Welcome to Just Another Magma Monday. Once a week, your obd’t narrator and occasional blogger will trawl the expanses of his Magma collection to discuss something of Zeuhl-ish importance. Whether it’s the studio albums, the best of the AKT archive releases, one of the sundry live DVDs, or a choice artifact from his ‘unofficial’ collection, one thing is for sure…for this writer, Magma iss de hundin!
This week, sit back and relax as we take a look at yr. Obd’t blogger’s second Magma concert, at NEARfest 2007, and listen to him whinge about missing both of this year’s US Magma concerts…
We’ll start off with the whinging…that way, there’s something positive and uplifting at the end for you to look forward to.
Magma is playing two shows in the US in the coming week and a half. The first is as part of this year’s Sonic Circuits week long festival in Washington DC. The show is at the French Consulate…specifically, La Maison Française. I was absolutely gobsmacked to find this out…realistically, I could drive to DC and make the show. And it’s at the Consulate…did I mention that?
Then I saw the date. 18 September. A Saturday. Which would be brilliant, right? It’s a weekend, and I don’t have to work the next day. The start align!
Except.
I have to work Saturdays.
And by the time I get out of work, get cleaned up, and get on the road to DC…there’s no way I could guarantee that I’d make it in time.
As if this were not bad enough, Magma announced a second date in the US to coincide with this DC date. This isn’t unusual, as I know they’ve done the same the last two times they came over to the US. As usual, this second date is scheduled for New York City. Now, I am not a fan of NYC, but for Magma, I’d make an exception.
Except.
The concert is scheduled for a Monday night.
And I have to work Mondays. Also Tuesdays.
And thus, yr. Obd’t blogger is not a very happy camper this week.
But, for those of you going…enjoy. Enjoy it twice as much, so I can enjoy it vicariously through you.
Now, having whinged your ears off (and potentially scaring off half my potential readership)…
2007 would mark my second opportunity to see Magma in concert. NEARfest 2007 was a strong festival, featuring Hawkwind, Pure Reason Revolution, Magenta, La Maschera di Cera, NeBeLNeST, Indukti, and IZZ, along with solo spotlights from Robert Rich (who did not play Somnium, much to my chagrin) and Bob Drake. While there was a lot to enjoy from all of these performers, Magma of course was my highlight. In the 4 years since the 2003 concert I’d gotten really into the band, going so far as to ‘infect’ a very good friend of mine, award winning micro-brewer Kevin Cosentino, whom I dragged up from North Carolina to partake in the goodness that is NEARfest and Magma. I had ulterior motives as well, I admit…he offered to brew up some tasty potables for all of us as well, so in my eyes it was a win win.
To make things even better, I had killer seats for the festival. 4 rows back in the orchestra section, meaning we’d be about 8 rows in total back from the stage. Considering that I was in the balcony at a twice as large theatre for Magma in 2003, I was pretty certain I’d have my head blown off by the intensity at such close range. And we’ll be honest here…I almost was.
In 2007 Magma’s second US concert was actually their first, as they played NYC the night before their NEARfest performance. As such, and through the wonders of technology, I…ahem…had the opportunity to hear what they were playing before they played NEARfest. One might think this a massive spoiler, but for me, it really didn’t matter…even though Magma doesn’t change up set lists across a tour (not usually at least), I’d be willing, if finances allowed and the band actually did it, to follow them on tour Grateful Dead style, just because the music is that intense.
How wrong I was this time.
To whit:
At the Europa Club in NYC on 23 June 2007, Magma offered up the following:
Ëmëhntëht-Rê
K.A. III
Kobaia
MDK (closing)
One hell of a set list, methinks. Only about 86 minutes, but hell, I’d pay full price for that, and walk out with my jaw agape and hanging. I saw the set list for the show, thought carefully about sharing it with my friends who were going to the show, and decided against it. I wanted them to be surprised, even though I with knowing looks let on that I kind of knew that they’d be playing.
And when the band took the stage, 20 odd feet from me, I smiled, knowing that I’d be hearing the tolling notes that led in Ëmëhntëht-Rê. Then Antoine Paganotti strode to his mic, stood there motionless for a few moments, and chanted out ‘Hamtai!’ and the band kicked into Köhntarkösz.
Remember above when I mentioned my jaw being agape and hanging?
Well, it was.
But for totally different reasons.
