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!

FMPM 2009 Pre-Show: A Saga with Mystery

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Pre-Show
Gesù – Centre de Créativité
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Friday, September 11, 2009
Section Centre, Row L, Seat 16
$55.87 CAN


It's taken me so long to publish this entry. A month after the festival, the organizers at FMPM announced that the festival would not be continuing. I'm kind of amazed that I made it to fully half of their festivals, as Montreal is far away and expensive to fly into. I loved visiting Montreal and I loved going to a prog festival in an urban center like this, with the hotel, venue, tons of restaurants, and touristy things all within walking distance. I'll want to go back to Montreal some other time, if only to have another duck breast crepe at Jardin Nelson!

I enjoyed the FMPM festival in Montreal when Roy and I went in 2007. I wasn't expecting to go again this year, but we kept tabs on the bands that would be performing. Roy noticed that Saga was headlining the preshow, and he hadn't seen that band in a long time. I was curious about Mystery, whose singer, Benoit David, sang on Yes' In the Present tour. But we didn't seriously consider going this year.

Then something incredible happened. Some minor band canceled, and the replacement was a huge deal. Three members of Gentle Giant had reunited, calling themselves Three Friends. At the time, it was their only scheduled North American show. Roy and I decided to go the day we found out. We got our tickets before the performance sold out. We were doing it. By the time of the festival, it was announced that they'd be playing Nearfest next year. And since then, one of the Gentle Giant members dropped out of the project. Nearfest will only be getting two friends.

This led to a crazy couple of weeks. We were going to ProgDay over Labor Day weekend. This was the very next weekend. Roy decided to take off the days in between the two trips. Roy is a big tennis fan, so he spent those days off at the US Open. After ProgDay, I flew home, went to work for a few days, and then flew up to Montreal. Roy flew to New York and saw some tennis. Our friend Linda was also coming to FMPM; Roy met up with her and they drove to Montreal together.

I kept seeing all these people going to the festival. Waiting for my flight to Montreal, in a layover in Chicago, I met a couple who were obviously going there. In line at customs, I saw people I knew from the prog world, as the line snaked around, Buster in front of me, Jason behind. One of the FMPM organizers, Robert Dansereau, was outside security waiting to meet some other attendees. Jason and I shared a cab to the hotel. I didn't know when Roy would arrive; he hoped to be there in time for the night's concert. I left him a note and went off to explore the city.

I got lunch, walked up to the venue, scoped out the area, tried to get my bearings in the city. I found the street where we stayed last time. I went back to the hotel before the concert to freshen up. Roy was there, half-asleep. I hadn't seen him since Monday. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, had to stay up late for tennis and wake up early to meet up with Linda, so he slept on the drive up to Canada. He needed to sleep some more, and then he'd come to the show. I left him my directions to the Gesu and headed off to the show.

The doors were supposed to open at 6pm, and the concert was starting at 7pm. I got there a little before 6. There wasn't a grand opening of the doors or anything at 6, but I went into the lobby then anyway. The venue wasn't ready for people yet. The bar wasn't open and the vendors weren't set up. I didn't see anyone I knew, but I had a really good time.

I saw someone whose face I recognized from pictures on the Yesfans site. Daniel posts more than I do on Yesfans, and it was clear he didn't recognize my name. But he was an amazing host. He bought me a drink, introduced me to some other people from Yesfans, introduced me to Michel St-Pere, the guitarist from Mystery, and Richard Lanthier, the bass player from the Close to the Edge Yes-tribute band. Daniel and I realized that his seat was directly in front of mine, and he even offered to switch seats with me if I had trouble seeing.

Roy hadn't arrived by the time Mystery started. They were scheduled for an hour-long set. There would be a break at 8pm, and Saga was to start at 9. Through the early part of Mystery's set, I was worried about Roy. He planned to wake up after 6, and I expected him to be there by this point. He really wanted to see Saga. Should I run back to the hotel and get him during the break?

