Saturday, March 30, 2013

Arjen Lucasssen Announces New Ayreon for 2013

 
It's been quiet in the AYREON camp for the past couple of months, but Arjen Lucassen has broken his silence to reveal that the title of the eagerly anticipated forthcoming new album will be The Theory Of Everything, and that it will be a double album! Aiming for a tentative release at the end of this year, Arjen had this to say about the album's progress:
"I've finished recording demos of the music, and am now about halfway finished with the lyrics. It's going to be a double album, so there is a lot to write! It's extra challenging as well, because lyrically I've left the old AYREON universe behind and have to create a new one from scratch. I'm really excited about the line-up and how everything is PROGressing so far."
Watch out for more information on the forthcoming new AYREON album later in the year!



Arjen Lucassen online:
www.arjenlucassen.com
www.facebook.com/ArjenLucassenOfficial
www.twitter.com/arjenlucassen
 

Friday, March 29, 2013

More Confirmed Dates for Camel

Smal post today, with news of other dates for Camel's Snow Goose Anniversary tour;

Thursday 24th October 2013: Belgium, Limbourg, Le Kursaal
Friday, 25th October 2013: Holland, Groningen, Oosterpoort, Main Hall
Saturday, 26th October 2013: Holland, Amsterdam, Rabozaal
Monday, 28th October 2013: England, London,
The Barbican

Hopefully some dates in North America will be confirmed.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Radio Play Based on Dark Side of the Moon


As most of you already know, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon turned 40 this past Sunday. The band's website even streamed the whole album on their website, inviting fans to participate via Twitter with the hashtag #DarkSide40.

But that isn't all that will be happening to celebrate this seminal album. The BBC has announced that Sir Tom Stoppard, the Academy Award Winning author of Shakespear in Love, will write a radio play based on the Pink Floyd classic.

From the BBC:

Stoppard’s hour-long play, called Dark Side, will incorporate music from the album, which stayed in the charts for 741 weeks until 1988, and what is described as a ‘fantastical and psychedelic story that takes listeners on a journey through their imaginations.’
Stoppard, a long-time Pink Floyd fan who was first approached with the idea of writing a play about the album by a friend in 1973, said: ‘This is more or less, I think, the first time anything like this has been done on radio.’

Guitarist David Gilmour has even seen the script and found it, as Spock would say, "fascinating".

“I can’t wait to hear it come to life with the great cast performing it and our music woven into it. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate The Dark Side of the Moon’s 40-year anniversary.”

This isn't the first time that Pink Floyd inspired an author. Douglas Adams' famous Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy used songs from Pink Floyd for it's original radio broadcast and led to his friendship with Gilmour.

The cast will include Bill Nighy, Adrian Scarborough and Rufus Sewell.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Camel Will Tour the Snow Goose in 2013

 
Just found out the news from Camel's website. It is now official: Camel will tour in 2013 and they will be performing The Snow Goose in its entirety, the first time ever since their Royal Albert Hall show in 1975.

Guitarist Andrew Latimer will be joined by Colin Bass, special guest Jan Schelhas, and canadians Denis ClĂ©ment and Guy LeBlanc. It marks the first time they've played together since the Farewell Tour, before Andrews illness pushed Camel into limbo.

The first confirmed date is in London, at The Barbican, on October 28th. More dates are planned and will be confirmed soon. You can purchase tickets for The Barbican here. Tickets for the show are £25 - 35.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Summer's End Promoter Reveals Participating Bands


Stephen Lambe, the man responsible for Summer's End, has been announcing upcoming participants for the Summer's End Festival for a couple of weeks now. Since there are a good many bands named, and some favorites of mine, I might as well start listing them here. So here goes:

Focus (Holland) www.focustheband.com
Sylvan (Germany) www.sylvan.de
Fragile featuring Claire Hamill (UK) www.yestribute.co.uk
Landmarq (UK) www.landmarq.net
Overhead (Finland) www.overhead-band.com
Deeexpus (UK) www.deeexpus.com
Jump (UK) www.jumprock.co.uk
Thumpermonkey (UK) www.thumpermonkey.com
Silhouette (Holland) www.silhouetteband.nl
Sean Filkins (UK) www.seanfilkinsmusic.co.uk

Still no set schedule yet, but one can surmise that Focus will hold top billing, as will Sylvan and, probably, Landmarq.

