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NEARfest and prog revival (1 Viewer)

Mike Broadman

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Aug 24, 2001
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4,950
I almost ordered a SGM CD, but didn't after reading about them. They seem to be a visually-oriented band. And weird. Very, very weird.
 

Arkady Kleiner

Auditioning
Joined
Oct 13, 2001
Messages
11
Glass Hammer:

Perelandra, Lex Rex
Mike (GKarsEye?), Glass Hammer really has one great album, "Chronometree". The latest one "Lex Rex" is alright, but nothing to write home about. And all the albums before "Chronometree" don't impress me at all, "Perelandra" included.

I'd suggest trying to get the MP3 version of "Chronometree" to see if you like it better before spending the cash. It is also really keyboard heavy, but has spirit and complexity, unlike the previous efforts.

I should note though that I didn't really "get" this album until the third listen. It came up in the play list for a third time while reading the 'net when i realized i really loved it. Must confess though that i don't think i'll ever like track #2.
 

Larry/co

Grip
Joined
Jun 24, 2003
Messages
18
I went last year. I live directly across the bridge in Yardley, Pa about 5 minutes from the War Memorial.

Steve Hackett, Caravan, and Isadora Bane were really solid last year. Hackett especially. Nektar also played, IMO bad !

The keys player for Camel this year will be Tom Brislin. Who toured with Yes During the Magnification Orchestra tour. Before that he played with Mealoaf. He is a talent check him out on the Yes DVD LIVE IN aMSTERDAM. A great DVD ! Is Camel on Sunday ( Today ) if so what time. Maybe I'll go, the yardworks done
 

Mike Broadman

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2001
Messages
4,950
Mike (GKarsEye?),
Yeah- where'd you get that from? I have trouble keeping up with all of my on-line handles.

If I do get another Glass Hammer album, it would be Chronomotree. That seems to be the consensus of everyone, including the chick singers at the merch table this year.

Larry, obviously this is late, but Camel did play on Sunday. Brislin did a wonderful job.


So, yeah, NEARfest was great! I'm now recovering from all the weird music.

I picked up print of the Relayer album cover art and got it signed by Roger Dean. I can't wait to have that baby framed and on my wall.

Quick review of the acts:

Saturday

High Wheel

A nice way to kick off the weekend with some modern symph-prog. It had all the elements of this style of music- fancy arrangements, long songs (including a 32 minute epic to close the set) and bad singing.

Alamailman Vasaarat

This one was the most "fun" band. Drums, pump organ, sax, trombone, and 2- count 'em, 2- cellos, which sometimes sounded like metal guitars. How can you not like a band with a jolly bearded sax player and head-banging tromboner?
(heh heh, I said boner)

Tunnels

Percy Jones is always a blast live, and having John Goodhall on a few tunes was great as well. My only problem with them is that sometimes all the fast playing can begin to gel and sound a little tiresome. An hour and 15 minutes is about all I can take from them.

The Flower Kings

These cats blew the freakin' house down. With a new guy singing, playing guitar and percussion and a guest percussionist, this 7-piece version of the Flower Kings made the most gorgeous sounds of the weekend. They got things started with The Truth Will Set You Free, a half-hour masterpiec from their latest album. The rest of the show consisted of medley-like pieces, including bits from Stardust We Are, Black & White, and Circus Brimstone.

The crowd was going nuts for an encore but the band refused to do one. I heard different reasons, like they only were allowed to do 5 more minutes but they didn't have any songs that short, or that they were pissed that they weren't headlining.

Came away with their official bootleg CD.

Magma

Before Saturday, I listened to Magma but couldn't call myself a "fan" or anything like that. I liked the sound, but always found it kind of comical. However, I gotta say that they really got to me for some reason. They did the entire MDK album, which is their best (or worst, depending on how you look at it), and new material in that style. Their whole 2 hour set was three pieces and an encore.

I was totally hypnotized throughout and really digging it. The next day I purchased another one of their albums and a Magma keychain. I'm now hooked.

Of course it didn't work for many- lots of folks were scratching their heads. Totally understandable- I can't even explain why I like it.


Sunday

Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum

WTF? Just when you think Magma is weird, these guys come out and confuse the crap out of everyone. Masks, makeup, yelling, ballet movements, and lots of clanging noise.

Glass Hammer

These guys are pure prog. They did their entire last album, Lex Rex, with three cute chick singers, lots and lots of keyboard solos, and a choir for a couple of tunes (which really served no purpose; gotta love that prog excess). In the middle of all this, they brought out Rich Williams, guitar player for Kansas, and played He Knew. It was a blast.

Kraan

70s German prog-fusion. Just four guys jamming away. A nice change of pace from the previous acts.

Anglagard

I loved their set, but I think they got mixed reactions. They went on very late and had a long intro of just noise before the curtain went up. The music they played was all instrumental and quite complex, but filled with many dynamic changes.

I love their first album, Hybris, and have always been enchanted with their music. I enjoyed this set more than any other all weekend, except maybe The Flower Kings. I did see some people being bored and angry with them, though.

This was a reunion for them- the first concert they did in 8 years. Most of the set was new music and I'm thrilled that Anglagard is back together. The only downside is that the singer / guitar player is not with them.

I picked up their second album, Epilog, which was out of print until recently. I listened to it this morning- simply gorgeous.

They had three mellotrons. How freakin' cool is that?

Camel

Great set, as could be expected. A lot of love in the room for this band. Andy Latimer's guitar playinng is gorgeous. I was actually surprised at how much old stuff they did.
 

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