skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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.
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!
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.
ProgDay Day 2
Storybook Farm
Chatham County (Chapel Hill), NC
Sunday, September 6, 2009
General Admission
There were some stand-out performances on the second day of ProgDay. Roy and I started the day as we traditionally do, going out to breakfast at Foster's Market. We missed the start of the first band, Deluge Grander. Maybe I wasn't fully awake yet, but I wasn't ready to focus on the music. I wandered over to the food tent to get out of the performance space.
I was in the perfect position for the next band. The Japanese band Qui played their set on Saturday, but they brought their instruments back again. They set up by the picnic benches did some songs in between bands on the main stage. I was already sitting over there, so I grabbed a spot right in front. It was charming, and I enjoyed it even more than their real set on Saturday. They played several times throughout the day, with other bands and even audience members joining in. I'm sure this happens more often at jam-band type festivals, but it fit right in at ProgDay.
Guitarist Jimmy Robinson was another highlight. We saw him play at ProgDay a few years ago with his band Woodenhead. The set consisted of a half-hour of solo guitar, really good playing. The highlights for me were at the end, two cover songs, Eight Miles High from the Byrds and Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.
My favorite band of the festival turned out to be the headliner Ozric Tentacles. They are a band I've liked since college, but never saw live. Roy had seen them before, and he described it as crowded with everyone dancing together. With the light show, he was almost in a trance. From his memories and my mental picture of a crowded smoky club, I didn't think I'd enjoy their typical show. Never had the opportunity to go anyway. They played Nearfest a few years ago, and seeing their dancy space-rock music seated in a theater seemed wrong too.
So I was happy when they were announced for ProgDay. I still wasn't sure what to expect. I had their CD Arborescence. Most of the lineup had changed, and I'd heard they were more electronica sounding. I wondered how much of their set would be live versus synthesizer noises. I had nothing to worry about. They sounded wonderful and were so suited to the vibe at Storybook Farm. The line-up consisted of the lead guy Ed Wynne playing keyboards and guitar, along with a bass player, drummer, and another keyboardist.
It was danceable happy instrumental music. The band mentioned several times that they usually play with an elaborate light show and how nice it was to be able to see the audience and see what they are doing. A group of kids got together and danced along to the crazy music. My friend Chris danced to most of the set. I thought about it, but mostly bopped along in my seat. When the time was running out and they said they'd be doing their last song, I got up and danced too. There were a whole group of us on the side of the field. It was a blast!
Roy and I went out to dinner by ourselves that night, and then we stopped by the pool to chat for a bit. We had quite a week planned. The next day, I'd drive Roy to the airport. He was going to New York to see some matches at the US Open tennis tournament. My flight wasn't until the afternoon, so I drove to A Southern Season and browsed for a while. We'd meet up four days later in another town for our next prog festival. Next time would be FMPM in Montreal.
ProgDay Day 1
Storybook Farm
Chatham County (Chapel Hill), NC
Saturday, September 5, 2009
General Admission
Patron Pass: $140
I've been having trouble getting started writing about ProgDay this year. It's always been my favorite of the progressive rock festivals. This year, it was surrounded by more high profile shows. The festival itself seemed to go by so quickly. I enjoyed it, but it didn't have as much impact.
ProgDay weekend was the beginning of a wild trip for Roy. After the festival, I'd be going back home, but Roy would fly to New York to see some days of the US Open tennis tournament. A week after the start of this trip, we'd rendezvous in Montreal for the FMPM festival.
This is my 13th year in a row coming to ProgDay. A few years ago, I wrote my general thoughts about the festival here. The outdoor location makes it feel like a big family picnic, and Roy and I always enjoy visiting the Chapel Hill area. Being outdoors in the South in the summer can be uncomfortable. This was the best weather sustained throughout the whole weekend the festival has ever had.
Roy and I arrived on Friday morning. This is the last time we'll be flying non-stop to the Raleigh Durham airport - American Airlines is going to drop this route and there will be no more direct flights. There was a pre-show concert with some bands playing on Friday, but we usually skip that. It goes on late and we'd rather be refreshed for the actual event. We did go to another local event on Friday evening, the Paperhand Puppet Intervention performance of "The Living Sea of Memory". It was geared towards families and ended before the preshow even began.
