The Italian Prog Appreciation den

"As most of you know, Francesco was the closest thing that prog had to Pavarotti. He fronted the greatest Italian 70's prog band and his amazing voice and stage presence was second to none. I still remember as a youngster (circa 1981 when I was 15 and just learning about progressive music) walking through the record aisles of an L.A. K-Mart trying to find a third album in the 3 for .99 cents record deal they were having (ah, those were the days!) when I came across the self-titled 1975 compilation release. Looking at it and chuckling over the cover of a fat guy throwing up a shoe and then turning it over to see the same fat guy on a scale I thought, well...I might as well buy it (as a joke). I then noticed the instrumentation and thought, holy crap, this thing might actually be good. I still remember taking it home and being blown away over the music, vocals and level of musicianship. I owned every Banco record soon after.

In 2000 we invited Banco to our Progfest 2000 festival. We didn't know that we were supposed to pay for their food while they were here (they never mentioned it in advance) and I remember the sweat dripping down my forehead as I begrudgingly handed over my credit card to Francesco. Spock's Beard was performing that evening at the Troubadour in Hollywood and I drove the band out there to see them. About halfway through they decided to go nearby to get something to eat. About an hour later I went to check up on them and found them next door at an Italian restaurant (of all places!). The band and crew was sitting around a 12 foot table amid piles of salad, pasta, bottles of wine and everything else they could possibly order. I'm almost in tears at the sight and I think I'm still paying off that darn meal to this day.

They had a great performance and we had an after-festival party at my house the next evening. I have a picture somewhere of Francesco asleep on my couch.  It was kind of a surreal moment as here it was 20 years later and Francesco's in my living room. Back in the early days, these guys might as well of lived on the moon as you figured you would never see them in concert and certainly never meet them. Of course those were the days before the invention of the internet (thanks Al Gore!) and the prog music festivals which changed everything (for the meager prog community). The next day I drove him to the airport and we talked about music and art the entire way.

I was fortunate enough to see Banco perform at NEARfest in 2001. To this day, it stands out as my all-time favorite concert. It was one of those magical concerts you rarely see. Those of you who were there know what I mean."

R.I.P. Francesco! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIGvLXHd2ZM