Pallas fires lead singer

Aberdeen progressive rock band Pallas has "divorced" lead singer Allan Reed yesterday, January 27th 2010. After receiving a phone call from Graeme Murray, Allan Reed posted a letter on the Pallas yahoo-group that he had, in effect, been fired from the band.

Allan writes:

It is with great regret that I must tell you that I am no longer a member of Pallas.

This is not a situation of my desire or choosing. I have been unceremoniously informed that the other members of the band have unanimously decided to sack me. This has happened without prior warning or discussion. (...) I can only express my sadness that I will no longer be part of the Pallas story. The new album was/is shaping up to be a good one, and I was looking forward to participating fully in it. (...)

I can't begin to say how angry and hurt I feel at the way this has been done. (...) However, I am not and never have been vengeful, and perhaps in the fullness of time we'll speak again.. But this is a betrayal that is not easily forgiven.

Following this, Graeme Murray wrote back on the yahoo-group and on the Pallas website:

Today is a sad day. Playing in a band is like being in a marriage, only there are five partners instead of two. It is complicated. No one goes into a marriage expecting to get divorced. Alan has been a member of Pallas for many years, but the sad inescapable truth is that Alan, and the other members of the band have slowly drifted apart over the last couple of years. (...)

It is partly due to the geographical problems of living at opposite ends of the UK. Alan has been unable to attend a Pallas rehearsal in the last five years, and writing music together when you are 500 miles apart is difficult. (...) We are all very sad, and I, and the guys, knew how hurt Alan would be, understandably, but the fact is the relationship had broken down, to a point where we wanted a divorce.

(...) We were not enjoying the fact that the relationship had broken down. I don’t propose to discuss the breakdown its not appropriate, it just happened. It’s sad.

Pallas will continue. We continue to work on XXV, and it will come out later this year. We will be touring, We will be playing at Progeny, We look forward to seeing you all and hopefully to your ongoing support.

We wish Alan well. There is no ill will on our part and we are sure that Alan will be fronting another band before long, and we look forward to that. (...)

Allan then replied directly to the fans via the newsgroup:

Seems you will all still get your new album after all.. despite denying this
when I asked the question directly it seems the band has already been working
with a new singer for some time. I'm told he/she is exceptional and that
everyone's very excited about their new direction. I'd be stretching the bounds
of credibility if I said I wished them well, but at least you lot still get some Pallas.

I can understand Allan being mad and all, but acting like this is a bit beyond me. I feel sobber second thought would have been appropriate. While I am deeply saddened by this state of affairs, Pallas has survived a change of lead singer before, and I believe they will again. I wish both parties the best in the fulness of time.

Frank

IPRS - January 24, 2010 Ready for Download

It was quicker than I imagined. I managed to make the podcast of our show inside of 24 hours!

Now ready for download is our show from January 24th. The 3 hour show is separated into three mp3 files as follows:

IPRS from January 24th - Hour 1 (Link no longer available)
IPRS from January 24th - Hour 2 (Link no longer available)
IPRS from January 24th - Hour 3 (Link no longer available)

For those who listened live, you know we ended up having a surprise guest during the second hour of our show. I'll let newbies discover who it was.

Cheers and enjoy,
Frank

Set list of the IPRS for January 24th 2010

Hi there! With no computer problems we were finally able to do our show this Sunday. What a show... including a surprise phone call from the future!! Here is the set list (the downloadable show will be available soon):

1. When the Morning Comes, by Shadow Circus (Whispers and Screams, 2009)
2. All Around the World, by ProgAID (All Around the World, 2005)
3. Silenced, by RPWL (The RPWL Experience, 2008)
4. Stumbling, by IZZ (The Darkened Room, 2009)
5. What Have You Done Now?, by Within Temptation (The Heart of Everything, 2007)
6. Cinnamon, by Tinyfish (Curious Thing, 2009)
7. Kayleigh, by Fish (The Acoustic Sessions, 1994)
8. Signs, by Parzivals Eye (Fragments, 2009)
9. Justify, by Unitopia (More Than a Dream, 2005)
10. Lost in Play, by Manning (Songs from Bilston House, 2007)
11. Les Kobolds, by Univers Zero (Clivages, 2010) - NEW!
12. The Source, by Mindgames (MMX, 2010) - NEW!
13. After the Storm, by Brighteye Brison (Believers & Deceivers, 2008)
Surprise interview!!!
14. Line in the Sand, by Sunchild (The Invisible Line, 2009)
15. The Witness Part 2, by Touchstone (Wintercoast, 2009)
16. PTtee, by DeeExpus (Half-Way Home, 2008)
17. Letters in a Bottle, by Roswell Six (Terra Incognita: Beyond the Horizon, 2009)
18. Peace of Mind - Peace of Heart, by Kinetic Element (Powered by Light, 2009)

The show will be available for download on Tuesday, and - as always - if you liked the music, buy the albums with the help of these linked sites!