As I mentioned in a recent post concerning the death of the Y-Prog festival, Summer's End can only survive if you, the listener, participate by purchasing tickets. I know that this festival has been going for a while and we haven't heard of even the possibility of its demise, but all festivals are fragile. That is why I urge you to buy your tickets in advance. Sponsor and Hero tickets are available from www.summersend.co.uk.

Summer's End has a new facebook page at:
www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Summers-End-Progressive-Rock-Festival/356884391002666

Monday, March 18, 2013

Blackfield IV Preview Video Out Now

Earlier last year we read that Blackfield, as a duo comprising of Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson, was no more. Moreover, the Blackfield website disappeared and the web address was available to any. Even the Facebook site has been quiet since the release of Welcome to My DNA. Everything made us suspect the demise of this band, especially the successful solo career of Steven Wilson.

But today we have a surprise: it seems they were busy recording what is tentatively called Blackfield IV. The album is expected in April.

Now we have a preview of a new song entitled Pills. Enjoy!

Fierce and the Dead Sign to Bad Elephant Music

Great news from guitarist extraordinaire Matt Stevens about his band The Fierce and the Dead:

B.E.M. is delighted to announce partnering with The Fierce And The Dead for the production, release and worldwide distribution of the band's second full-length album.
The Fierce And The Dead - guitarists Matt Stevens and Steve Cleaton, bassist and producer Kev Feazey and drummer Stuart Marshall - was originally born out of sonic experimentation when making Matt's second solo album, Ghost, and they've developed into one of the most original bands in the UK rock scene. Their unique brand of instrumental rock music, fusing rock, post-rock, punk and progressive elements, has made a big impression though one full-length album and two EPs, and their incendiary live performances, most recently as part of the Stabbing a Dead Horse tour of the UK with Knifeworld and Trojan Horse.
David Elliott, founder and CEO of Bad Elephant Music said: "We're proper made up to be working with The Fierce And The Dead. They're absolutely our kind of band, and lovely guys too. I'm looking forward to hearing what Matt, Kev, Stuart and Steve are going to produce for us, and of course it will be an absolute monster. Collaborating with a band of TFATD's calibre is a huge honour for us, and we welcome them with open arms to the BEM family."
 
Matt Stevens, on behalf of The Fierce And The Dead, said: "We are extremely pleased to partner with Bad Elephant on this album, they are true music lovers and believe in supporting the artist. This will allow us to make the music we want to make and have the support to help us gain a wider audience, without in anyway compromising our vision for our new album. And they like a good curry, which is nice."
 
The as yet untitled album is scheduled for release in the Autumn of 2013.
 
And in other news you can listen to our released music on Spotify! Share it around and make a few new converts!
 
And for those who don't know already, David Elliott, founder  and CEO of Bad Elephant Music, is also the Amazing Wilf of the European Perspective.
 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Eddie Jobson Cancels "Four Decades" Tour


Eddie Jobson has posted on Facebook that he is cancelling his "Four Decades" Tour. Some dates that were scheduled as a Four Decades Tour date are now changed for UK Reunion dates, including the Montreal show, but not all. Here is the note from Eddie, followed by a link for more information.
 
Having returned to live touring only 4 years ago, I am still learning what audiences worldwide will and won't support. Not unexpectedly, the 'UK' reenactments continue to have a lot more commercial legs than any 'solo' offerings or new-music projects such as 'UKZ.' Such is the reality of the marketplace.
 
