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micky

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Topic: Favorite Prog Festival acts??
Posted: March 10 2018 at 06:35

Seems a better place to ask as through my experience prog fan does hold true to the sterotype and exists as a creature haunting the deepest recesses of mama's basement. Especially PA's prog fan. Been to many prog festivals over the years and the PA's contingent.. though maxing the quality component.. fails miserable on the quantity component.

So for those that make it a point to go to prog festivals.. bringing back memories of Eric Norlanders earth shattering set at Rosfest... which would have been killer on its own.. really stood out against the limp dicked standard of Rosfest's standard faire..

so what would be your top 5 prog festival experiences ... several immediately jump to mind.

1) Beardfish Progday 2006. First gig in America.. few to any knew them. Their performance of Sleeping in Traffic.. yes.. the same one that wouldn't actually be released for years completely.. I mean completely FLOORED the audience. Amazing set.. enough to take my mind off for several glorious hours the fact I was less than a month from my first marriage crashing and burning and was more prone to put a bullet into my head than enjoy myself.

2) PFM Nearfest 2009. First time seeing them and seeing them do Stati di Immaginazioine was a combination of the equivalent of having the best drug induced trip and having your world rock by a redhead.. AND a blond.. AND a brunette.

3) Erik Norlander & The Galactic Collective Rosfest 2011. Talk about a mindblowing experience. We are talking about a festival that opened with the organziers son's band .. really? Nothing says festival quality like having a high school garage band open a festival .. but it got better... then I got the Moon Safari experience for the first and LAST time.. all that Guinness wasted.. left in on the floor.. anyhow.. then came this act. Woo hooo!!!!! The wall of Doom.. hair metal guitarist playing with their teeth... Trantor Station.. amazing amazing stuff. Did Bob Moog proud...

4) Gösta Berlings Saga Nearfest 2012. One of the joys of attending Prog festivals.. as opposed to going standard gigs is an obvious one. Normally you know the artist you are going to see if going to see an artist.. but prog festivals. Sure some make it a point to check out artists prior to going nope.. no sir.. not me. For experiences just like this band and seeing them and hearing them for the first time. Completely blew me away....

5) Alec K Redfearn and the Eyesores Orionfest 2014 - Now Raff knew this group.. all Rio-Avant fans do I suppose. But hard rockin' and ass kicker supreme Big Mick.. nope.. and while my transformation into a fan of Rio-Avant has been a gradual one... I point to this band.. this show.. as to opening my eyes to real value of Rio-Avant music. I'm not sure if it was the wicked accordion playing or the smokin' blond guitarist who really dug me after the set.. but this set connected and connected with me hard.

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

wiz_d_kidd View Drop Down

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:13

UK on Cruise to the Edge 2014....

Setlist:

Jobson Intro
Starless
In The Dead Of Night
By The Light Of Day
Presto Vivace And Reprise
Thirty Years
Alaska
Time To Kill
Nevermore
Mental Medication
Carrying No Cross
Band Introductions
The Only Thing She Needs

Seeing Wetton one last time before his demise was special. When they broke into K.C.'s Starless, I got choked up. Later on the cruise, I got my picture taken with Wetton, Jobson, and Machacek. Drummer Donati wasn't around.

The second would be Tangerine Dream on the same cruise. It was another "last chance to see" Edgar Froese.

micky

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:16

oh god.. UK.... top billing on the followup thread... worst ever Prog Festival experiences. Nearfest 2012... cringeworthy horrible... so bad we both walked out (yes even Raff as well who is.. WAS.. a huge fan)

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

wiz_d_kidd View Drop Down

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:37

Wow! Sorry to hear that, Micky. They were really tight on CTTE. Jobson was on fire with his violin. Machacek (at Wetton's insistence), played Holdsworth's bits verbatim.

I guess it just depends on the circumstances leading up to each venue and performance.

The first night Yes played on CTTE-14, they were tight, locked into the zone, absolutely great. The second night they sounded (I'm told) like a bunch of amateurs trying to emulate the real band. Horrible. Maybe too much partying and late nights for a bunch of old dudes. Dunno.

micky

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:45

oh no doubt... Raff was the big fan of the group.. she was FAR far more disappointed than I was. To the point she doesn't even listen to them anymore. It was that bad..

For me.. ehhh... good experiences.. bad experiences. It is the experience that really matters. Often the worst are often the best. True to form... I got several layers of kicks as to just how horrible it was on principal. So yeah.. I probably enjoyed it more than I would have normally.

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:47

This will be extremely hard for me.

Once Upon A Time In Belgium (Univers Zero / Present / Aranis) at RIO in 2011 - my first RIO festival, seeing 17 musicians on stage playing various pieces by the 3 bands and a couple of new pieces. Really stunning and convinced me to go back every year.

Magma - RIO 2012 - first time seeing the band, absolutely stunning, was rapt. The band who played before them was Thinking Plague, what a one two punch that was.

Forgas Band Phenomena - Nearfest 2010 - knew nothing about them, became an instant fan and opened up the jazz infected rock style, explored a lot of other bands following this.

Alamaailman Vasarat - RIO 2011 - knew nothing about them, Hugues recommended that I'd enjoy them, they were late in the festival so I planned to sit at the back and relax, within 30 seconds of them starting I was bouncing around at the front.

Univers Zero - Sonic Circuit 2010 - first time seeing UZ at the French Embassy in Washington, had Miriodor supporting, superb sets and wonderful sound.

Present - RIO 2013 - first time seeing the band on there one, monstrous performance, loved every minute, they were locked in.

Art Zoyd - RIO 2015 - 44.5 Birthday Party, two and a half hour retrospective of their career with big band, stellar performance.

Bent Knee - ProgDay 2016 - love this band, had goosebumps most of their set, bouncing around.

Jack O The Clock - ProgDay 2015 - lovely balanced folky sound with hammer dulcimer and bassoon.

Corima - ProgDay 2013 - completely bonkers over the top Japanese Zeuhl style band, high energy, loads of fun.

Deathprod - Big Ears 2017 - single laptop in a full concert theater with single spotlight and no other lighting, an hour of crushing waves of layered noise, absolutely stunningly captivating.

The Necks - Big Ears 2016 - minimalist jazz trio playing one piece for an hour, captivating.

Could mention so many other bands, I love festivals - Super Silent, Horse Lords, Alec Refearn & The Eyesores, Guapo, Cheer-Accident, Upsilon Acrux, Hamster Theater, ni, Ut Gret, Reve General, etc etc etc.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - March 10 2018 at 07:51

Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/

micky

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:50

not counted due to being strictly about the Festival experience.. where the bad is often even better than the good... the single favorite shared concert experience Raff and I have shared was the time we saw Yes perform in a parking lot at National Harbor.. until a summer monsoon descended upon us and .. well.. no cover... it took a WEEK for my wallet to dry out.

then again I think it was a favorite experience for when Raff gets the wet dog thing going on.. her overall level of sexiness goes up exponentially and I made a point of showing that to her hahha

Edited by micky - March 10 2018 at 07:52

The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip

micky

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Posted: March 10 2018 at 07:52

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:

This will be extremely hard for me.