Live Show Archives 2005

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ARCHIVE SECTION - 2005

REVIEWS OF RECENT LIVE SHOWS IN MONTREAL (and everywhere else...)
This section contains all the ProgMontreal reviews, archived since 2004.

December 12, 2005
Jane Siberry at the Club Soda
Okay, so it's not prog, but the great show I saw last Sunday, December 11 at the Club Soda in Montreal was definitely progressive. What is the definition of progressive again? Progressive: adj. 1. Moving forward; advancing. 2. Proceeding in steps; continuing steadily by increments: progressive change.

Jane Siberry is all that and more. A revolutionary artist, an original musician who doesn't fear about stepping well beyond boundaries and conventions, unafraid of trying new things, new concepts, one of the most innovative performers I have had the chance to see in a long time. To attempt to categorize her in a particular musical style is a challenge, but you could say that she is reknown for her folky, quirky sound that one can only describe as a mixture of elements of Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Laurie Anderson.

The show itself was a simple affair. Thomas Hellman was the first act of the evening. A great folk singer with a warm, raspy voice and a masterful dexterity on the acoustic guitar and the banjo. His set of a bit more than half an hour was a perfect beginning to the evening, his brilliant compositions and thoughtful lyrics set the tone for the show.

After a twenty minute intermission, Jane arrived onstage, accompanied by the sounds of water and nature. A very simple stage, consisting of a Fender electric guitar and amp, a Takamine acoustic guitar, and a Yamaha keyboard. She began her set with Paddle my Canoe, and played several new tracks along with her classics, including Let Go Let Go, In My Dream, If I Ever See Mark Benson, She's Like The Swallow, Begat Begat, Take Me To My Tent and The Taxi Ride. Occasionally accompanied by pre-recorded background tracks, Jane switched flawlessly from song, to poem, to story, to banter, in a most deliciously disconcerting way!

Her lyrics are from deep inside her heart, full of raw emotion. Her poems and stories are a brilliant mixture of her experiences, her passions and her concerns. She has the ability to make you laugh hysterically one moment with surprising comments like "did you know that Presbyterians is an anagram for Britney Spears" and at other times, deeply move you with songs like The Taxi Ride. The audience of about 100 was very enthusiastic, and captivated by Jane's brilliant performance. A video crew recorded the show, and I helped them with the audio portion, capturing a pristine soundboard recording for what might become a future DVD project hopefully... At the end of the show, Jane generously offered her time to her numerous fans, autographing CDs and talking at lenght, until everyone had left.

And I haven't even spoken yet about Jane Siberry the person. A sweetheart. There seems to be an aura of happiness around her, and as seen during this Montreal show, her music and words bring joy. A generous, captivating person, one can only be touched by her simplicity and her kindness. This great award-winning international artist is this year's recipient of the Victor Lynch-Staunton award for outstanding artistic achievement in Music by a Canadian artist, a well-deserved recognition of her great talent. And all of us remember her unforgettable 1985 album The Speckless Sky, which reached gold record status. And what about this unbelievably generous policy she has about her recorded music, when you ask how much are her CDs, she says "pay what you feel it's worth", same thing goes with the online music, based on the honor system, you can pay the current rate at 99 cent per tune, or pay later, or even pay nothing (a gift from Jane).

It was such a pleasure to meet this wonderful performer. A thoroughly enjoyable evening. Next time she's in town, don't miss her show, it's worth every penny! Big thanks go to Mark Morrow of M+E Production for bringing Jane to Montreal.

"And their foreheads looked different..." (Jane, on today's youth) http://www.sheeba.ca/

text by Robert Dansereau 12/12/2005

November 27, 2005
The Musical Box at the Bell Center
The Musical Box have accomplished what maybe one of the greatest exploits for a tribute band: reunite a crowd of many thousands in a great concert arena (sold-out, I may add) and perfectly recreate the atmosphere of the great concert of the seventies of the group of which they pay tribute. They have brought back classic progressive music in a most spectacular way at the Bell Center in front of an enthusiastic crowd. On this cold day of November 25th, the Montreal's Canadiens home was on fire!

We began our great evening at Ye Olde Orchard Pub & Grill, at 1189 De La Montagne, near the Bell Center, where we were joined by a group of friends. Good times at the pub where great conversations, fine scotch, fine beer and good food were accompanied by a soundtrack of Genesis music in the background. When we arrived at the auditorium, the opening act, Third Contribution, a tribute band to Shawn Phillips, was already on stage. Jean-Phillipe Gariépy was accompanied by Sophie Desrosiers on cello and Patrick Paré on bass. A great performance from this talented trio, ending their short set as always with the classic track Woman.

