German festival: Night of the Prog V

Started by ich_bin_besser, July 12, 2010, 09:48:29 PM

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ich_bin_besser

http://www.wiventertainment.com/projekte/21-motp.html

Line Up:

Friday 03. September 2010 Get In 16 h

GALAHAD
ARS NOVA
THREE FRIENDS
TWELFTH NIGHT
PALLAS - 25th Sentinel Show

End 01 h

Saturday 04. September 2010 Get In 12 h

MOONGARDEN
SOLSTICE
SYLVAN
GAZPACHO
MARILLION
THE ENID

End 01 h
Keep prog alive - see it live!

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Mouse


ChrisX

Quote from: "Mouse"That looks very good indeed.  :)

It does and that's why I am going there for the whole weekend. Seeing Twelfth Night (with the current augmented lineup), Solstice AND The Enid again just makes it all worthwhile. And then we get to see Three Friends as well, which by all accounts I have read, are also stunning.
--
Christian
"Remember what\'s been given, not taken away" - Brett Kull (Echolyn)

ich_bin_besser

Keep prog alive - see it live!

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ich_bin_besser

Weather might be good, as it seems!  8-)
Keep prog alive - see it live!

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Ash

not going this year, the line up didn't impress me that much and it was only a couple of days after my summer hols.  Quite pleased I didn't book as I am going to Touchstone and some other people now anyway.  :D
Ash
xxx

ich_bin_besser

Keep prog alive - see it live!

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ich_bin_besser

Okay, some very short notes:

GALAHAD:
Very good opener for the festival. Well, except for one new song sounded like a bad techno song...  :shock:  :roll:

ARS NOVA:
Didn't see them because we were arranging the camping bus for the night. I read some reviews stating they did not convince.

THREE FRIENDS:
Couldn't get into Gentle Giant yet and only knew 1 or 2 songs they played. But these guys were good! Might give GG another chance.

TWELFTH NIGHT:
Oh, let's move on. Worst band of the festival - as many others said as well... I didn't know them before and don't feel the need to now...

PALLAS:
Easy game for Pallas after that. Very good show with a good new singer. Nice ending of the first day, which had good weather, btw. Absolutely no signs of rain.
Day 1 ended at 1 am. I went to sleep at close to 4 am, quite drunk.  :roll:  :lol:

Saturday - definitely the better day. Not only weather-wise (which was PERFECT).

MOONGARDEN:
Very happy to play the festival and they did not disappoint. Good opener!

SOLSTICE:
After 2 or 3 songs, I did not think I could enjoy them. But then, they played some rockier tunes and put on a very enjoyable show. Don't know if I need a CD, but they were enteraining and very good live.

SYLVAN:
Well, I love that band. Got in front of the stage and enjoyed the music a lot. Some said they are too perfect, without emotions and not authentic, but to me, they are one of the best young prog bands around.  

GAZPACHO:
Another very good set by them, having recorded their live DVD here last year. Maybe a bit too melancholic for my taste - should have been darker for this kind of music.

MARILLION:
Well, announced as the headliner and now everyone who did not wear a Marillion shirt knows why. Great, energetic show. h could have interacted more with the crowd, though. Very nice ending for me as I skipped

THE ENID
in order to drive home.

Conclusion:
A prog festival at the Loreley in good weather - doesn't get much better. Good music, fantastic atmosphere, nice people (I always meet lots of friends there), some beers - what better way to spend the weekend.  8-)  8-)
But as every year, I fear that there won't be another edition because of the low attendance. I'm bad at estimating crowd sizes, especially in such a place. Maybe 1000 on Friday and 1500 on Saturday. This festival definitely needs at least one "big" name per day to survive.
I highly recommend it.
Keep prog alive - see it live!

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Ash

thank you for the review  :D  I have heard elsewhere that there was a low turn out.  It may have been a blip due to High Voltage?  The two years I have been there was a reasonable crowd.  (II and IV)  I do hope it carries on as it is such a wonderful location.
Ash
xxx

ich_bin_besser

Slighty less people than last year, I'd say.
I definitely wanna see it continuing.
Keep prog alive - see it live!

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ChrisX

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"GALAHAD:
Very good opener for the festival. Well, except for one new song sounded like a bad techno song...  :shock:  :roll:

I actually really like that song where as the songs from Empires Never Last don't do much for me. This new song seemed to hark back to the prog meets dance sound from the Following Ghosts album.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"ARS NOVA:
Didn't see them because we were arranging the camping bus for the night. I read some reviews stating they did not convince.

Well, they are ELP copycats and Japanese to boot so there is a big cheese factor in them. Nice for a few songs but after a while the songs all sound the same.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"THREE FRIENDS:
Couldn't get into Gentle Giant yet and only knew 1 or 2 songs they played. But these guys were good! Might give GG another chance.

I admire GG for their complexity and daring attitude but never really got into them basically due to the strained vocals of Derek Shulman. Mick Wilson, who sings lead with Three Friends, is a much much much better singer then Shulman ever was. He sings with ease and has quite a bigger vocal range. If Jem is reading this, if you ever get the chance to work with him then really do so. He is amazing. As is the whole of Three Friends... they don't copy GG tunes but reinterpret them in their own and with the added authority of having two former GG members in the band.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"TWELFTH NIGHT:
Oh, let's move on. Worst band of the festival - as many others said as well... I didn't know them before and don't feel the need to now...

