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Tag: Riverside
Concert Review: Riverside Rock Chicago – 5/19/2019
Riverside, Live at the Chop Shop, Chicago, IL, May 19, 2019
Setlist: Acid Raid, Vale of Tears, Reality Dream I, Lament, Saturate Me (instrumental intro only), Out of Myself, Second Life Syndrome (first part only), Left Out, Guardian Angel, Lost (Why Should I Be Frightened By a Hat?), The Struggle for Survival, Egoist Hedonist (without third part, extended second part), Wasteland
Encore: O2 Panic Room, River Down Below
Last night I saw Riverside for the first time. If I can help it, it won’t be the last. Wow. You don’t really get an appreciation for how good these guys are until you see them live. For me, there wasn’t a single moment of disappointment during this show. From the setlist to the performance to the crowd, everything was exceptional. They deserve to be playing much larger venues here in the United States.
The show opened with Australian heavy metal band, Contrive. Contrive are a two-man group comprised of identical twin brothers. Both were great, and the drummer was particularly exceptional. The guitarist was quite good too, mixing many different styles throughout their hour-long opening set, including a few seconds of Hackett-esque tones. Opening bands can be hit or miss, but they did a good job of warming up the crowd for Riverside. They even started a few minutes before the stated showtime, which was nice since the 8pm start time on a Sunday evening with work the next day was already a bit much.
I’ve never seen a road crew break down and get ready for the main attraction so quickly. Everything was already set up for Riverside, but they had to take down all the gear from Contrive – and they did that and got everything ready for Riverside in less than 10 minutes. It was entertaining just to watch that.
Riverside didn’t waste any time getting into it, starting out with “Acid Rain” from Wasteland. Within seconds I learned something I had never realized about Riverside – Mariusz Duda’s bass drives the show. I originally thought the driving riff on “Acid Rain” was from a guitar. Nope. All bass. I didn’t realize he was that good. I had a blast watching him play the whole night. I’ve seen John Myung live (probably the most acclaimed bassist I’ve seen live), and I’d say that Duda’s performance matched or surpassed that. At some points during the show, he was strumming one of his three or four bass guitars. Who the heck does that? The mighty Duda, that’s who. Maybe this is old news to most of you who have been listening to them for years, but allow me as a relatively new fan (I didn’t start listening to them until after Piotr Grudziński passed away) to gush over how great Riverside is.
Continue reading “Concert Review: Riverside Rock Chicago – 5/19/2019”
Riverside Announce Vinyl Re-releases
From the fine folks at Inside Out:
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Bryan’s Best of 2018
Earlier this year, I questioned whether or not 2018 was going to be a poor year for prog. It seemed like the the progressive rock community took a few months to stop and take a collective breath… but that was only the breath before the plunge. The second half of the year saw many excellent new releases. The following are some of my favorites from 2018, in no particular order (my top two at the bottom of this list are tied for first place).
Riverside Live in North America — Coming May 2019
“Dear friends from US and Canada. Will you find time to see us in May 2019? We have a great pleasure to announce all these dates and places.
North America Wasteland Tour 2019:
- 05/03 Atlanta, GA, City Winery
- 05/04 Lake Park, FL, Kelsey Theater
- 05/06 Carrboro, NC, Cat’s Cradle
- 05/07 Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Soundstage
- 05/09 Jersey City, NJ, White Eagle Hall
- 05/10 Philadelphia, PA, World Cafe Live
- 05/11 Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
- 05/12 Cambridge, MA, The Sinclair
- 05/14 Quebec City, QC, Imperial Bell
- 05/15 Montreal, QC, Club Soda
- 05/17 Toronto, ON, Mod Club
- 05/18 Detroit, MI, Magic Stick
- 05/19 Chicago, IL, Chop Shop &1st Ward
- 05/20 St. Louis, MO, Delmar Hall
- 05/22 Dallas, TX, Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
- 05/24 Boulder, CO, Boulder Theater
- 05/25 Salt Lake City, UT, Metro Music Hall
- 05/27 Phoenix, AZ, Crescent Ballroom
- 05/28 Pomona, CA, The Glass House
- 05/29 San Francisco, CA, Slim’s
- 05/31 Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theatre
- 06/01 Vancouver, BC, The Rickshaw Theatre
- 06/02 Seattle, WA, The Crocodile
See you there!”
True Art Eschews Politics Even in the Wasteland
True art eschews politics, and so will I in this post.
By now, I hope you have all had a chance to listen to Riverside’s brilliant new album, Wasteland. It was magnificently reviewed here at Progarchy by Erik Heter and Brad Birzer. This album is beautiful. It is devastating. It is art at its finest.
