Mellotronists

Taken from what I posted to RMP & progressive Ears.  The stuff re: our 
lads in RMI can be found under Day 1.  Tron's were used by RMI and the 
closing (Spock's Beard) portion of the Nick D'Virgilio sets.

Day 1.
======
After negotiating more torrential downpours, my oldest son Trevor and I 
arrived at ProgWest at 2:30pm.  New location, better theatre, better 
sound, bigger crowd.  OK!  Within minutes we'd said hi to Mike Thaxton, 
and finally got to meet Noah Lesgold and Sean the original Irish Bastard 
(who's cover I refuse to blow by tellin y'all that he's a polite and 
friendly gentleman in person, because even if I did you probably wouldn't 
believe me).  Wearing a sweatshirt with "Systems Theory" on it paid 
dividends in a hurry since they came up to me and introduced themselves.

Things started only 30 mins late (an improvement on last year).  Avant 
Garden kicked things off with a very lively set of avant-garde prog that 
suggested at various times (in no particular order) King Crimson, Henry 
Cow, VdGG, Jethro Tull, Camel and several 70s rock-jazzers that I should 
be able to name but can't [senility setting in early].  They seemed a 
little ragged at the start of the set, but by the end they were 
confidently delivering the goods in style.  Put them on the "to buy" list.

Then it was upstairs to the vendor room to snag some Italian prog, and 
hook up with my brother Gareth who had arrived late (snarls in traffic 
from San Diego).  Alas, a fool and his money are soon parted...ten CDs 
later I escaped the spider's web, with nary an Italian prog CD in my bag, 
making my way downstairs to say hi to Paul Whitehead.

Act 2 was the much ballyhooed "Maudlin Of The Well".  In all fairness I 
must admit to despising the annoying death-metal "sandpaper my throat then 
grunt my breakfast into your face" style favoured by the band's lead 
singer, so they were behind the 8-ball in my mind going in.  Putting that 
aside, this is an interesting band with a lot of good ideas...but they're 
not yet ready for prime time.  Even allowing for the injury to their bass
player's hand (requring that the vocalist sub for him on several tunes), 
MOTW wasted a lot of good-will by endless instrument tuning, negating any 
momentum they built during the music.  Too many ponderous cliche-metal 
transitions neuter the effectiveness of the space-metal amd space-jazz 
elements that are far and away the strongest part of the band's 
repertoire.  The keys player plays about as well as I do, which means that 
he should concentrate on the excellent sax (and lyricon?) that he played,
and they should get another keys player.  Hey!  They already have 6 in the 
band.  Make it 7 and they can change their name to Hawkwind!  More of the 
woodwinds would be a big plus, especially if the composers would have the 
courage to build around these parts instead of the trio of guitars (I 
know...an unlikely occurance).  The guitarists were competent, playing 
well as a unit, with the lead player showing flashes of inspiration, and a
penchant for Gilmourish emotive phrasing.  All things considered, a brave 
but seriously flawed effort by a band that is better than it showed today 
-- that drove over half the audience out into the driving rain, prefering 
it to MOTW :-O.  Note to band: When the sucking to brilliance ratio is 3:1 
against, I'd advise not introducing new pieces that require five minutes 
to downtune the guitars.  A very "p"rogressive band that I respect for 
their unique vison, but have no interest in hearing again until they
develop a more professional live persona.  I wish I could report
diferently, but a spade's a spade...

After dinner (always my favourite band on the roster -- Mexican this time) 
it was back upstairs to say hi to Jeff Sherman of Glass and talk about his 
bass parts on the upcoming Systems Theory album (yes it's almost done).  I 
snagged his new solo album, and watched part of the excellent (no 
technical glitches, yeah yeah!) Glass performace at Baja Prog 2002 on VHS. 
  While there I ran into Steve Barberic of Forever Twelve (who opened for
Rocket Scientists at the "night before ProgWest" show).  We talked about 
where they are at right now, and their plans for the follow-up to 
"Rememeberance Branch".  A few more CDs pulled the siren song on me, and I 
thought about locking my wallet away in may car...which of course I didn't 
do, because I'd only have to walk back through the pouring rain to get it 
when I found more CDs I just had to have...

