FMPM Day 1 - The Return of Kevin

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Day 1
Centre Pierre-Peladeau
Salle Pierre-Mercure
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Level Balcon, Section Gauche, Row A, Seat 1
$95 CAN

I woke up on Saturday and had a fright. My watch had stopped. I'm a chronic clock watcher. I need to know what time it is. The hotel room didn't have a clock and Roy didn't bring a watch. Thankfully, the festival didn't open until noon, so I knew we weren't running late. I was about to run down to the lobby and get the time from the clerk when Roy woke up. We had a nice breakfast at the Italian restaurant next to the hotel, and then found a dollar store where we both bought watches.

This was the second year of the FMPM - Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal. They had an impressive lineup, with three well known and regarded international bands and a number of support bands from Quebec. I had already seen five of the eight bands playing here. I think my favorite thing at a festival is an unknown band that is just fully realized and their performance blows everyone away. This festival would have more bands that were known quantities, but I was really impressed by many of them at previous festivals. At my third festival of the summer, I at least knew I'd enjoy a majority of the bands.

We had really great seats. I'm rather short, at 5 feet 2 inches, and I'm very short-waisted - my legs are normal length but my torso is disproportionately short. It doesn't stand out as so, but I notice it when sitting in a theater (or buying clothes); almost everyone can block my view, even if the floor is slanted. I've been to concerts where I couldn't see the stage and couldn't see the viewscreens either. It's hard to block out the action of everyone around you - the talking, smoke, lack of air movement, feelings of being surrounded. I feel most comfortable sitting in the front row of a section, on the aisle, or in stadium seating. The floor plan of the Salle Pierre Mercure had long rows with no aisle. I've been to concerts from my favorite band where I couldn't see the show, but at least I knew the music. I'd hate to go to a two day long festival blocked off from the stage like this.

Thankfully, there was a balcony. We didn't have the option of reserving seats - gold ticket holders got first dibs, but there was no certainty that we'd secure seats in the front. I explained my claustrophobia, and they said it would be no problem giving us balcony seats. I guess we were the first to request them, because we got front row dead center seats. When we checked in, they explained there was an issue. The sound guy wasn't sure how the sound would be up there. We could move down if we wanted to. Only a dozen tickets were sold up there, for people who specifically requested it. I am so happy they kept it open for us. The seats ended up being wonderful. We had lots of space to ourselves and the sound mix was very clear. The balcony was fairly close to the stage too. We were probably sitting over the 10th or 12th row. I kept joking we were in the royal box.

The first band was called Jelly Fiche. I didn't know anything about them, but their singer was really good. They were able to keep my interest and I enjoyed them.

The schedule for the festival was kind of weird. There were long breaks in between the bands, as if they were scheduling for the worse case scenarios rather than potentially slipping behind. But we now had an hour and a half before the next band, Miriodor. Curiously, the break after Miriodor was labeled the dinner break, but it was only an hour fifteen minutes. These long breaks made for a long festival - from 1:30 - 11:45pm. It seemed logical to take a lunch break now and then dinner between the third and fourth bands. We ate at a little bistro along Saint Denis. It was my favorite meal of the trip. I had an apple, grape, and melted brie sandwich on a roll and it was so refreshing. The rain had stopped and we had enough time to take a little stroll afterwards.

I was looking forward to Miriodor. A few years ago, I saw them at Nearfest and they were my favorite band of the fest. They get described as avant prog, but I think they are pretty melodic and accessible. There were some moments that were weird for weird's sake, but it was done with a sense of fun and showmanship. What I really remember is their violin player, who seemed to be the lead instrumentalist and live focal point. Roy had seen Miriodor a second time, at a Nearfest pre-show and liked them just as much as the first time. Unfortunately, the violin player wasn't with them this time. The music and performance felt like they were missing something. I don't know if it was Roy's and my high expectations, but this performance seemed out of focus, like the top layer of sound was taken off and we were just seeing the background.

