GOLD TICKET RESERVATIONS NOW
AVAILABLE FOR PREVIOUS TICKET HOLDERS GOLD TICKETS ON SALE SATURDAY JANUARY
10 AT 9:00AM
Gold
Ticket reservations for FMPM 2009 will be taken commencing Friday
November 28 by email at mailto:[email protected] - .
Previous Gold Ticket holders can reserve the same seats as they had at FMPM
2008 or specify new preferences (i.e. closer but to the side, farther back
but in the middle) and must make reservations by Friday January 9, 2009.
Those who purchased Regular Tickets for FMPM 2008 and wish to upgrade may
also reserve Gold Tickets.
Gold Tickets will be sold online at http://www.progquebec.com/ - commencing Saturday
January 10, 2009 at 9:00 AM at a price of $189 including venue royalties
(taxes not included). Gold Tickets will be sold on a first
come first serve basis for first time purchasers who can also specify
preferences. Those who will have made reservations have until January 31,
2009 to purchase their tickets to guarantee their seats, while first time
purchasers of Gold Tickets who have ordered tickets by then will be allocated
the best seats available based on date of purchase. Regular tickets will go on
sale sometime in March at a price to be determined then.
Next September, one of Italy's greatest progressive rock bands
performs for the first time in Montreal, as Le Orme headlines
the fourth edition of the FMPM. Founded in 1966, Le Orme have released 18
albums, have headlined almost every significant music festival while maintaining
a loyal fan base in Italy, and continue to produce acclaimed studio material
forty years after their inception.
After releasing several beat and
psych singles, the classic trio formation of Aldo Tagliapietra, Michi dei Rossi,
and Toni Pagliuca was in place by 1970. This formation released four canonical
Italian prog releases during this time, "Collage", "Uomo di Pezza", "Felona e
Sorona", and finally "Contrappunti". Like many of the more popular Italian
groups, Le Orme tried their hand with an English release, with "Felona &
Sorona" coming out on Charisma with translated lyrics by Peter Hammill. Due to
the instrumental configuration of keyboards, bass, and drums, and with a very
classical sound, it is easy to compare this period to Emerson, Lake &
Palmer, without the maudlin stabs at honky tonk and the like.
In the
late 70s a fourth member joined on guitar, and releases such as "Florian" and
"Piccola Rapsodia dell'Ape" take on a different flavour, with an emphasis on
acoustic textures. In the 80s the group was down to the core trio but less
active. A reunion took place in the late 90s with the relase of "Il Fiume", and
a well-received appearance in Quebec City (among others). The group was now a
quartet, with Michele Bon and Francesco Sartori sharing Pagliuca's old keyboard
duties.
Not content to rest on their laurels, this decade has seen the
release of two conceptual studio works, "Elementi" and "l'Infinito". Unlike many
progressive groups who have continued from the early 70s to today, Le Orme's
current work is considered by many to be of the same quality as their classic
period albums. Le Orme headlined NEARFest several years ago and a CD/DVD release
called "Live in Pennsylvania" came out this year to commemmorate that event. Le
Orme is now back to a trio formation, with Michele Bon handling all keyboards
along with stalwarts Tagliapietra and dei Rossi, and have maintained a busy gig
schedule in Italy this year. They are currently at work on a new album.
Magenta was formed in 2001 by ex-Cyan
member Rob Reed. Debut album "Revolutions" was a mixture of Yes, Genesis, and
Renaissance highlighted by the vocals of Christina Booth, a former collaborator
with the group Trippa who had also guested with Cyan. The success of this album
led to the formation of a live band to perform it, and 2004 saw the release of
their first full-band album, "Seven". With a concept based on the seven deadly
sins, Seven was a large leap forward that firmly established Magenta at the
forefront of the modern British symphonic prog movement. 2006 saw the release of
"Home", a concept album with some shorter pieces that combined the established
style of the band with a progressive pop influence that Reed has applied in
other projects. Regular live performances and festival appearances at Baja Prog,
Rosfest, and NEARfest has kept the group tight and their reputation growing.