The non-profit "Four Decades" tour was to be a high-end concert, master class, and video presentation, along with another excellent lineup of top players performing music from my entire 40-year recording career. Unfortunately, I cannot let the show promoters take a loss in order to bring this one-off show to my fans. So it is with great disappointment that I have decided to cancel the solo west-coast concerts entirely.
 
On a more positive note, I am pleased to announce that 'UK' will play the east-coast shows. The lineup will be Jobson-Wetton-Machacek-Donati and, unlike last year's tour, we will be playing more of the music from the first 'UK' album as well as some of the King Crimson classics.
 
The 5-piece solo band, with Marc Bonilla, Billy Sherwood, Alex Machacek, and Virgil Donati, will still play music from the Green Album at the Baja Prog Festival on April 6, and I still plan to present the complete "Four Decades" concert in Japan in July.
 
Meanwhile, this may be the last opportunity to see 'UK' in any form after the "Cruise To The Edge" and Miami shows, so I look forward to seeing everyone there. All 'UK' gigs will be announced on www.ukreunion.com.
 

Friday, March 15, 2013

The Nine Stone Close Interview

On this Friday's radio show I had the pleasure of speaking with three members of Nine Stones Close: guitarist Adrian Jones, keyboardist Brendan Eyre, and drummer Pieter van Hoorn. We spoke about, and heard songs from, all three albums.

We also chatted on Facebook while the show was on which was an interesting experience. Must remember to enable that more often.

the show will repeat for the next two weeks on UK70sProgRock. go to the IPRS facebook page for dates and times.

So here's the play list from the IPRS 121:

1. Something’s Coming, by Yes (Yes, 1969)
2. The Prophet, by Yes (Time and a Word, 1970)
3. Knights, by Peter Banks (The Two Sides of Peter Banks, 1973)
4. Social Circles, by The Prog Collective (The Prog Collective, 2012)
5. The World We Drive Through, by The Tangent (The Word That We Drive Through, 2004)
6. Spring Knocks on the Door of Me, by Anima Mundi(The Way, 2010)
7. Too Far Out, by Nine Stones Close (St Lo, 2008)
8. A Door Opens, by Nine Stones Close (St Lo, 2008)
9. A Sense of Colour, by Nine Stones Close (St Lo, 2008)
10. Red & White, by Nine Stones Close (St Lo, 2008)
11. Threads, by Nine Stones Close (Traces, 2010)
12. Thicker Than Water, by Nine Stones Close (Traces, 2010)
13. Faceless Angel, by Nine Stones Close (One Eye on the Sunrise, 2012)
14. Janus, by Nine Stones Close (One Eye on the Sunrise, 2012)
15. One Eye on the Sunrise, by Nine Stones Close (One Eye on the Sunrise, 2012)
16. Frozen Moments, by Nine Stones Close (One Eye on the Sunrise, 2012)

BTW, St Lo, the first Nine Stones close album is available as a free download on their website.

As always, if you loved the music, purchase the CDs, through the artists or at your favourite retailer.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

IPRS 121

This week on the International Prog Rock Show, I had the pleasure of interviewing the members of Nine Stones Close. We'll listen to music from their three CDs, plus an In Memoriam dedicated to Peter Banks. Listen live on UK 70s Prog Rock on Friday March 15, at 2 PM Eastern Time.

IPRS 120

The last IPRS that aired on Friday the 1st of March was dedicated to the Classic Rock Society Awards that was held the weekend before. A couple of new tracks were inserted here and there, including the excellent new releases by Cosmograf, Zenit, and Lifesigns. Congratulations to all the winners.