The rendition of Köhntarkösz the band presented was tight, heavy, dark, amazing. They ripped into it with a passion that was palpable. Bussonnet’s bass notes pulsed from the PA, the choristers’ (the Paganottis, Stella Vander and Isabelle Feuillebois) voices soared. Emmanuel Borghi’s keyboards carried the melodies, James MacGaw’s guitar added flourishes here and there, and newest member Benoît Alziary’s contributions on vibraphone added a new an interesting musical voice to the mix. Finally, of course, there was Christian Vander, center stage, directing and driving everything form his drum stool. I know there are numerous progressive music ensembles that are steered by their drummer (Univers Zero, Forgas Band…Dream Theater), but none I think rely on their drummer as much as Magma does. Musicians come and go…Vander is a constant. His musical vision is Magma. And from the opening moments of Köhntarkösz, we were hearing a drummer who still seemed to have something to prove.
As Köhntarkösz started, I turned to my friend Kevin, who looked at me with a mix of expressions on his face. First was awe…’I can’t believe I’m seeing Magma play live!’ The second was, I think, motivated by the look on my face, one that said ‘This isn’t what I expected them to be playing,’ to which he responded facially ‘But I thought you knew what they would be playing?’ By this point I had pretty much tossed out my expectations for the show…I’d already been shocked once, and it was time to go with the flow.
A huge wave of applause, well earned of course, marked the end of the first piece, and as tolling chords and almost celestial voices came from the stage, I smiled, ready to experience my first listen to the ‘completed’ Ëmëhntëht-Rê. I’ll admit at this point in the piece’s evolution there were still some occasional rough patches…some of the transitions still weren’t perfectly smooth, and apparently there were still some brief sections of material yet to be finished. What we got, however, was a solid and thoroughly enjoyable rendition of this piece, which merged all the various disparate pieces recorded and released over the years into one cohesive whole. I know by this point I’d heard a couple renditions of E-R as the band had been working things out on it, but this night’s take on the composition was pretty impressive all the way around. Again, the conclusion was met with a thunderous and well-deserved ovation.
As the audience died down, I was curious what the band would be playing next. A familiar drum/bass line brought another smile to my face, voices chanting out a memorable horn line, as Magma kicked into the lead track from their 1970 debut album, ‘Kobaïa.’ The vocal sections were as fluid and graceful as ever, with fantastic bass playing and wonderfully light drumming from Vander. An extended instrumental section, drums, bass and heavily fuzzed, distorted organ, took things in a fusion direction that really blew me away. As Vander began assaulting his hit, I felt myself being lifted up with the music. It was, to use a word I tend to over use, but which is wholly appropriate for this, intense. And heavy. There were several moments during this performance, in fact, when the band stripped back to an instrumental group, and I swore we were basically listening to One Shot with a different drummer, and it was something I’d not come to associate with this incarnation of Magma.
By the conclusion of ‘Kobaïa’ I knew we were better than 90 minutes into the performance, and there’d not be much more to be played. Chiming vibes and Rhodes electric piano were a hint, and with Christian Vander taking the center mic, my hopes for some CV lead vocals were more than met as Magma eased into the meditative and beautiful ‘Lïhns.’ I’m trying to remember who took the drum stool with Vander out on vocals, and sadly I just can’t recall. I do know it was a lovely and tranquil way to close out the weekend’s festivities, gentle music to ease the audience out of concert mode. The line for signatures would be long, but I was patient, tho it gave me time to figure out just what I was going to ask to have signed, as I knew there’d be limitations.
You’ve seen the result in the photo accompanying the Mythes et Legendes III DVD review.
And as we drove away from Lehigh University, I was satisfied that the missed chance to meet the band at NEARfest 2003 was rectified.
Set List:
Köhntarkösz
Ëmëhntëht-Rê
- Part 1
- Part 2
- Part 3
Kobaïa
Lïhns
Musicians at NEARfest 2007:
Christian Vander - Drums, Vocals
Philippe Bussonnet - Bass
James MacGaw - Guitar
Emmanuel Borghi - Keyboards
Benoit Alziary - Vibraphone
Stella Vander - Voice
Isabelle Feuillebois - Voice
Antoine Paganotti - Voice
Himiko Paganotti - Voice
It took me better than a week to figure out who Shawn Persinger was (even though I knew I knew his name), and had someone not commented on the blog about the recent shows, I probably would not have figured it out till I got to Rockn’ Joe on Friday night, 10 September 2010.
Now that I’ve led off that way, let me explain.
Back in the mid-1990’s there was a band on Cuneiform Records called Boud Deun. The name rhymes with ‘rude European’ (but preferably, apparently, not ‘nude peon’), and they released two albums, plus a live set recorded at Orion Sound Studios, before going their separate ways in 1998. I had 2 studio albums (The Stolen Bicycle and Astronomy Made Easy), never had a chance to get the live album before it went out of print itself, and both studio albums went their separate ways from me quite some time ago, sadly (and with the debut out of print, unlikely that I’ll ever have them both again…at least in physical format…but more about that later). For me, they’re one of the great and sadly unknown American prog bands of their era.