It kept me distracted from the show, but I enjoyed it regardless. When we realized we were going to FMPM this year, Roy and I bought the latest Mystery album, Beneath the Veil of Winter's Face. I recognized about half the songs they played. They did a couple older ones and one newer song that has not been released yet. Benoit alternated his stage announcements, sometimes doing them in French, sometimes in English.

I was wondering if Mystery would do a cover song. I had seen Benoit five times over the last year singing with Yes, and a Yes song would go over well with the crowd. He announced that they would be doing a cover song from a legendary progressive rock band. I wildly applauded and half-expected them to go into Tempus Fugit. It surprised me when they started playing Rush' Tom Sawyer. I love this song too. I was bopping around in my seat, singing along.

Then, things got spectacularly bad.

Oh, nothing the band did. I saw Roy arrive partway through Tom Sawyer. Our seats were on the aisle near the back. The venue was a nice little amphitheater, with tiered seating, and small steps separating each row. I got up to let Roy in, moved to the aisle and tried to go down a step to clear the way for him. I either tripped or lost my balance, and fell over. Roy tried to catch me, couldn't brace himself, and fell over as well. People were looking and the usher came over to make sure we were okay. Neither of us were hurt, but I was kind of shocked. It took me a little while to be able to concentrate on the music again. I was very careful all the other times I had to enter or exit my seat all weekend.

If I had one complaint about Mystery, it was one I noticed in a number of bands this weekend. There was too little variation in the band's sound in each song. One of the last songs they did, Travel to the Night, finally had some lead keyboard lines, some dynamics, build up of the music. It went over really well and got a standing ovation from some of the crowd. I thought Mystery put on a good set. I like their music, Benoit obviously has a lot of experience on stage now, but the rest of the band put on a good show as well. I heard from Daniel that they would be playing RosFest next year, and that was confirmed the next day. I'm glad more people will get a chance to see them.

After the show, my goal was to meet Benoit. The bands usually come out to sign autographs, sometimes organized at a table, sometimes milling around. I introduced Roy to my acquaintances from Yesfans. The lobby was really crowded, too small for the number of people here. Roy and I stood by the wall, keep an eye on the Mystery vending table. Some of the band members were there. Daniel came to the rescue again, coming over to tell us Benoit had come out to the lobby and show us where he was.

Benoit was chatting with a couple people. He looked happy to see us, giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek and giving Roy a handshake. He asked us if we liked the show and if we were going to see Saga. It was nice, but kinda quick. He went back to chatting with someone in French. I was going to wait to talk to him some more. But the lights flickered to signal that Saga would be starting soon. The lobby cleared out, and more signals came. I couldn't even eavesdrop on the conversation, because it was in French. I didn't want Roy to miss Saga, so I figured we'd catch up with Benoit another time, and we went into the auditorium. It figures, that was the only time I saw Benoit all weekend and the show still didn't start for another ten minutes. I could have waited longer. I'm kicking myself over that.

I wonder what will happen to Benoit in the future, if Yes will continue like they've been or if Jon will rejoin. I'm happy with Benoit in his understudy position, singing on tour while Jon can't handle it, but I'm not ready for him to be lead-singer-of-my-favorite-band. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and he has provided a way for Yes to continue.

The next band Saga had a lot of experience. They got started in the 1970s, had songs and albums that charted, got videos played on MTV, and have a song that even still gets played on the radio in St. Louis. They don't tour often in North America now, and Roy hadn't seen them since two times in the 1980s. They have a new singer, but I wouldn't have realized it. I thought he sang the songs as if they were his own and put on a great show.

I liked the band's music, but didn't love it. But I very much enjoyed their live performance. I would group their sound along with AOR (prog-influenced) bands more than progressive rock itself, with only their strong keyboard sound pushing them into prog. Whatever the sound, their songs are good, and the band had a level of excitement and polish that would have filled an arena. It went over very well. They held my attention the whole time, even though I only knew one song, the encore of On the Loose. They played a lot of newer songs, and Roy bought their new album after the show. They met his high expectations.

After the show, we said goodbye to Daniel. He only had a ticket for the preshow, so he wouldn't be back the rest of the weekend. Roy and I walked down to Rue St. Denis and got dessert at the same little creperie we stopped at last time we were in Montreal. It was good to see him again.