At around 8:45 PM, The Musical Box arrives on stage. The Montreal-based band is reknown for the quality of its shows and has acquired worldwide recognition by touring so frequently. Their interpretation of the classical Genesis music is well honed, and it's easy to understand, they've been performing shows like Selling England By The Pound and The Lamb maybe five times more often than the original band ever did. And what a performance it was last night!

The famous 1975 tour of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway was reproduced with infinite detail, from the costumes and makeup, to the stage sets, the banter of the singer between tracks, and of course, the music itself, played masterfully, with impeccable precision. And again, they have recreated the atmosphere of a Genesis show in a way that you literally travel back in time to the mid-seventies, back when Peter Gabriel was behind the mike.

Even Peter Gabriel himself mentioned after a Musical Box show in England «These guys are even better than we were back then», and what a magical moment last February in Geneva, Switzerland when Phil Collins sat behind the drums to perform with The Musical box the song of the same name. Another great moment for TMB was when Tony Banks invited the band members to the Farm Studio in England to give them access to the original Lamb 24-track recordings so they can review them track by track. Some instruments and pieces on the album are very hard to pick out accurately. It has been a unique and valuable opportunity for them to be able to listen to the original recordings so that each instrument and vocal line can be identified and recognized in order to be able to more accurately reproduce this on stage, making their near-perfect interpretation even better.

The group played in order all the tracks of the classic 1974 album: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Fly On A Windshield, Broadway Melody Of 1974, Cuckoo Cocoon, In The Cage, The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging, Back In N.Y.C., Hairless Heart, Counting Out Time, Carpet Crawlers, The Chamber Of 32 Doors, Lilywhite Lilith, The Waiting Room, Anyway, Here Comes The Supernatural Anaesthetist, The Lamia, Silent Sorrow In Empty Boats, The Colony Of Slippermen: The Arrival / A Visit To The Doktor / Raven, Ravine, The Light Dies Down On Broadway, Riding The Scree, In The Rapids, It and for the encore, the classic tracks Musical Box and Watcher of The Skies.

David Myers was back behind the keyboards, after a one-year hiatus. His knowledge of Tony Banks musical repertoire is truly incredible, and his contribution to the Bell Center show raised the roof a few times, notably with the solos of In The Cage, The Raven and of course, the grandiose and instantly recognizable mellotron intro of Watcher of The Sky. François Gagnon captured Steve Hackett's guitar skills perfectly, with the emotional solo on Hairless Heart, and his spaced-out jam on Waiting Room was simply mesmerizing. Martin Levac, with Collins' voice, his sense of humour and his ferocious drum beat gave even more authenticity to the band's performance. David Lamothe on bass and guitars honored Mike Rutherford's work with intensity and exuberance. And what can we say about Denis Gagné who, through the years, has captured Peter Gabriel's essence so very well, whether it's his mannerisms, his elocution, the way he moves on stage, and of course, the eerie perfection of his voice... a captivating and stunning performance. Denis decided to make his narrations in English for this show, his usual banter being in French in Montreal, the reason probably being that many people came from far away to see this show, maybe also being West of St-Laurent Street.

Everything was there to make this evening so special; the fireworks, the etheral fog, the impressive stage production, the original slide show used by Genesis during their Lamb tour and mostly, the incredibly large crowd, who cheerfully participated throughout the show. The atmosphere was simply electric!

Among the highlights of the evening, the keyboard solo during In The Cage, which gave me chills down my spine! The unforgettable interpretation of Waiting Room, with a memorable «Evil Jam» . David Lamothe's bass pedal, making the walls of the Bell Center rumble! During the conclusion of The Musical Box, when Denis Gagné in his old man character, unzipped his black body suit to reveal the Montreal Canadien's jersey under, much to the delight of the crowd! The stunningly cool slipperman costume! The grand conclusion of the concert with Watcher of the Skies, a Genesis fan favorite.