Shawn Persinger was one of the members of Boud Deun. Thus endeth the history lesson. For now.
Anyway…
Friday night Shawn Persinger appeared at the NJ Proghouse with mandolinist David Miller in their duo Prester John. In this configuration, Persinger plays acoustic guitar, and by now I am guessing that you’re thinking ‘Acoustic guitar and mandolin? Gaah, this isn’t prog, this is…bluegrass!’ And if you’re thinking that, I want you do so something for me.
- First, extend your right hand so it’s out in front of you. Got it?
- OK, good. Now, take your left hand and extend it so it’s about 8 inches or so above your right.
- Now, slap yourself.
- Done? Now listen:
Prog is NOT about 15 minute long songs in 7/4. It is NOT about mellotrons and violins and flutes and racks of keyboards and triple neck guitars. It is NOT about costumes or lyrics about marmots coming out of the sky and then standing there. It’s about interesting music that does something different. That’s my definition of prog, and I’m sticking to it. And interesting music that does something different is everything Shawn Persinger and Prester John is about. You get odd tunings, loops a plenty, loads of angular playing, immense walls of sound and colour, dashes of humour and darkness, unison lines up the wazoo, and enough quirks to open up your own quirk gift shop. Now tell me that doesn’t sound like prog. Because it sure does to me. Who cares what it’s played on?
Ahem. Moving on.
I got to the venue early, hung out with Jim Robinson and Alan and Amy Benjamin for a bit, and watched Persinger and Miller set up. I got to hear their soundcheck, and it was honestly a fun little blast to sing along with them as they played a few standards. After the soundcheck I walked over, introduced myself to Shawn, and asked permission to a) shoot photos of the show, and b) to get a shot of the setlist in the event that I couldn’t stay for both sets (and because my memory is crap and I’d not remember everything played). He generously allowed both. You’ll see the set list below. Mostly, I think you can ignore it…there were enough deviations that I am sure it’s far from accurate. But it gives an idea of what they did.
The first set was a maelstrom, and I am sure I laughed more during it than I have during most any concert I have been to in a long time. Persinger and Miller have a great rapport on stage with each other, and genuinely seem to love the stuff they do and working with each other. Equally, Persinger does a great job getting the audience involved, whether it’s talking, joking, starting a story and then stopping it saying it’s too boring or not interesting enough…there’s an equal amount of smiles coming from the stage and the audience both. There were highlights I definitely recall from that first set…a stomping cover of Rush’s ‘Spirit of Radio’ was one, the three miniatures called ‘Silhouettes’ (with one each dedicated to Janet Feder, Mike Sary of French TV and Dave Kerman of Thinking Plague/Aranis/Present/too many other bands to name) was another. In fact, the last of the three was particularly humourous, as Persinger saying that it was not at all like Dave Kerman ‘because this one ritards’ (Lesson #2 for the non-musically trained…a ritard or ritardando is a gradual slowing of a piece as it progresses). Those three short pieces were complex, amazing to hear, and both Miller and Persinger had to play them off scores.
That first set also offered up the first Boud Deun tune of the night, a stunning version of ‘Saints.’ I didn’t expect any BD material to be played, to be honest (and further honesty…when I saw BD cover listed on the setlist, I started wracking my brain to figure out what Bob Drake album the songs were from), and the arrangement for guitar and mandolin was wonderfully done. The other huge highlight actually closed out the first set. Persinger sent Miller to the audience, telling us that if both of them where up there our heads would explode. I was sure it was hyperbole, but ‘Domesticated’ possibly lived up to that warning, building throughout the performance, with intense, occasionally almost screamed vocals, and extensive use of live looping to build huge sheets of sound, to the point where I was almost sure that we were moving into metal territory.
After that, Persinger and Miller needed a break. Hell, I think we needed a break. I stepped outside for 10 minutes or so while people mulled about catching their breaths.
The second set, as I look at it, offered a lot of deviation from what was written too, at least in terms of order if nothing else. We opened up with another Persinger solo track, the new ‘First Date,’ which he begged three teen-aged girls who had witnessed the first set from a corner near the back of the restaurant to stay for, but they walked out before his first note. His comment ‘Well, maybe they’re not fans of subtext’ as they walked out got a nice laugh. The song itself carried on in style somewhat from ‘Domesticated,’ albeit with a little less intensity and a little less emphasis on looping.