My big reaction to ProgDay this year was, wow that went by quick. I think it might be a function of two variables. The way we perceive time is relative. It was so pleasant outside, in the 80s with low humidity, that it never dragged. I wonder if sitting out there in the heat in previous years made it feel longer than it would otherwise. The other possibility is that we didn't do as much socializing. Roy and I have a group of friends who we used to hang out with at every festival. Everyone's cut back a bit, and the last time we were all together was at our wedding. This time, none of our group from out of the area came, and even Gerhard who lives nearby wasn't there. Roy and I went out to dinner by ourselves each night. Our friend Chris from Ohio didn't tell us he was coming and surprised us in the hotel lobby.
I enjoyed the opening band Brave. Along with the two headliners, they were my favorites of the festival. Brave was described to me as a prog-metal band, but with flutes and a woman singer with a great voice, they had a lot more to their sound than a typical metal band. Good songs too. Roy bought one of their CDs after their performance.
I'm going to skip over some of the other bands to talk about the Saturday headliner La Maschera di Cera. My favorite all-time performance at a prog festival was Finisterre's in 1997. It's not just that the music was awesome and the presentation was so enthusiastic, so perfect. It was the response they got from the audience. I remember people not just standing up to applaud, but grabbing their lawn chairs and holding them up as a way to show our appreciation. Roy remembers people just hugging afterward, that we witnessed something so special. We saw Finisterre again at Baja Prog in 2001, but it was missing that spark. Maybe it was the surprise of how good they were, how young they were, or maybe it was the atmosphere. I know a number of people who, like me, first came to ProgDay in 1997 and keep coming back every year. This performance is a big reason why.
Finisterre broke up, but bassist Fabio Zuffanti is still active in progressive rock. He plays bass in La Maschera. This would be his return to Storybook Farm. we saw this band at Nearfest a few years ago, and it was solid, but nothing spectacular. Roy and I visited La Maschera's table and bought a few CDs. One was a Finisterre CD from 2004 that we never knew about. I was surprised at how much older Fabio looked. His mustache and goatee were grey. We guessed he was about 40 now. The band seemed so young, close to my age, back in 1997. You wonder if the Finisterre show was as special to the band as it was to the audience. They did release it as a live album.
There's something about ProgDay and this venue that makes bands sound better. I've seen a number of bands here that I've also seen at other prog festivals, and I almost always enjoy it more here. The mix is always clear, it's a relaxed atmosphere, we're all spread out in our tents and lawn chairs. It's possible to sit right by the stage for bands you want to see up close. I liked La Maschera better this time around.
Fabio was one of the frontmen in Finisterre, but in La Maschera, he just plays bass and sings backing vocals. But he took the microphone during the set. He wanted to commemorate the last time he was here at ProgDay, playing that legendary show with Finisterre. La Maschera plays original music, but for this one performance, they were going to play a Finisterre song. The singer joked that they were going to become a Finisterre cover band. Ironically, they played a song off the 2004 Finisterre album that Roy and I weren't familiar with, and not a song that was actually performed in 1997. But it was nice to see that recognition, to see that it was still special to the musicians after all these years.
Coldplay
Opening Acts: Kitty Daisy & Lewis and Amadou & Mariam
Riverport Amphitheater (this year, known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO
Friday, July 24th, 2009
Section Upper Right, Row FF, Seat 58
$97.50
This show reminded me of shows I went to as a kid. We were seeing a hugely popular band in the prime of their career. I told Roy I think twenty years from now we'll be telling people we saw Coldplay on the Viva la Vida tour. I think the album will be considered a classic and they'll have that kind of staying power.
This would be a different type of show than usual for me. Most of the shows I go to these days are for bands whose songs I've known for fifteen years or for newer lesser known bands where it seems like the whole audience is there to check them out. This time, a good chunk of the audience would be big fans. My music listening habits have changed over the years, and I haven't gotten to really know the songs. Roy and I have all their albums, but I can't sing the full lyrics to any single one of their songs or know the names of all the songs. I didn't want to miss the chance to see them. This too reminds me of my early concert-going days. I'd often go see bands before I was familiar with their back catalog.
I wasn't just checking out Coldplay. I was checking out the venue too. This year's Farm Aid is going to take place here, and I wanted to be a part of it. Could I deal with this place for a full day festival? I had a miserable time at Riverport at a Rush show in 2002. It was so hot, no breeze, everyone was standing and I couldn't see the stage or the screens, the people in front of us were yelling back and forth to each other, so I couldn't focus on the music, and they were smoking so much in a non-smoking venue. I was just standing there, surrounded by people and noise and I couldn't breathe. I started crying and we left the show early. I won't see Rush there again - nothing against the band, just the crowd they attract.
