[atlantaprog] Re: My thoughts on NEARFest '05

Oops.

I forgot.

Thanks for the word about baseball caps.

Who invented baseball caps, anyway?

Rare is the person who can put on a baseball cap and not look like a dork.

Even Angelina Jolie looks like a dork in a baseball cap.

Black kids at least have the sense to turn them sideways or backwards, which, though it looks silly, at least un-dorkifies them.

Paul

>From: htimms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Reply-To: atlantaprog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: atlantaprog@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [atlantaprog] My thoughts on NEARFest '05
>Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:30:59 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
>
>In order of appearance?
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>Proto-Kaw: USA: Early Kansas version. Based on my expectation after hearing a song of theirs on a CD, I expected less singing and more burning instrumentals. Sadly, most of their stuff was song-based. Disappointing but not too terribly bad.
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>PFM: Italy: The main reason why I went. I waited 25 years to see them and they were definitely worth the wait. The guitar player REALLY impressed me with his ability to switch from nylon string finger-style playing to ripping electric lead playing all in one song. Masterful musicians with an AMAZING drummer who is also the front man/singer who has just a beautiful voice that is perfectly suited for the music. They played great songs from my favorite albums. I was crying.
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>Wobbler: Finland: Never heard of them or any of their music until NF. The torch has been passed from Anglagard to Wobbler. Blistering dark, moody mostly instrumental prog from the Scandinavian playbook. Vintage keys w/GREAT Hammond and Moog lines. The addition of the flute was a great balance to the overall heavier stuff. I instantly went downstairs and bought their debut CD. I LOVED THEM.
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>Frogg Café: NYC: Imagine Prog melded with lounge/jazz music? I can?t either. It didn?t work for me. Boring. Talented, but boring.
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>Steve Roach: USA: Ambient keyboard stuff with really cool back-screen projections. However, even if the music is cool (which it was) actually WATCHING a guy twiddle knobs does not make for a stimulating performance. It was OK. (In fact, I think my Supersonic Scientist stuff is more interesting and varied than his stuff was)
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>Present: Belgium: Pronounced (PREY- Zahnt) They absolutely kick my fucking ass. The darkest, most angular stuff I have heard in a while. To give you some feeling of the intensity of their music AND performance, the bass player broke not one, but TWO strings in one song and didn?t stop playing!!! Again, I instantly went downstairs and bought one of their CD?s. I LOVED THEM. Also again, a drummer that just owned the whole friggin thing.
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>IQ: England: As one of the three original Neo-prog bands, I found their stuff very charming and enjoyable. I love their earlier stuff and they played a lot of their older material. The guitar player gets my vote for the best variety of tonal palette. Great sounds. However, after two hours, the overall band sound does start to sound the same.
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>Knight Area: Netherlands: As I posted on PE, they should change their name to ?A bag of over-used clichés?. In a word: HORRIBLE! The lead singer dressed and LOOKED like Steve Perry. There was nothing about them that was Progressive, more like bad AOR late ?70?s-early ?80?s arena rock band, and what was with the stupid costume changes and the chick singer for one ballad? My vote for biggest disappointment. Give up now?
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>The Muffins: Virginia: Excellent jazz fusion with horns/reeds as lead instrument. No guitar. The bass player played with a slide and tons of effects that were used to great effect. The horn player played: Bass clarinet, clarinet, soprano & alto sax & flute. They even had their kids on stage playing trumpet and alto sax for a few tunes. (mostly just whole notes but it was cool to see that the band didn?t take themselves too seriously and I could see that the kids (about age 10) were having a GREAT time with their dads)
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>Matthew Parmenter: USA: Used to be the lead singer for Discipline. Performed solo playing either electric piano or acoustic guitar. Good stage presence and stage banter. Decent songs. He played some Discipline songs which I liked.
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>Kenso: Prog/Jazz-fusion from Japan. Absolutely incredible musicianship. Blistering melodies and harmonized lead-lines between the two keyboard players and the guitar player. The guitar player was so amazed at the continual standing ovation that they got that he couldn?t speak for several minutes because he was crying too hard. They rocked the house. Again, a drummer that owned it all. (Hell, they ALL owned it!) My vote for the best surprise for me.
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>Le Orme: Italy: Even though they have been together for 37 years as a band, this was the first time that they have played in the US (as far as I know) . Beautiful Italian Prog with a great Hammond player. They played my favorite album in its entirety. WOW, I was blown away. Historic on many levels.
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>Thoughts on NEARFest ?05 (some are tongue-in-cheek)
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>? Prog fans are weird misfits of society (and ugly as heck too)
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>? Dress for a gig as though you?re really there to perform, not as though you?re there for a BBQ.
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>? Baseball caps should be banned from the stage.
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>? A consensus of wardrobe should be as important as a consensus of the musical statement.
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>? Drummers who twirl their sticks between rhythms instantly lose my respect regardless of their talent.
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>? The bands that I really liked had drummers who obviously drove the musical train. Bands who I didn?t like too much had drummers who were more pedestrian. (the Muffins being one exception)
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>? Back-screen visuals are now an expected part of the overall musical experience.
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>? ?Pose-striking? should be banned from any Prog/Fusion musician?s mental state. (Do I really have to remind you of Knight Area??)
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>? My musical/compositional DNA has been radically altered.
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>CD purchases:
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>Wobbler: Hinterland
>Clearlight: Symphony
>Helmet of Gnats: Self titled
>Present: High Infidelity
>Hidria Spacefolk: Live Eleven am
>Indukti: S.U.S.A.R
>Kyrie Eleison: 3-CD box set: The complete Recordings
>Nodens Ictus: Spacelines
>Radio Massacre International: Emissaries
>The Muffins: Chronometers
>The Muffins: Manna/Mirage
>Univers Zero: Uzed
>Yes: Beyond & Before
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>Closing words: I had a great time. Met many PE'ers. The weather was great too. Rob & Chad are GODs. Looking forward to next year but next time I'm flying NOT driving (13 hours up, 11 hours back)...Harold
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