At this point things get a little fuzzy for me setlist wise. I know that Persinger and Miller did another great rendition of a Doud Deun piece (‘Making Circles’) featuring subtle use of looped rhythm guitar tracks and loads of lyrical and tasty solos from both musicians. There was a request from the audience for ‘In the Court of the Crimson King,’ which they took to mean the lead track from the album of the same name, which happened to be on the setlist for the night anyway. Now, if you think that ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ can’t possibly translate to acoustic guitar and mandolin, all I can say is this…there’s about 30 people who can state without reservation that you’re dead wrong. It was intense in a totally different way, and as for the main riff…you know, the one everyone knows…when Persinger hit those pinched notes leading into the vocal sections, you’d be hard pressed to believe they weren’t electric.
There was also an amazingly spacey instrumental called ‘Favored Color of Light’ that took their sound in unexpected directions. About the only thing it was missing was a violin to really classify as space rock…thrumming bass line loops, echoed and held single guitar notes and runs, and loads of ambience and space really set this piece apart. Definitely one of the highlights for me overall. Add in the wistful ‘Fireman’s Drive-Inn’ and a cool number called ‘Duet for Piano And Violin No. 1’ (please note…it’s a trio, and there’s no piano or violin, and two people play it), and top it off with an honest to goodness bluegrass traditional tune (whose name sadly escapes me and I’ll hope that someone chimes in to fill in that hole), and you have a night of music that covers more range and styles than most multi-band festivals can. And it’s just two guys, some pedals, an acoustic guitar and mandolin.
Shawn and David have a bunch of upcoming dates across the east coast and mid-Atlantic area in the coming months (I'll be posting dates and links later); I’d highly encourage you to check them out. Don’t be like the people who chickened out going to the show because there was no way an acoustic duo with mandolin could possibly be prog…because if you are, you’ll miss out on some of the most amazing playing you will ever get the chance to see, from two musicians who know their instruments inside and out and can bend them to their musical will at the slightest whim.
Oh! One last bit that I referenced above…according to Persinger, both Astronomy Made Easy and A General Observation will be available on iTunes this year (The Stolen Bicycle already is, but sadly Fiction and Several Days is not). So, if you never got a chance to pick up these essential American prog/fusion albums, here’s your chance!
Last week I mentioned the fact that I was going to see Dream Theater and Iron Maiden on Sunday, 11 July at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel NJ. I promised a review.
I should start out the review by stating that I missed Dream Theater’s opening song, ‘As I Am.’ I missed it because I was sitting in a school bus in the North overflow parking lot about a mile or so up the Garden State Parkway from the venue. I was sitting in the bus because the show sold out…17,500 tickets, if the info on Wikipedia (and a brief Google search) is to be believed…and all the parking lots were filled. I’m not sure what it was about the whole situation, but I found it a little funny and a lot weird, as if I had been taken back in time 20-odd years (actually a little longer, but we’re not going to count, OK?) to my school days, and the rowdy noisiness of the kids yelling at the driver and generally making fools of themselves. Of course, the fact that most of them had probably been hitting their coolers pretty hard in the time before the show might have helped (or maybe hindered) their cause. In any event, I was standing in line at the merch stand to buy my two overpriced t-shirts (one DT, one Maiden, natch) as the band was finishing up their opening track.
‘A Rite of Passage’ was up next, off the band’s newest album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, and it got a decent response from the crowd, while the somewhat slower ‘Home’ seemed to set the audience where I was standing back a bit, despite it perhaps being a bit better known. The crowd’s energy was kicked back up with a pair of shorter, faster paced songs; ‘Constant Motion,’ from Systematic Chaos saw a big response from the crowd (some of whom were still flowing into the amphitheatre), while ‘Panic Attack’ seemed to be a big hit. It also got my one head shake of the night, as James LaBrie introduced it with the statement ‘If you have Rock Band 2 you’ll know this one…Panic Attack!’ I know it’s indicative of where the industry is these days, but it still strikes me as a bit of a downer that a video game has become a way of advertising a song, rather than the album its from. In any event, ‘Panic Attack’ got a very big response.
Dream Theater closed out their set with their biggest (and many would say only) hit, ‘Pull Me Under’ from the band’s 1992 release Images and Words. It’s become almost an obligatory track for the band to play, especially to audiences not necessarily familiar with the band’s catalogue, as it received extensive radio and MTV airplay despite its 8-minute length. As the opening notes played the crowd cheered, obviously familiar with this piece, and the band played the piece with enthusiasm, which was nice to see considering that by this point it’s likely that they have played the song over a thousand times since its release.
