass up to PA to play. All this after Nicklas Ahlund's keyboards were stolen at their gig near Pittsburgh (welcome to America!). Then talking to Nicklas later on that evening I found out they went nine hours to get to their flight (they live in Northern Sweden), and time zones and gigs were severly testing their endurance. We had a good 20 minute talk and it would have been a lot longer if guitarist Joakim Karlsson would have laid off the tequila! (Nicklas hauled him out of the room just in time). I am always amazed by non-Americans who speak one more language than I do. And I'm fascinated by the difficulties of trying to keep a band together while working "regular" jobs. Nicklas is a welder, for instance.

Anyway, all that explains why the only keys were a Hammond that looked like it was 35 years old. The band ripped through an intense set, capped by the great "Lady of the Light". "Iscariot" and "Days of Sorrow" were powerful and the last two songs were perfect - the balls out "Jailbait" (funny, Wishbone Ash didn't do their Jailbait song this time) and the epic "Where The River Meets The Sea". Hooray for Sweden!

Crack the Sky -

I've seen this band 17 times...and I was most excited to see them here for two reasons - one was to have everyone experience at least once the fun of a CTS show. The other more selfish reason was to hear the music, sitting down, without having assholes screaming during the quiet passages. Oh how I was looking forward to hearing Glenn Workman's "Ice" piano solo, unfettered.

The evening prior I was talking to guitarist extrodinnaire Rick Witkowski. I asked if they were going to "prog up" their set. He assured me thay were going to "do what they do". That was what I was hoping to hear. Only a few songs they normally play were missing, like "Skin Deep", "I Don't Have A Tie" (they usually play about 1/2 hour longer), but all the favorites were there. Their signature "Surf City" medley was all Beatles songs...usually it's Johnny Cash, War, etc. John Palumbo is a big Lennon fan, so no surprise there. Palumbo's voice has been gone for 15 years now, but that's ok - it's not Crack the Sky without him.

"A Sea Epic" was a lot of fun. They stopped three times in the middle when they messed up, very playful. And after Palumbo spoke about how they weren't really a "prog" band anymore, he introduced Epic "a song about eating people"....I told him "THAT's PROG"!

If you enjoyed the show, please get the "Live At The Recher" 2 CD set. It was recorded at a hall about 5 miles from where I live (and they will be there again on July 12), and not only has the songs they played here, but the 17+ minute tunes "She's A Dancer" and "Flashlight" with a sax/trumbone/trumpet combo.

They had fun - a big balloon was released during the opener - they like to throw things...ask Buster about the pizza slice he caught many years ago! And although they didn't do the double drum solo (Witkowski taking on the drums too) a lot of neat twists were done. They grabbed Mark from Credo to help sing "Hot Razors" - he didn't know the song...so I whispered to him "It's a song about a relationship gone bad, you'll be fine" and he was of course.

I'd not seen original bassist Joe Macre. Although former bassists Cary Ziegler and Sonny Petrovsky were awesome, Joe Macre was excellent! And good to see Joey D'Amico back with the group on drums.

Wishbone Ash -

My only live experience was in a small venue last year. Pretty much the same set w/o a couple of Argus songs (Time Was and King Will Come were missing). That's ok - they did do "Blowing Free" (final song, a happy one to close out the weekend), "Sometime World", and "Warrior" from Argus - in my top 10 of all-time greatest records. In fact I'm a little non-plussed about Martin Turner's decision to re-record it, but that's for another time.

It's unbelievable how good they are...Andy Powell's been at it for 38 years now...and the they flew into the US after playing in the UK the night before.

Of course only Andy Powell is the only original member. But the others are fine musicians...Finnish shredder Muddy Manninen on guitar is really good, smilin' Bob Skeat is solid on bass, and Joe Crabtree's a fine drummer. His spinning sticks on "Phoenix" was great. "Way of the World" was well done as always.

ok my wrists are toast....thanks for reading....

Rick

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

RosFest 08 – Day Two

This morning we got a incredible wake-up call. Blind Ego. The side project for Kalle and Yogi from RPWL. I was really looking forward to this since I’m a big fan of theirs. And they did not disappoint. I was not real impressed with the guitar work from Friday night and Kalle just outclassed them by a large margin. What clean, thoughtful playing. Never too many notes. The lead vocalist, Paul Wrightson from Arena (another favorite group of mine, was very emotional and active onstage. A great performer. Yogi Lang handled the atmospheric keyboards well, but I would not call him a great soloist. But his vocals lend power to the songs. The percussion is an unknown to me, but he ably backed them up with solid rock drumming. Nothing spectacular, but okay. And what can you say about John Jowitt (IQ, Frost). I saw him with IQ last fall and he is a lot of fun onstage and brings a nice easy bass line to the music. He helps keep the focus on the emotional lead vocals and guitar, the two soaring parts of the band.

The second show was a nice surprise. Ritual played very well and is led by Patrik Lundstrom on guitar and vocals. He is a very strong persona on stage. Each of the performers wear a very ritualist costume from the folk world of their homeland and abroad. The first part of their set was very rock oriented. A nice blend of all the instruments, none really standing too far out from the others. This helped set up the 2nd part of the set when they went acoustic. The percussionist, John Nordgren, picked up a nyckelharpa, which is a ‘keyed fiddle’ (as described in the program notes) and the bass player picked up an acoustic bass, which was more like a bass mandolin. This was a very nice change and showed their musicianship well. It also brought them to their epic finish.