I remember going to a lot of shows at the amphitheater in Philly, the Mann Music Center, and always enjoying it. Maybe the seats at Riverport aren't inclined enough as you go further back? Maybe the heat didn't bother me as much when I was younger? Maybe we weren't so packed in? Aside from the times we saw Yes at Riverport and had really good seats, I've always had an issue with seeing the band at this venue. The Rush show fundamentally changed my comfort level at concerts. I start getting nervous at a show unless I'm in stadium seating, aisle seats, or in the front row of a section. The last time I went there, for CSNY in 2006, I only decided to go because I got a seat in the front row of the upper circle section.
The Coldplay show would be my third time back there since the disastrous Rush show. Roy and I both wanted to see Coldplay. Tickets went on sale when we were on vacation, but we were lucky enough to be on a layover when the presale took place. We found a computer, and got upper circle, Row FF. I hoped it would be okay.
Roy was less interested in Farm Aid than I was. I thought about the Crossroads Guitar Festival we went to a couple years ago. It made for a fun day, even though I didn't like all of the bands. This would be similar. Roy said part of what made Crossroads so comfortable was that we had so much room to ourselves. We were in the assigned seats, but it was a stadium with stadium seating and enough legroom. He didn't want to be in an enclosed area for a full day festival any more than I did. We got to Riverport. One trip to the disgusting bathrooms made me realize that I didn't want to spend more time there either.
We walked around for a bit before the show. I bought a program, and then went back to buy a tote bag to hold said program. It really was convenient to carry the program in a bag over my shoulder for the whole show. I should bring it to other shows. Our seats were in the "upper right" section, about a 45 degree angle veering off from the far end of the stage. The show started at 7, but a little bit before that, the opening band Kitty Daisy & Lewis took the stage. The auditorium was mostly empty, no one was sitting in the five rows in front of me in my section. The band played all sorts of styles of "old-timey" music, rockabilly, blues, country. Roy liked them better than I did.
The next band was Amadou and Mariam. I think I liked them even better than Coldplay. Very upbeat with great percussion. Trying to describe them sounds like a bunch of buzzwords: world music, fusion, Afropop. Let me say that they kept my attention, both aurally and visually, for their entire set, despite the fact I was hearing their music for the first time. I'd go see them in concert again happily the next time they're in town.
The reserved seating area filled up during this last break. The lawn in back was packed with people. To my amazement, I could still see the stage. The rows of seats were staggered - the people sitting two rows and four rows in front of me could potentially block my view, but not the people right in front of me. And the person two rows in front was a little kid. This might be alright. And then Coldplay came on stage and everyone stood up. And the little girl stood on her chair. Other people in front were tall. If I contorted myself, I could look up and see one of the screens at an angle, but that was it. If the stage was up from my seat, I probably could have seen it, but I somehow had to look down at the stage and above people's heads. How do other short people handle this?
I listened to two songs like this, wondering if people would sit down. I wasn't going to enjoy the concert this way, so I started to look for another spot from which to watch the concert.
I found my spot. We were in the upper right section of the amphitheater, but there was another section to my right. It was just 5 seats across, but what really made it stand out was that it was so sparsely populated. I thought the reserved seats were all sold out, but this section looked to be maybe one-third full. I walked over to an open aisle seat in my row, and I got my unencumbered view of the stage. The concert became alive to me at this point. There was only one other person in my new row.
Someone actually claimed this seat three-fourths of the way into the Coldplay's set. I just moved to another empty aisle seat two rows in front. I actually found a spot that I liked at Riverport! It was a severe angle to the stage, but it had a lot of space. And a breeze, since it was the very end of the seated area. This was the right-right section. Of course, it doesn't even exist on Riverport's seating chart.
Even in my weird far-side-of-the-amphitheater seats, the sound was really good. The band was performing live and they had a lot of energy. The highlights though, were the visuals, rather than the songs themselves. For the song Yellow, I could see the crew with all these yellow beach balls bouncing them into the crowd. The audience kept them up in the air, giving the show a sense of whimsy. It reminded me of when Roy and I saw the movie Up. All the kids got free balloons and played with them before the movie started. We're all kids again when we get toys to play with, aren't we?