The next break was the high point of the weekend for me. We come because of the music, but I have more good memories of times with my friends. Roy and I bought some drinks and sat down in the lobby. Who comes up to our table, but Kevin!! Kevin had been part of our group of prog-festival buddies, but he dropped out years ago. He came to our wedding, and we saw him once since then. He still lurks on our e-mail list and knew we were coming, but he kept it a surprise. We caught up, chatting about friends in common and what we've been up to. He came to the festival last year expecting to surprise some of us, but no one else from our group went to that one. I remembered how he hates distracting noises at concerts, so I told him to come up to our balcony. Plenty of room to spread out and good sound as well.

Did I mention the best part about the balcony? I was the only woman up there. I had my own private public bathroom all to myself. It was wonderful!

We had seen the third band Samla Mammas Manna at ProgDay a few years ago. Many bands get labeled RIO (Rock in Opposition) but Samla are the real thing - they played at the original Rock in Opposition festival that the scene is named for. It's not really its own genre, since the bands don't sound alike. Just a bunch of bands less into the mainstream than even typical prog bands. Samla put a lot of humor in their music. Sometimes it's distracting or even a little tedious, but it breaks up the onslaught. When Samla are actually playing, they are fusiony. Don't think for a minute that they use this humor as a crutch - they are great musicians too. I was particularly impressed with keyboardist Lars Hollmer.

We had actually planned to leave early and miss the end of Samla's set. They were scheduled to play for two hours. We'd only get an hour and fifteen minutes for dinner, and I'd rather not be rushed. Missing any of the last band, the Strawbs, was not an option. Anyway, an hour and a half of Samla is quite enough. We waited until the song ended, and then got up for dinner. But... that was the end of the set! Samla only played an hour and forty minutes, giving us a longer dinner break. Thanks Samla.

Kevin walked back to the hotel with us, but he didn't join us for dinner. We ate at the Italian restaurant where we had had breakfast. We were seated by the window facing Rue Saint Denis. Roy saw Linda walking up the street, so we waved and knocked on the window and got her attention. She and her friends came in to say hi. Linda was making this trip into a road trip with two close friends. She drove up on Saturday and was only going to the second day of the festival. Her friends weren't prog fans, and planned to go siteseeing without her on Sunday. Then, they'd all spend a few more days in the city before driving back to Jersey. Later on, we saw Kevin walking back to the theater. He saw us and made hand gestures, but I couldn't figure out what he was saying.

The last band of the night was the Strawbs. This band is a true headliner, a band that could probably get this many people to a concert of theirs alone. We gave them a big applause and standing ovation just after being announced. The excitement was that strong. I labeled them "singer-songwriter prog", since there are a million silly subgenres anyway. I think of folk songs with arty/proggy arrangements, where the song is what's important and all the music is in service to it. A lot of bands could improve by following this model. Roy is a bigger Strawbs fan than I am. He even traveled to England to see their anniversary concert. I like a lot of what I've heard, but I don't go out of my way to listen to them. I liked them a lot at Nearfest and I was looking forward to their performance.

They had two things going against them - the time and their sound. They were scheduled to play from 9:45 - 11:45. That's late for me, even if it is east coast time. If it really got my adrenaline pumping, the time wouldn't have mattered. And after a crystal clear mix all day, the Strawbs' sound was a letdown. Roy talked to one of the organizers afterwards; the Strawbs brought their own soundman who used too much volume for the venue and turned the sound to mush. Sure, the guitar sounded great, but it obscured the piano and even Dave Cousins' voice.

It was a pity, because I liked them and I know it could have been better. Our seats were again, great for the sitelines. Unfortunately, I don't know the song titles, but from above I could see keyboardist John Hawken keeping time to one of the songs by moving his hand, so he could play a piano intro just right. Cousins was in good voice (when I could hear him fully) and he gave a nice tribute to the festival. He watched part of Samla's set and was grateful all these progressive bands have a place to play and keep going. Their performance was polished in the way that comes from playing together and knowing each other over thirty years. The show had the energy and atmosphere of a real rock concert; it felt more like the Genesis concert of the night before than the listening and observing you do for unfamiliar bands at these festivals.

Kevin had left early, so we weren't able to make breakfast plans with him. I was exhausted, so we didn't bother with the after-show bar party. Just rested up for Day 2.