Then came Daemonia, Claudio Simonetti's new "symphonic metal" band.  To 
say that these guys blew the roof off the room is to put it mildly.  They 
were rehearsed to a "T", and delivered with panache.  They swaggered like 
rock-stars -- three cheers for black leather pants!  They displayed so 
many chops -- seemingly effortlessly -- that it was almost embarrasing how 
fucking good they were.  Damn it Claudio!   Where did you get these guys?
They were completely in-sync with each other.  They worked the audience 
like pros in high-heels and Fendi at a Vegas convention.  And we loved 
every minute of it.  We ate it up and screamed for more.  I never in my 
life thought once that I'd see Goblin's music performed live, and now that 
I have, I seriously doubt if Goblin could have done it better.  Let me 
tell you, Daemonia had the Goblin dark-goth-terror-prog thing wired.  They 
played everything with conviction, making other horror-soundtrack pieces
(like "Inferno" and "Tubular Bells") into their own.  If the band had been 
willing we'd have had them back for more than one encore.  They owned the 
place.  Did they move freight afterwards?  yeah baby...every damn CD they 
had.  Like sucking down a cold brew on a hot and sweaty day...cha-ching! 
cha-ching!  My son Trevor bought his first prog CD, which was graciously 
signed by everyone in Daemonia, which thrilled him to bits.  Did I mention
that he was completely rocked out his mind by them?  As a keyboard-player 
in-training, his jaw was on the ground watching Simonetti (from just over 
his right shoulder, 10 rows back).  In case you're wondering; I was too. 
Thanks Mike T.  I owe you one, buddy!  Daemonia were worth the price of 
entry by themselves.

One more trip upstairs was called for (along with a cup of hot chocolate) 
since I still had $$$ in my wallet.  I ran into Alfonso from Cast, who 
charmed me into buying a double CD set...then gave me two CDs of my 
choice, so I took 1 Cast album and Alfonso's recent solo album.  We talked 
about the upcoming Baja Prog for 15 minutes, and the excellent bands that 
will be there.  Yup.  I think I need to put that one on the schedule. What 
a great guy he is.  An example of commitment to a sustained artistic 
vision.  Also an example of being a regular guy that anyone can come up to 
and talk with.  Alfonso talked to Trevor about being a keyboard player 
just like Trevor was already in a successful band.  <2 thumbs up>

With all my $$$ spent (except for the reserve for "Negro Modelo", that I 
enjoyed as I originally typed this <VBG>) Trevor and I went downstairs to 
rejoin my brother Gareth for a wonderful set of Tangerine Dream/old Floyd 
inspired space music.  All you TD heads out there need to hear this:  go 
buy some Radio Massacre International.  This trio has picked up where TD 
left off in the late 70s.  Much of the set was improvised from starting 
reference points (like "Frozen North" generating a 30 minute improvised 
trek through the arctic pipeline).  Two trons, a theremin...I can't think 
of a more perfect way to put a nightcap on the day's festivities.

On that note: "Goodnight now!"

Day 2:
======
In contrast to day 1, Sunday was clear blue skies.  A perfect SoCal day. 
An effortless drive in with NFL coverage on the radio instead of prog in 
the CD player.  This time I had Greg Amov (my associate in Systems Theory) 
in tow in lieu of my son Trevor.  Before getting seated we did the rounds, 
introducing Greg to various folks, including Peter Thelen of Expose.  The 
new issue has a positive review of Greg's solo album  "The Dark Within The
Dark", and Greg wanted to thank him in person.

Once again things started only 30 mins late, which suggests for next year 
that the daily "to do" timetable be adjusted forward half an hour.  IZZ, 
from NYC were first up, offering melodic neo/symphonic prog in the vein of 
Yes and Genesis.  I was unfamiliar with their material, and usually this 
is the last kind of prog I'm interested in hearing, but IZZ showed that 
there's still a lot of gold that can be mined out of the heritage of these 
two bands, without blatently nicking reference points.  I could have done 
without a couple of the more "pop" moments, but I was overall quite 
impressed.  Of special note is their twin- drummer approach.  One uses a 
traditional kit, while one uses an electronic kit.  The harmonies sung by 
the keys player and the bassist were complemented on many of the songs by 
a pair of female backup singers.  These two women had excellent voices,
even stepping up to do a prog vocal duet on one tune.  All the pieces 
played came from the two CDs IZZ has released.  Since the strongest 
material was their longer pieces, I look forward to hearing more from this 
band when I need a GeneYes fix.  As Sean McFee commented (paraphrasing) 
"IZZ showed that melodic prog doesn't have to suck".

At the first break I hooked up with my brother Gareth who had arrived 
half-way through the IZZ set.  He'd brought a stack of CDs to trade and 
was eager to do business.  I went back to buy some CDs I'd passed by on 
Saturday, continuing to pass out Systems Theory demos roms at the same 
time.  Amongst the acquisitions were some more Cast (I got Greg to buy 
"Angels And Demons", with Alfonso giving him a copy of one of his solo
albums as a bonus).  I also snagged myself a copy of Avant Garden's album, 
Kevin Gilbert's "The Shaming Of The True" and the booklet "The Making Of 
The True".