As things quieted down, I sat on the hill and thought a little bit about the show. The band sounded great…honestly. James LaBrie was in fine form, and I could hear John Myung’s bass playing pretty clearly. Mike Portnoy was killing it on drums, John Petrucci’s guitar tone was nice and crunchy, and Jordan Rudess sounded good on keys, albeit at times just a bit lower than I expected. It’s hard to tell if the band converted anyone…Maiden shirts outnumbered DT shirts by a 20 to 1 margin easily, and I know that amongst the cheers I did see people unmoved, arms crossed or talking to their neighbours. For me, while the set was strong, I know I'd have loved to hear some more diverse material. I know the songs were chosen to present DT at their heavier side to the Maiden fans, but it was a bit much of one thing for me. I will say this…I’ll try to make an effort to see them in more of a headliner position in the future, as I’d like to hear and see them play a wider range of material. That has to count for something, right?
1. As I Am
2. A Rite Of Passage
3. Home
4. Constant Motion
5. Panic Attack
6. Pull Me Under
As the sun began to set behind the hills of Holmdel New Jersey, the nearly 20,000 people gathered to see Iron Maiden play were growing restless. Every time another crewmember came on stage in the dark, a small cheer was raised in hopes that it was actually one of the band. A few idle strums or bass guitar thumps were evidence enough that things weren’t quite ready yet.
Then the lights went down. The crowd cheered. And as the opening kettledrum notes of Gustav Holst’s ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ began to pulse out over the crowd, the expectant crown rose to life as one. The projection screens showed a series of images from the Hubble Space Telescope as Holst’s most recognisable tune continued to wash out over the crowd, with the slide show finally ending on an image of crossed halberds across a helmeted skull…the Iron Maiden ‘logo’ from A Matter of Life and Death. And as the band finally bounded on stage open with a powerful rendition of the newer classic ‘The Wicker Man,’ one thing was certain; Iron Maiden was in control.
Following on from the opening salvos of ‘The Wicker Man,’ Maiden kept things going with the epic ‘Ghost of the Navigator,’ with thousands of fans singing along. The band showed amazing energy on stage, with Dickinson running around the tiered, ramp bracketed stage like someone half or less his age. Bassist Steve Harris would jump, pogo, run and wield his bass like a machine gun, aiming it at the audience as he played his trademark galloping bass licks. While Adrian Smith and Dave Murray always seem a bit more restrained on stage, Jannick Gers is still playing the part of the energetic young hotshot, whipping his guitar around his back, dancing jigs, and generally continuing to act like someone getting to live his biggest dream even after almost 20 years in the band.
A brief trip to the past for ‘Wrathchild’ (from 1981’s Killers) set up the sole new track in the set list. Coming from the band’s forthcoming release The Final Frontier, ‘El Dorado’ is a crunchy mid tempo rocker that was released as a free download on 8 June. It seemed obvious to me that a good bit of the crowd had availed themselves of the download, as they seemed pretty familiar with the track. It was a powerful rendition of the new song, one that bodes well for the rest of the material to come on the forthcoming album. ‘Dance of Death,’ the title track from Maiden’s 2003 album, was played next, but it honestly seemed overshadowed by the tracks to follow.
A pair of tracks from A Matter of Life and Death (‘The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg’ and ‘These Colours Don't Run’) got a huge response from the crowd, especially ‘These Colours Don't Run,’ which Dickinson explained was about people who believed in what they were fighting for…not necessarily wars, but also including people fighting for peace or whatever. The crowd ate both tracks up, and the energy continued through an epic take on Brave New World’s ‘Blood Brothers,’ which featured some of the most passionate audience response of any song in the set. Dickinson used this song as an opportunity to ‘indoctrinate’ the new audience members into ‘the brother and sisterhood of Iron Maiden,’ and after seeing what an Iron Maiden show is like, I can see that.
A few more newer songs led the band toward the end of their set, and a trip down memory lane. Maiden took the crowd back to the early 1990’s with ‘Fear of the Dark’ from the album of the same name, while the opening notes of the band’s ‘title’ song caused the crowd to go nuts, as much for what they knew was going to happen on stage as for the song. Sure enough, part way through the track Eddie the ‘Ead made his appearance on stage, harassing and interfering with the band as they played. All of this could be seen on the projection screens via the ‘Eddie-cam,’ which gave the crown a band’s eye view of the mayhem. Eddie finally stole one of the guitars and began to ‘play’ as Harris and Gers attacked with their guitar and bass, with the crowd screaming along in joy. Let me tell you, when you consider that Live After Death was a major album in my youth, hearing Bruce Dickinson call out ‘Scream for me New Jersey!’ in person was a huge thing :-)
As the final notes of ‘Iron Maiden’ finally faded and the band retreated from the stage, the lights dimmed and the crowd began their chant of ‘MAI-DEN! MAI’DEN!’ A few minutes passed before a familiar recitation came across the PA system:
‘Woe to you, oh earth and sea…for the devil send the Beast with wrath, for He knows the time is short.’