The only criticisms I have with this show are the fact that the sound was a bit washed-out where we were (left of the stage in the first row) but I have to admit that it's hard to balance the sound in such a vast auditorium so the sound techs still did an admirable job in such circumstances. The most irritating moment by far though, was when a young twit of a security guard with a big chip on his shoulders had a long and vociferous argument with a person behind me concerning a cigarette, even pushing me to verbally abuse that patron. As much as I totally approve of the Bell Center's no-smoking law, the utter lack of diplomacy and the total disrespect that this young person showed is totally unacceptable and should not be tolerated at these kind of events. Several times throughout the evening, the no-smoking posse cracked down, not bothering or caring about the fact that they were disrupting the show's enjoyment of all the people around. I strongly believe that there are other manners to warn patrons not to smoke without making such a commotion.

To all of those who haven't had the chance to see The Musical Box yet, don't hesitate! I can guarantee that you'll have your money's worth and then some! Whether you're the occasional fan or a passionate Genesis aficionado, you will not be disappointed. Musical Box is much more than a tribute band, their show is a faithful historical reproduction of one of progressive music's greatest moments. Those who weren't born or too young to see the original Genesis shows in the 70s have a golden opportunity to participate to the amazing buzz, the electric atmosphere of what these events were.

A big thanks goes to Groupe Gillett for organizing this show, and we truly hope to see more great progressive bands like that at the Bell Center, tribute or original...

text by Robert Dansereau 27/11/2005

November 13, 2005
The Acoustic Strawbs at the Café Campus
By Stephen Takacsy of Musique ProgresSon Music (ProgQuébec)

It was a dream come true to finally see the legendary Strawbs in Montreal, as I missed the only other time they were here in the past 30 years, which was last February 26 as part of the Mundial/Folk Alliance Conference (the full “electric Strawbs” line-up sadly bypassed Montreal in 2004). As in February, it was the “acoustic Strawbs” line-up that performed, featuring Dave Cousins (guitars, banjo), Dave Lambert (guitars) and Chas Cronk (bass, guitars and synth pedals). Within seconds of opening the show with only vocals (in perfect harmony) at the start of Benedictus (Grave New World ’72), one knew that these guys are true professionals. The set began very strongly seconded by the melodic Simple Visions (Deep Cuts ’76), and followed-up my all-time favorite Ghosts (Ghosts ’75), before going way back to Witchwood (Witchwood ’71). Finally a piece from their crown jewel, Autumn (Hero and Heroine ’74) with Lambert making special effects with his guitar, a new track Cold Steel (Deja Fou ’04), followed by the addictive Shine on Silver Sun (Hero and Heroine ’74). Cousins dug even deeper at the half way point of the show, with a stunning rendition (sung by Lambert) of Oh How She Changed , the Strawbs first single from 1968 (also featured on their first eponymous album in ‘69), followed by the beautiful Dragonfly (Dragonfly ’70). These older tracks sounded ever better today than they did over 35 years ago ! A dramatic version of New World (Grave New World ’72) was next, followed by the sentimental If (Deja Fou ’04), leading into the grand finally of rocking versions of Lay Down (Bursting at the Seams ’73) and Hero and Heroine (Hero and Heroine ’74). Only one encore was offered to the crowd of under 100 fans, A Glimpse of Heaven (Witchwood ’71). All in all, the music was sublime and the vocals powerful and perfectly sung, while Cousins recounted numerous stories about the Strawbs’ glory days with a typically dry British sense of humor.

Alas, the show went by too quickly, it seemed like a dream, or maybe just a glimpse of musical heaven. My only critiques are that I would have preferred to hear two sets by our heroes, than the Canadian guitar duo opening act that had little in common with the British progressive folk giants that are the Strawbs. Also, the Café Campus is a poor place for an acoustic concert, as twice I had to go downstairs and complain about the thumping music arising from the first floor. Let’s hope that we can bring back the Strawbs, in a better venue and in front of a larger audience, so that more Montreal fans can enjoy such musical wonder.

November 9, 2005
Arena in Montreal and Quebec City - A review.
When groups of the caliber of Arena come to Montreal, it's always an event. There aren't enough groups like this coming to Montreal, and our promotional team works hard to get great bands like that in town. We were privileged to organize a show with them and it was an honor for us that they decided to conclude their 10th anniversary tour in Canada, a tour of more than 40 dates worldwide!

