A new progressive rock festival in the North West UK has been announced. The Electric Garden Festival (http://www.electricgardenfestival.com) will take place on the 20th and 21st May, 2011.The North West of England had a pioneering role in the growth and development of Progressive Rock music. From Jethro Tull to Jon Anderson of Yes, the area was a hotbed of music for both bands and fans alike. What's more, there is a massive latent audience starved of this pioneering and innovative musical genre.The Electric Garden festival will (for the first year) be a 2 day celebration of Progressive Rock in May 2011. Starting on the Friday night we'll have 8 of the best UK and Overseas acts to entertain you with an excellent sound system and convivial atmosphere.2 major headliners have already been announced. Friday 20th May will see The Watch from Italy headline the Beat Club, Blackpool where they will play their brand new Green show. This consists of the complete classic Genesis album Selling England By The Pound as well as their innovative self-penned compositions. Much more than a tribute act, The Watch have been steadily growing in stature by developing exquisitely interpreted early period Genesis with their own complex material.The Tangent were described as 'the best prog band in a decade' by progarchives.com and their most recent album Down and Out in Paris and London received critcal acclaim across the board. Every one of their 5 studio releases has been voted into the top 10 of every major progressive rock music poll. With influences ranging from the Canterbury scene through to Van Der Graaf Generator, The Tangent have played throughout Europe and the US to rapturous audiences.Emerging UK/Canadian act IT are also confirmed for the festival. With influences ranging from Pink Floyd to NIN, their 4th album Departure was a big success in Europe and the US. It was voted into the top 100 albums of 2010 by progarchives.com. IT employ multimedia techniques on stage to give an added dimension to their sound.Also added to the bill are Prog/Metal act Dropshard - also from Italy. A young band showing great potential with upcoming album The Lighthouse featuring an epic suite due to be released in the Winter of 2010.Tickets are now on sale at http://www.electricgardenfestival.com
Summer is pretty much at an end, so the countdown to the festival starts here! Tickets for all 3 days remain available at www.summersend.co.uk . Don’t leave it ‘til the last minute!
First of all, we are sorry to announce that festival openers, Huw’s band Unto Us will be unable to play due to the unavailability of the band’s keyboard player, who will be on his honeymoon! Rehearsals continue to go exceptionally well, and the band will make its live debut later in the autumn. More news of them very soon. The band will be replaced, most likely by an acoustic act, and we will announce their identity soon.
Secondly, these are the draft timings for the festival. As always, please use these details as a guideline only, as they are subject to change at any time. Please note that there will be one long break only on the Saturday, for those of you planning meals!
Friday 8th October
Doors 7pm
7.30 – 8.10 TBC
8.25 – 9.25 Tinyfish
9.45 – 11.15 Defence of the Realm
Saturday 9th October
Doors 12noon
1 – 2 Haken
2.20 – 3.20 Ark
4.00 – 5.45 Unitopia
5.45 – 7.15 Break
7.15 Doors
7.30 – 11.00 Agents of Mercy / Karmakanic (will include 30 min interval)
Sunday 10th October
Doors 12.noon
12.30 – 1.30 Multifuse
1.50 – 2.50 Dead Heroes Club
3.20 – 4.50 Phideaux
4.50 – 6.00 Break
6.00 – 7.30 Sylvan
7.30 – 9.00 Break
9.00 – 10.45 The Watch
www.summersend.co.uk
www.myspace.com/summersendfestival
Fri 22 October - Hamilton, Ontario - Canada
The Studio at Hamilton Place - tel: 905-546-3100
www.hecfi.ca
Sat 23 October - Quebec - Canada
Le Centre d'art la Chapelle - tel: 418-686-5032
www.centredartlachapelle.com
Sun 24 October - Philadelphia, PA - USA
North Star Bar - tel: (215)-787-0488
www.northstarbar.com
Tue 26 October - Montreal - Canada
Cafe' Chaos - tel: 514-844-0738
www.cafechaos.qc.ca
Wed 27 October - New York, NY - USA
B.B. King Blues Club - tel: 212-997-4144
www.bbkingblues.com
Thu 28 October - Washington, DC - USA
venue info on www.dc-soar.org
Fri 29 October - Niagara Falls, NY - USA
The Rapids Theatre - tel: 716-205-8925
www.rapidstheatre.com
Sat 30 October - Atlanta, GA - USA
Eyedrum - www.eyedrum.org
Sun 31 October - Brighton, MA - USA
The Magic Room Gallery - tel: 617-775-4009
www.magicroomgallery.com
(NB: Yr. Obd't Blogger will be attending the Philadelphia show at the North Star Bar, also featuring Shadow Circus and Brett Kull. If any of you in my area want to meet up, let me know and I'll be on the look out at the venue!)
