The Renaissance Zone

I think it was a bold move all around that, for me, really worked, especially when comparing it to what the prog giants were doing in 1978.  Did it sow the seeds of their demise ultimately?  Perhaps.  I feel the production largely worked on ASFAS but flopped on Azure D'Or, but perhaps that was more because the compositions and arrangements on AD were IMO awful. 

yes they played in Feb 1977, and I'm pretty sure at least once before that, but I only saw the Feb 77 show.  That was the one where we had to wait in frigid (like -20C) temperatures for an eternity to get into the hall.  The band claimed there was a truck blocking their way into the hall, then proceeded to play for barely an hour, including virtually everything from Novella!.  I didn't know them well then, and I don't think the Novella material was easy for new fans.  I also didn't like the vocalise at that time, too young perhaps!  So I gave the band not another thought until I heard "Opening Out" on the radio about a year later, and became smitten for good.  Yes I saw them on the Camera Camera tour in Ottawa, which was a great show  They came back the next year to promote Time Line but I didn't go, not sure why, but might have had to do with the budget of a student!

I grew up in Montreal, but they never became really big there, nor did they get a whole lot of airplay.  The only songs I remember hearing on the radio were Mother Russia and Midas Man.  They may have been slightly better known in Toronto and Ottawa.  Camera Camera got a lot of play in Ottawa at the time of release.  Interestingly, their most successful album on the Canadian charts was "A Song for all Seasons", reaching #45, which is about the same peak that Scheherazade and Novella hit in US.  But I'm not sure how much that Canadian chart was based on sales.