Is there anybody out there who misses BajaProg

Finding out... if someone had the chance to be at the BajaProg Festival in Mexicali-Mexico, and which was the artist or band you consider had the best performance you could see in the Festival. Or if you didn't have the chance of being there, which band you would've liked to see playing live.

Let's start From the beginnig, 3 bands in 1997: Cast, Ekus and Land's End.

I don't know anything about Ekus, just that they are from Argentina, so the band I woud've liked to see is Land's End.

I was quite aware of that ... but I had a Portuguese passport at the time, and the wolves were all over it, and caused problems ... and there was not a single anyone that could help and these things will hurt the commercial aptitude of a festival like that one ... by limiting the folks that can get there, even one can make a difference, but more than likely it would be 100 to 300 or even more ... that you end up losing.

I would love to have gone ... but I could not chance the border corruption one more time! AND ITS WORSE NOW!

I'm not supposed to talk about the Festival, but i can say that year after year BajaProg Festival were better. Anyway i just will write down of the bands that participated in the festival. In the 2000 edition  there were 14 bands:

After Crying, Eclat, Equinox, Five Fifteen, Halloween, Huesol, Isildurs Bane, Jadis, John Wetton Band, Kromlech, Nexus, Pallas, Ten Jinn and Tryo.

Defenitily ISILDURS BANE is one of the bands i would have liked to see playing live...maybe some day.

NEXUS is another band i like and i would like to see someday.

Five Fifteen, Jadis, Pallas, and of course John Wetton Band would have been good to see.

After Crying, Equinox, Halloween and Ten Jinn appered in past editions of the BajaProg.

Here it is what i could find to share of this edition of BajaProg 2000:

Nexus: https://youtu.be/1AtwFfmD0H4

Pallas: https://youtu.be/koABYrKbzBQ

Honestly, I miss these big things a lot more than you can imagine.

I remember every band that played at the SFPMFestival ... and loved them all even if they were not my cup of tea ... my appreciation of things like Bondage Fruit, and even the worn down Brand X, was down a bit, but they all played their hearts out and tried ... and tried. Only one of them did not get my attention as strongly as all the others, and that would be Buckethead, that I thought ... should not have been there, as what he did was not exactly "progressive" at all, unless you consider watching a Godzilla movie on the screen while he was playing!

There are a lot of bands I would love to see, and these festivals are always a great source of excitement ... but sadly, my ability to catch any of them was/is limited. Working full time, and it seemed like the vacation time never matched anything ... and all I could do was make 2 visits to see mom in Santa Barbara ... 

But, for me, seeing new music has been a big thing since January 1974 when Guy Guden went on the air with his show (Space Pirate Radio), and he played so many new things, that many of us would make an immediate run on Monday Morning to go to a couple of places in LA to get the new albums ... remember, at the time it was all "imports" and there really were no "festivals" of this kind, although on occasion there was this and that with 3 or 4 bands in one night ... I think we saw one that included the Japanese band CHRONICLE, but I can't even tell you who the other bands were! I think Daevid Allen had one of his side projects going ... but it is a very faint memory.

One show I would have liked to see and enjoy ... Nearfest ... and its outstanding line ups time and time again ... but what is weird, one of the places that had a very lively scene with "imports" and "progressive music", is the one place where nothing of this sort takes place ... California ... which has priced itself out of the business of showing new/newer bands ... unless you happen to be one of the "left overs" (as I call them), on the Strip, or Haight and Ashbury!

The importance of those festivals were the opportunity to experiment with new sounds, musical proposals. But not exactly with the bands that played on the Festival, but the music that were all around, with the stands of CDs, the music others talk, the people who shared its preferences and recomendations... just getting involved.

For BajaProg 2004 there were 20 Bands/Artists playing. 

At the Theatre played:

Anekdoten, Arti e Mestieri, Cast, Deux Ex Machina, IQ, Jaime Rosas Trio, KBB, Kotebel, Matraz, Richard Sinclair with Glass & Friends, Pocos e Nuvens, and Softworks.

And at the Hotel were:

JJ.KAS, Clearlight, Equilibrio Vital, Forever Twelve, Guillermo Cides, Kre, Oxygene 8, and Psicotropia.

I think in this edition there was a mixture of different styles, all well received.

I can say that i had no surprises with the bands I didn't know, they were just fine. Maybe just give a special mention to Matraz (and its excellent guitarist Claudio Cordero).

But, on the other hand, with those that i knew, everyone was Great, specially those who played at the Theater. And if you force me to choose one day, that would be Friday, the day KBB, Deux Ex Machina and Softworks Played. 

Arti e Mestieri, IQ, Anekdoten, just without words 'cause i'm fan of its music, amazing. 

And the chance to see the greatests Richard Sinclair and Softworks! 

I want to share with you these complete performaces:

Anekdoten: https://youtu.be/OdlW24FIIEU

Typical stuff on the road to nowhere in this world ... but my biggest complaint is that places like America and England, even France and Italy/Spain, are great places to have this, and it does not happen ... and the thought is, that it simply is no longer commercially viable to create these things ... 

Well, I can tell you that many of these folks, musicians included, live in the past, so far away from technology and history that it is not funny ... you can easily create a closed door stream festival ... and charge for it, and then make sure that the video off it has that signal that prevents recording ... (it scrambles the signal!) ... and voila ... you can have a whole bunch of these ... but these folks are not smart enough, and not creative enough, to find new ways to present the music ... it has to be presented in the same style that is now 50/60/70 years old ... and I have an issue with that ... 

As we get older, our ability (and cost!!!!) to travel, gets tougher ... and now, I would have to get my passport redone (and the Portuguese folks only do things by "papelinhos" ... like they did 400 years ago!!!), and then have to put up with hours upon hours of this and that ... and I'm done with that!

I probably can do better in Europe ... but you want me to get on a can of tuna to make it to Germany to see Guru Guru, of France to maybe catch Heldon/Pinhas? ... the only can of tuna you will see me on, is the one under the ground after I'm gone ... !!!

The internet is a heavenly thing ... but no one is smart enough to make use of it! Except waste it on complaints left and right and useless comments here or anywhere else!