Playlist:

1. Awaken, by Zenit (The Chandrasekhar Limit, 2013)
2. In Hell's Name, by Headspace (I Am Anonymous, 2012)
3. Anger (Live), by Mangenta (Live at The Point, 2007)
4. Turbalence - Paragdim Shift, by Landmarq (Entertaining Angels, 2012)
5. Maybe September, by DeeExpus (The King of Number 33, 2011)
6. Tightrope Walking, by Panic Room (Skin, 2012)
7. Revolution Medley, by Magenta (Youtube track, 2011)
8. Aspire, Achieve, by Cosmograf (The Man Left in Space, 2013)
9. Tennison Mansion, by Mostly Autumn (The Ghost Moon Orchestra, 2012)
10. Freeze the Frame, by RiverSea (Out of an Ancient World, 2012)
11. Lover's End, Part III: SkellefteĂĄ Serena, by Moon Safari (downloadable single, 2012)
12. Mercy of the Sea, by Kompendium (Beneath the Waves, 2012)
13. In Earnest, by The Tangent (A Place in the Queue, 2006)
14. Lighthouse, by Lifesigns (Lifesigns, 2013)


As always, if you love the music, purchase the CD through your favourite retailer.

Shocking News Concerning Peter Banks

A week has passed and, unfortunately, the body of Peter Banks remains unclaimed at the morgue. This is a shocking turn of events. I first learned of this on Facebook and thought that it was a hoax, but now George Mizer, ex manager of Banks has confirmed the news. This text is from the original Facebook post from Nic Caciappo:

Friends of Yes & in particular Peter Banks. It has been since last Thursday March 7 that Peter has passed away. He was found at his home on Friday March 8. His body is still in the morgue and is not being claimed because he has no family, and only an ex-wife who doesn't wish to be involved. He may be cremated by the morgue and his belongings taken into custody by the authorities. His ex needs to at least tell the morgue that his friend(s) can take over. Then, they will need fees for cremation and delivery of his remains. Peter's belongings are still safe. But, there will be a need to sort this out with helping hands.

There is now a PayPal account set up to donate, which is connected to Pete's friend of 40+ years, George Mizer. I stand by George, he is a good friend.

The PayPal account is: themiz@peterbanks.net and ready to accept any donation amount. The expenses that will need to be covered are cremation, urn, possible travel from USA to London, other fees and expenses regarding Peter's belongings which could be auctioned to help pay for this as well. Again, the account is themiz@peterbanks.net.
 

After a 5 Year Wait - New Willowglass CD Pre-Order

Willowglass have finally completed their new CD. It's been 5 years since their second release, and they have been hard at work since June 2011 on this latest opus. Here is their press release:
 
The Dream Harbour, the new Willowglass album, is now complete and due for release in May! The track list remains as listed below.
As previously mentioned, the album features Hans Jörg Schmitz on drums/percussion and Steve Unruh on violin/flute/guitar. Once again, Lee Gaskins has produced all the booklet artwork. Details and sound clips of all the tracks are available on the Discography page.

The album is now available for pre-order on the Shop page at a special pre-release price.
All pre-orders will be shipped as soon as the CDs are ready.
Willowglass will also be contributing a new track to the proposed 'Decameron - Pt. 2' release from Colossus later this year.
 
 

 
Track list: 
  1. A House of Cards, Part I
  2. A Short Intermission
  3. A House of Cards, Part II
  4. Interlude No. 2
  5. The Dream Harbour
  6. Helleborine
  7. The Face of Eurydice

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Barbieri-Hogarth European Tour in September

Richard Barbieri (Japan/Porcupine Tree) and Steve Hogart (Marillion) have announced that they will be touring Europe in early September. In addition to songs from their acclaimed album 'Not the Weapon but the Hand', they will be performing songs from their respective bands and solo careers.