What little bit of sanity the crowd had was gone, as evidenced by the lanky gentleman near my spot on the hill, who was flailing around, headbanging and thrusting one hand in the air, fingers forked, as he tried to video the band playing through his violent dancing. It was a difficult decision, choosing to watch the band or watch this guy acting like a jittering fool. A second track from The Number of the Beast album, ‘Hallowed be thy Name,’ followed on, with the audience singing as loudly as their lungs would allow. Maiden finally drew the night to a close with a hilarious take on ‘Running Free,’ memorable for the audience participation Dickinson instigated. Between his comments to the audience about his hat, which he finally tossed to the crowd, to his British Bobby’s hat and his comment about getting one young lady’s ‘particulars’ later, by this point the crowd was fully in the band’s capable hands.
Dickinson came to center stage one last time as the band built to a final climax, barking out ‘You think it’s over? Well, it is now! Good night New Jersey!’ One last curtain call, and the lights came up as Monty Python’s ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ played across the PA.
The Wicker Man
Ghost Of The Navigator
Wrathchild
El Dorado
Dance Of Death
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
These Colours Don't Run
Blood Brothers
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Brave New World Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free
My thanks to Robert Dansereau for offering to share his thoughts about the recent Renaissance/Steve Hackett tour. He was one of the collaborators involved with the Montreal show, and had a unique opportunity to witness this performance from a much different standpoint than I would have
Anyway, enough preamble...on to the review!
Only one word can describe the concert I had the pleasure to see in Montreal on July 9th, 2010 featuring Renaissance and the electric Steve Hackett band... magical!
From the perfect set list of both bands to the amazing lineup of world-class musicians, that double bill at the Place Des Art in Montreal was one of the greatest "prog" events to hit the city this year!
Renaissance was simply superb, Annie Haslam was in fine shape and her voice was simply heavenly. Annie and Michael Dunford have surrounded themselves with splendid musicians, among others Tom Brislin and Rave Tesar on keys and Dave Keyes on bass, and offered a great set that included many classics and and some material from their brand new EP The Mystic and the Muse. Their set list: Prologue, Things I Don't Understand, The Mystic and the Muse, Running Hard, Carpet of the Sun, and for the encore, Mother Russia. They played for about an hour and were rewarded with two enthusiastic standing ovations by the sold-out crowd.
Then on to Steve Hackett. Words can hardly describe how amazing this show was, but I'll try. The band stepped onstage at 9:30 and started with an energetic version of Mechanical Bride, immediately followed by Everyday. I just sat there, marveling at the perfect performance offered by the master. A very high level of energy and an obvious chemistry between the band members, added to the great acoustic of the théâtre Maisonneuve and the impeccable sound offered by their sound engineer, made for a very captivating and especially delightful show. The set included the great Hackett classics like Ace of Wands, The Steppes, Emerald & Ash, Fire on the Moon, Serpentine Song, Spectral Mornings, Sleepers, Still Waters, as well as a few chosen Genesis classics, like a surprising version of Blood on the Rooftops with vocals from Gary O'Toole, an energetic interpretation of Los Endos, and of course, Firth of Fifth in its entirety including the piano intro by Roger King. They concluded the show with a vigorous version of Clocks with a mind-blowing, jaw dropping drum solo by mister O'Toole.
The team was well rounded-off by the zany Nick Beggs, wearing his goofy ponytails and PVC (not leather) dress, who was amazing on the stick and the Rickenbacker bass, the very lovely Amanda Lehmann on guitars and vocals, and Rob Townsend on saxes and flutes.
Both bands kindly came out after the show to sign autographs. This was a phenomenal evening of top-notch progressive rock.
Here are a few pictures taken by Marc Lafontaine and I, of the Hackett show: http://tinyurl.com/2w4pmhs
Robert Dansereau
July 11th, 2010
If waking up Saturday was rough, you don’t want to know how waking up Sunday was. Still, I made the decision this time to have a couple glasses of water first thing, and we stopped off at the Dunkin Donuts before heading down to the venue. That water, and the bottle of OJ, really made the difference, and I had no problems at all Sunday. The place was pretty empty, and the vending rooms were slow. We were excited to see the first two bands, and thus we made sure to get up to the theatre in time for the Sunday opener…QUANTUM FANTAY, from Belgium. So much energy. So much personality. So much more space rock. These guys got a huge response from the sleepy NF crowd…so much so that they sold out of CDs and other merch. They bounded around the stage, wailed on guitar and bass, thrashed the drums, and coaxed swirly synth sounds from their instruments. I wish I had picked up their CD/DVD set, but there’s always mail order. Sunday opener slots have seen some of the most exciting surprising sets at NF…Hidria Spacefolk, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Guapo, and now these guys. Big things lie ahead for them I think.