Sunday the 17th

Unfortunately, due to problem drivers on the computers, there will be no International Prog Rock Show on the air today. We did have some news we wanted to talk about, so here we go!

First, Marillion will have another Marillion Weekend in 2011, and as they did in 2009 there will be two: one in Holland in March and a grand return in Montreal, Canada in April!!! Tickets will probalby be on sale in April or May 2010. We will be announcing it as soon as we know!

Second, in other news about our home town of Montreal, Steve Hackett will be playing at the Place-des-Arts, on July 9th 2010, three weeks after NEARfest and two weeks before playing at the High Voltage festival in the UK. I expect he will have other dates in the US between the 18th of June and the 9th of July, and we will announce them as soon as we learn about them.

Thirdly, speaking of the High Voltage Festival, this is looking to be an exceptional festival! To date the line-up of acts is fantastic! Here are some of the acts that are confirmed: ZZ Top will be headlining on Saturday July 24th, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer will be headlining July 25th. Other acts are: Foreigner, Heaven & Hell, Clutch, Marillion, Black Label Society, Asia, Argent, Steve Hackett, Pendragon, Focus, The Reasoning, Uriah Heep, Touchstone, and Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash. It looks like it'll be a Rock Saturday and a Proggy Sunday! Other acts are soon to follow, since the latest confirmed act, Marillion, was only confirmed this week.

And lastly, as you probably know, a lot of artists are contributing to relief funds for Haiti, and Shadow Circus have pledged that proceeds for January sales of their latest album will go to help victims of this stricken country. Now everyone can enjoy great music and do his part, all the while encouraging a new band that is going places! This is an album both Rick and I enjoyed!






Update: Tickets for Steve Hackett at the Place-des-Arts in Montreal will be on sale Saturday the 23rd of January at noon for the general public. Tickets bought through the ProgQuebec website are on sale now.

Where to Donate

With the horrific event that happened this week in Haiti, I was wondering what I could do to help. As we hear so often, "every little bit helps", and I have done my part, small as it might be in the grand scheme of things.

I invite readers of this blog, and listeners of our show on www.mohawk-radio.com to give whatever they can to help alieveate the suffering that is going on right now on this small island country. Since we boast of being the International Prog Rock Show, I invite everyone to go to the International Committee of the Red Cross, a truly international NGO, and give.

Our thoughts and prayers are not enough!

Frank

Yesterday's show available for download

For those who missed yesterday's show, or for those that whish to listen to it again (you know who you are), here is yesterday's show seperated in three 1 hour episodes.


January 10, 2010 - Hour 1 (Link no longer available)
January 10, 2010 - Hour 2 (Link no longer available)
January 10, 2010 - Hour 3 (Link no longer available)

The setlist is as follows:

1. Frequency, by IQ (Frequency, 2009)
2. Hold On, by Paul Cusick (Focal Point, 2009)
3. The Wind Blew Them Away, by Transatlantic (The Whirlwind, 2009)
4. On and On, by Gunfly (Please Be Quiet, 2009)
5. Jitters, by Parallele or 90 Degrees (Jitters, 2009)
6. Victorian Brickwork, by Big Big Train (The Underfall Yard, 2009)
7. Awakenes, by Moonrise (Soul's Inner Pendulum, 2009)
8. Wither, by Dream Theater (Black Clouds & Silver Linings, 2009)
9. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, by Beardfish (Destined Solitaire, 2009)
10. Guilt, by Blind Ego (Numb, 2009)
11. The Incident, by Porcupine Tree (The Incident, 2009)
12. Remember Me Lover, by Porcupine Tree (The Incident, 2009)
13. Last Train, by Big Big Train (The Underfall Yard, 2009)
14. Age of Broken Reason, by Darwin's Radio (Template for a Generation, 2009)
15. Radiologue, by OSI (Blood, 2009)
16. Everyman's Forgotten Monday, by The Tangent (Down and Out in Paris and London, 2009)
17. Dancing with Eternal Glory, by Transatlantic (The Whirlwind, 2009)
18. The Company Car, by The Tangent (Down and Out in Paris and London, 2009)
19. The Province, by IQ (Frequency, 2009)
20. Left Out, by Riverside (Anno Domini High Definition, 2009)

Enjoy and Prog on!!!

Thank you for your response

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the poll, and would like to urge others to participate. You still have until Saturday night to post a comment with your Top 10.

One question, though: a lot of you have written that Insergentes by Steven Wilson is among your top 10 of 2009, but didn't that CD come out in 2008?

Frank

Poll: What are your Top 10 albums of 2009?

As you may already know, our January 10, 2010 show will be dedicated to our Top 10 of 2009. We'd like to know what you consider you're Top 10. Leave a comment with you're list in the Comments section, or send an email at progrockshow@hotmail.com. Our list will be available on January 10.