Most Popular Prog Bands by Country Currently?

If you had to guess which are the most popular prog bands today by country (concert attendance primarily but also sales and general reputation if you like) which bands would you put on such a list?

I'd be curious to see a breakdown by country or even by region some cases.

I was also thinking about which prog bands besides the well known British and North American bands can actually tour a decent outside their own borders i.e. not just for prog festivals.

For example, can any French band besides Magma or Gong manage a real tour outside France or a band besides PFM outside Italy?

Can any Japanese prog band tour abroad etc?

Thanks!

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Magma toured the USA recently and Gong are planning a tour. Steve Wilson tours the USA regularly and I'm seeing Nik Bartsch Ronin for the third time in the USA soon. Leprous and Haken are currently touring the USA.

Ronin falls under jazz and fusion for me (and most people I know; I have seen them too)  and so they tour in that manner.  Gong and Magma were examples of bands who can pull it off like I mentioned. and other than them and perhaps PFM I am having trouble thinking of bands from continental Europe who can tour outside their home countries per se. I don't think any Japanese prog bands are doing much outside Japan but I'd love to hear the contrary.

Can you think of any others? Wilson for the purposes of this example is almost more like Yes or Crimson than he is the other prog artists of his age or younger and definitely one of the very biggest.

I suppose it might make sense to include prog metal given the scarcity of more recognizable prog names these days.

Cheers!

I think it's hard to say with any certainty for Australia - our "prog rock" scene is so fragmented across multiple states and dominated at moment by Djent/alt metal bands that nonetheless have the "prog rock" label slapped on them. That's the impression I have anyway, based on general visibility, tours and the lineups at the "ProgFests" (which have only been held in the Eastern states in recent years).

In terms of current profile and sales etc, I'd nominate: Karnivool, they have very effectively ridden the Triple J tiger for a long time (a national ABC radio network that is the main avenue for independent Aussie music but not known for it's friendliness toward prog).

In terms of general reputation over an extended time, Spectrum might get the gong? Based I think on Mike Rudd and co. doing the hard grind in the early '70's travelling the nation and performing their jammy/head music songs at rock festivals in various states. I've found a level of name recognition here in Adelaide with people in their late 50's onward that surprises me, considering that their presence on mainstream radio has for as long as I can remember been limited to 1 occasionally played song. Having a hit single very early on (the bluesy "I'll be gone") would help too, as perhaps would having had their first and second albums reissued beautifully by Aztec and so available again in recent years. Mike Rudd does still has an active lineup of Spectrum, mostly doing gigs around Melbourne (as it seems to me).

Some of the current crop of heavy Aussie bands have done overseas tours but not sure how many (if any) bands or artists would or could attempt a headline tour. The bands Unitopia (defunct) and Southern Empire (very much alive) would have a profile that I suspect would fit well into overseas rock festivals and (imho) deserve a place there too, based on the quality of their music and their live performance. The cohort of djenty/alt-metal oriented bands here in Oz would probably do equally well at overseas metal festivals too, at a guess...

Yep, forgot about them for some reason. I agree though. There's no link between the current lineup and the classic lineup at all. Forget about original members. There's not even one current TD member who was even there in the 90's. Time to call the band something else imo.

tribalfusions wrote: I don't think any Japanese prog bands are doing much outside Japan but I'd love to hear the contrary.

Electric Asturias from Japan have been appearing regularly at festivals. I saw them on Cruise to the Edge 2014, and they've been on a few other cruises since then.  I think they also did Rosfest. But as the OP pointed out, a festival appearance is not a "tour".