Category: progressive rock music
Thank you, Marillion.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege (I don’t use that word lightly here) of attending Marillion Weekend in Montreal, Canada. For those who aren’t familiar with the weekend conventions, the band play three straight nights, each with a different setlist and theme.
Friday night featured the Anoraknophobia album in full, plus a few extras. There was a well-intentioned attempt to open the weekend with “Montreal,” a love letter to the city and its fans, but a blown fuse in the venue cut the performance short. (Not to worry, we eventually heard it during Sunday’s encores.) Unfazed, the band returned to the stage after a few minutes and launched into “Between You and Me.”
In my experience, Anoraknophobia is an album best enjoyed with headphones on a quiet evening, so it doesn’t exactly make for the best live album. Still, “Separated Out” and “If My Heart Were a Ball” were obvious standouts. The encore performance of “This Strange Engine” was one of the highlights of the weekend, as Steve Hogarth’s final lyrics – “is true, is true” – rang through the venue long after the lights came up.
On Saturday, the band performed the entirety of Marbles, probably the most beloved album from the Hogarth era. And unlike Anorak, nearly every song on the album lends itself perfectly to a live show. After the opening performance of “Invisible Man,” I looked around the venue and saw people literally holding their heads in disbelief, still in awe at a song they had likely heard hundreds of times. And it went this way for most of the night, from “Ocean Cloud” to “Neverland.”
It’s no exaggeration to say that everything – lights, sound, atmosphere – is in its rightful place at a Marillion concert, and the Marbles night showcased this perfectly. At the end of the show, I remarked to friends that the band’s lighting tech (whose name I embarrassingly can’t recall)* truly gets every song. The performances are as visually striking as they are transcendent.
On Sunday night, the band returned to fan favorites with a “charting the singles” theme that reached all the way back to 1982’s “Market Square Heroes.” I snuck a look at the setlist from the band’s earlier conventions in Holland and the UK, so I knew what songs were to come, but it was obvious from the reactions in the room that many other fans had waited to be surprised. As the band counted up the years from “Garden Party” and “Kayleigh,” they revisited a few rare tracks: “Sympathy,” “These Chains,” and the alternate, more hopeful version of “The Great Escape.”
The Sunday night show confirmed what I suspect those of us in attendance already knew: how deeply personal much of Marillion’s music remains to the fans, as long as 30 years after first release. As the crowd continued singing the last lines of “Easter” – “forgive, forget, say never again” – well after the song had ended, it was obvious that all of us in the room, band included, felt and appreciated the truth of those words.
Even weeks later, all I can think of is how grateful I am – grateful to Marillion for revealing elements of the human experience that are so often lost and obscured, and for helping us to remember that such experiences are still there to be had.
Edit: Marillion’s lighting designer is Yenz Nyholm, who deserves serious recognition for the lighting production.
Rush R40 Lincoln
Following in the wake of an epic May snowstorm, high winds, flooding, and tornados, my two oldest kids—Nathaniel (16) and Gretchen (14)—and I began our nearly eight-hour journey across the Great Plains about 8:45 yesterday morning. We arrived in Lincoln around 5, checked into our hotel room, and I immediately had an hour-long radio interview with two wonderful women out of Denver.
Scrambling as Kronos devoured the minutes, we headed across town in search of our pilgrimage site, The Pinnacle Arena.
We found it, and we were in our seats by 7:10. The show was supposed to start at 7:30, but it ran about 15 minutes late.
A nearly packed arena revealed a far more gender-balanced Rush audience then I’d ever seen before. Almost certainly because of Beyond the Lighted Stage, wives and girlfriends (it was pretty obvious that most of them were newbies) made up a significant part of the crowd. I’m sure there were women there on their own as well, of course, but most packs I saw were men only. Still, probably ¼ to a 1/3 of the audience was female. Impressive, to be sure.
1970s classic prog from Kansas, ELP, Jethro Tull, and Yes blared from the speakers as we awaited the Canadians.
A typically bizarre video introduced the band, detailing its journey from 1974 to the present, actually having Rush arrive in Lincoln, Nebraska. Alex even showed up on stage in a wheelchair, rather hilariously.
