Keswick Theater
Glenside (Philadelphia), PA
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
Section Left, Row HH, Seat 27
$110
On Saturday, it was obvious what band I was looking forward to most. Current and former members of my favorite band Yes would be headlining that night as the band Circa. I envisioned seeing them around the festival all day and being able to hang out with them. It didn't quite work out that way. They had a show on Friday night near Washington, DC, and didn't arrive until the late afternoon. And then, I was not at the festival on Sunday, when they did hang out with fans. There were some missed opportunities, but I made the right decisions.
Roy and I got to the fest a half hour before the start time. We saw Linda outside, and I went in to buy a program. The first band of the day was called Blind Ego. I had never heard of them, but they were made up of veterans from the prog scene - two people from RPWL, the former singer from Arena, and John Jowitt. John Jowitt is best known as the bass player from IQ, but he plays with a number of current bands. He's a good player and he's a lot of fun to be around, so he is in demand. He's fun to watch on stage too. He's been at most RoSFests playing with one band or another, but I didn't know he'd be here, so this was a nice surprise for us. I didn't love Blind Ego's music, but they put on a good performance and held my interest.
I did want to say hi to Jowitt, so I planned to get in the autograph line after the show. I bumped into Tina and her two prog-loving daughters and we got into line together. The autograph line was weird - it was at the upstairs of the Keswick, along with some vendors. But there wasn't enough room to stand up there, so the line snaked down the steps. This, apparently, was a fire hazard, so the staff kept trying to organize us differently. We were near the front of the line, and finally, the band came out to sign autographs. The good news is, Tina might come to ProgDay this year! I described the festival atmosphere, and that there were no autograph lines, the bands just hung out all day. I hope she comes.
Jowitt held up the line by chatting with everyone. When it was my turn, I reminded him of one day we had met before: Peter Banks was supposed to headline a festival in Connecticut, and Jowitt would be playing bass for him. The festival was canceled, due to poor organization and low ticket sales, but the band still flew out. The organizer invited a few of us up to the hotel, and I got to go out to dinner with Peter Banks. It was a very memorable day. JJ and I bonded on our mutual Yes-fanboyism. I had already seen Yes on the tour for The Ladder and I gave him details on that. Anyway, he certainly remembered the day, he said "You were one of the eight?", referring to the small number of fans hanging out with them or maybe even the small number of people who bought tickets in advance. I said I went with Linda, and he brightened up. "Linda's here?" Linda has always been a big fan of his and got to know him over the years. I had the rest of the band sign my program.
So now I had to run off to find Linda and tell her JJ asked about her. She was outside, so I bumped into her on the way to lunch. We didn't have much time - the break was only an hour and fifteen minutes, and I spent time at the autograph line. The Greek place across the street said they could feed us in time, so we had a good lunch there. Unfortunately, it took us a little too long to get out, and we missed the first song of the next band Ritual.
Roy said I would like Ritual and that their style was the traditional symphonic sound. He was right. They were my favorite band of the festival (if we're judging by the complete sets). Ritual is the name of one of my favorite Yes songs, but I don't know if they named themselves after it or not. Our seats were over by the far left aisle, and the people behind us were talking. The theater had a lot of empty seats; we were about 10 rows from the stage, and even our row was mostly empty. We moved over towards the center for a better view and to get away from the talking. I wondered how well the festival was doing with a turnout like this, and I also wondered if most people had just bought tickets for Circa and would show up later on.
I already was liking Ritual a lot, but they really won me over with their acoustic portion. They played keyboards, acoustic guitar, some and traditional Swedish instruments. It was really pretty and such a nice change of pace from the full sound that the rest of the bands had that day. The only song I didn't like all that much was towards the end, a long piece that started acoustically and went back into the full electric instruments and drums.
This next break was my favorite time of the festival. It sounds funny, but these things are as much about the people as they are about the music. When we left the auditorium, I saw that Tom Brislin had set up a table where he was selling CDs. Tom was the keyboard player for Yes on their YesSymphonic tour and is the singer/keyboard player of his own band Spiraling. We've seen them a number of times and have gotten to know Tom and his band. I wanted to say hi, but didn't want to feel like I was monopolizing his time, so after he saw us, we headed outside.