The shows were organized by Capitale du Métal and Gilles Jr. Guillemette in Quebec City, and by ProgMontréal and Unicorn Digital in Montreal, a great team of promoters we hope, that will continue providing great shows for both cities. The group arrived the day before the show in late afternoon, Jerry, Michel, Claude and I picked them up at the Pierre-Elliott Trudeau airport with all their luggage to bring them at their hotel. We got stuck in traffic for nearly an hour on highway 20, so I had plenty of time to chat with Rob, Clive, John and Andy, who were tightly packed in my car! Back at the hôtel St-Denis, we treated the band to a lovely dinner at Bistro L'Addresse and we discussed about many things, including Rob Sowden's movie projects, food and beer in England, Nathalie's visit to her parents, and then we planned a little schedule for the busy day ahead. Nathalie was so happy to chat in French, being from Québec and all.

The Montreal show
The Medley show featured three bands; Quebec's Sense, Montreal's own Hamadryad, and Arena. Even though we had put tickets on sale in early May, and that we advertized on the radio and in newspapers, we had a modest crowd of barely 200 people. Clive wasn't disappointed, he mentioned that it's about twice as much as last time Arena played in Montreal at the Petit Café Campus. Still, I was quite disappointed by the fact that a band like Arena should be attracting a much bigger crowd, and the low ticket sales really hurt our partner's bottom line... a show of this magnitude can get really expensive to produce. Oh well, the show must go on as they say.

The day started around 10 AM as the band members and technical crew were busy at setting-up the stage for all three bands, first the setup of the screen (a wild-looking, spider-like spandex white reflector) then Mick's drum ands Clive's keyboards, it took a while to get everything set-up and working, but once the guys started their sound check, it took just a few minutes for them to break into Witch Hunt, and after a few numbers, including tracks by Sting on guitar by John Mitchell, Arena's setup was done and they went out for an early dinner and to catch-up on jet-lag a bit at their hotel. The crew from Hamadryad arrived at 2:00 PM and immediately set-up their drum, since it will be shared with Danny Robertson of Sense. Their rehearsal went flawlessly and took about an hour. The guys from Sense arrived around 3:00 PM and quickly set-up and rehearsed, by 5:30, everything was ready for the crowd to start coming in, at 6:00 sharp.

At 7:25 PM, all is ready and I quickly introduce the first opening band of the evening. Sense, originating from the region of Quebec City, is composed of Matthieu Gosselin at the bass and stick, Sylvain Laberge on the flute and keyboards, Danny Robertson on drums, François Bérubé on vocals and guitar, and Stéphane Desbiens on guitars and vocals. Their style combines edgy symphonic prog with folky vocal harmonies, and celtic influences. One of the premier prog bands of the region, they now count three brilliant albums, Madness (2002), Out Of Range (2004) and Stone In The Sky (2005). Their 45-min. set consisted of Desperate, Nothing Left, Shadow, Out Of Range, Pirates and ending with a medley of I Was There, Madness and You And I (closing section). Their performance, even if it was a short one, was simply perfect, just like the first time I saw them at the Terra Incognita Convention on October 8. The sound was excellent, thanks to the fact that they brought their own sound guy. Their great performance caught the attention of George Roldan, the organizer of RosFest, who didn't mind the 7-hour drive from Pennsylvania to see this show. That's dedication! Perhaps we'll see Sense soon at ROSFest? That would be great!

For more great pictures of Sense at the Medley on November 3, 2005, click on the pictures above

The show went along like clockwork, thanks to the efficient work of the stagehands and band members, the changeovers from one group to another went flawlessly and we were actually a few minutes ahead of time during the entire evening. At 8:25 PM, the stage was set for the second opening band of the evening, Hamadryad. Montreal's most prestigious progressive ensemble, It was our pleasure to add them to our roster for this evening. A great last-minute addition to this already excellent showcase. The band, featuring Jean-François Désilets on bass, Yves Jalbert on drums, Denis Jalbert on guitars and Sébastien Cloutier on keyboards played a custom-made set for the Arena crowd that consisted of Spark, Self-Made Man, Alien Sphere, a brilliantly reworked version of Still They Laugh, One Voice, Polaroid Vendetta, Anatomy Of A Dream and ended their 45-min. performance with their classic Action... Another great performance from this consistently brilliant band. The sound and light show was impeccable, thanks also to their own sound/lighting guy, Chris Lamarche. Hamadryad's set was also one of the reason why George Roldan of ROSFest wanted to come to Montreal, since the group is featured on the festival's roster, on April 29, 2006. George loved their show, so did I!