More details to come. Here is the press release:


Hogarth is best known as the frontman of Marillion, the progressive rock legends that he joined in 1989, following spells in The Europeans and How We Live. In addition to the 12 albums Marillion have released in this time he has also recorded and toured as a solo artist, under the name h.
In recent years Richard Barbieri has been a core member of Porcupine Tree playing keyboards on all the band’s albums since 1993 as well as releasing two solo albums, ‘Things Buried’ and ‘Stranger Inside’. Prior to this, it was in the new-wave pioneers Japan that he originally came to prominence, helping to create the groundbreaking synthesiser sound that defined the band and influenced the likes of The Human League, Duran Duran, Gary Numan, Talk Talk and a whole raft of artists to follow. 
The band also influenced Hogarth, at that point playing keyboards in The Europeans; ‘when I was in my mid-twenties Japan’s ‘Tin Drum’ album was a firm favourite and truly a groundbreaking work… Japan were one of those rare bands where each musician seemed to have reinvented his instrument overnight. Central to this sound was the unmistakable synthesiser programming/playing of my, now, chum Mr B.’
Many years later Porcupine Tree played some shows with Marillion and Steve invited Richard to be part of The H band on his ‘Ice Cream Genius’ album and subsequent tour (‘I asked him “Can you make me a sound which starts off like a gong and turns into a jet engine?” – it took him roughly 2 minutes…’) and this association developed into what Hogarth describes as ‘an easy working relationship which rapidly became an understanding beyond music.’
It wasn’t surprising then that the duo decided to collaborate on a joint project, a venture initiated by Barbieri as Hogarth recalls; ‘I remember where I was when the email from Richard arrived airing the possibility of a collaboration. I was in Starbucks in Leeds on tour a few years back. From that day forward it was on my mind fairly constantly. The only problem was finding the time to collaborate in between my Marillion schedule and his Porcupine Tree schedule. This year – a week here and a week there – we have managed to do it. Richard has sent me a number of beautiful and unusual instrumentals and I have found lyric ideas to create sometimes songs, sometimes narratives against his musical landscapes.
‘It also goes beyond what you might expect from the two of us… The album consists of music which is at times moving, complex, multilayered (both instrumentally and vocally) spooky, goofy and of course, very personal to me.
‘I am now as excited about this album as I was at the prospect of the collaboration in the first-place. Ain’t it great when a plan comes together?!…’
Not The Weapon But The Hand’ was completed in late 2011 and features appearances from Danny Thompson on double bass, Arran Ahmun (John Martyn) and Chris Maitland (ex Porcupine Tree) on drums and Dave Gregory (XTC) on guitar, bass and string arrangements.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Jon Anderson Takes Solo Show to Australia and New Zealand


Music fans 'down under' are buzzing with excitement about the upcoming solo tour of Australia and New Zealand by legendary vocalist Jon Anderson, YES's singer/songwriter for 35 years along with his successful work with Vangelis, Kitaro, and Milton Nascimento.

This will be the very first time Jon has performed solo in either country. The tour promises to deliver anexciting mixture of material from Jon Anderson's prolific solo career, collaborations with Vangelis and classic Yes songs, along with songs from his latest CD 'Survival & Other Stories' and new compositions, highlighted by humorous and enlightening stories told by Jon.


Says Jon, “I'm very excited to bring my show to Australia and New Zealand. I enjoy the show that I do, and people really seem to have a great time.”

Tour Dates:

Australia
Mar. 28 – Powerhouse, Brisbane – www.brisbanepowerhouse.org
Mar. 30 & 31 – Byron Bay Blues Festival – www.bluesfest.com.au
Apr. 03 – Lizottes Supperclub, Newcastle – www.lizottes.com.au
Apr. 06 – Factory Theatre, Sidney – www.factorytheatre.com.au
Apr. 10 & 11 – The Corner, Melbourne – www.cornerhotel.com
Apr. 14 – The Gov, Adelaide – www.bluesfesttouring.com.au
 
New Zealand
Apr. 17 – Sky City Theatre, Auckland – www.skycityauckland.co.nz

In other news, Jon has made some recent guest appearances on several new CD releases: Acoustic guitarist Jeff Pevar's debut album From the Core; French keyboardist/composer Jean Philippe Rykiel's new CD Inner Spaces; and guitarist Dennis Haklar's debut CD release Lizard Tale.
Says Jon, “With the internet my musical world has evolved to an amazing degree, one day I'm singing with a Brazilian dude, the next day with peeps in Liverpool, the next creating a Symphonic work with a mate in India...then singing with Steve Layton 'down under' – it's an endless musical world!”
 
