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I was saddened yesterday to read that Chris Squire is very poorly. He has acute erythroid leukemia and so, for the first time, Yes will be proceeding without him this summer/autumn while he undergoes treatment. From what I have read about this disease, the outlook is not great; a bone marrow transplant offers the best chance.

A big Get Well Soon to my favourite bass player.

I found an article on How to eat: biscuits in the Grauniad.

Some might say this is a masterly pointing out of the bleedin' obvious. I'm not sure I entirely agree with some of their assertions. A fourth biscuit makes you feel soiled? Huh??

There's been some discussion over on The Fishtank as to whether other forums would be interested in / benefit from seeing The Picture.

Here it is. You can make your own minds up.

I was pottering around SoundAwesome last night as Here & Now have just got an account on there (featuring some of my photos taken at BOMfest on Saturday night, which is why I was checking it out) and who should I come across but madfiddler who also has a page on there. There are a couple of nice things to listen to, plus a mention of Frost*.

Saw the new IQ line-up in Bilston last night. The new new boy, Neil durrant, acquitted himself splendidly on keyboards, and the new old boy, Tim Esau, whilst not being so bouncy on stage as our beloved JJ, did a fine job.

One of the projections caught my eye in particular:



New stagewear, perhaps?

... make a cake like this!

on FB a few mins ago...

John Jowitt
Has left iQ.

This is my decision, and is not related to me playing with any other band.

I'd like to wish all the best to iQ, for what I'm sure will continue to be a great future; I'd like to thank the crew and past band members for all their help, camaraderie and hard work, and most of all, I'd like to thank everyone who's come along to the shows over the years and supported us.

So their next gig will have a new keyboard player AND a new bass player.

Just a quick plug - The Dec Burke Band will be supporting Mick Pointer's Script for a Jester's Tour in De Pul, Uden on 17th December, and De Boerderij in Zoetermeer on 18th December. If anyone from here is going, do please say hi - I'll be on the merch desk, selling CDs, and I know Dec & the lads would be pleased to see some friendly faces as well.  

From the Arena MySpace page:

Arena Statement...
We are sad to announce that singer Rob Sowden has decided to part ways with the band. The explanation given so many times at moments like this is 'musical differences', usually as a veil for somewhat darker reasons; but actually, in this case, it is precisely the reason.
Arena thank Rob for his involvement and support for the last ten years and wish him all the best for the future.
In the meantime Arena WILL be performing their shows in November where they will be presenting their new vocalist, as well as material from their next album.

:?   :shock:     :roll:   :cry:

Wonder who the new vocalist will be?

Did anyone else manage to get to either of these? I went to the Maltby gig on 4th September, which had a tiny audience (about 35ish) but some absolutely great music - Destroy All Monsters benefited from a longer soundcheck than the minimal one they'd had at their previous gig at the Cambridge Rock Festival, and they'd also been doing some serious practising between that one and this one as they played some different - and, in places, shred-tastic! - arrangements of some of the songs. They played a brilliant support set - hard to single out any outstanding tracks as they were all good... but Promised and Secret Lives and Breathe It In and Destroy All Monsters were all excellent. Can't wait until I see them again - on 10th September at the Luminaire in Kilburn supporting the lovely Tinyfish.

And as for Ark - it was the first time I'd seen them in action, and they were great! JJJ was bouncing around the stage in his inimitable fashion; Tim Churchman was still in the drum stool from the support set (he plays for both Ark and DAM and did a cracking job for both) and they delivered some great, accessible songs, with vim and gusto.

The audience was a lot bigger for the Bilston gig on 5 Sept - surely some Frost*ies must have made it along there?

Is anyone thinking of making the pilgrimage to Cambridge to see Dec and his band strutting their funky stuff at the Rock Festival on Friday 6 August? They're on in the evening (second to last band) just before PO90.
Drop me a PM or respond below if so....

Anyone else remember Here & Now? They were the archetypal space-hippie-punk crossover band and stalwarts of the 70s and 80s free festival scene. I came across them in the mid 80s and loved their studio albums and also their amazing live energy when performing. They were one of the highlights of Progeny 3 for me - I was quite astonished and delighted to see that they were still going strong and their set brought back some great memories.

They're gigging in at the Red Lion in Gravesend on Saturday 22 May - a benefit gig for Hugh Hopper's family. Be there, or be somewhere else!

Any Frost*ies going to the CRS BOTY gig on Saturday? I'll be there, killer snots permitting.

It's almost exactly a year since this incarnation of the Frost* forum started! A lot of us "old-timers" joined it on 7th November, 2008 - and will be convening at The Peel to celebrate its first birthday, among other things.

Happy Birthday, Frost* forum!

You can vote here for your favourite prog artistes so I trust you'll all avail yourselves of this opportunity!

How long before Jem gets one of these?

I just came across a new review for EIMA.

The reviewer says some nice things about it but seems to be labouring under the misapprehension that Dec is a lady...  :shock:

Some interesting notes to my opinion: the femal voice is great, catches great attention and emotion, and renders the first track a great one. Really a great one.

Even if all tracks are worth of notice, I think that "Saline" has a powerful feeling, is very intense and rich of melancholy. Also in this song the singing part is almost perfect in its interpretation.

... but I haven't smelt it yet.

Star Trek colognes.

I'm not sure if I like this idea better or worse than the Burger King perfume.

I never thought I'd see the day! //http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8266922.stm

The bass player has a funny playing position.

Back in the day when I was a gigging bassist, I used to use my left hand on the fretboard, but I see that a modern girlband bassist has no need of such outdated conventions - merely wearing a short skirt, high heels and lacy tights appears to be enough.

Perhaps that's where I went wrong?