As posted by the band:
"It looks like what started as one or two gigs is turning into a little tour, as we have been invited to open for The Watch on some of their East Coast tour dates...here's what we have so far:
9/5 - Progday
10/16 - The Triad Theater in NYC (headline show)
Opening for The Watch:
10/24 - The North Star Bar, Philadelphia, PA (also joined by Brett Kull of Echolyn)
10/28 - Orion Studios, Baltimore, MD.
10/31 - The Magic Room, Brighton, MA.
Possibly more dates to be added soon!"
PROGDAY:
THE MUFFINS is one of those amazing bands that you used to hear about from the 1970s...after it had disbanded. Formed in 1973, the band released its first official album, "Manna/Mirage," in 1978. This would later be hailed as one of the best all-time American prog releases from the 70s and an essential release for any progressive music collection. But while the band developed a cult following on the US east coast, notoriety on a larger scale was elusive. Despite continuing to create excellent music and working with artists like Fred Frith (the band backed Frith on his 1980 album "Gravity"), THE MUFFINS played it's last show of the period in 1981 and broke up soon afterwards.
However, the legend of THE MUFFINS continued to grow long after its demise and in 1998 the progressive music scene was given a reprieve when the original members decided that they still had something to say and reformed. Unlike many other "reunions," THE MUFFINS really DID still have something to say and the band started writing and playing music again like they had never taken a 17 year vacation. This culminated in the release of a new critically acclaimed studio album, "Bandwidth," in 2001. Since then the band has continued to record and perform, appearing at ProgDay in 2001 and 2002, and at NEARfest in 2005. We are very happy to host the return of THE MUFFINS to the Storybook Farm stage.
THE MUFFINS is joined by Half Past Four and Mahogany Frog at ProgDay 2010. ProgDay is the longest running progressive rock festival in the world. The 16th edition will take place on Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5, at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For more information, and to hear music from this year's bands, please visit us at http://www.progday.net
NEARFEST:
Signed for NEARfest 2011 are simakDIALOG (Indonesia) and Gosta Berlings Saga (Sweden). Bios to follow shortly, or alternatively:
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3083 (Gosta Berlings Saga)
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4831 (simakDIALOG)http://www.nearfest.com
CALPROG:
German progressive rock band RPWL was signed this week as the 4th performer at the 7th annual CalProg Progressive Rock Festival. The event will be held on October 2 at the Center Theater in Whittier California. The complete lineup is:
Ambrosia
RPWL
District 97
miRthkon
Tickets go on sale Saturday July 10 @ 7am. All seats reserved.
Visit http://www.calprog.com for more details and to listen to audio samples of the bands.
SUMMER’S END:
The Summers End Festival to be held at Lydney Town Hall, Gloucestershire on October 8,9,10 is delighted to announce that day tickets will go on sale on 1st July from www.summersend.co.uk. We are also pleased to announce the draft day line-ups now that all the bands have been confirmed.
Ticket prices. Day tickets Friday - £17. Saturday and Sunday - £27.50 per dayA small booking fee will be applied to each order to cover the transaction fees for online purchases. Still available: 3 day tickets £60. 2 day (Saturday and Sunday) tickets £45
Draft line up - subject to change
Friday 8th October
The Defence of the Realm with 3Js and a P - featuring Jem Godfrey, Pete Trewavas and John Mitchell (UK)
Tinyfish (UK)
Unto Us (UK)
Saturday 9th October
Karmakanic (Sweden)
Agents of Mercy (Sweden)
Unitopia (Australia)
Ark (UK)
Haken (UK)
Sunday 10th October
The Watch (Italy)
Sylvan (Germany)
Phideaux (USA)
Dead Heroes Club (Ireland)
Multifuse (UK, France, Italy)http://www.summersend.co.uk