BEARDFISH followed. I was really looking forward to them, and so was Sharon. Neither of us were disappointed. I love their vintage sound, with loads of great keyboard textures, excellent guitar, and above all, killer songwriting. They didn’t worry about the crowd, playing the ‘controversial’ “Roulette” and “The Gooberville Ballroom Dancer” as early as possible. Nothing like a healthy dose of bikers named Jesus and motherf*^&ers, eh? They played some stuff off the forthcoming album, whose release I now worry about with things getting as dicey as they are (SPV bankrupt, Beardfish and PoS pulled off the Prog Nation tour). I am glad I got to see them, and I hope to whoever is listening that they can be brought back over soon.
Lunch was bison burgers from the vendors outside. They were good. I was tired. The sun was out. We’d been hanging out with Ray and Tom from echolyn a bit, as one does at these festivals. We’d also been hanging out with the guys from Quantum Fantay a bit, and Rikard and the others from Beardfish, who as I said above were awesome. Time was growing short, so we headed in for the third band on day two…
TRETTIOARIGA KRIGET from Sweden. They’re a classic band…for a while, one of the few 1970’s Swedish bands you could find releases from. At their heaviest they are what Rush would sound like if they were a prog band. And yes, they played a healthy dose of the heavier stuff…and a lot of their quieter, more restrained pieces. I like them, and I liked their performance. I think they were the wrong band at the wrong time, really…they were too relaxed for a set late in the afternoon on the second day of the festival. I think DFA’s energy would have worked better here. And I know that people had a major issue with the falsetto vocals. Still, I liked them, and they deserved to be here.
Dinner break arrived, and I packed enough away to make sure I’d get through the final band. I had high hopes yet again, and I had a feeling they’d be met.
PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI did more than meet them. They exceeded them a thousand times over. One always worries when a classic band says they are gonna play a lot of newer material. Well, the songs from Stati di Imaginazione more than belonged in the set…they were every bit as vital as the classic material. And what a selection of classic material…’Dove…Quando,” “Impressioni di Settembre," “Out at the Roundabout.” I was waiting for “E’Festa,” and I was blown away…it take s a lot to get 1000 people at NEARfest out of their chairs, yet PFM achieved this. They got audience participation. I saw 1000 people dancing and jumping. I felt the walls shake. I heard them screaming on request. It was thrilling, and one of the best performances I have ever seen at NEARfest.
But this year’s NEARfest was about far more than the music. It was about meeting up with people I see once a year. It was about repaying the people who so graciously and generously allowed us into the inside, letting us become part of this breathing, living entity. It was about seeing the festival in a whole new light. If NEARfest 2009 was anything, it was a rebirth in so many different ways. I came out better than I went in. In the end, NEARfest 2009 will perhaps be the most memorable one for me.
(A pre-side note: the setlists provided as directly from festival co-founded Chad Hutchinson, who got them from the stage setlists the bands wrote up. as corrections come, I will make them here.)
NEARfest day one started with a bit of a rough wake up…Friday night had been a touch fraught, and I know we had some slight issues dragging ourselves out of bed. A shower helped…but not long after getting to Lehigh on Saturday morning, I started feeling decidedly unwell. I dehydrated very, very quickly (air con over night and a lot of humidity contributing to a heat index higher than the actual temp may have contributed), and I had to get some water and stuff pumped into me. I joked that they had bottles of water and were jamming the tops into my mouth and squeezing the water down my throat. In any event, I was feeling well enough at that point to hit the theatre for…
CABEZAS DE CERA (Heads of Wax) from Mexico. What an interesting set of music from these guys. Unique custom made instruments, heavy folk and electronic influences, their sound would range from the precious and acoustic to wild waves of sound. I can’t describe them all that well…they are labeled as avant and RiO, and some people called them space rock for some reason, but for me, they were just CdC…and I dug them enough to pick up a pair of discs to relive the experience. Good stuff.
Indomable
Peregrino
Laberinto
Pretexto
Mutacion
Nocturno Incandescente
Cazador de Ballenas
Parkour
Encore:
Gocxilla
Mil Noches
I think at this point I had one or two bottles of OJ, and headed back to the vending room to sell an ever depleting pile of shirts and programs and pint glasses. Wanted a tan shirt? Sorry, you’re out of luck, we’re out. 3X shirt? Sold out yesterday, so sorry. We had our full crew behind the table, and at our best, we were a well-oiled machine working around each other quite well.