FMPM Day 2

Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal - Day 2
Centre Pierre-Peladeau
Salle Pierre-Mercure
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Level Balcon, Section Gauche, Row A, Seat 1

Sunday morning in Montreal was beautiful. The sky was clear, the temperature was cool. We went back to that little creperie from Friday and even had the same waitress. Afterwards we went for a long walk. Rue Saint Denis went on for miles, with shops in old houses stretching the whole way. We almost got to the park that is home to Mont-Royal before turning back. The road we took back, Rue St. Laurent, had more of a neighborhood shop feel, rather than the upscale destination shops of St. Denis. We also cut through some residential streets and got a good look at those homes. I wish we could have done this walk on Friday afternoon when more of the shops would have been open, but it was still nice to go window shopping on Sunday morning.

Montreal impressed me. Everything was laid out so well for pedestrians, the subways were easy to use, the old homes were being put to good use. I sound like an issue of Dwell magazine - so happy to see high density, mixed use buildings. Barely any of the shops were empty. Everywhere we walked was like this. What did Montreal do differently than so many other cities? What mistakes didn't they make? St Louis is having a mini-renaissance where people are moving back to the city into rehabbed warehouse lofts, but we saw in Montreal a city already full of people and no buildings still unused and available to renovate. It was so nice to see this.

Roy hadn't slept well. When we got back to the hotel, he planned to take a nap before the festival started for the day. I wasn't sure what I'd do, but we found Kevin in the hotel lobby. Well, the hotel main entrance wasn't really a lobby, but it had a couple chairs in it. Kevin couldn't get wifi in his room, so he was using his computer down there. I asked if he wanted some company, and we chatted for over an hour. I went to wake Roy up in time for the festival. To be honest, I was tired too. I think I over-extended myself. The festival part of the day is long and can be draining. Because of the timing, I was awake six hours before it started, and I tried to fit too much in.

Roy stopped at the coffee shop for some snacks since we didn't have time yet for lunch and we'd done at lot since breakfast. I wondered if Linda knew that Kevin was here. Roy told me that Linda hated surprises and being in suspense as much as I do. When I saw her outside the theater, I had to tease her:

"Linda, have you seen the surprise yet?" I didn't want to give away that Kevin was here, in case she didn't know. Coincidentally, we were all staying on the same floor of the same hotel.

"What surprise? What kind of surprise? Is it a band?"

"No, it's a personal surprise for our group."

"What group? What kind of surprise?" Wow, she is like me. I was having fun being on the other side of this.

"You'll know it when you see it."

This went on for a few more minutes. I don't think we narrowed it down that the surprise was a friend whom we haven't seen for awhile. She was still trying to figure it out when I saw Kevin walking up.

"Oh, there's the surprise right there."

She was surprised alright. I'm glad I saw the look on her face. She, Kevin, and Roy have known each other on-line and at festivals for far longer than I've been part of their group. I couldn't see much of their reunion, since I had to get in and pick up my wristband to enter the theater.

Some more people made their way up to the balcony. A friendly Canadian guy sat near us and asked about the Genesis concert. I said I hadn't seen them since high school and he asked if Gabriel was with the band then. Ouch, Gabriel left in what? 1975? the year after I was born. Oh well. Kevin sat in our row as well.

The first band Hamadryad did nothing for me. I think they were supposed to be a more traditional symphonic prog band, which I usually like, but I was zoning out. I bumped into Robert Dansereau, one of the fest organizers, in the lobby and we said hi. It was so nice outside, and still so hot and humid back home in St. Louis, so I went out for another walk. I got back by the time their set ended.

Roy and I went out for lunch at a chain specializing in frites - french fries with dipping sauces. Our sandwiches were both really dry and disappointing. The restaurant was interesting though. Most of the places along Saint Denis had outdoor seating in patios or in raised terraces or balconies. This place didn't have outdoor seating, but the wall was a large glass door that was raised like a garage door, so it was still open. We saw Linda walk by.

