IQ Xmas Show (The Mean Fiddler,London)

I'm new, BRAND new to this website, and glad to be here among kindred spirits.  I am an American, living in the USA (Iowa) and I've been a huge IQ fan since 1985 when we picked up "Tales from the Lush Attic" in the independent record store I worked at here in Cedar Rapids. 

I've followed them religiously since then, and I must say I'm sorry to hear that Paul Cook is out--I always admired the smacking authority of his drumming.  But I'm equally pleased to read that the band has found a more-than-competent replacement, although I promise that Paul Cook's contribution will not be forgotten.

I want to assure the European readers that half or better of this nation is in full accord with the sentiments expressed in "Harvest of Souls."  Disgust is too mild of a word to express my feeling for the war of aggression launched by this off-its-rocker government.  Our nation leads the world in many categories, including, tragically, irrationality.  Just last week I read in our local newspaper that a NASA guy came to do a presentation for an area high school and asked for a show of hands of those who doubted that the 1969 moon landing actually occurred; something over 50% of the hands went up.  Mercifully he did not ask how many believed the Earth is flat.

However, returning to IQ, I want to share your enthusiasm for their Xmas show and express my regret that those of us a hemisphere away have no opportunity to share the occasion.  IQ has played several events in "the colonies," but (by neccesity I'm sure) only in the big urban centers that can guarantee a decent crowd.  Unfortunately those shows have been prohibitively distant for me (Philadelphia most recently that I've been aware of--half a continent away).  I saw Caravan/Nektar September 2004 in Chicago (incredible) and I'd certainly drive that far for IQ.

Or, as we say in the USA, "bring it on."  Keep progging.