Live Prog-rock is Dying

CCVP wrote: the connection is: i cant go to any prog festival or prog show, no matter the size, no matter the venue, no matter when. i just cant because i don't have neither the money to travel such distances nor the possibility to watch any prog rock bands EVER in the city where i live. And in Europe (Netherlands in your case) you have such abundance and are STILL cursing the Heavens, wishing smaller bands to have more space on big shows. Well, prog rock don't sell 60 million copies anymore so, besides the amount of the good anonymous bands, promoters are still more interested in make money. To make money is the only reason why there are no more space for unknown bands on that festival and why there are only 1 progressive rock band in my state. Maybe thats the problem with capitalism: to put the products in front of the man; to put the HAVE in front of the BE.

Now I got it. You've got a point there. I'll be promoting the unknown bands for free - how's that?

Don't be so negative about your country, start listening to Apocalypse! 

CCVP wrote: its not about my country im being negative, there are a great amount of prog in Brazil, there is just almost none in my state, and its expensive to bring things to where i live. and they usually get fooked up on the way here. Hell, i bet there are places in Netherlands that are just as oblivious, in the prog matter, as prog here. But you must keep 1 thing in mind: my state is almost the size of your country . So, even when some places have poor offer of prog you can order or just travel a couple of miles to get to a metropolis and get your stuff there. The nearest place i can do that is Rio de Janeiro, and i have to travel 250 kilometers to get there

Only 250KM?
 I know some Americans who have had to travel nearly 1000km to watch Rush last year. These people weren't wealthy by anyone's standards either. They went without things and scraped the money together any way they could.

The road distance  between Vitória, where CCVP lives, and Rio de Janeiro  is 540 km (around 330 miles). It's a trip of 6-7 hours (non-stop) by car.

Nah... I'm sending to my peers a batch of photos of Vitória (your city, my mom's city) and they'll check the "arid palce" where you live.

Hey, some of those Americans sold kidneys or family members just to get tickets and then walked the 1000km to the venue.
Seriously, I understand your plight. The local bands will stick to the big cities and the non-South American bands find it very expensive to play there.
Surely you could save up for the annual prog festivals like Bahia Prog?

In living in the booming, bustling small metropolis that is Moncton New Brunswick Canada, the opportunity to see any prog band is dependant on one of them to come through Quebec City, Montreal or Toronto. Which means an eight , eleven, or twenty four hour drive. Add in that me & my friends are for the most part married with children, working, and most limiting - limited budget wise when it comes to road trips. Rush and Van Halen hit the above cities and while we excitedly discussed the possiblity, none believed all the pins would line up to allow us to go.
I am sure that there must be one or two local prog bands, but their rare shows aren't promo'd as prog. And a CD is not likely available. Moncton does have  healthy (for a small indie scene) metal, punk, folk & country scenes. SO it's not as if this is a new music wasteland. Just that more "esoteric" genres have a much smaller foot print.
For myself, I'm still working on Montreal's FMPM festival. But unable to convince a friend who loves the Strawbs to go to Montreal last year, I don't think I have a better chance of convincing people to come with me to see Univers Zero this year.

The next ''Dream Theater"? I think I'll pass . . .

Angelo wrote: Point is clear, Caio. However, looking at the photographs Guigo send me, I could imagine myself putting on head phones (with any prog you like to take along), take a walk and enjoy 'the view from a hill' in the Vitoria area.....

Sure man, i always do that. However, how could i do that with not many places to buy prog albums?Quite a bummer huh?

Going to and organising concerts is a great way to help progressive music -- and buy CDs while you're there.  I've been lazy... I have a couple of ins with music festivals and have been meaning to bring in progressive bands, but family and other matters have distracted me.

I've tried to research active progressive bands from the Greater Vancouver are in the past which may wish to do concerts.  It is about time I got in touch with some, and see about getting them into an Arts Festival.  Free concerts, but they'd get paid something, and they can sell CDs.  Best for publicity and for the joy of playing.  Of course it would be good to see them live first, and I rarely go to non-classical music concerts, or see non-classical music musicians.  The jazzier, and softer, ones would fit the bill better, and those who combine classical and jazz styles.  Solo artists would be good too for a smaller venue, but the getting the word out (publicity) is a lot of work.  People should use their connections and organise.

I really want to see Fond of Tigers play live.

The Prog Gigs & Festivals forum could be better organised by region and get more support.  I always forget about that forum, but used to check it just in case any live events around Vancouver were being mentioned.  Sorry mentioning "Improve this site" issues, but it would be great if there was, or is there?, a prog events calendar on the home page that was fully searchable by region, but would show the latest events by default and every member could add items to.