From the opening note to the last, three hours in all, Rush performed without flaws, as tight as ever, and as humorous as ever. I’ve never seen Neil smile so much. Throughout much of the evening, he kept making strange faces at Alex, Alex egging him on. Alex also said several things to the audience, but I couldn’t catch them all. The highlight of his hilarity, though, came toward the end of the evening, when he and Geddy traded places on stage, Alex mocking Geddy’s 1975 Zeppelin-esque screams.
I can honestly write: this was the single finest rock concert I’ve seen in my life. It was the absolute dream of a Rush fan and a prog fan. Everything, simply put, was perfect.
The music, the song selection, the videos, the lights, the lasers. . . . Every. Single. Thing.
***Here, there be spoilers!***
If you’re not interested in what the band plays, please stop reading here. There be spoilers below! You have been warned.
I made sure NOT to find out what Rush was playing. A close friend had posted the name of one song online, but, otherwise, I refrained from reading anything about the tour. I’m really glad I did. So, again, if you want to be stunned—and you will be—don’t read below.
The entire show went exactly backwards. Rush started with three blistering songs from CLOCKWORK ANGELS and then progressively (regressively?) worked back to 1974. They played songs from every album except Test for Echo, Presto, Hold Your Fire, and Power Windows. Ten songs long, the first set included the three songs from CA, Far Cry, Main Monkey Business, How it Is, Animate, Roll the Bones, Between the Wheels, and Subdivisions. Amazingly enough, the Rush guys turned the rather geeky rap section from Roll the Bones into one of the best parts of the evening. Even I won’t spoil what they did, but it had all three Birzers in stitches.
As excellent as set one was, it was set two that floored me. Tom Sawyer; The Camera Eye; Spirit of Radio; Jacob’s Ladder; Cygnus X-1(!); Closer to the Heart; Xanadu; and the nearly-complete 2112 made up this glorious set. I actually cried during the middle of Xanadu I was so moved.
Rush departed the stage for probably less than a minute. For the encore, the band came back as though it were 1975, complete with a set from the gymnasium of Rod Serling High School. Geddy even introduced the band as though Caress of Steel had just come out. The encore: Lakeside Park; Anthem; What You’re Doing; and, of course, Working Man.
I’m getting chills just thinking about it all. . . .
I’ll post more photos later. At the moment, I’m on a terribly slow connection.–BB
[Brad is one of the three founders of Progarchy. He’s rather goofy, and he has a book, NEIL PEART: CULTURAL REPERCUSSIONS, coming out this fall from WordFire Press]
Rush — “Garden Road”
Guess what we catch a glimpse of at the end of the Rush R40 Set List?
Marco Minnemann – Celebration
Marco Minnemann, one of the most in demand drummers in the world – and a talented multi-instrumentalist – is releasing what will surely be another excellent album. Entitled Celebration, the album will be released on June 1, and the first 1,000 CDs sold will be autographed. I have been a fan of Minnemann – who plays all the instruments on this release – since I first heard his work on Steven Wilson’s The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories). His solo work has been widely praised (deservedly so), and I expect great things from this new release. If you would like to pre-order Celebration, you can visit http://www.lazybones.com.
Here is a promo for the new album:
Kite, The New EP from Camelias Garden
CAMELIAS GARDEN NEW EP: KITE
“It’s hard not to like this band, there are so many elements at work here that go so magically well together. Camelias Garden is where you want to be!”
“Blending nostalgia with a subtle touch of modernity, Camelias Garden made a solid showcase for a band that shows a lot of promise for the future”
– Raffaella Berry, Prog Sphere
After the debut with the album You Have a Chance (2013, Fading Records), welcomed positively by international and italian critics, Camelias Garden are back with a studio 6-track EP titled Kite.
It has been crafted to be a merge between the rich sound of the first album and the new enriched songwriting elements coming from the substantial line-up change in the band.
Consequently they did a more essential and straight-forward production from different studios in the Eternal City, that brings the band to a more experimental and electric approach.
The album will be distributed worldwide on May 20th, 2015 through the major online stores, with a few promotional physical copies.