I saw Mark! Mark was a friend of mine when I lived in Philly. We went to a lot of concerts together, and I got to know his family fairly well. We kept in touch a little bit after I moved, but I had not seen him at the last couple Yes-related concerts in the Philly area. I know his health isn't the greatest, and I had been worried about him. He was heading off to eat, but it was good to see that he was around.
It was nice outside, but a little chilly. Roy went down to 7-Eleven to buy something, and Linda and I talked for a while. Another acquaintance from the festivals, Mike Potter was there. Mike owns the Orion Sound Studios in Baltimore and has hosted a series of prog shows there. I was surprised to see him at RoSFest. His tastes seem to go to the more avant garde style of the genre. He bucked the marriage trend - he got back together with his ex-wife and they remarried. Too many married couples I know have recently split up. We had to make dinner plans too - Linda and her friends from Montreal had reservations back at the Greek place. She didn't think I liked Greek, so they didn't ask us. I guess I have a reputation as a picky eater. I saw Tina's older daughter Erin outside. I've seen her grow up at various Nearfests and other shows over the years. She's still in college but came down just for the festival. They were planning dinner at the Keswick Tavern.
I went inside and chatted with Tom Brislin some more. When I mentioned I wouldn't be at the festival the next day, he asked if I would be visiting my family. I gave an emphatic no. So few people ask me that anymore when I'm in the Philly area, they know my history, it's kind of surprising to hear someone ask it. I explained that there was yet another band I am obessessed with, Traffic, and I had to go see Steve Winwood in NYC the next day. We talked about some other bands and music festivals. Tom got excited when I said I had been to ProgFest in California. He asked about the Kevin Gilbert performance. The only ProgFest I went to was years after that, in 2000, but when Roy walked over I asked him to tell Tom what it was like.
I also thought I might be able to help Tom out. Spiraling has just released a new CD, and he sent it to the radio station I used to work for. I thought I could use my connections to get him an in. It's sad to realize I had a tiny bit of influence in Philly radio when I was 19 or so that I don't have anymore. I think my former boss Robert would like Spiraling, but I haven't really kept in touch with him much since I moved. I e-mailed him asking for advice, hoping he'd be interested in checking out the band. He wrote back, but just with a name at the radio station to send the CD to.
The other thing interesting going on was that we could clearly hear the next band's soundcheck. The seated auditorium was closed off during the soundcheck, but the lobby right behind it was open. I realized that we'd be able to hear Circa's soundcheck as well before their set. I had been wanting to go out to dinner with friends. Now, all I wanted was to eat quickly and get back inside to hear them.
The next band was RPWL. They had played at the first RoSFest, and Tina and her girls were excited to see them again. They started out as a Pink Floyd cover band and then started to do their own material. The highlight of their set was a song about prog. The singer explained that the last time they player RoSFest, they asked a number of fans what the definition of "prog" is. No one could give them a definitive answer. This was the introduction to the song "This is Not a Prog Song". It included snippets of songs like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" from the Scorpions and "Rockin' Me" from the Steve Miller Band with the word prog substituting for rock. So the lyrics were "Keep on progging me baby" and "Prog you like a hurricane". It was lighthearted and fun. RPWL had the most stage design of any band at the festival. They showed films on the stage screen to go along with their music. They were alright, but I got tired of them by the end of their set.
I was on the lookout for Circa members. After RPWL's set, I still didn't see any of them. I told Roy we had to get a quick dinner and get back to the theater to look for them and overhear the soundcheck. Instead of dining with our friends, we stopped at the small pizza place across the street. They didn't have any inside seating, but there were a few outdoor tables. The wind had picked up and it was hardly outdoor-eating weather, but we did it. The pizza was quite yummy and we did not take long. Next was the band I was waiting for ... Circa!
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