For more great pictures of Hamadryad at the Medley on November 3, 2005, click on the pictures above

And finally, around 9:30 PM, Arena went onstage. The current lineup of the british ensemble is made up of Mick Pointer on drums (and believe it or not, the flute), Clive Nolan on keyboards and vocals, John Mitchell on guitars and vocals, Ian Salmon on bass and vocals and of course, the lead singer of the group, Rob Sowden, also on acoustic guitar. Many agree that this lineup is among the best and is the longest-running that Arena ever had. And they have this wonderful chemistry onstage, superbly talented individuals forming a tight band, with a great sense of humor and you can feel the fun they have onstage, a great team that works so damn well together. Accompanying the band, Andy Clark, the video wizard, responsible for the amazing projections and video effects behind the band and of course Nathalie Pointer, Mick's lovely wife, a "petite Gaspésienne" as she likes to be called, who was taking care of all logistics details for the band as well as taking care of the merchandise table for the group. They brought a few CDs from England, Pepper's Ghost and Life and Live, plus a few t-shirts, and intended not to bring any merchandise back, and sales went quite well. After a funny introduction video with the William Tell overture as background music, the band began playing the instrumental intro to Bedlam Fayre, followed moments later by the impressive Rob Sowden, coming onstage in a cool victorian-style costume, in the spirit of the theme of Pepper's Ghost. A grand entrance for what promised to be an unforgettable show. Their set consisted of Bedlam Fayre, A Crack In The Ice, Midas Vision, The Hanging Tree, A State Of Grace, (don't forget to) Breathe, Smoke and Mirrors, Purgatory Road, Witch Hunt, Waiting For The Flood, Medusa, Serenity, The Shattered Room, City Of Lanterns, Riding The Tide, Chosen, Skin Game, Enemy Without, for the first encore, Crying For Help VII . Clive asked me if they had time for another song, I said "sure!" and the evening concluded with Solomon. Wonderful background projections combining live images with pictures, animations and fractal effects, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere. At one point, Mick was asked by Clive to step in front of the drums to play a humorous little flute intro, much to the delight of the crowd. The powerful and cheerful Witch Hunt is a wonderful showcase for Clive's talent on the keyboards. The vocal harmonies at the end of Riding the Tide were just splendid, giving me goosebumps. Of course, the audience participated with enthusiasm during Crying For Help VII , singing "help me, he-e-e-lp me, wo-ho-ho-ho help me!". What a great show, these guys know how to make their fans happy. And happy they were when the entire band gathered later in the evening at the merchandise table for autographs, pictures, and just chatting with the fans. At the end of the evening, my colleague Jerry brought the group to Chinatown for a late meal while I finished breaking down the stage and packing-up the gear. The Quebec promoter will pick-up the instruments in a 16 ft panel truck in the morning.

For more great pictures of Arena at the Medley on November 3, 2005, click on the pictures above

The members of Arena are a busy bunch: Clive is working on several projects, including the supergroup NEO with his buddy John Jowitt, due to play at ROSFest in 2006, maybe a Pendragon tour next year, he's also working on a solo project with two female singers that's slated for early 2007. Rob of course, had a very successful solo album last year, called Dark Places and has been the lead singer of Arena for the past six years, how time flies! John is part of the band Kino (which was featured at ROSFest this year) and their album Picture is listed in many top 20 prog list this year.