"Linda," I called, trying to get her attention. She heard me and looked around, but didn't see us. "Linda," I tried again. This time, she looked like she decided it must be some other Linda and not for her. I called out her last name and "up here". She found us. She and her friends were planning dinner at the next break, which wouldn't work for us. I didn't know how we'd fit time for dinner in - the breaks were only an hour and fifteen minutes again. I suggested we skip the next band, but this was Linda's only day of the festival and she didn't want to miss anything.

The restaurant redeemed itself by playing Epitaph from King Crimson. Only in Quebec!

I just had a feeling about the next band. They were called Ville Emard Blues Band and were supposed to be jazz-rock. I wasn't sure if I'd like them and I kept thinking that the time between the first band and the third band would be four hours - more time to have a relaxed meal or do something more touristy - but this band's set was in the way of that. Kevin skipped them entirely. I stayed for a couple songs, and they reminded me of a large wedding band. The thing is, I might have enjoyed them outside at ProgDay, but I was getting tired and wanted to take a break. I went back to the hotel and read.

The third band was Nathan Mahl. They were the surprise hit of the first Nearfest. I haven't seen them or heard any of their albums since then. Their bandleader Guy LeBlanc has attended some prog festivals in the years since and said he recognized Roy and me. I know Roy saw him playing with Camel some years ago. Roy met me at the hotel and I was exhausted. I could stay up for Nathan Mahl, but then I'd definitely be too tired for IQ and I really wanted to see them. We decided I should nap now, and Roy would see Mahl. He left their set early so we'd have enough time for dinner.

I was looking forward to IQ. They're another band I saw at the first Nearfest and haven't listened to since, but I remember their show fondly. I've seen keyboardist Martin Orford do a show with John Wetton that was just wonderful and Linda and I got to spend some time with bass player John Jowitt when he almost did a show with Peter Banks. The IQ guys were hanging around for the whole festival and looked like they were enjoying themselves. They started from the neo-progressive scene in England in the 80s, and are a band that does proggy songs.

This was a special show, because Orford had announced he was leaving the band and this was his final show. They did a nice tribute to him and the audience gave him some big applause. Lots of love there. IQ has a lot of theatrics and some humor in their set, which kept me rapt even though I didn't know any of their music. As a big surprise, the singer from the Musical Box Genesis tribute band did a song with them. It was a good performance. More of the bands at these fests could take notes on IQ's stage presence and presentation. Their arrangements too, good development of melodies without being noodly or too overblown.

We hung out for a little while afterwards. Kevin left early and was leaving early the next day, so we didn't get to say goodbye to him. (ETA: Kevin told me he didn't leave early, he just went downstairs to the main floor to check out the sound.) I was hoping to see Linda, so we could figure out when to meet the next morning for breakfast. Roy and I talked to Sean McFee for a bit. I joked that they should get Yes as a pre-show band next year. While the Genesis show is really what brought us here, there was almost too much prog going on for the locals. Genesis played on Friday night and Rush was there on Saturday. Too many options could hurt attendence. While I had fun and really enjoyed being right in the city, it would be hard for me to attend in the future. Airfare is just too much and this took a whopping three vacation days.

The next morning, we did hook up with Linda and her friends. We went back to the little creperie, but the service wasn't as good this time. We were ending our vacation just as they were starting theirs, so we had lots of info to pass on. After breakfast, we all walked over to the old section of the city and walked along the piers over the St. Lawrence River. Linda and her friends wanted to take a boat tour, and it started sooner than they thought. We said a quick goodbye and they headed off. We went back to the hotel and got a cab to the airport.

The flight home was a little uncomfortable. I figured I'd buy lunch at the airport, but by the time we got through customs and security, there wasn't much time. (Why did we go through US Customs in Canada anyway? We did it at the Montreal airport both coming and going.) We had a two hour layover in Chicago, so then we figured we'd eat at a sit-down place there. But our flight arrived early and we were able to fly standby on a flight back home that was leaving immediately. It was nice to get home earlier, but a bit too long without food. I enjoyed that dinner at Outback once we finally arrived.

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.