FMPM 2009 Day 2: 500 Friends

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Day 2
Gesù – Centre de Créativité
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Section Centre, Row F, Seat 15

Roy and I started out with a social morning. We met Linda and her friends for brunch before the day's music began. It was nice, and I was in a better frame of mind to enjoy the bands this day. The final day of FMPM had a relaxed schedule, with just three bands. We were most looking forward to Three Friends, the partial-Gentle Giant reunion band. Roy and I had already seen the other bands Miriodor and Magenta. This wouldn't be our last day in Montreal; we weren't leaving until Tuesday. It gave us another day to tour the city.

Miriodor was alright. I don't think I'll ever enjoy them as much as I did at Nearfest in 2002. They were just more exciting live with a previous lineup. I don't dislike their current music, and it's not as disappointing as it was the last time I saw them, when I expected to like it more. It was just okay. I could have easily skipped out on it.

Roy and I got a quick lunch before the next band, Magenta. I have mixed feelings about them as well. I like their general sound and their vocal melodies. I just don't think their compositions are strong. We bought their first album, and I remember liking it, but the music didn't stick with me. I had heard of their great reputation as a live band, but their Nearfest performance left both Roy and me underwhelmed. I've been trying to figure out what I don't like after seeing them again. I thought they did a great, amazing even, presentation of their music. The band looked excited and they had a great bond with the audience. The crowd was on their feet for parts of it and I gave them several standing ovations.

It's just...the music seems like one tacked on bit after another. The songs start to sound like each other, as if they have no personalities of their own. Magenta have a number of longer songs, and I think this highlights the weakness. Bands, if you are going to do an extended piece of music, you need more than a melody and solos. Listen to Heart of the Sunrise as an example. You need structure, tension and release. One exciting guitar part followed by a keyboard part does sound great live, but there needs to be more to make your songs come alive. The parts of your songs shouldn't be interchangeable, and that's how Magenta's music comes across to me.

That said, Magenta was the most exciting band to watch on stage at FMPM. The band members could certainly play their music with passion. They generated a lot of excitement just from their own energy, without the need for special effects or something outside themselves. Despite my issues with their music, I'd rather see a band that can keep my interest than one who has loads of compositional skill but a weak stage presence. It was refreshing to see a band that plays often, is a tight unit, and knows how to perform for an audience. I'm wondering if that makes me shallow? Or maybe it's just telling of how many amateur bands I've seen live at the festivals over the years.

We only had an hour and a half dinner break. These things are always rushed. We met up with the gang and went back to the quick Italian place from the night before. Our acquaintance Jason joined us this time. On Saturday night, he said he got sucked into "the vortex", doing so much hanging out that he missed the headliner. Our group might not be as exciting, but we were serious about getting back to the venue on time. Roy discovered that Jason was also a tennis fan, so they discussed the US Open. The TV in the restaurant was broadcasting a game, so they were able to see the scores.

Everyone was excited about the night's performance, but we had different levels of fandom. Juan was an avowed fan, like I am with Yes. Roy never got to see them live, but had been a fan since the 1980s. Several of the Montreal-based folks in our group were more familiar with current bands on the prog festival circuit than the lesser-known bands from the 70s like Gentle Giant. I had heard some of their albums long ago, but they're hardly a band I've been waiting desperately to see live for fifteen years. (That would be Renaissance, who I got to see in October.) I'm aware of their reputation and place in progressive rock history. Roy didn't want to miss this, and I was excited to attend. Ever since the announcement, I'd been studying up on my Gentle Giant, bringing their music to work so I could get familiar with it.

It amazed me that this small festival landed this band. Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green started coming to prog festivals. He became one of us. I remember hearing him say at ProgDay that he wasn't playing live anymore and was out of practice. I don't know if all the fans he met rekindled his interest, but within a few years, he formed a band with former Gentle Giant drummer Malcolm Mortimore to play Gentle Giant songs. Kery Minnear joined them and they changed the name of the band to Three Friends. It was a highly anticipated reunion and they could have done a higher profile show. But there's a connection between this band and the fests, and their first North American show was replacing another band at FMPM in Montreal.