This was maybe the worst performance of the festival but that doesn't really reflect on the band IMHO because from the get-go they were dogged with technical difficulties: programmed pedalboards that acted up, guitarcables giving up, amps doing weird things. I saw one of the reunion gigs in 2007 and that was an excellent night and the addition of 2 Galahad members really has strengthened their sound.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"PALLAS:
Easy game for Pallas after that. Very good show with a good new singer. Nice ending of the first day, which had good weather, btw. Absolutely no signs of rain.
Day 1 ended at 1 am. I went to sleep at close to 4 am, quite drunk.  :roll:  :lol:

New singer was surprisingly good especially in the older songs but ... the 4 new songs they played really bored me to tears.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"MOONGARDEN:
Very happy to play the festival and they did not disappoint. Good opener!

Yep, they were pretty good but a bit too heavy-handed. It was almost like a mixture classic prog and nu-metal. Decent vocalist who however puts his heart and soul into the performance and as such endearing me.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"SOLSTICE:
After 2 or 3 songs, I did not think I could enjoy them. But then, they played some rockier tunes and put on a very enjoyable show. Don't know if I need a CD, but they were enteraining and very good live.

Solstice is a bit of weird band because they come from the 80s underground scene and are as such associated with the neo-prog scene of that time but ideologically they are much closer to the 70s hippie movement. Folk meets prog meet jamband in a certain way. For a band that doesn't play live much they were very tight and this was the best of 2 performances I have seen of them. BTW, if you want their most symphonic album get New Life. It has the opening track plus the awesome Journey. Oh, I was the one who shouted for Brave New World at the end of the gig ... and they played it  :lol:

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"SYLVAN:
Well, I love that band. Got in front of the stage and enjoyed the music a lot. Some said they are too perfect, without emotions and not authentic, but to me, they are one of the best young prog bands around.

They are really good but the soundmix that day wasn't. Very muddy which meant that the guitars, bass and keyboards all become this one big mushy sound. Too bad.  

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"GAZPACHO:
Another very good set by them, having recorded their live DVD here last year. Maybe a bit too melancholic for my taste - should have been darker for this kind of music.

I don't understand what people see in them... probably one of the most boring bands around these days with hands down the most uncharismatic frontman ever .... he has the stage presence of an accountant (says the person who works in accountancy  ;)  )

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"MARILLION:
Well, announced as the headliner and now everyone who did not wear a Marillion shirt knows why. Great, energetic show. h could have interacted more with the crowd, though. Very nice ending for me as I skipped

It was a blinding set geared towards the progheads which was fine by me. The best sound of the whole weekend and they are consumate performers. I don't know how Hogarth does it but to belt out The Invisible Man after what was already a long set was quite impressive.

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"THE ENID
in order to drive home.

Damn, you missed a fine performance even though the first half was a bit marred by some nasty feedback on the lead guitar set-up. This is ubersymphonic rock and for a 5 piece band they produce a huge sound. I love the fact they have a bassists cum classical percussionist (playing a huge bassdrum, 2 tympani, toms, xylophone, windchimes etc.) plus a dedicated drummer. But hey... I am a big The Enid fan  8-)

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"Conclusion:
A prog festival at the Loreley in good weather - doesn't get much better. Good music, fantastic atmosphere, nice people (I always meet lots of friends there), some beers - what better way to spend the weekend.  8-)  8-)
But as every year, I fear that there won't be another edition because of the low attendance. I'm bad at estimating crowd sizes, especially in such a place. Maybe 1000 on Friday and 1500 on Saturday. This festival definitely needs at least one "big" name per day to survive.
I highly recommend it.

The weather was amazing, although a bit chilly later in the evening. But I also fear about the future of the festival. However, I spoke to Andy Glass (Solstice guitarist) and he told me that only the headlining acts get paid for their performance. The only thing the rest gets is transport (within Germany), food and lodging. If you come from the UK for instance you have to pay for your own transportation (in Solstice case plane-tickets).
--
Christian
"Remember what\'s been given, not taken away" - Brett Kull (Echolyn)

ich_bin_besser

Too bad we didn't meet, man!
About the payment: yeah, I heard the same thing about the last festivals, too.
On one hand, playing the festival might be a nice exposure for some bands. But on the other hands, they also might not come back because of the lack of payment...
Which is a pity as I really love this whole thing. Have you been at the Loreley before, Chris?
Keep prog alive - see it live!

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ChrisX

Quote from: "ich_bin_besser"Have you been at the Loreley before, Chris?

Twice before but only single days (the year with Asia headlining, the year with Klaus Schulze headlining). This year the line-up was just too good to not go to both days. We found a great hotel about 20 min. drive from The Loreley which was really dirt cheap (EUR 81.00 per person for a total of 3 nights incl. breakfast is just ridiculous cheap .. and no I won't tell where it was .. we want to use again in the future  8-)  ).

The Loreley Open Air Theatre is a pretty impressive place and from the back (or the Panorama patio) you have a spectacular view of the Rhine. If the weather is great it is a stunning concert venue although sitting / standing in the sun the whole day is not my preferred way of spending a day. I moved around quite a bit even during sets from our fixed place, which was in the sun really up to 17:00 hrs, to spots in the shade. We bought a blanket to cover the stone benches so we would get a cold bum during the evening but next time we will bring also some kind of pillow making it even more comfortable. Also for me the reason for not staying put on my spot during the whole set because I am struggling a bit with a backproblem the last few weeks. Luckily the sound is good to spectacular where you are within the theatre.
--
Christian
"Remember what\'s been given, not taken away" - Brett Kull (Echolyn)