In early 2008 Magenta released their fourth studio album,
"Metamorphosis", on the Laser's Edge label. Upon its release, it immediately
went to #1 on the Gagliarchives weekly top 20, bumping Thieves' Kitchen from the
top spot. "Metamorphosis" is easily identifiable as a Magenta album but also
adds more darkness and aggression into the mix, a daring evolution that has
reaped success. FMPM 2009 will be the sole North American show next year in
support of this album.
Magenta was originally booked for FMPM 2008, but
could not do the show for a very good reason; Rob Reed had a child in
mid-September. However we had no question about wanting to work together as soon
as possible. We are delighted that it will be next year.
The best things in life come to those who wait, a saying
well known to fans of Italian four-piece DFA. Before 2008's
"#4", their last studio album was 1999's "Duty Free Area". Simply put, they are
one of the best groups in the world in the style of symphonic fusion, combining
incredible technical virtuosity with a gift for memorable, dynamic melodies.
With the #1 album on the Gagliarchives for eleven straight weeks following its
release, DFA is "one of the best of the new breed" (All About Jazz), and "#4" is
"a worthy successor to The Rotter's Club" (Billboard.com) and "an unmitigated
success" (Aymeric Leroy). And while fans of Canterbury music might see DFA as
the reincarnation of National Health, they are undeniably an Italian prog group
and reminiscent of some of the great jazz rock groups from that country such as
Arti e Mestieri and middle-period PFM.
DFA's first two releases, "Lavori in Corso" and "Duty Free
Area", make quite a splash when they were first released, and are now available
on the 2-CD compilation "Kaleidoscope". Their live performance at NEARFest 2000
brought down the house and is still talked about today. Over the years people
increasingly wondered whether DFA were still together, whether they would ever
release a new album, and if so whether it could possibly live up to the
standards set by their early work. The answer to all these questions is an
emphatic "YES", and at FMPM 2009 we expect DFA will once again bring fans to
their feet in their first ever appearance in Canada.
Thieves' Kitchen has taken the
progressive rock community by storm in 2008, with the release of their fourth
album "The Water Road". Featuring new keyboardist Thomas Johnson, formerly of
Änglagård, this album combines ear-catching melodies and intricate complexity
the way all the best progressive rock does, with non-rock influences, dynamic
contrasts, and a wide variety of instrumentation. Their love of impossible time
signatures and jazzy inflections inspire comparisons to the Canterbury scene,
while Amy Darby's soaring voice and evocative lyrics are
compelling.
Founded by guitarist Phil Mercy and bassist Paul Beecham
ten years ago, only Mercy and drummer Mark Robotham remain from the first album,
2000's "Head". After their 2001 release "Argot" they were invited to play
Mexico's Baja Prog and North Carolina's ProgDay music festivals in 2002. In
typical fashion, a four-song set from this group took 75 minutes. 2003's
"Shibboleth" was the first to feature vocalist Amy Darby and sees the beginnings
of the jazzier influences come to fruition on "The Water Road". This newest
album, five years in the making, went through extensive phases of composition,
arrangement, and recording. New keyboardist Johnson proves a suitable foil for
Mercy, able to provide powerful and aggressive counterpoint or a melancholy
aural backdrop where appropriate. Unsurprisingly, this album is turning up on a
number of top ten lists for 2008, and was the #1 album on the most widely
followed progressive rock radio show worldwide, The Gagliarchives, for several
weeks. Thieves' Kitchen is now playing several engagements across Europe in
support of "The Water Road".
With increasing demand on this side of the pond, and a
growing audience of admirers in Quebec, we felt it important to extend an
invitation to Thieves' Kitchen to play at FMPM 2009, and much to our delight
they have accepted. This will be their first ever appearance in Canada and their
only festival performance in North America next year.