I noticed the security getting tighter a little while into the show. The usher who saw me walk into another section and grab a free seat was now keeping everyone out of the aisles. It became clear when the band nonchalantly walked off stage, up the aisle, just a few rows in front of me, and took a secondary small stage near my original section. They did two songs as the whole band there, including Talk, the first song I knew from them. Then, Chris Martin played a song solo on piano. At my angle, I could watch his fingers hit the keys.
I had heard of Coldplay since they released their first album, but the first time I heard their music was watching their performance on the Live Eight concert a few years ago. Soon after that, I visited my hometown and heard Talk on my old radio station WXPN. I liked the piano-based rock sound and hearing them on XPN was like a seal of approval. That's what led me to buy their then-current album X&Y. It was good to hear Talk that night. And seeing Chris playing piano reminded me of that original perception of the band. I quite like his voice too, one of the few male high-pitch voices in rock that doesn't sound like he's trying to copy Jon Anderson.
The band started playing Viva la Vida as Chris Martin ran back to the stage. The band made another trip into the audience, this time to the lawn on the other side of the amphitheater. They did a couple of songs acoustically, including a reworked Billie Jean. Later on, thousands of paper butterflies were released to the audience. They weren't coming anywhere near by section, but I could watch the effect as an outsider. I was able to pick one up off the ground on my way out of the venue.
It was a well-paced concert. Roy was wondering beforehand if it would start sounding samey or if he would get bored. We realized Coldplay's music is more dynamic than we give them credit for. The visuals helped make the show exciting, but really, the band gave us some energetic performances that would have carried the concert on their own. The band seems very earnest about their music, but also earnest about connecting with their audience. Chris Martin in particular came across as a great frontman, not for posturing, but for talking to the crowd. He apologized for the Viva tour to take so long to get to St. Louis and suggested we look at it as the band having 142 rehearsals for this show. Later on, he thanked the audience for spending the money to come to this show and told us we'd all be getting free copies of their new live EP Left Right Left Right Left as a thank you from the band. They even did a little tour song like Yes used to do in the 70's, a song mentioning St. Louis as the Gateway to the West. They're not afraid to look a little goofy to be entertaining, but it never got in the way of the music.
They encored with The Scientist and Death and All His Friends. I think my favorite overall songs to hear were Fix You, Talk, Viva la Vida, and the song Chris Martin did on piano. I met up with Roy after the show, and we talked about our experiences. It was soooo good for me to switch seats.
It took us forever to get home. Over an hour to get out of the parking lot. When I go to shows at the Pageant or Blueberry Hill, I can walk home by the time I walk to the car here. I decided that if I could get these exact seats for Farm Aid, in the right-right section on the aisle, any row, I'd do it (or left-left). Tickets went on sale the next morning. There was an option to choose what price level of tickets I wanted, but not to choose a specific section. I tried pulling tickets for a couple hours, but I never saw anything in this section. A week later, tickets can now be found through a interactive seating map, where you can choose the exact seats you want. My seats are gone by now. Guess I'm not going to Farm Aid after all. It would be the only way I'd want to spend all day at Riverport.
Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
presents
Yes
with special guest Asia
Muskogee Civic Center
Muskogee, OK
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Section 101, Row A, Seat 5
$55
There's something about Yes music that makes me want to dance to it. I need to feel every note and sing every word. Usually at a Yes concert, I make do with bopping around in my seat. But I love those shows when I can get up and dance. Oh, I won't do it if the rest of the audience is sitting and I'm blocking someone's view. My seat needs to be on the far aisle or back row. Front row is tricky, I'm right there with the band and we're all feeling the adrenaline rush together, but I don't want to create a bad atmosphere with the people behind me, standing when they want me to be sitting. I've tried to analyze why I like dancing at shows so much - part of it is that the music is moving me physically and I'm just following along. The other part is that standing up gets me away from the rest of the audience. I have a clear view of the stage with no one's head in the way. And talking, conversations, bad behavior seem so far away. It's just me and the music. And the band. I got to dance in Muskogee.
I had to wonder why Yes was playing in Muskogee. It's a small town an hour away from Tulsa. They were booked to play a small arena. I knew it wouldn't sell well. I was telling one of my coworkers about it, and he wanted to know why I was so sure. I said, because I saw them in Bloomington, Illinois last year and the same thing happened. Yes were booked in too big of a venue with an area with low population density. I hoped the show wouldn't be canceled because of the poor turnout. I was right. The venue held 3,300 people, and I guess it was a quarter full. There were people filling up the floor up to the 20th row and a few rows of people in the tiered seating. I later learned that this show was a benefit for the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. A benefactor paid for the bands, with all of the profit going to the Hall.
