Here's a chance to catch some wonderful, live, progressive
rock!
For those of you in the Baltimore/DC area, you should know
about a great progressive music festival that is happening on Sunday,
November 20th at Towson State University in Baltimore, Maryland.
The event is called "ProgScape" and is sponsored by a local
progressive music store, "Of Sound Mind". Call "Of Sound Mind" for
tickets: (410) 529-7082
The event is slated to run from Noon until Midnight and
will feature 6 progressive music bands:
Cloud Nine 45mins- 1hr
Iluvatar 1-1.5 hrs
Echolyn 1.5 hrs
[dinner break ~1hr)
Mastermind 1.5 hrs
Anekdoten 1.5 hrs
Discipline 1.5 hrs
Tickets cost $25 for the whole day. Call (410) 529-7082 for
tickets.
For those of you who haven't heard these bands, I'll give a
little review for the ones that I know. None of these bands are
"big names" (though Echolyn did just get signed to Sony), instead
they are bands that have not compromised their musical integrity
and are making great progressive rock today, despite the difficulties.
I've been lucky enough to see a couple of them live and they put on
fantastic performances!
Anekdoten -- This band has received rave reviews from the California
show that they put on last week (which I was able to
see). They are a very powerful band live with an
almost metal feel, but with plenty of complex
rhythms and melodies thrown in. They build up an
atmosphere with their music that really draws in the
crowd. If you enjoy "Red" period King Crimson, then
you'll definitely want to check them out. They were
one of my favorite bands from the Californa show.
Echolyn -- This band combines some of the complex rhythms and sounds
of progressive rock with a bit of a modern alternative
feel. The combination work very well, especially live.
These guys are extremely raw and tight live, with
powerful, driving vocals that add a lot of emotion
to the music. These guys blew me away when I saw them
in California. I'm not sure who they remind me of.
Iluvatar -- This band reminds me of a combination of Marillion and Yes.
They are not as heavy sounding as Anekdoten or Echolyn,
rather relying on a more atmospheric approach to the
music with some good jamming thrown in. The vocalist
has a high range that reminds me a bit of Jon Anderson.
Cloud Nine -- I've not heard anything about these guys so I'm not
sure what they'll be like.
Mastermind -- I've not seen these guys live, but on their album it is
an intense hour of ferocious jamming. I'm very excited
to actually watch these guys put that music in action.
They remind me a bit of ELP with their keyboard
dominant sound (which is actually a guitar run through
a MIDI thing).
Discipline -- I've not seen or heard these guys, but from what I
understand they put on a fantastic live show in the
tradition of old Genesis or Marillion (complete with
make-up and everything) though not copying those band's
sound. They're supposed to be very tight live and
have excellent stage presence.
I feel that the $25 is well worth the money when you consider
that you're getting to see six superb bands, each with distinct styles
and strengths.
If you have other questions, feel free to email me or call
Chris Lamka at "Of Sound Mind" at (410) 529-7082. I hope to see
you there! :)
Steve Chew
schew@tis.com
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