Sadly now it seems like this is the only date this lineup will perform in North America. There are more dates scheduled for this continent in 2010, but Kerry Minnear left the band. I don't know why. They are still calling the band Three Friends, but the people at Nearfest will only get two friends and former Gentle Giant bandmembers next year. Those of us in Montreal were luckier than we knew.

It was an exciting, emotional performance. I don't know the songs well enough to say they were note-perfect, but the music is intricate enough that the songs would fall apart if not played precisely. They didn't. A couple things surprised me: I thought the vocalist here Mick Wilson had a better voice than Derek Shulman. I think I liked this performance better than if it were a full Gentle Giant reunion! And the rhythm just skipped along in these songs. It gave the music a light-hearted happy feel, just like the performance itself had, rather than something more serious. My favorite songs were The Advent of Panurge and Think of Me With Kindness, with Kerry Minnear on vocals. It's sad now to think that that won't happen again.

The show was sublime. I'm thinking about my criticism of Magenta - here, every song was distinct, fully realized. This was the real thing. This performance was one of the best I've ever heard and seen at a prog festival.

The band came out pretty quickly to sign autographs. Of the seven members on stage, I got six of them, including the three Gentle Giant guys. I told Gary Green I had previously spoken to him at ProgDay. He described it as brutal sound with brutal heat. Personally, I think the sound at ProgDay is among the best of the festivals, with bands getting a good mix. I didn't respond to that part, but said I had been to ProgDay the previous week and the weather wasn't too bad. Gary asked me as a ProgDay regular if I knew one of the other regulars. Roy was watching from a little ways back and couldn't hear the conversation, but said it looked like we were having a real conversation. So many of these things are "hi, thanks, liked the show".


I was tired. We walked back to the hotel, but we didn't do any of the post-festival parties. We had an entire day on Monday to explore the city. We spent most of the day in Vieux-Montréal, the old part of the city. I don't care if most of the restaurants there are tourist traps, the food was delicious. The US Open Men's Final was going on. Roy had carefully set our Tivo to record all the games. He figured he'd catch up with them when we got home. But a rain delay pushed all the matches back a day and messed up his plans. We found a cafe that was showing the game, so we went in to watch it for a while. To be honest, I was ready for a break, so I suggested we just go back to the hotel to watch the rest of it. Roy declared me the greatest wife ever for indulging him.

FMPM 2009 Day 1

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Day 1
Gesù – Centre de Créativité
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Section Centre, Row F, Seat 15
$106.67 CAN

This wasn't a great day. I woke up with a huge headache, and kept pushing myself to see all the bands. We kept thinking maybe some food and drink would make me feel better, substituting that for sleep. I'd end up in the dark theater, zoning out during every band's performance.

That morning, we went out for breakfast. We had a slow morning. The bands weren't starting until 1pm, so I had time to go back to the hotel and take a nap before heading up to the venue. I should have slept longer, but we scheduled a wake up call so that we'd get there before the music started. Roy and I tend to influence each other's opinions. He is always aware that any band could be the surprise hit of the festival, and he doesn't want to miss that performance. All of the unknown bands become must-sees. I see his point, and I have seen it happen in reality, so I cut short my nap and recovery. (Let me add here that don't drink alcohol, so this was a different type of headache than most FMPM attendees had that morning!)

I don't like to rush at these festivals. I don't want to make it there just in time. I like to buy my water, look at the vendors, see my friends, not just rush in to the dark theater just as the band is starting. That's what I was expecting this time, but the festival was running a half-hour late. I had time to do all those things and hear the opening welcome and annoucements.

We purchased gold seats for the festival itself, we were in the sixth row on the aisle. This was a really nice venue. The seating was tiered, but also staggered. I wasn't looking directly behind the person the row in front of me. It was a place that can truly say, "every seat is a good seat". The sound was good too. This was a smaller venue than the place where it was held in 2007. I really noticed it in the lobby - too full of people and no good places to sit. Thankfully, the weather held up, and we could go outside during the breaks.