Tracklist:
- Rise (2:05)
- Making Things Together (5:10)
- Kite (8:27)
- Red Light (3:22)
- The World Inside You (3:55)
- Useless (6:34)
Lineup:
Valerio Smordoni: lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards
Simone Contini: drums
Alberto Cari: bass guitar
Guests:
Manolo D’Antonio: electric guitars, 12-string and 6-string guitars, backing vocals
Gian Marco La Serra: piano, keyboards, backing vocals.
Contacts:
https://www.facebook.com/cameliasgarden
https://twitter.com/camelias_garden
https://cameliasgarden.bandcamp.com/releases
cameliasgarden@gmail.com
Bio:
Camelias Garden merge together the acoustic and vocal elements of folk songwriting with the instrumental weavings and arrangements of progressive rock and post rock.
The band was born in Rome in 2011 as a solo project of singer and multinstrumentalist Valerio Smordoni to become a full band.
You Have a Chance was their debut album, released in March 2013, which was showcased in the famous roman radio RadioRock and live for Altrock/Fading Records at La Casa di Alex in Milan, selling more than 1000 copies in a short time. This debut let the band start an intense live activity plus positive reviews from international webzines like Prog Sphere and IO Pages, and italian ones like Rockit and Roba da Rocker.
Their music style comes from films, pictures, from green fields and memories of a distant past. The soundtrack of an imaginary movie crafted by vocal harmonies, synthesizers and acoustic guitars.
In Sept. 2013 they were on the front page of ExitWell magazine.
In March 2014 they were semifinalists at Arezzo Wave festival.
In May 2014 the win the critics award at Roma Folk Fest festival.
RochaNews: Earthside
| EARTHSIDE, METALINSIDER.NET LAUNCH NEW TRACK “THE CLOSEST I’VE COME”
Debut album “A Dream in Static” coming soon; additional details, special guests TBA |
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – New England-based creative collective, Earthside, has teamed up with MetalInsider.netto launch a new song entitled “The Closest I’ve Come,” the first single from the band’s upcoming debut album, A Dream in Static. Stream the new instrumental track, along with some additional commentary from the band, exclusively at: http://www.metalinsider.net/new-music/exclusive-earthside-premieres-new-the-closest-ive-come. “‘The Closest I’ve Come’ was a coming of age song for us,” drummer Ben Shanbrom told Metal Insider. “It was the first piece of music we wrote for the record, and in a very personal way it represents our journey, both as musicians and people, from adolescence to maturity. This track defined us on a core level and set the bar for our future output.
A Dream in Static is due to release later this year. The inherently collaborative cross-continental project was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden under the watch of renowned producer and mix engineer, David Castillo(Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath), and additional mix and mastering engineer, Jens Bogren (Opeth, Soilwork, The Ocean, Devin Townsend). A teaser video for the album can be seen on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG5rMe3KTV4. Earthside guitarist Jamie van Dyck commented on the recording experience: “New surroundings and collaboration are two of the best catalysts for inspiring creative energy. Living in Stockholm and recording with David Castillo was the opportunity of a lifetime for us. We were immersed in such a vibrant musical space and passionate group of people that ultimately made this record what it is. That inclusive spirit in working with David and the guest musicians on the record brought out that energy in each of us.” Through organic layers of living, breathing orchestra (courtesy of the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra), and an eclectic arsenal of world music-influenced instrumentation, Earthside fashions an ever-changing sound that is equally engrossing alongside a work of cinematic art as it is resonating throughout a densely packed concert venue. A Dream in Static, the group’s conceptual mission statement, is a story of purposeful sacrifice and existential yearning told across sweeping instrumental movements, interwoven with adventurous vocal compositions featuring premier voices from across the rock and metal worlds. “Our music aims to evoke the full range of human emotions,” van Dyck continued. “Having those emotions and themes expressed more directly through the voices of some of our favorite singers and musicians was an unbelievable experience and something we cannot wait to share with everyone.” Live dates and additional album details will be announced shortly. Stay tuned for more information. -###-
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| Earthside online…
https://www.facebook.com/EarthsideMusic
Earthside is…
Jamie van Dyck – Guitar |
Interim News: Metanarratives
Brisbane-soon-to-be-Sydney hard-out rock quintet INTERIM are about to drop their 5-track EP entitled Metanarratives. The outfit are moving to Sydney to align with singer Alec Snow’s movements and are releasing the EP Friday June 12, with tour date announcements yet to come. The band has been moving from strength to strength, shifting from their high school garage grunge roots into a more layered, blues influenced style of heavy rock. 2014 saw the band recording and organising the release of this EP and coming tour, with the first taste and previous single, She’s the Devil, was released late in the year to resounding results. Shows alongside Caligula’s Horse and Monks of Mellonwah have set the tone for a huge 2015.
