[atlantaprog] Gotta vent...

I must say... I'm always frustrated when I tell you all about a great event coming up, and NONE OF YOU shows up!

Robert Rich did an incredible show last night. Beautiful music, fllutes, lap steel, and walls of synthesizer. Masterful use of looping and sequencing - constantly evolving, never once degenerating into just another loopy soundscape. Eighty minutes non-stop and it seemed brief. AMAZING continuous computer-video collage projected above him.

And Diane Obscura was simply stunning. Light-years beyond her Aphelion days. Deep sonorous cello with clear, ethereal soprano vocals. Accompanied by two violinists (one of whom was Paul Mercer of dp3), a tambuora, and a sampler doing soft ambient backgrounds.

I can't remember ever seeing any of you at one of these Eyedrum events (well a couple of you have ventured in to an open improv once in a while). I don't know why I bother telling you.

People always bemoan the lack of a "prog scene" in Atlanta - well by golly it's right under your noses and you don't bother taking advantage of it. No, Rich wasn't exactly "prog", but was certainly appealing. But many acts have come through that could easily be called prog. Including a number of YOUNG bands - no, they don't sound like early Genesis or Yes, but so what? Dirty Projectors, Aleuchtistas, Friendly Bears, etc.

And people bemoan the lack of venues - well that, too, is right under your noses. We don't do things that are too mainstream (so ironically, those of you who are minimizing your prog influences in favor of a more "commercial" sound are less likely to get booked than those of you still lean to the progressive end of the spectrum.

Not meaning to jump on you too harshly - I didn't really "get" Eyedrum 'til about this time last year, and no doubt I missed a lot of things that were really cool - but I've been doing my best to spread the word, and YOU ALL DON'T SEEM TO BE LISTENING!

You do have a chance to redeem yourselves - Faun Fables is coming later this month - details to come...

A


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