Vendor rooms close, and we head up for OBLIVION SUN from here in the US. 2 Happy the Man members (Happy the Men?), a member of Present, Adrian Belew’s drummer, and a second keyboardsist, playing fun, fusiony symphonic music that included some classic HtM tracks, some excellent new stuff with quirky as ever titles (“Dead Sea Squirrels,” or ‘nature’s road bumps’ as claimed by Stanley Whitaker), and enough chops for a clinic. Stan looked and played great…we (Stan and I) had a chance to chat a bit before the set and it was wonderful to share some stuff that we had in common. That rocked, and was probably my emotional highlight of the festival.
Fanfare
Chapter 7.1
Noodlepoint
Catwalk
No Surprises
Lake of Shadows (new Bill Plummer piece)
The Ride
Golden Feast
Re:Bootsy
Dead Sea Squirrels (new Stan piece)
Tales of Young Whales
The High Places (new Frank Wyatt piece)
Encore:
Service with a Smile
March of the Mushroommen (new Stan piece)
It was lunch time, and we hit the catering room for sandwiches and drinks. They hit the spot. Not much more to say there, really. We got all re-energised for the next act, which was…
DFA from Italy. I was looking forward to these guys, and they did not disappoint. Great instrumental symphonic rock from Italy with just a touch of fusion goodness. I finally splurged and got the other two albums I needed to complete my collection, so I can identify the tracks I didn’t already know, but they were stellar live. Really got into them, and was glad to see them finally (NB: I am listening to Kaleidoscope, their 2 CD reissue of the first two albums, as I post this here...it is every bit as good as the show was, and then some).
Vietato Generalizzare
Flying Trip
Trip on Metro
Mosoq Runa
Caleidoscopio
Mirror
Pantera
Escher
Encore:
Baltasaurus
Dinner was a bit of a debacle, as meal tickets weren’t available, and the on site vendors closed down due to the weather. So we foraged for stuff to get us through the next band. I’d been doing everything possible to downplay them, trying to not build up expectation or anticipation, but soon the denouement would have to be had…the lights dimmed, and onto the stage came GONG.
I’ll say it here, as clear as possible. I loved their set. They played superbly. It was tight, and spacy, and trippy, and I really loved it. Daevid was in fine form despite being sick. Steve Hillage played fantastically. Miquette was fun on keys…playing, dancing, swaying, jumping. Theo Travis was wicked on the sax. The set was killer…I can’t ask for anything better. The new stuff (from the forthcoming 2032 album, the next part of the Planet Gong story) was good. It was just wild all the way around. Made it to the encore and we headed down stairs to catch up with a few people before we headed off into the night to search out french toast before hitting the hay for day two…Escape, Control
You can't Kill Me
Tic Toc
Dynamite
Digital Girl
Yoni
Dance with Pixies
Wacky Backy
Never Glid
Flute Salad
Oily Way
Outer Temple
Inner Temple
Goddess
Om Liff
Cycle Gliss
You and I
Encore:
Tropical Fish
A report from someone in attendance at the show:
Magma
Grenoble (France), MC2
Grenoble Jazz Festival
26 March 2008
The début concert by the new Magma line-up, with latest recruits Hervé Aknin on vocals and Bruno Ruder on keyboards. The former isn't featured prominently, so we'll have to wait until the band return to a more "traditional" repertoire to judget his merits; Bruno Ruder, obviously, is more to the forefront, and his contributions (for instance the Rhodes solo on "Hhaï") have a more distinctly "jazz" flavour. Like the previous concert in February at Paris' Cité de la Musique, the second set consisted of jazzier material. It's interesting as it does feature the whole band, but ultimately I find it sounds more like Offering than Magma, and is less original and fulfilling at Vander's classic epics. It was probably easier to "learn" for Ruder in the few short weeks he had at his disposal, so it's probably just as well, practically speaking.
1. Emehnteht-Rê (incl. Rindôh, Hhaï & Zombies) (C.Vander) (55:31)
2. Lonnie's Lament (J.Coltrane, arr. B.Alziary) (14:45)
3. For Tomorrow (McCoy Tyner) (12:38)
4. Day After Day (C.Vander) (14:56)
encore
5. "La Ballade" (C.Vander) (10:49)
Christian Vander - drums, lead vocals on "Hhaï" & "La Ballade"
Stella Vander, Isabelle Feuillebois & Hervé Aknin - vocals
James MacGaw - guitar
Bruno Ruder - Fender Rhodes & synthesizer
Philippe Bussonnet - bass
Benoît Alziary - vibraphone & Fender Rhodes
