Punks Dead; Enter: Prog , Leeds, UK 08/08/09

The event's concept refers to the 1970's transformation of music direction in the UK. Basically how Punk took over from Prog Rock and how 10min epic songs played in Arenas turned into 2 mins DIY orientated 2-chord, verse chorus verse type of songs played in dingey venues in shabby parts of town. However, I feel it is happening again but a mirror image of this. Prog is now the new punk. With unorthodox structures, time signatures, instrumentation and length of songs as a the focal point, Prog has a very punk attitude towards the performing and composition of music. So, with music revolution in mind, Punk's Dead; Enter: Prog.
 
The line up includes:
 
Gonga http://www.myspace.com/g0nga
- Hard riffing psychedelic blues band from Bristol. Their heavy, doom laden sound has seen them win appreciation from luminaries such as Portishead. Live, their sound is as heavy as the sun while being smooth and fuzzy at the same time.
 
Circulus http://www.myspace.com/circulus
- Psychadelic Folk-Rock band from South London. The band uses a mix of modern and medieval instruments, such as the lute, cittern, crumhorn and rauschpfeife, along with the moog synthesizer, bass and electric guitars. Tyack claims to believe in fairies and pixies, and they have been known to play their live shows with the audience sitting on the floor.
 
Alabaster Suns http://www.myspace.com/alabastersuns
- London based sludge prog rising from the ashes of the much celebrated band 'Capricorns'. The band's complex time signatures, and atypical riffs create a true sound all their own, as they seamlessly blend staggeringly heavy freight-train bludgeon with more mellow breakdowns.
 
No Made Sense http://www.myspace.com/nomadesense
- Coupling raging metal with the sort of progressive terror used by the likes of Neurosis and their ilk, this three piece conjure wild images through their collection of polyrhythms and dense textures. 
 
The Death of Her Money http://www.myspace.com/thedeathofhermoney
- Live, this band maul the audience with a wall of down-tuned noise that would leave any amp-head begging for forgiveness. The incessant and monotonous beats created by the drummer hang like the spine of an over-sized primate, strengthening and tightening their sound ever more so.
 
Khuda http://www.myspace.com/khudamusic
- A two-piece from Leeds with a huge sound. The guitarist Tom has created an immense setup with his customised amps and cabs. Going through a bass and top cab the textures he creates with his loop pedal and endless supply of effects resonates through the ribcage and tickles the solarplexus. Robin on the drums plays with such intensity reminiscent of some lost rituals practiced by a voodoo cult in papua new guinea. Look out for these two.
 
The Divebomb Revolution http://www.myspace.com/thedivebombrevolution
- For a three piece they make an unexpectedly large sound, a series of musical soundscapes, each player being able to pull the full range out of his instrument. One time signature gives way to another, one genre blends effortlessly into the next and each musical emotion is swallowed by the following in an ever-evolving musical journey, and thats just one song.
 
The Laze http://www.myspace.com/thelaze
- Then in Zion, where all you see is streaks of colour, backlit by synthesised moods, ΤΗΞ LΔΖΣ are spinning towards the earth from behind the solar eclipse all slow motion and holographic with the clouds bleeding across the sky like coloured dye dropped into water. What begins as John Carpenter '70s horror-house thumps, soon transmogrifies into medieval prog-rave vs. whimsical melodic alien folk that teases and taunts the artwork from Hawkwind LPs into life, strange creatures that congregate around the stone altar at cobalt-blue midnite awaiting the virgin sacrifice with reverie but are given instead a wicker man constructed from synthesiser circuit boards and the dials and keys from butchered mellotrons, all bound together with guitar strings and duct tape. They light the power chord trailing from the foot as the music strikes up.
 
Hog Island Boas http://www.myspace.com/hogislandboas
- Filthy/Stoner/Doom/Blues from Leeds. This four-piece love the dirt, the grime, the blood, the sweat and the fateful tear that goes into being a band. Live, they are as soulful as Howlin' Wolf with a sore throat, as groovy as James Brown with pins and needles and as heavy as Wino riding a diplodocus. Come see these guys or suffer the consequences.
 
Citadel http://www.myspace.com/citadelyorkshire
- Heavy, Progressive and satirical. If you like eccentricity mixed with a helping of Mastodon and Kyuss you will adore this band. The singer of the band Josh whirls about at the front of the stage like a sedated Mike Patton, seemingly insane and probably having an aneurysm. The band are as tight as hell and produce a solid background that puts into context the spasmodic episodes of the frontman.
 
Trampled Under Hoof http://www.myspace.com/silkygrail
- As the name suggests, listening to T.U.H. is like gradually dismembered by a hoard of hooved deities. Things in the real life are just not epic enough so they created their own; T.U.H. are currently working on a conceptual album involving a world where cosmic mechanical beings fight it out with shape-shifting Messiahs, this band is all about surpassing the usual and the legendary. The best way to describe this lot is a vast musical panarama about the battle between good and evil. Hold onto your stirrups, the herd is coming.
 
 
The event is going to take place between 15:00 - 23:00 in Leeds @ the Brudenell Social Club.

The tickets will be available on WeGotTickets, Crash Records, Jumbo Records and at http://www.myspace.com/punksdeadenterprog (event home page).

Just seeing Circulus and The Laze (two among my favourite artist of modern prog) is worth the price of the ticket alone!!

Can't wait for this, coming home from holiday early to play/witness this beast.

Gutted that I cant make it, I would have loved to see No Made Sense!

This Saturday!