Jon is currently recording new material, including the follow-up to his critically acclaimed 21-minute opus OPEN from 2011 titled EVER.
In closing Jon has this to impart to his fans, “Have fun...love is forever, and God is Free...”
 
For more information: www.jonanderson.com,



Jon Anderson 'Survival & Other Stories' available through Gonzo MultiMedia:

 

Jonas Reingold Returns to The Tangent Fold


We read the news that Jonas Reingold has return to The Tanget, a group he co-founded, this weekend through Facebook. Read the whole press release:

We are absolutely delighted that Flower Kings/Karmakanik and Founder Tangent Member JONAS REINGOLD returned to the Tangent project earlier in the first few days of 2013 and has since recorded all the bass parts for the new album “Le Sacre Du Travail”. This puts the salivating combination of Gavin Harrison’s amazing drumming and Jonas’ legendary bass playing together for the first time ever either live or on CD.
“I am F**ing over the moon” was Andy Tillison’s reaction, “I am so pleased he came back, I didn’t know what I had ’til it was gone. Not only that but it was my daft decision to stop working with him in 2008 because of fallout from other things happening in my life at the time. So getting the ‘Yes’ was a really happy moment. We’ve just picked up where we left off and it’s been a lovely session and my phone bill is enormous”
The Return of the Giant Odd Swede.
Jonas and Andy in quiet reflective mood after a Flower Kings gig in Wolverhampton in March 2013.
Strangely enough, circumstances have brought together a lineup of The Tangent that sees an almost full re-uniting of the “Not As Good As The Book” lineup.
Andy Tillison – Vocals, Guitars & Keyboards
Theo Travis – Saxes Flutes & Clarinets
David Longdon – Vocals
Jakko Jakkszyk – Vocals & Guitars
Gavin Harrison – Drums
Jonas Reingold – Bass
with guest appearance by Rikard Sjoblom
 
And here is the first chance to hear the new band. A short clip from “Evening TV” from the forthcoming album.


Sad News: RIP Peter Banks


Peter William Brockbanks, better known as Peter Banks, was found dead on March 8, 2013 in his home in London. He was a founding member of Yes, playing his last concert with Yes on 18 April 1970 at The Luton College of Technology.



Banks released solo material and has guested on several records and with several artists, including Blodwin Pig, Oliver Wakeman, Clive Nolan, and Lionel Richie (he plays guitar on Hello). His last recorded output can be found on The Prog Collective and the all-star tribute to Supertramp Songs of the Century.

Friday, March 8, 2013

More Thoughts on Y-Prog's Untimely Demise

Like too many of its predecessors Y-Prog has fallen by the wayside, scaled down to a handfull of shows on the Friday and Sunday night thanks to the generosity of the bands scheduled to play those nights. Saturday night is still a question mark, but some band or other is bound to fill up that night also.
 
Kris Hudson-Lee, Y-Prog's promoter, has issued a statement that you can read on the Northern England Art Rock Society website. Suffice to say that the relevant part of the statement is one that has come up too often:

Y-Prog was cancelled because, whilst initial ticket sales looked good, we saw a virtual stop on the sales. We tried all we could, even paying rather a lot of money to advertise in a rather popular magazine (inside back cover, two issues) but it was not to be. We can't run a festival if there aren't enough people there.

It seems that the prog pie is just sliced too thin these days and is beginning to break up
 
 
It's a refrain we've heard too many times before. The list of prog festivals that perished before they were born, or that died a slow death, is getting too long: FarFest, Fused, 3RP, FMPM, Ohio Prog, ProgFarm, ProgSol, ProgWest, Tiana Prog, Winter's End, NEARfest, and many more.
 
Is the prog pie sliced too thin? Let's not forget that Prog is still a niche market, and while we like to bost about the incredible bands we listen to, too few people know about prog, innundated as they are to (Name of Country) Idol, or (Name of Country)'s Got Talent, or the Voice.
 