RPWL was up next. Quite frankly, they should have been the headliner. They are a powerful line-up and are consummate musicians. This band brings Yogi Lang to the front for vocals and synth. He was very charismatic with strong convictions about the economic condition of the world. This was best demonstrated by their song that brought out a guest female singer who’s name I didn’t catch. She was, however, more of a rap style singer and we may have seen the birth of Prog/Rap. (yikes). Anyway, the set was excellent. After a few brief of the politically charged songs they slipped into the style we have grown to love. Very atmospheric backgrounds with blistering Gilmore-esque guitar work, courtesy of Kalle Wallner. They did not disappoint in the least and were everything I had hoped for.

The headliner for Saturday was a let down, to say the least. CIRCA is the band that everyone loves to hate, much like Asia. But it’s not because of a lack of talent. The problem is being compared to YES, whom each of them have been associated with at one point or another. Even Jimmy Hahn, who did session work on the Union album. I have their album and I found it able, but very much single-minded. I was hoping that live it would come over better and with more energy. I was right about that for the first couple of songs, but the repetitive nature of the songs became a little borning. This was not helped by an incompetent sound engineer for this group. Let me preface that with the incredible job the house and contract technical staff did. There were very few if any sound or like glitches through the festival – until this guy came in. It was stadium sound in a small venue (bleeding ears for everyone!). Many people blamed the bass guitar, but what really got the chest thumping was the supporting keys work of Billy Sherwood’s brother. He sang through the vocoder to give that layered sound that seems to be a Sherwood trademark over the years. He also supported Tony Kaye’s organ work. Now, I was sitting further back in the house, so I did get a better feel for what the overall sound was like (I was close to the sound board). I’m very grateful I was not with the rest of the crew in the front few rows. That must have hurt, a lot.

Now, overall, I was disappointed with CIRCA, but I think that is mainly because of the expectations we place on them. We want another group that is as good as YES. It’s the same kind of thing we expected from ASIA, and didn’t get. Those are big shoes to fill. What the group really lacks is diversity. This was shown most prominently when they did the Yes medley. Seeing the incredible range of composition from the early to late material of Yes, it showed how single-minded CIRCA was. I would agree with Rick, Billy’s bass work rivals Chris Squire But even with the great back-up talents of Alan White and Tony Kaye, the group really just comes off as a YES tribute band.

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

Day Three – RosFest 2008

What a pleasant surprise this morning. Credo was the opener today and they were fantastic. The front man, Mark Colton, was a very emotional singer and performer. He had great stories for the songs and sang with expression and savvy. To me, this group was the surprise of the Festival. Some call them the best prog band nobody’s heard of. This was due to many years of health issues for band members that kept them from recording and touring. But they are strong and working hard now. Hopefully their new album that they are working on will be finished a lot sooner than their 2nd album, which took 11 years to complete.

The sound of Credo reminds one of Marillion and IQ. The emotional nature of the lyrics draws you in to the music, caresses you then holds you. My wife, Sallie, was quite taken by them. She liked them the best. Although, she admitted that Patrik was the cutest vocalist of the Festival. None of the musicianship really stood out from the others. They all blended will together. It’s not a group about personalities, but one for the music. Catch them or buy their cds if you can. Reward them for all the hard years.

The 2nd group for the day was Black Bonzo. This was a very tight and ready band. Again, this was a group led by a very emotional singer. He was also very athletic, hardly ever standing still. Very expressive. With the thrashing guitar work of Joakim Karisson and the Hammon organ of Nicklas Ahlund I would liken this band more to a progressive Deep Purple than Uriah Heep, as many are like to do. Now, they did have a missing component this morning. Nicklas’ keyboards were stolen at their last gig so he was without the synth and piano sounds he might normally have. This may have added to the rockier feel to the group this morning. It was a fun set and kept our attention.

There was a change in the schedule to accommodate a late arriving Wishbone Ash from Europe. Crack The Sky was next. There were supposed to be the Sunday Headliner and I’m glad they weren’t. The lead singer was burnt out years ago and lacks any real charm. His guitar worked lacked even more than his vocal prowess. Now, the rest of the group was much better. The dual guitar work of Rick Witkowski and Bobby Hird was spot on. Excellent stuff. The rhythm section was competent and the keys of Glenn Workman amiable and supportive. To say the least, I was very disappointed. Many folks seemed to be looking forward to them. I do not know their work, as they were a group I never picked up on. Although, I seem to have this vague memory of a group like them playing a concert at my High School, but I can’t swear it was them. The Beatles medley was a lot of fun, but overall it was not what I was hoping for.

The Festival concluded with Wishbone Ash. Now, talk about dual guitar work. Wow. These guys were spot on. Although I think they may have been a little tired from their trek across the pond to make it to this show. The music was very professional and sounded good, but perhaps a little too loud (but certainly not as loud as CIRCA). Without any keys this was certainly a straight up Rock & Roll set. Which, for me, was really the flavor of the whole festival.

Having done NearFest and FMPM last year, I got a very diverse mixture of styles of music. Each of those festivals are somewhat balanced with symphonic bands, as well as heavier guitar oriented group, even a little folk styling from the Strawbs. I found this festival to be much more Rock oriented (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I would have liked a little more diversity. But I think losing both The Flower Kings and Starcastle could speak to that, as they would have lent that diversity to the mix. I think the festival suffered from they’re not being here.

Now, overall, I did enjoy myself, especially the camaraderie of all the Moonies present. It was really great getting to know all of them and share our great music. The festival was run very professionally. Acts were up and ready on time each and every time. That’s a great compliment to the staff in the house as well as the technicians backstage. I too had a few issues from the security staff. They were just not there to have fun. I think, however, if there was more lobby space that may not have been such an issue. Having the merchandise right there in the main lobby caused lots of bottlenecks and congestion. Unfortunately, there really is not another place to put them. I really liked the little town the Keswick is situated in. There were plenty of food choices and the townfolk were very pleasant and seemed happy to have us there. I think there were even happier to take our money while they gave us service with a warm and sincere smile.