Storybook Farm
Chatham County (Chapel Hill), NC
Saturday, September 1, 2007
General Admission
Patron Pass: $140
I got excited about the lineup to this year's ProgDay. I didn't know a note of any of the bands' music and there weren't any traditional well-known headliners. But I like to work the front gate and greet all the people coming in. I listened to all the MP3 samples on the ProgDay website, and I couldn't find a single band that I wanted to skip. They all sounded like I could enjoy them. That's a great way to feel heading into my 11th ProgDay.
A number of our usual friends were unable to make it this year. But my friend Jerry, who had only come to ProgDay once before, was coming this year. He and I had been part of a group of four Yes fan friends who hung out together monthly when we all lived in Pennsylvania. We called these parties Yestogethers, and we all bonded. Unfortunately, Jerry and I both moved out of state four years into the gatherings, but we all try to see each other when we can. The last time all four of us were together was for my wedding.
The festival did have a personal downside. I had some type of allergic reaction, which really bothered me the second day. I think it was due to a new gel type of sunscreen I used. My right eye stung and was tearing continuously. I was desperate to wash my hands and then rinse it out. The pavilion had a sink, but the new caterers this year didn't have any soap with them. (Ewww!) The hand sanitizer in the porto-potties wasn't going to really clean my hands and trying to use wet handkerchief only irritated it more. Plus it made my eyes more sensitive to the sunlight - I kept to the shade almost the whole day and we ended up leaving early. I should have left during one of the breaks to use a real restroom instead of trying to tough it out. I will remember to bring my own handsoap next year.
We arrived on Friday, and since we were celebrating our 5th anniversary, drove back to the bakery that did our wedding cake. We had ordered a new top layer. I had visions of splitting it with a bunch of people, but Roy and I ate most of it over the weekend. We met up with Jerry at the hotel, and then drove down to Franklin Street, where we did some music and comic book shopping. Jerry was thinking about going to the preshow and we were thinking of going to a movie. Roy and I had dinner together at Spanky's, where we had our wedding reception. The timing didn't work for a movie at the theater there, so we went back to the hotel and watched one on the pay-per-view.
On Saturday morning, we met Jerry for breakfast at Bob Evans and then drove to Storybook Farm. I said hi to a bunch of people. We didn't know for sure that Jeff was coming, so it was good to see him. I was most looking forward to the first band - Oblivion Sun. It was made up of two members of Happy the Man, who I really like. In fact, I was surprised they were opening, given this caliber of musicianship. The guitarist Stan Whitaker has headlined ProgDay three times, twice with HtM and once as a guest with Ten Jinn. I found out from ProgDay organizer Steve Sly that Oblivion Sun requested to open because they didn't have much material to play live yet.
Oblivion Sun really reminded me of Happy the Man. If it weren't for Stan Whitaker and Frank Wyatt being in both bands, I would call this band a rip-off of them. Oblivion Sun had some heavier parts, which gave the sound some nice dynamic changes and more vocals. I guess the additional vocals would have been alright with a different singer, but I don't think Stan has that strong of a voice. They were pretty sounding and a good start to the day.
I chatted with Jeff for a while. We just stayed in our seats, and unlike other festivals, we were able to stay in our seats during the change in sets. It's so relaxed. Roy and I had lunch during this break. They used a new caterer this year and last. I miss Bon's, the barbeque place. The food was great and it just fit in as part of the festival. The new people only had cold sandwiches the first day. While we were in line, we bumped into Gerhard. Now, most people remember that this is our anniversary, but Gerhard even knew it was our 5th.
The next band Naikaku was my favorite of the weekend. Very high energy. They're one of those bands I can't imagine listening to at home, although I liked their music. They were just fun live, which you don't get out of CD player. The band was a guitar, bass, and drum lineup, playing heavy fusion-ish music, along with a pastoral pretty flute. Excellent balance between the light and heavy music, with rhythms I could bop my head to.
And they looked like they were having a blast, both on stage and off. Their stage show could have been goofy, but they carried it off. Juggling, tossing Japanese energy drinks into the audience, jumping off stage and running to the merchandise table, only to return holding copies of their CDs. The flute player, during a tune she didn't play on, sat down and created an arts and crafts project. We called it the art solo. She folded and cut out a piece of white paper, forming a snowflake, and then glued it on to a blue background. Gave it to a member of the audience. All of this charm combined with great musicianship and great material made this the best performance of the weekend. Their set went by very quickly. After the show, some of the band were playing soccer with some of the festival kids.
Bob Eichler's review of ProgDay described it this way. I have to quote him, because I can't say it any better.
Naikaku were a really fun bunch of people, and after their set was over they spent the entire rest of the weekend in the grass behind the audience playing soccer and frisbee with all the kids that had come along with their parents. Can't beat that - a kick ass band that just about everybody liked, who then provide free babysitting service. They need to come back every year.Frogg Cafe were the third band. I have a Frogg Cafe hat which I wear at every ProgDay. It's not that I'm a fan, I just wanted a hat one year to block the sun, and they were selling one. It's my favorite hat - it's canvas and less structured than a usual baseball cap. I couldn't care less that it says "Frogg Cafe" on it. Kind of odd to be wearing it at their performance, given that I don't know their music. To put it bluntly, they bored me. They were a jam band that didn't make me want to dance to their music. Low energy and noodly. I pulled out my book for this one (Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy). Later on in their set, they covered Red, which was nice.
The next band was from Sweden and called QOPH (kwop). I had heard of them before, but knew nothing about their music. It was 60s-ish hard rock with some psych leanings. Not bad, but didn't do much for me. The singer wanted to be Jim Morrison so bad.
We planned to go to dinner that night with Jeff and Jerry. Jeff turned to me partway through the set and say he had enough. If he left now, he could freshen up and get to dinner earlier. Sounded good to us. Roy and I left too, and we arranged to meet up at the Japanese steak place by the hotel. It was the first time I left ProgDay early, but I had had enough of the performance and was ready to hang out with my friends. Sometimes it feels like the festival is just the excuse for us all to travel to the same place; the conversations are the real thing.
There was a UNC football game taking place this weekend. Usually that's a bad thing, as the restaurants get crowded. But this year, the game was in the evening, so there was little wait at Kanki's. We sat at the big communal table with a group from Scotland and talked to them for a little bit afterwards. After dinner, Jerry, Roy, and I played Trivial Pursuit in the common room at the hotel. We got to chat with people heading out to the pool party, but those parties can be too drunk and smoky for me to enjoy.
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