The few remaining festival need our full support if we want to continue hearing the music that fills our lives. If prog is to survive we must purchase the albums, purchase the tickets, and encourage the bands we love. If we don't we will only have ourselves to blame when the next festival closes its doors for good.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Finally Something Is Written: Pre-Order Galahad Biography

Following the success of last year's Battle Scars and Beyond the Realms of Euphoria comes this news from our farovite undaunted prog band have something else up their collected sleeve.



'One for the Record' the shiny new official Galahad biography is now available to pre-order from our merchandise page.

Written by Andrew Wild, whose previous work includes ‘Play On’, the authorised biography of Twelfth Night, ‘One for the Record’ is a story of one band’s refusal to lie down and be ignored by an indifferent industry.

‘One for the Record’, the official, authorised biography of Galahad, charts the first quarter century of the Dorset-based band’s existence: the highs and the lows, the challenges and the achievements, the numerous line-up changes (Yes have nothing on Galahad!) including six keyboard players and eight bassists, the occasional madness on the road, the writing, recording, rehearsing and gigging.

Andrew Wild has extensively interviewed the current members of the band, as well as eleven past members and many friends, associates and supporters and provides a detailed book that will delight fans.

The book includes a complete discography, timeline, a full list of Galahad gigs and many colour and black and white photographs.

This publication also comes with a companion DVD video archive containing rare and previously unseen live and studio footage of the band from 1986 to 2010.


To pre-order:
http://www.galahadonline.com/fr_merchandise.cfm

Y-Prog Becomes a One-Day Fest

On March 12th 2012, Kris Hudson-Lee started a webpage on blogspot with this title "Announcing Y-Prog 2013". Originally intended to be a two-day festival, the Yorkshire Progressive Festival, or Y-Prog, started off on a couple of high notes when it was announced, 6 days later, that Crimson Sky would be playing on the Sunday, followed by another post saying that The Tangent would be headlining on the Saturday.

Throughout 2012 we've seen this fledgling festival grow and grow with each announcement: IOEarth, Manning, It Bites, Jump, Also Eden and Mangrove, all billed to play at this new festival. Practically a dream line-up of the best new progressive rock bands in England today.


Then, all of a sudden, Y-Prog became a three-day festival and other bands were announced: The Enid, Credo, The Dec Burke Band, Jolly, and Riverside. Even Ed Unitsky is enlisted to create a design for the festival, and as usual came up with a beautiful logo and poster. This thing was getting serious and looking like a fantastic new festival!

A new prog festival isn't something one starts lightly. The struggles and pitfalls are many. We've all seen new prog festivals stumble and fall for various reasons, and last year one of the most prestigious festivals in the US, NEARfest, bid adieu to the fans. Every year we've seen one more festival pop-up its head from the ashes of its former self (Baja Prog this year), and every year we've seen another burst into flame.

This is what seems to have happenned to Y-Prog. From a two-day to a three-day festival, now only one day remains. What looked like a promissing new festival all fired up to blaze brightly in the firmament of notable british festivals is now down to burning embers.

The Friday show is still on. Polish metal prog bands Riverside and Dianoya, along with americans Jolly will play in this first edition of Y-Prog.

At least it will be a manageable one-day fest, and while its future is uncertain it isn't dead yet. Maybe if we put a couple of logs in the embers we will be able to revive its promise of of bringing the best and brightest of new and established progressive rock acts from England and from around the world.