The band that I was primarily interested in seeing was up next.  Azigza, 
from San Francisco, play a middle-eastern/eastern European/African world 
music influenced King Crimson meets Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Shadowfax 
world-prog...that kicks arse.  Taking the stage with incense burning, they 
looked like a throwback to the late 60s.  With the violin at center stage,
and a dedicated ethnic-instrument percussionist, I was very much reminded 
of the LTA-era Crimson lineup.  As much as I enjoy their studio work, I 
was that much more impressed by the strength and passion of their live 
performance.  About 25 minutes into the set, Azigza was joined by a new 
singer, making only his 4th appearance with the band.  [The lineup is 
currently in a state of flux].  Any doubts as to how they'd pull off the 
vocal numbers were rapidly removed.  Another instrumental set, based 
around three Bulgarian folk-dances was the highlight for me.  The vocalist 
returned for their closing numbers, with a reworked Zeppelin tune (from 
Zep III IIRC) as the parting shot.  Neither of my cohorts had ever heard 
Azigza, but they left the auditorium raving and frothing about what they'd 
just seen.

Needless to say, the three song EP that Azigza was offering was the first 
item snatched up after we broke for dinner.  Before we went to eat, while 
waiting for Gareth [upstairs getting more goodie bag items] Greg and I 
spent ten minutes talking with a representative of progradio.com.  We 
raced through dinner only to find out that there were delays in getting 
the stage setup, which was no surprise given the number of folks who would 
be on stage.  We spent 20 minutes talking to Azigza's violinist, who is a
long-time friend of Chris Shryack of UTS (he was in the earliest UTS 
line-up many moons ago).

The evening sets were both marked in the program to be by Nick D'Virgilio 
(of Spock's Beard).  His first set was a complete performance of the late 
Kevin Gilbert's rock-opera "The Shaming Of The True".  Aided by a cast of 
hundreds (well...a dozen) NDV delivered a wonderful interpretation of this 
fine work.  Special mention must be made of the "schmooze duo" providing 
vocals for the "Dance of the A&R men" -- marvelous!  Also deserving 
special mention is Zapaa alumnus Mike Keneally, who provided a suitably 
over-the-top deranged lead vocal on "Ghetto of beautiful things" in 
addition to his powerful lead guitar and keyboard work.  While all the 
tunes were great (keep in mind that plenty of this rock opera ain't prog) 
the standout had to be "Certifiable #1 Smash".  It brought the house down 
in grand 10CC "Silly Love" style.

After a 60 minute changover of equipment, that was supposed to only take a 
few minutes (oh well....) NDV returned to do one solo tune in conjunction 
with the Mike Keneally Group (all of whom participated in the extended 
band that performed "TSOTT").  After that one tune, NDV moved from 
acoustic guitar to drums (with the drummer for "TSOTT" exiting the stage, 
and we were treated to a 30 minute set by Mike Keneally.  As is to be 
expected, this was full of fiery quirky fusion-guitar pyrotechnics.  At 
the end of this, NDV was joined for "the secret" part of the show by his
colleagues in Spock's Beard.  First to do two tunes off the recent solo 
album by keys player Ryo Okumoto, then to do a 45 minute set of SB 
material.  For the former, we were given a keyboard-led trio, not too far 
removed from ELP.  With the addition of Al Morse and the return of the 
guest drummer (who was dynomite BTW), we were given a view of the new 
Spock's Beard fronted by D'Virgilio (in eerie parallel to Genesis).  Also 
in eerie parallel were the points in the tunes where NDV hopped behind his 
drum kit and the band had two drummers a la Collins+ Bruford/Thompson. 
Regardless of what one might think of their albums [let's face it, SB gets 
slagged as much as anybody by uberproggers], the choice of material was 
good, and its delivery was enthusiastic and thoroughly professional.  I 
wish good luck to Neil Morse in his ventures: I don't think his old band 
will miss a single step with NDV up front.

The final set ran late, with the crowd filing out just before 1am.  After 
sending Greg and Gareth on their way (both delighted that I insisted they 
attend ProgWest, especially Gareth who had been toying with only coming 
the first day), it was a quick stop at a gas-station for a large coffee 
and I was ready for the 80 mile drive home.  Once again the "no prog" rule 
was in effect.  ESPN radio had the recap of the day's NFL action, and a 
chap has to keep his priorities straight.

Conclusion:
===========
Mike Thaxton, Bob Rosenthal and the rest of their team are to be
congratulated for staging a very good festival with a diverse lineup of 
bands covering a broad spectrum of prog styles.  The turnout was good, 
with the ranks swelled to "all seats taken" for D'Virgilios' "TSOTT"
and the NDV/MKG/RO/Spock's Beard morphing sets.  Give yourselves a round 
of applause for a job well done.  I'll be back next year for more.

SDM -- a 21st century schizoid man
http://systemstheory.net internet music project 
http://thecleanersystem.com software for dry cleaners
NP: Kevin Gilbert "The Shaming Of The True"