The location made it easy to get good tickets. The Muskogee Civic Center did not use Ticketmaster and did not hold any tickets back for VIP packages. I got front row, audience right for Roy and me. Our new friend Greg got front row, center.
The drive down from Kansas City was easy. We got to the hotel, rested up, and then drove to the venue. It was still early. We wanted to park at the Civic Center, scope out the venue, and walk around town. It was a weekday, around five in the afternoon, and the downtown was dead. We found one home accessories store that was open, so we looked around there. Muskogee had a public art program, with eight foot tall ceramic guitars painted by local artists. We saw about four of those before dinner.
I'd never been to Oklahoma before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Roy picked up their alternative paper, with articles about concerts. The article about the Yes and Asia show was positive, but it had a whole lot of mistakes. This was the ad we found. I haven't seen one like this before - liquor and Yes. And it lists the wrong date!
None of our usual Yesfriends went to either the Kansas City or Muskogee shows, so we had dinner with some people from the Yesfans site. Everyone was so friendly, like we had known each other a long time. This was the hottest day of our trip, upper nineties, so someone gave us a ride back to the venue.
We found the probable stage door; we saw the tour manager Paul pull up in a dark-colored van and walk in a door near the front entrance. Roy and I went in and found our seats. Front row, in a group of seats tightly pushed together. The seats were connected, so I unhooked my chair and shoved some of the seats down a bit to give me some extra room. There was a huge amount of space between our row and the stage and a huge amount of room in the aisles. I got ready for the show, and I was pleasantly surprised that the bottled water was only $1.50 for a 20 ounce bottle. I'm used to being gouged for these things. Roy and I talked to another guy from dinner, originally from England but now living in Oklahoma, named Paul. He had the seat directly behind me.
The show started. When I saw Asia at the Keswick Theater in 2007, they had a screen above the stage showing their videos and closeups of the band. They didn't use it in Kansas City, but it was in use this night. This time, the screens were hanging over the audience, over the fourth row. I could turn around and see the mirror-image display on the back of the screen. I wonder if it was distracting for the band to be able to look up and see themselves. I noticed John Wetton looking at it a couple times. I don't think this was as good a performance. Wetton looked bored during most of the show. Someone described it as looking like he was mentally writing a grocery list while playing. Roy pointed out that he was very expressive during their new song An Extraordinary Life.
I was keeping an eye on the audience during Asia's set. Would people be allowed to stand up by the stage away from our seats? The front row was a good distance from the stage, and I could stand up there to dance without blocking anyone's view. I noticed people were walking to the open area to take pictures. One woman got up a few times to dance by the stage. Security seemed pretty easy-going.
There were some cool moments during the Asia set. We had an excellent angle to actually watch Geoff Downes play the keyboards, actually seeing his fingers hitting the keys. And I think John Wetton saw me bopping around to Video Killed the Radio Star when I did one of the handclaps. The sound was much better than the previous show in Kansas City. I could tell this time that Wetton sounded wonderful, especially in the "You are the radio star" lines. Carl Palmer added a gong to his drumset since the Kansas City show. I didn't like his solo in Fanfare as much this time. I'm usually not a fan of drum solos, so liking it the other night was more of a surprise than not caring now.
The really exciting part for me was towards the end of the set. My friend Greg came over and asked if either Roy or I would like to take his seat for a song, in the front row center section. I ran over there and enjoyed Sole Survivor. He didn't come back to reclaim his seat. I looked towards my real seat, and he gestured for me to stay there. The next song was the last song of Asia's set Heat of the Moment. People in the center section started getting up and moving towards the stage. I did too, and it was a lot of fun! I thanked Greg a whole lot afterwards.
The Yes show started and I was going to dance. I moved up to a spot near the stage and stayed there for Siberian Khatru. I was right by the speakers, and I had earplugs in, but the sound was really good. I said before that dancing gets me away from distractions, but I was very aware of security and other people moving up near the stage. Security at first was letting people come up to take pictures. Then, as people were walking up from their seats and taking too much time up front, security was telling them to go back to their seats.
The new singer Benoit David saw me over there. I was standing at the far end of the stage, in front of my real seat. He came over and sang part of Tempus Fugit to me. Greg captured it in this photo. I'm so glad I have this moment preserved.