I did like the first band ExCubus. They were a band that formed back in 1970, a real first-generation prog band. They did many live shows back then, but never finished recording an album. Decades later, they reunited. It was a nice addition to the festival, but I would have felt better for the whole day if I had just slept through this set. I struggled to stay awake and pay attention.

I thought we had an hour break before the next band. Rouge Ciel. There was no announcement of when they'd be starting. The festival was a half-hour behind schedule and there was supposed to be an hour-long break between bands. Roy thought I'd feel better with something to eat, so we went back to the food court I had lunch at on Friday and I had the same delicious panini.

It turned out that there was only a half-hour break. Rouge Ciel must have set up very quickly and started on their scheduled time. We got back in time to see the last 20 minutes of their set. It's just as well. They didn't do anything for me. One piece had melody, the others were just a bunch of musicians playing different things.

The weather was nice and I love walking around cities. Roy suggested we go on a walk during the next break. I knew vaguely where the old Montreal area was, so we walked down there and got to the banks of the Saint Lawrence River at the southern tip of the Old Montreal before we had to turn around and walk back. This is another thing that I should have enjoyed, but I was fighting not feeling well and doing more exertion wasn't great. We saw Linda and Juan, and made plans to meet them for dinner at the next break.

There was a piano in the lobby. When we walked back in, it was being put to good use. There was a group singalong to Gentle Giant's Think of Me with Kindness with piano accompaniment. Juan said one of the musicians from the festival was playing. Later on, he played some Genesis before the break ended.

I had seen the next band DFA at Nearfest back in 2000. They went over well, but did nothing for me then. I like their music well enough, but I can't handle sitting in a dark room doing nothing but listening to it. Sean McFee, one of the FMPM festival organizers introduced them as an amazing jazz-rock band. I saw the first part of their set. I got frustrated that this band wasn't at a setting like ProgDay, where I could pull out a book and turn any music into part of the atmosphere, rather than the sole thing to pay attention to. I watched a couple songs, then left the auditorium.

This break was what I needed. I talked to a few people out in the lobby. Buster, who goes to a lot of fests, wasn't afraid to skip some bands. He actually wasn't seeing any of the bands this day, just hanging out with people. I found another woman sitting on the steps of the venue reading. I joined her and indulged my need for downtime by reading for the next hour. I went back into the lobby shortly before the show was over to meet up with everyone. I opened the door to the auditorium, and DFA was getting a huge response from the audience. I'm glad people enjoyed them.

We had a big bilingual group dinner at a cheap Italian place in the nearby mall. This is a city with such great restaurants, it seems a shame to eat someplace so ordinary, but they were able to get us in and out quickly. That was of the essence, because the next band was the legendary Le Orme. We couldn't miss them.

Roy and I saw Le Orme in 2001 at Baja Prog, and Roy saw them at ProgFest in the 1990s. Loved them then. I really liked their first couple songs and Felona and Serona. Aldo Tagliapietra still has a beautiful voice. Drummer Michi Dei Rossi looked a lot older, but still looked so happy while playing. This was the first band with real songs and vocals all day, and I needed that in this setting. However, the whole day caught up with me. I was tired and still kept zoning out. This is one of the key bands of the Italian progressive scene, but the show didn't have as much of an impact on me as last time. The band had a different lineup this time: instead of two keyboards, they had one keyboard player and a bass player. The show was less dramatic: I remember highlights of Aldo playing a sitar last time. It's good that they don't play the same set year after year, but this one dragged in places (or maybe it was me). I talked to some friends about it later: Linda just loved it, and Juan thought he had seen them too many times. Roy thought the long midtemp ballad-y piece in the encore brought the show to a slow point.

I felt like I should have paced myself better this day. It all culminated with not being in the right place to enjoy a band like Le Orme. At the time, I wondered if it was me or the festival, and what a shame it was to travel all this way and spend all this money if I wasn't going to enjoy it. In hindsight, it was just me. I felt better the next day and ready to enjoy the music!