Just as T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece “The Wasteland” was written in the depths of pain and despair, Riverside’s new masterpiece was written as the band dealt with pain and loss. The 2016 deaths of guitarist Piotr Grudzinski and Mariusz Duda’s father hang heavy over this album, but they do not weigh it down. Rather, they inform its brilliance. Yes, Riverside’s metal moments are here, and Duda does a great job on guitar when needed. But it is the quiet moments that shine like the star Sam and Frodo saw shining through the gloom and dark of Mordor (an allusion I have shamelessly stolen from Brad… and Tolkien).
Much like the recent Oak album, “False Memory Archive,” “Wasteland” embraces the good, the true, and the beautiful. The lyrics are timeless. They get at the what it means to be human. Our lives are filled with happiness, pain, joy, and immense suffering. Riverside don’t hide this fact. They face it head on, and in doing so, they have created true art. Art should move beyond the mundane and fleeting. In 100 years, no one will be remember or be amused by the political ramblings of Roger Waters, Andy Tillison, or Nick Beggs. They will probably remember “Supper’s Ready” and hopefully they will remember “The Underfall Yard” because that song and album deal with issues of lasting importance. “Wasteland” fits into that category. These concepts transcend time. In 1000 years, the lyrics to “The Night Before” will remain relevant.
Close your eyes
Don’t be afraid
I’m with you
This place is safe
We found a camp
We have supplies
They will let us stay the nightClose your eyes
I’ll tuck you in
Mum will sing to make you sleep
Don’t mind the noise
There’re just the bombs
A part of music for this songWhen the night begins to fall
You and I
In a safety zone
The former world shall not return
But we’ll survive intact
Again
Embrace beauty and art in music. Reject the ephemeral in favor of the ethereal.
Joy in the Wasteland: Riverside’s Seventh
A Review of Riverside, Wasteland (Insideout, 2018).
At first, I was surprised that the two best (and best known, at least in American prog circles) Polish bands named their most recent albums, Wasteland. Well, ok, there’s a slight difference. Newspaperflyhunting named its album with a plural. Still, it must be more than a coincidence. Presumably, each took the name either from the Arthurian legends or from T.S. Eliot (who took his from the Arthurian legends). Regardless, the title fits for most of our world of 2018.
Continue reading “Joy in the Wasteland: Riverside’s Seventh”
Obviously, You’re Not a Golfer: Progarchy’s Third Interview with The Duda (aka Mariusz)
It wouldn’t be an understatement to say Mariusz Duda, or as he known around here, The Duda, has been a busy man. Between last year and this, he’s put out not one, but two Lunatic Soul albums. In addition, he’s been busy with his day job, recording and preparing the new Riverside album, Wasteland, which is out September 28th. And then, of course, touring which will be upcoming soon. Recently, we caught up with The Duda, talking to him for the third time at this site. Topics included the concept and inspiration behind the new album, recording as a trio for the first time, various instrumentation used on the album, and why he effing hates The Eagles, man. 
[Note: It’s possible that I completely made up the thing about him hating The Eagles]
[Note 2: And by possible, I mean 100% absolute metaphysical certainty]
Ok, so let’s get on with it now.
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Progarchy: What made you decide to do an album about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world?
Mariusz Duda: First and foremost, the story is what I always wanted to write about but never had the occasion to until the end of the world happened in Riverside. I thought that OK, if I choose this subject, it will be multi-dimensional to have many layers, and pretty symbolic stuff, so I chose this you know. This is a story about survivors, about the end of the world, and the people who survive the end of the world. But it’s also connected with the situation in the band, and the situation all around the world, because we live in uncertain times. For some people, Wasteland might be like Poland or something, so I thought I would do that kind of subject now.
LaserCD North American Preorder: RIVERSIDE
LaserCD has been designated the official store for the North American release of Riverside’s forthcoming album, WASTELAND. Thank you, LaserCD!
To order (and read the excellent editorial writeup), go here:
https://www.lasercd.com/cd/wasteland-import-mediabook-preorder
Rare Riverside Boxset Available at Burning Shed
For the Riverside diehards among us, Burning Shed has for sale the Riverside Reality Dream Boxset, originally released in Poland in 2011, but extremely hard to find in North America. Believe me, I’ve searched high and low for a decently priced copy here in the States. Now, it’s available again. Order as soon as you can. My guess is that they will go quickly.
Burning Shed’s description:
A six cd box set collection containing Riverside’s Reality Dream studio trilogy, Out Of Myself (2003), Second Life Syndrome (2005) and Rapid Eye Movement (2007), plus the contemporaneous extras and live releases Voices In My Head (2005), Second Live Syndrome (2008) and Rapid Eye Movement II (2007).
Presented in a beautiful six panel digipak.
Pre-order for 24th March shipping.
N.B. This is the 2011 Polish release on the Mystic Production label.
To order, go here: https://www.burningshed.com/store/progressive/product/99/8523/
Progarchy 