Metanarratives are literally “narratives about narratives”. Interim have constructed 5 tracks which lyrically tell stories about the stories we share as a society. Each track a carefully crafted journey, some not necessarily in the verse-chorus-verse structure – sometimes in movements, sometimes in sections – and rarely repeating sections or looking back. The EP is all about building tension to a climax – in both the songs and the overall narrative.
Interim have shared the stage with artists such as Dead Letter Opener, Breaking Orbit, Caligula’s Horse, Strangers, Aerials and Monks of Mellonwah and have been featured on Channel 7’s Morning Show, playing their previous single, She’s The Devil, featured on this EP.
Interim have shared the stage with artists such as Dead Letter Opener, Breaking Orbit, Caligula’s Horse, Strangers, Aerials and Monks of Mellonwah and have been featured on Channel 7’s Morning Show, playing their previous single, She’s The Devil, featured on this EP.
The Metanarratives EP will be released via MGM Distribution on Friday June 12. More details can be found at http://www.facebook.com/interimau.
LOVE FOR INTERIM
“…Brisbane lads Interim took to the stage for what was an absolute onslaught of balls out hard rock.”
– Mind the Music Blog
“As everything picked up, Snow’s voice got some grunt in it and [Interim] smashed into a high-energy set that had all the band members thrashing around on stage like they were possessed.”
– Chris Condoleon, Music Feeds
“Each member of Interim has phenomenal on-stage energy and it doesn’t take long before the crowd are sucked into the spectacle of the driving rhythm and catc
RochaNews: GYRE
| GYRE, REVOLVER LAUNCH NEW TRACK “MANIFEST”
Upcoming EP ‘Moirai’ out May 12 |
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NEW YORK – N.Y./N.J. progressive metal outfit, Gyre, has teamed up with Revolver to launch a brand new track, “Manifest,” from the band’s forthcoming ‘Moirai’ EP, due out May 12. Stream “Manifest” exclusively at: http://www.revolvermag.com/?p=73657. “The song speaks of pushing yourself to the edge and finding a balance between your dreams and reality,” Gyre told Revolver. “It speaks of seeing past the tentacles that try to control and conform, and to embrace your individuality.” ‘Moirai’ can be pre-ordered now through the Gyre Bandcamp page at: www.gyrebandmusic.bandcamp.com. An additional ‘Moirai’ track, “I Release,” can be streamed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT8xhqTpS5E. The band added: “This album is a resurgence – a reminder that it’s never too late to truly awaken your potential in life and control your own fate. We can guide ourselves to this realization by expressing our passion and doing what we love. This can be different for people, but it is through the act of creation we feel our self-worth and purpose bloom. “‘Moirai’ is a term for the three sisters of fate. It ties this third album together. Two sisters represent birth and death, inevitable forces beyond an individual’s control. We are Lachesis, the second sister…the story in between. If we want to, if we decide…we can write our own story. Ultimately, we are all completely responsible for our own actions and emotions.”
1. I Release 2. Manifest 3. Behind the Eyes 4. Moirai 5. Dream the Obscene Stay tuned for more information on Gyre and ‘Moirai,’ due out next week. -###-
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| Gyre is… Juan Soaz – Guitar Pablo Carpio – Drums Ian McCartney – Guitar Chirag Bhatt – Bass Ying Chee – Vocals |
The Unthanks 10th Anniversary
The Unthanks aren’t always prog, but they’re always superb! They’re celebrating their tenth year with some gigging and a new release. If you’re fortunate enough to be in the area, make sure you get to see them.
The Unthanks cap both 10 years and a remarkable year with an intimate Autumn tour of small venues, followed by handful of December shows with their full 10 piece ensemble, including standing and seated London shows, and a homecoming show at Hexham Abbey.
Rather than embarking on some grand celebration, The Unthanks are quietly marking their 10th anniversary this year with a short tour of small intimate spaces, with a pared back line-up, their feeling being that if folk music is a lifelong pursuit, 10 years is just a drop in the ocean.
