IZZ – USA – Proggy fusion with 2 drummers and 2 female singers. I had never heard them before and now after hearing them, I can’t recall what they sounded like. I guess that that is not saying very much for their impact on me. I do however recall liking their longer instrumental sections much better than the singing parts. I guess overall, kind of forgettable. Good, but not very original or impactful.
Some of you may recall that we had IZZ at the second to last Roguefest (at Jakes Toadhouse). They were the stand-out act of the fest. There vocal harmonies were angelic. The even won over Z-Axis guitar man Mark Baker, whose normally not that much of a fan of the more overtly *prog* stuff.
Robert Rich – USA – In the vein of Klaus Shultz, Steve Roach, etc. Robert Rich delivered an absolutely beautiful sonic feast of modular moogs, sequencers, processed slide guitar and deep-piched Native-American flutes all accompanying a stunning computerized backdrop that had me spell-bound for the entire set. Sadly the 3rd slot is only 30 minutes long. He could have done 90 minutes and I would have been complete immersed. Highly recommended.
We've had Robert at Eyedrum a couple of times, and it's likely he'll swing through again next time he's in the area. He is truly a master of the ambient space genre, and he's a heck of a nice guy too. BTW, that's not a modular Moog he uses. It' a modular *no-name* synth. But it still sounds great!