Live Performance Reviews

Wow. Calprog 2007 has come and gone in a flash and it was great. I was a little less enthused about this show coming into it not because of the lineup but because no band at the Friday pre-show or patio band so I thought maybe it was on the thin side. Well I couldn't have been more wrong even though I hope those things return and for the record they were not the fault of the Staff just circumstances beyond their control. We had a few problems with our Room at the Raddison as neither phone worked nor some other things and of course I couldn't call. After waiting well over and hour for someone to come up and fix them we were late for the dinner. (Thanks for noticing that, Jim lol) That is really it for the negative stuff and if anyone from the staff should read this please realize these a minor issues and none of them were in your sphere of control.

The dinner was great and we were all prepared to get back to the Lobby for some more relaxed conversation with everyone when were informed we could no longer take alcoholic beverages from the bar into the lobby. So there are like 10 of us stuck inside this roped off area inside the already overcrowded bar when we realized this sucks big time. Being proggers of course we knew how to improvise so noticing the Mexican restaurant was still open across the street we all headed over there. They said they were getting ready to close soon and we said no your not. We won. :-) We all had a great time talking and drinking. Discussing such heated items for debate like the upcoming Genesis show. Anyway we all got back to our rooms early enough to have a decent nights sleep. (That's a first!)

Saturday came and we made our way to the event. One side note here May in Southern California is usually very pleasant as it was a little overcast in the morning that kept temps in the mid 70's. I think May is a perfect time of year Jim, as long as it isn't Memorial Day Weekend or Mothers Day. (As an added bonus the Salsa party doesn't start on Friday nights at the Raddison until June.)

A little surprised that the number of vendors was down (too bad vendors because people were buying this weekend) By the time the festival was over I had gone through almost $200 at the various booths. I have lots of new CD's and DVD's to experience and my wardrobe is set for the year with all the T-Shirts we bought. So on to the music.

I had purchased Puppet Shows new CD prior to the show so I had a little idea of what they would sound like. They did not disappoint. With a great set of classic progressive music they moved their melodies from one to another quite nicely. Singer Sean Fraizer as the only pure vocalist of the day not only sang great but kept us entertained with his antics as he explored the stage. I have seen this band listed as neo progressive but I am not sure that is the correct label for them as they sound much closer to Genesis than Marillion. The two long songs near the end of their 1hour :15 minute set were really nice. They segued into their great little cover song of Gentle Giants Cogs in Cogs. All in all I think this band has potential if they can keep their momentum going.

Spiraling came next and if you have never heard of them then you should. I do find they are much better live band than studio as their music is high energy and intense and that seems to come off better live. This band is not progressive rock even by their own admission even though they all love the genre. Still they have enough going to blend their indie/pop styling with a nice blend of Synthesisers led by keyboardist /vocalist Tom Brislin. Spiraling played a lot of new material in their set which was great. They had hoped to have their new CD available for the festival but couldn't meet that deadline. They still brought a sampler that had three new songs and some old ones that went back to an earlier version of the band. They chose Tempus Fugit by Yes as their cover and they did as great a job with that as they did with Soundchaser in 2005.

Next came Frogg Cafe. I had purchased two of their CD's prior to the show so I thought I had some idea of what they were like. But they really fooled me as they have a lot of Jam Band influence as well. Not the Grateful Dead jam band but the Phish and more to the point Umphree's McGee sound where they blend a variety of instruments played at a high level of competency. These guys played things all over the map moving from one style and time signature instantly and smoothly. Bassist Andrew Sussmand and Violinist Bill Ayasse covered most of the vocals competently and Guitarist/Keyboardist Steve Uh sang two songs. It was on those two songs that the jam band influence came through the strongest for me. On top of that they were having a lot fun up there. See these guys if they come any where near you. Their cover well they had more than one playing Peaches En Regalia from Zappa and a Phish number as well as King Crimson's Red. That should give you an idea of their versatility.

Finally on to Rudess Morgentien project. As you probably all know Jordan Rudess plays keyboards in the huge band Dream Theater. He also has been known to go on tour with The Dixie Dregs who happens to be the band that Rod Morgenstein plays drums for. The legend has it that one night the power went out on everything but the keyboards so Jordan and Rod kept it going by themselves. I find that both musicians are stellar and belong in the upper echelon of the music world for good reason. I liked a lot of the material they presented of high energy ELP meets Return to Forever type music. I especially liked Jordan's Piano solo where you can really get a glimpse of how great a musician he is. He covered Several classic prog melodies in his solo including Soon, And You and I, Suppers Ready and Entangled. A great set of high powered music with improvisation (they even came up with a new song right on stage. Hope that makes the Offical Bootleg Jim) but if I had any criticism at all I think adding a bass player would blend it all in together. Still this is a show worth seeing. Jordon also announced Rod would be playing on his next solo project that will be covers of his favorite prog songs including a full version of Tarkus (at the mention of this Rod started into Eruption and got the crowd going crazy).

Of course then came the after party in lobby (strangely enough they allowed alcohol in there this time.) All the staff and some of the bands came down to revel with some of the attendees till the wee hours. All in all a solid diverse set of bands in a great environment with even better people. Thanks to Jim and his staff for overcoming so many obstacles this year to provide us with another great event. Once again the bands were on time and I can't think of too many events that happens with. Can't wait for 2008.