Quantum Fantay & Cabezas de Cera welcome Prog to the 21st Century at Nearfest 2009 For some reason, the opening acts on Saturday & Sunday’s Nearfest always provide the most exciting, unexpected moments – think Morglbl, Indukti, KBB and Guapo from recent years – and that was certainly the case with Quantum Fantay and Cabezas…
Tag: Nearfest
Reviews & Commentary
NEARFEST 09 Pt.2: Gong and PFM
Someone is dancing in pajama robes and a wizards hat. It must be Daevid Allen and Gong. In this second part of the Echoes Nearfest 2009 review it’s the Old Guard Part Two. Gong is the rock mirror image of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Like Sun Ra, Gong is a free-wheeling eclectic band that wraps…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARFEST ’09 Pt.1: Van Der Graaf Generator & Steve Hillage
NEARFEST 2009 Part One: Progressing into Yesterday, Steve Hillage and Van Der Graaf Generator NEARFEST, the North East Art Rock Festival, took place this past weekend and as is the custom of this 11-year-old institution, it was a mix of progressive rockers old and new. Today, Pt 1 of The Old Guard There is a…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARfest 2008
NEARfest celebrates 10th Anniversary. I’ve only been to 4 NEARfest festivals, and you can read my previous postings for 2007, 2006 and 2005. Their 10th anniversary still found a festival happily wed to a 70’s Prog sensibility of fret burning guitar solos, complicated time signatures and pitch bending keyboard runs. The only group that served as…
Reviews & Commentary
NEARFEST 2005 REFLECTIONS
“There is no progress in Progressive Rock.” Those are words I heard over and over again during the recent NEARFest, The North East Art Rock Festival. Whether I spoke to bassist Patrick Djivas of the Italian rock group, PFM, Roger Triguaux, guitarist with Present or Paul Sears, drummer with The Muffins, they all had the…