Charlie and I arrived safely in Bethlehem, PA yesterday for NEARfest X. I don’t know how many of us there are who have attended all ten, but I’m proud to be a part of that group. I bought a new 55-200 lens for my Nikon D 40, and I’m taking some nice pictures. However, and [...]
Posted on June 21st, 2008 by Chris
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And so we’re at the end of another incredible weekend full of great music and great friends. For the record, Le Orme wasn’t my cup of tea. It was like soft rock with cool keyboards. The one keyboard player (there were two) had two strikes against him immediately – leather pants, and a keytar. Yikes. [...]
Posted on July 11th, 2005 by Chris
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Too many notes! Kenso is very tight and very talented, but the drummer never stopped, and their compositions were just collections of parts, not songs. I was intrigued by the massive array of keyboards, but the constant barrage of sound was just too much. We’re off to an early dinner so we can shop during [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2005 by Chris
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I had absolutely no expectations about ths band walking in, except that I’d be walking out after one song. I was very pleasantly surprised, and stayed for the whole set. The Muffins’ music is at times beautifully melodic, and at other times chaotically dissonant and seemingly disorganized, but they hit every cue. Definitely jazz-based, with [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2005 by Chris
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If this isn’t a rule already, I’m proposing it now. Prog rock singers should *not* wear leather pants. We’re going out for breakfast.
Posted on July 10th, 2005 by Chris
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IQ rules. No two ways to say it. They are so powerful, and so melodic, and they just have such great songs. They also have wonderful stage presence. I was captivated, and I saw them already in 1999. I was worried about what the absence of long-time drummer Paul Cook would mean, but his replacement, [...]
Posted on July 10th, 2005 by Chris
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In the immortal scoring style of Bob Murphy, “WW”: Wasn’t Watching. Ambient space-rock trippy whatever, followed by funeral dirges just isn’t my cup of tea. Thankfully, Present startrd so late that it’s just about time for the regularly-scheduled dinner break. Only now, we have extra time before IQ. Oh, I call this “Charlie is Reborn”. [...]
Posted on July 9th, 2005 by Chris
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Realization #1: I had never seen a trombonist shred. That was cool. Realization #2: I had never seen two violinists cut heads. That was cooler. Realization #3: I’m just not into jazz improv. That meant that I only really got into about 75% of Frogg Cafe’s set. But the parts I liked were phenomenal. These [...]
Posted on July 9th, 2005 by Chris
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I drank extra coffee this morning to make sure I’d stay awake for the uncoveted 11 am slot. Had I known anything about Wobbler beforehand, though, I would have known that I wouldn’t have needed it. Wobbler reminded me a lot of Anglagaard, and that’s a good thing. Heavy Scandinavian prog, along with really quiet [...]
Posted on July 9th, 2005 by Chris
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This hotel is great. Free wired Internet. Glad I brought my laptop. OK, so we left after about four of PFM’s songs. They’re really very talented, but I have the same complaint I have had about a couple of bands in the past, particularly old, reunited bands – they just don’t sound like what I [...]
Posted on July 9th, 2005 by Chris
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