NEARfest

Has anyone attended in the past?  How minor-friendly is it?  Tips?  Advice? Rundown of how it goes?

I haven't been since 2000, but it's totally minor-friendly. Like Cyndee said, five bands per day, with an hour break or so between each (longer for dinner) where you can mill around, meet people, chat with band members, and spend ridiculous amounts of money in the vendor room.

The venue is beautiful, too. Great festival.

Tony R wrote:   Completed Lineup for 2006 Keith Emerson (England) Ozric Tentacles (England) Ange (France) FM (Canada) Niacin (United States) Riverside (Poland) Guapo (England) KBB (Japan) Richard Leo Johnson (United States) Michael Manring (United States)     WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That doesn't include the Pre Show Friday night either Tony.  Last year they had PFM and ProtoKaw which I was fortunate to see.  It was my one and only Nearfest experience and I am not sure I will ever get back. It truly is a mecca of prog right now.  The site is Bethlehem, PA and it is a college town small but not too small.  Great amenities and places to eat.  We are all hoping on the Left Coast that Calprog can grow into a fest like this someday soon. 

The whole thing is family and minor friendly but tickets are hard to get at first.  A lot of times it sells out in a matter of minutes but if you keep watching the nearfest Site and Progressive ears(The fest Admins  post there) you will get a chance to buy tickets second hand.  There is absolutely no scalping allowed.  If someone tries to charge you more than face value report them to the fest admins.

If they ever top the 2003 lineup, which had Magma, Camel, Anglagard, Alamaailman Vasarat, and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum among others, I'm going back for sure. Holy sh*t what a year that one must have been.

The 2006 lineup doesn't excite me all that much outside of Guapo (who will be touring elsewhere in the US around NEARfest anyway, so I can see them elsewhere). Though I know the Ozrics and KBB will put on a great show...

How expensive are tickets...what college is it? 

Edited by Tiresias

Tickets have to be purchased for Sat & Sun... so its about $100.  The Friday ticket.. when the bands are announced is sold separately.  I understand thats because its run by a different outfit.

Not only do they have great shows, but they have great vendor areas so you can buy lots of stuff you can't find easy anywhere else. They also have prog artists.. for instance Annie Haslam sells her artwork and this year they have Mark Wilkenson I believe his name is.. he did the lp coverart for Fish and Marillion...

Its a lot of fun, I've been the last couple of years.. and will be there this year.  Of course I will, afterall Keith Emerson is playing.....

Don't know.. Tickets don't go on sale till March 18th so they have awhile.

I like how a thread I recently posted about Nearfest disappeared without a trace...with no responses...shoganai...

Anyway, a question I asked in that fabled thread was: how long do each band get on stage?  Judging from sets in the past, it looks to be about an hour +, that accurate?

Once again, not too excited about the line-up (except for Michael Manring and Riverside, the rest being run-of-the-mill get-old-fast space and fusion to me) but I just might head down this time...