Continuing our tradition of inviting some of Quebec's most
innovative and interesting acts to the FMPM stage, it is with pride that we
announce that Rouge Ciel will be performing at FMPM 2009. Part
of Quebec's vibrant musique actuelle scene, they mix composed and improvised
music into a unified framework that makes use of diverse instrumentation and
genre influences. Western and Eastern musics, folk, jazz, and rock are all
acceptable source material for their creative expression.
Rouge Ciel released their first, self-titled album in
2001. Members Guido del Fabbro and Némo Venba had previously been in avant-garde
ensemble Le Fanfare Pourpour, and together with Antonin Provost and Simon
Lapointe created an instrumental work that reviewers compared to Maneige,
Conventum, Art Zoyd, and Miriodor. And yet by being compared to such different
groups the real message was, here is something new, and deserving of attention.
2005's "Veuillez Procéder" is more urgent and less gentle, amping up the
intensity, more wild, and more modern. Both releases are well appreciated by
collectors of avant-progressive rock and musique actuelle.
Rouge Ciel is now hard at work on new material that will
form the basis of their third album and will be unveiled at FMPM 2009. Following
the wild successes of Miriodor and Interférence Sardines on the FMPM stage, it
is fitting and exciting that Rouge Ciel will follow them.
Mystery was formed in 1986 by Michel
St-Père in the Montreal region. Originally created as a studio project, it would
take nearly four years before a stable line-up took form. 1996 saw the release
of Theatre of the Mind on St-Père's fledgling Unicorn
label, created to promote the music of Mystery. Keyboardist Benoît Dupuis left
after this release. Destiny? followed in 1998, a more
progressive release that resulted in the singer leaving. Needing a sufficiently
talented replacement, their first choice was Benoît David, who was in a Yes
tribute band. David was auditioned and agreed to join the group, and that
line-up recorded At the Dawn of a new Millennium,
released in 2000.
A long break followed, with Unicorn starting to
release the music of other artists as St-Père concentrated on growing the
business. It was not until 2007 that a new album, Beneath
the Veil of Winter's Face, would be released. The line-up for this
release would be Michel St-Père, BenoÎt David, Patrick Bourque on bass, and
Steve Gagné on drums.
Earlier this year Benoit David was invited to join
the touring edition of Yes and has been playing around the world with them.
Meanwhile St-Père has been working on new material for the next Mystery album.
The line-up is now a six-piece, with Michel St-Père on guitars, Benoît David on
vocals, Steve Gagné on drums, the returning Benoît Dupuis on keyboards, and two
new members, Dean Baldwyn on second guitar and François Fournier on bass.
Fournier plays in the Genesis tribute band Slippermen while both St-Père and
Baldwyn play in a Rush tribute band called Exit: Stage Left.
Melodic and
well-produced, Mystery's music has been compared to groups such as Saga, Yes,
and Rush.
Incubus was part of the first wave of Quebec progressive
rock, originally active between 1970 and 1974. Although influenced by groups
such as ELP, King Crimson and Procol Harum, they preferred from the beginning to
compose their own material. Their sound was probably most akin to
classically-influenced keyboard-led groups such as ELP, Le Orme or Trace. Active
around the same time as Maneige, Nécéssité and Contraction, they played out
quite a bit, including shows with groups such as Mashmakhan, Offenbach, April
Wine and Souls of Inspyration, and many Quebec prog fans remember them to this
day.
Finally in 1974 they had a chance to travel to Europe to record
what would have been their first album. They finished a full side before they
disbanded. In the aftermath of the group's collapse the tapes were shelved and
forgotten for many years. Finally in 2007, three of the four original members
got back together, and with the help of two friends completed the album. They
renamed themselves ExCubus, to avoid confusion with the California-based
group of the same name. The result of their efforts was the September archival
release on ProgQuebec, entitled Mémoires
Incubusiennes. Their album release concert in Lac St-Jean was attended by
over 300 people.
One of the long lost secrets of the Quebec progressive
rock movement, the music of ExCubus can now bring the group their proper
acclaim. In September they will perform at the FMPM in front of their
loyal fan-base as well as a new generation of progressive rock
fans.
For more information: http://www.fmpm.net/ -
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