ProgDay 2007 Day 2

ProgDay Day 2
Storybook Farm
Chatham County (Chapel Hill), NC
Sunday, September 2, 2007
General Admission

I sometimes feel guilty about not doing more to help out ProgDay. I was on the band selection and budget committees for a number of years. I was also a festival underwriter - I risked money but I never lost any in those years. But I wasn't keeping up with the new prog bands and I had other commitments for my time. I still buy a patron pass each year and volunteer for front gate duty.

I didn't want to wake up quite so early to do the first shift of the front gate, but the other available time slots were during bands I didn't want to miss. I ended up inventing my own timeslot, overlapping with some open ones. Roy, Jerry, and I went out to breakfast at Foster's Market and then headed off to the Farm.

While the first day had run on time, there was some stress on Sunday morning. The first band Skeletonbreath had not showed up yet. We didn't have contact info for them either. One festival-goer said he saw them in the hotel lobby when he was leaving. They finally arrived 20 minutes before they were due to go onstage, saying they got lost on the way. Yeah, this happened because they left late and then got lost. Anyway, it didn't take them long to set up and they started on time.

I was working the front gate during their set, but I could hear it. It was a three piece band of violin, bass, and drums. It was instrumental, and more fusiony than symphonic or metally. Some of the melodies reminded me of Jewish music, stuff that gets called klezmer. It sounded good from where I was, and Roy said I would have liked their stage show as well. Skeletonbreath played one of the shortest sets - they had a new band member and only had so many songs prepared.

I do like working the front gate. You get to see all the people coming into the festival and talk briefly to them. I was there with Deb Sears and Laurel Sly, and we got some time to catch up as well. After my shift was over, I walked down to the stage area and found Roy.

I was looking forward to the next band Advent. They were the most traditional symphonic band playing. All I knew from them was the soundclips and description on ProgDay's website. They just didn't do much for me live. I think I might have liked them better if I knew their material, just so I would know what to listen and watch for. Jerry mentioned that they might have been served better in a theater, without so many distractions. It was pretty easy for me to walk over to the shaded pavilion and open my book and give up on them. I didn't dislike them, but I liked them best as background music to my book.

We stayed in the pavilion during the break. There were long tables, which we shared with some other people. Some guy smoking like a chimney sat down by our table. It's hot and humid, without much breeze, hard enough to breathe already. Yuck! I got up and walked over to the vendor table to get away from it. I chatted with Peter for a while. Peter started this festival 13 years ago and used to live at Storybook Farm. He was selling some used CDs, and I was offering my opinions on all the Yes and Yes solo CDs to anyone who looked interested.

Like I mentioned in my previous entry, my eye was bothering me a lot towards the end of the festival. It started during Nemo, the third band. I started out in the pavilion, in the shade. They sounded interesting, so I moved to my chair by the stage, out in the sun. My eyes are usually sensitive to the sun, so I was already wearing sunglasses and a hat. But it was worse than usual. I didn't last a whole song before moving out to the shaded area by the edge of the field. My friend Richard was there too. I chatted with him briefly and lay down on the grass to read.

Some more people came over to escape the sun. Gerhard asked me what I was reading. I held up Asimov's Foundation and Empire. Oh, it's some light reading, he joked. We chatted a bit about science fiction.

The thing is, I liked Nemo when I was focusing on them. But my eye was bothering me more. After Nemo's set, Roy and I went for a walk around the field. We walked back to the pavilion. Instead of going to the nearby Burger King and washing up, I held my wet handkerchief to my eye. I talked to Michael Bennett, one of the Progday organizers for a bit, and then Roy, Jerry, and I played Trivial Pursuit again. I won this time.

The headliner Three was starting. They were a seasoned touring band, having opened for Porcupine Tree. Even though they weren't my favorite style, they should put on a good show. I'd call them hard rock with some proggy leanings. I wanted to watch them. I moved from the pavilion to the side of the stage. Even in the shade, it was too bright for me. I went to my seat briefly, but then moved off by the edge of the field again. I really wasn't comfortable and I wasn't paying attention to the band at all. Roy came over and suggested we just leave then. He made plans for dinner for Jeff and Jerry, and then we headed back to the hotel. I felt bad about leaving ProgDay early. You never know if it's going to be the last one, and I wanted to say goodbye to everyone and leave on better terms than this. Roy packed everything up and I met him at the car.

We were going to my favorite local restaurant for dinner. It was Pepper's pizza. I know it's just a pizza place, but it's so hard to find New York or East Coast style pizza in St. Louis, it's the food I miss the most. I was surprised Jeff agreed to it, since he usually doesn't like going to downtown Chapel Hill. He and Jerry met us in our hotel room after the show.

I wasn't surprised when Jeff made other dinner plans. Everyone from the fest was going to some chain Mexican place for dinner. These large dinners get loud, have slow service, and I'm not a big fan of Mexican chain food. I can still remember the group dinner from the previous year, and I'd rather go to a place of my own choosing. Jeff teased us about wanting pizza and didn't give a shit about him. I replied back that we didn't give a shit about him. ;-)

So just Jerry, Roy, and I went to Pepper's. I actually had a bit of a scare on Friday. We drove past Pepper's and it looked closed. Oh no! As we drove further, we could see that it just moved down the street. Jerry, there is no vast conspiracy against me to deprive me of my pizza. We had a great meal and conversation, talking about why we love Yes. I'm sure Jeff would have made fun of us, we were so sincere. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and made an appearance at the pool party, just long enough to say bye to the people there.

There are always worries about attendance and budget with this festival. This year was particularly bad, with low ticket sales. I don't know if it was fear of bad weather or that the lineup was announced so late that hurt the band more. This is year 13, and it is the longest running progressive rock festival. It keeps on limping along. I do hope it continues, but I have to admit we've already starting making plans of what to do on Labor Day weekend if there is no more ProgDay in the future.