One can hope.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Guitarist Paul Davis Leaves Panic Room


Got a shock this morning reading on the Panic Room's facebook page:

Dear friends, fans, and followers of Panic Room...
We are deeply saddened to have to make the announcement today that Paul Davies - our lead guitarist - will be stepping down from the band as of this time.
We know that this will come as a huge shock to everyone; and indeed, it is a very sad time for us all.
Paul has not just been our band-mate, but our best friend too, for many years.
But, the time has come where Paul feels he must step away from Panic Room, for personal reasons; and we, as his close friends, must accept and respect any decision which he makes, fully and with nothing but care and admiration for him.
Paul is simply a stunning musician, with a talent as deep and true as his heart; and he has been with us on this journey since the very beginning. He is a brother to us, and so it is just not possible for us to put all our feelings into words right now.
But, we hope you will all join us in wishing Paul the very best for the future, as we send him our love, support, gratitude, and sheer awe at everything he has achieved and created.
For those of you who are coming to see Panic Room play live this Spring / Summer, fear not - we will not be cancelling any of our Tour Dates, as we wish to honour each commitment and not let anyone down.
So, we are pleased to announce that our good friend Pete Harwood - of the band Morpheus Rising - will be 'depping' with us on lead guitar for the next few gigs. We are incredibly grateful to Pete (and of course his band-mates) for agreeing to play some shows with us, and for being such a huge help at this most difficult of times.
 
For more info follow these links:
http://www.facebook.com/PanicRoomOfficial

IPRS 119 - The Cruise to the Edge

The latest International Prog Rock Show that aired on UK70s Prog Rock was a special about the Cruise to the Edge. Go to the website to learn more about this extraordinary cruise for Prog fans. The line-up is a who's who of new and established bands. From classic bands like Yes, Tangerine Dreams, Nektar, Saga, and UK, to newcomers (or relative newcomers) like Glass Hammer and IOEarth, and solo artists with an impressive pedigree like Steve Hackett and Carl Palmer, this cruise will host a veritable rainbow of styles.

But first there were a couple of new releases and a classic oldie. WolfSpring, the prog metal offshoot of Nemo guitarist, has just released its second CD titled Who's Gonna Save the World? It is a great follow-up and shows the band in grand form. The second new release is The Gates of Tomorrow by La Maschera di Cera, lead by Fabio Zuffanti of Hostsonaten fame. La Maschera have decided to challenge themselves and write a follow-up to a Le Orme classic album, Felona & Sorona, and they have succeeded brilliantly. Using a musical style that is reminescent of Le Orme, recording both in Italian and English, as did the original band, even using similar artwork (reddish this time instead of blueish), this can truly be called a deserving new chapter in the Sorona storyline.

The playlist was:
1. Numbers (Remix), by The Flower Kings (available free for download thru their website)
2. The End of the Line, by
WolfSpring (Who's Gonna Save the World?, 2013)
3. Sorona, by
Le Orme (Felona & Sorona, 1973)
4. The Plan, by Le Orme (Felona & Sorona, 1973)
5. The Balance, by Le Orme (Felona & Sorona, 1973)
6. Return to Naught, by Le Orme (Felona & Sorona, 1973)
7. Back from the Void, by
La Maschera di Cera (The Gates of Tomorrow, 2013)
8. The 1000 Years' Warfare, by La Maschera di Cera (The Gates of Tomorrow, 2013)
9. Chant of Him, by La Maschera di Cera (The Gates of Tomorrow, 2013)
10. The Creation, by
IO Earth (IO Earth, 2009)
11. The Night of the North, by
Glass Hammer (The Inconsolable Secret, 2005)
12. Riders on the Storm, by
Nektar (A Spoonful of Time, 2012)
13. See Them Smile / Take It or Leave It, by
Saga (All Areas: Live in Bonn, 2003)
14. Time's Up (Acoustic), by Saga (All Areas: Live in Bonn, 2003)
15. Tangram Set 1, by
Tangerine Dream (Tangram, 1980)
16. Tank, by Emerson, Lake &
Palmer (Emerson Lake & Palmer, 1970)
17. Carrying No Cross, by
UK (Danger Money, 1979)
18. Ripples, by
Steve Hackett (Genesis Revisited II, 2012)
19. In the Presence Of, by
Yes (Magnification, 2001)

As always, if you love the music purchase the CDs by following the links.