I think if everyone in the audience had been cool, security would have been cool too. Someone stood up by Steve Howe for too long. I was at the opposite end of the arena, and I don't know if they were using flash on their camera or just taking too many pictures. But Steve gestured for them to move away. Security picked up after that, asking everyone to clear the area. Everyone except me. I wasn't taking pictures or in the way, so I guess I was okay. The security guy even said "excuse me" to me as he walked past to tell other people to sit down. I felt relieved to be in my happy place and have everyone be cool with it. I heard there was another problem, where some people walked up to the stage and rested their beer bottles on stage. Steve wasn't happy about that either.
I was able to dance for Siberian Khatru, I've Seen All Good People, Tempus Fugit, and the first part of Astral Traveler. I sat down during the drum solo, but part of me knew that sitting down would mean I wouldn't be able to move back to my space afterwards. It was true. I wanted to dance to the next song, And You And I. I got back up, but the security people had switched around, and a new person walked up to me and told me I couldn't stay there. I went back to my seat. I noticed that all the people in the second row behind me were already standing up. So I stood and danced at my seat, careful not to get into anyone's personal space. I guess I was distracted, because I missed my favorite part of the song - singing along to Chris' backing vocals up from Turn Round Tailor to Float Your Climb while the lead vocals are doing Coins and Crosses. Our seats were such an angle to the stage that my standing up there actually blocked Roy's view. He wanted me to enjoy the song, so he didn't tell me til after the song was over.
Chris Squire addressed the crowd a couple times, first before Tempus Fugit, where he greeted the town as Muskeegee, like a cross between Muskogee and Tuskegee. Later on, he introduced Steve Howe's guitar solo by saying, "You might think Steve deserves a break now, but we're not going to give him one. Now that James Brown is no longer with us, Steve is the hardest working man in show business." Steve played Intersection Blues and a Chet Atkins song for his solo break.
The rest of the show passed quickly. I watched Benoit the most. He was using the larger stage this night to move all around it. He looked like he was having fun. Chris seemed less ebullient than usual. He normally has a lot of stage presence, but he'd been sick earlier this year and done a lot of traveling in the last couple days for this tour. Yes played much longer on their tour last fall, when they were playing by themselves, but this didn't feel too short. It was still a full night of music.
I stood up for Roundabout. The people behind me were still standing. I was able to push my chair back a ways, so I was standing in the space where I had been sitting. Roy could see, so I was happy. I was jumping around towards the end, and amazed how my shoes were holding up. I had sandles on, but I seemed to land exactly right in them; they never went flying off or hitting my foot in a bad place. The guy to my left continued standing for the instrumental first half of Heart of the Sunrise, so I did too.
Yes came back out for their encore. People started to stage rush - gather in that area up by the stage. The security guard was still there and I was being good. I hadn't moved from my seat, but I wasn't going to let other people stand in front of me. I walked slowly towards the stage and glanced towards him. He told me it was okay now because it was the last song. I waved Roy over to join me.
I was so surprised when Yes came out and tore into ... just the final part of Starship Trooper, the instrumental Wurm, but not the whole song. We've been talking about this on the Yesfans site. I'm not sure whether this was due to the time, Steve being upset with the crowd, the band being tired, or what. I loved the adrenaline rush of being able to dance and the very good sound, but I think Kansas City was a better performance from both bands.
Roy and I met up with our dinner companions, hung out to talk for a while, and then made our way to the stage door to wait for the band. We saw Steve Howe come out of one exit, and walk around outside to enter the venue through the stage door. Later on, he was the first to leave. He didn't acknowledge us while walking to his car, but then he rolled down his window and waved to us.
The rest of the band came a little later. They started walking towards us, rather than their van. Chris and Alan both looked exhausted. I shook hands with both of them, but didn't say much. Benoit greeted me with, "Hi Dancer!" Charming! I specifically wanted to tell him something, and I got the chance. Roy and I are going to the FMPM prog festival in Montreal in September, and Benoit's other band Mystery will be playing there. He seemed excited and asked what I thought of the Mystery CD. I was put on the spot, I had to honestly say that we only just bought it at Kansas City and hadn't listened to it yet. I didn't get a chance to talk to Oliver this time.
After the show, Roy and I met up with Greg at the IHOP near our hotel. We had some after dinner munchies and hung out talking for a while. We didn't get back to our room until after two in the morning! We slept in the next morning and took our time driving home the next day. It was a good trip.