Small venues means tickets are likely to sell out quick. All show details are below. or on our website here.
And in the same respect, rather than putting out an exploitative ‘best of’, there will be a release of rarities, live recordings, memorabilia and unreleased material will accompany the tour.
The 5 piece intimate tour, featuring material from right across their time, will be following in December by handful of 10 piece anniversary shows to crown the year, including both standing and seated London shows at Scala and Union Chapel respectively, plus a homecoming show in the beautiful surroundings of Hexham Abbey.
The shows mark both 10 years and a remarkable year. In wall-to-wall four and five star reviews, this year’s Mount the Air has been described as “quite simply, a masterpiece”, “music that asks you to consider everything you know and un-think it”, “an epic that Sigur Rós or Elbow would be proud of”, “folk on a different level – airborne, perhaps”, “the first truly jaw-dropping album of 2015”, “both wildly experimental and comfortably familiar”, “gorgeously orchestrated”, “one of the best records I’ve ever reviewed”, “kind of beautiful, kind of blue”, and “beautiful yet stark, orchestral yet intimate, clever yet with simple purity, dark yet kissed with light, ascendant yet earthy and rooted.”
Summer Festival Dates
27.05.15 Hay Festival Hay on Wye
27.06.15 Glastonbury Festival
(Pyramid Stage, The Unthanks with Orchestra, conducted by Charles Hazlewood)
10.07.15 Earagail Arts Festival Ireland
11.07.15 Folk at the Hall Trelawnyd, N Wales (Headliners)
19.07.15 Folk by the Oak Hatfield, Herts.
24.07.15 Folkfest Killarney Kerry, Ireland
26.07.15 Deer Shed Festival Topcliffe, N Yorks (Headliners)
01.08.15 Cambridge Folk Festival
02.08.15 Port Eliot Festival (Headliners)
14.08.15 Stockholm Culture Festival
22.08.15 Home Gathering Newcastle (Headlined and curated by The Unthanks)
23.08.15 FolkEast Glemham, Suffolk (Headliners)
29.08.15 Solfest, Silloth, Lake District (Headliners)
30.08.15 Greenbelt, Kettering (Headliners)
05.09.15 End of the Road Dorset
06.09.15 Moseley Folk Festival West Mids
25.09.15 Gaiety Theatre Douglas, Isle of Man (on sale v soon)
27.09.15 Queens Cross Church Aberdeen (on sale end of May)
17.10.15 Homegrown Bury, Castle Armoury Drill Hall (Headliners)
10th Anniversary Intimate 5-Piece Tour
22.10.15 The Customs House South Shields 0191 454 1234
23.10.15 The Witham Barnard Castle 01833 631 107
24.10.15 The Dukes Lancaster 01524 598500
25.10.15 Wem Town Hall 01939 238 279
26.10.15 The Atrix Bromsgrove 01527 577330
27.10.15 SJE Oxford 0845 413 4444
28.10.15 Holy Trinity Church Guildford 01483 566007
29.10.15 Theatre Royal Margate 01843 292795
30.10.15 St Mary’s in the Castle Hastings 01323 841414
31.10.15 The Stables Milton Keynes 01908 280800
01.11.15 Drill Hall Lincoln 01522 873894
06.11.15 Middlewich Town Hall 01606 833434
07.11.15 Trades Club Hebden Bridge (Standing Saturday Night Show) 01422 845 265
08.11.15 Trades Club Hebden Bridge (Seated Matinee Show) 01422 845 265
08.11.15 Trades Club Hebden Bridge (Seated Evening Show) 01422 845 265
13.11.15 Theatre by the Lake Keswick 017687 74411
14.11.15 Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough 01723 370541
15.11.15 All Saints Church Pocklington 01759 301547
10th Anniversary 10-Piece Shows
04.12.15 Hexham Abbey (10th Anniversary Homecoming Show) 01434 652477
05.12.15 The Great British Folk Festival Skegness 0300 1006648
09.12.15 Scala London (Standing 10th Anniversary 10 piece show) 0845 4134444
10.12.15 Union Chapel London (Seated 10th Anniversary 10 piece show) 0845 4134444
Progarchy 