The Quebec show
We arrived in Quebec City on the 5th of November in late afternoon, and after a quick lunch, we headed for the Impérial auditorium. Sense was just finishing-up their soundcheck and rehearsal. A few minutes before the doors opened, Nathalie Pointer was at the merchandise table, distributing a few limited edition promo copies of Pepper's Ghost to the crew, and I was fortunate to get a copy. We then headed with a few people to the balcony, which was closed to the public. A good audience of about 300 people, with a small difference from the show in Montreal; at the request of the band members of Arena, the entire front floor was standing room and only in the back were there chairs and tables. In Europe, Nathalie Pointer explains, most if not all show are standing room only, and the group enjoys the interaction of the crowd during the show when people are dancing on their feet... can anyone dance to prog music? You can click here for some great pictures of the Quebec City gig, courtesy of Olivier Jean. The first set of the evening was performed by the group MAG Project. MAG stands for Marc-André Gingras, the lead guitarist of the band. The other members are Antoine Baril on drums, Daniel Perron on bass and Frédérick Desroches on keyboards. Their set consisted of Eternity, Nowhere In Sight, Cosmic Disturbance, A Drop In The Sea and Open Up, all tracks from his 2004 release, the self-titled album MAG. A splendid performance by this young guitarist, his style is a bit reminiscent of Satriani, Liquid Tension Experiment's Petrucci, great melodies and a spacy guitar sound at times... a very enjoyable show and a great start to the evening. After the show, I asked him for a setlist to write this article and he was kind enough to give me a copy of his CD. It will be a pleasure for me to do a review of this album soon. After chatting a few minutes with Gilles and Michel Bilodeau of Terra Incognita, Sense stepped onstage. Their set, similar to the Montreal show, consisted of Desperate, Nothing Left, Shadow, Out Of Range, Pirates and ending with a medley of I Was There, Madness and You And I (closing section). Another great performance from these brilliant Quebec musicians. After the gig, Matthieu Gosselin, Danny Robertson, Sylvain Laberge and François Bérubé joined us for a while upstairs and stayed for a good part of the Arena show. Around 9:45 PM, Arena began their show, the projection was on a smaller screen than in Montreal, and as the band stepped onstage, the crowd cheered wildly. Quite an enthusiastic audience! And for good reasons, not only was it the very last show of the 10th Anniversary tour, but it was also Arena's 250th gig! The band was in a party mood big time and you could see that they had a lot of fun onstage, and the audience was more than happy to join the celebration. The setlist was mostly the same as the Montreal show, and consisted of Bedlam Fayre, A Crack In The Ice, Midas Vision, The Hanging Tree, A State Of Grace, (don't forget to) Breathe, Smoke and Mirrors, Purgatory Road, Witch Hunt, Waiting For The Flood, Medusa, Serenity, The Shattered Room, City Of Lanterns, Riding The Tide, Chosen, Skin Game, Enemy Without, for the first encore, Crying For Help VII and ending the evening with a variation from the previous show, with The Butterfly Man. The crowd was cheering loudly long after the lights had come on, still singing the jingle of Crying For Help VII. Another majestic performance, followed by a session of autographs and pictures, making this evening just extraordinary for the fans. At one point, Clive was shouting to the crowd "Pepper's Ghost, ten dollars... two for fifteen!" because he definitely did not want to bring back any merchandise on the trip home. At the end of the evening, after a bit of champagne and cheerful congratulations to the band members, and when the doors of the Impérial were finally closed, we finished breaking down the stage and packed the van with all the instruments, including all of Arena's own gear (Gille's van couldn't fit all the members, their luggage and their instruments). Jerry and I were ready to depart around 2:30 AM... a long 3-hour drive back to Montreal in that huge truck. I must admit that I was a bit bleary-eyed when I arrived home!

On Sunday morning, after about an hour of sleep, I dropped the rented instruments at La Boîte à Musique, and in early afternoon, I arrived at Pierre-Eliott Trudeau airport and the members of Arena met me at the British Airways departure gate so I can give them back all of their gear for the trip back home. Another great band we were proud of bringing to Montreal. We will continue working hard to bring progressive music to Montrealers, providing we get the support of the fans of this music. It's hard to believe in a city of over a million people, that we could barely have 200 people at our Arena show at the Medley. Although the show was a success musically, we were quite disappointed by the low turnout for an international band of the caliber of Arena. I am sure that there are more than 200 Arena fans in Montreal... that's why we need everybody to spread the word, when we organize a show, each and eveyone of you can give us a hand by bringing a friend to the show, or putting up poster in your neighborhood. This help will be most appreciated and will ensure the continuation of our efforts to bring great prog bands right here!

Thanks
These great concerts were made possible with the help of many people who went well beyond the call of duty. We are grateful to the following people and organizations whose help was greatly appreciated. My first thanks goes to the fans who support our efforts by buying tickets to our shows, we only wish there were more of you guys in Montreal. Thanks to Gilles Jr. Guillemette who offered us the opportunity to have Arena in Montreal and who took care of transportation logistics. Thanks again to Jacques Durocher and the entire staff of the Medley for their unequaled professionalism and their precious help. Thanks to Michel Bilodeau of Terra Incognita for providing us with a great opening act, Quebec's Sense. Thanks to Steve Marcoux of La Boîte à Musique for providing most of the instruments used for both shows. A special thank to Allan Embury of ItalMélodie for saving the day and providing the exact Korg keyboard that Clive Nolan needed for the concerts. Thanks to Patrick St-Georges, the manager of Bistro L'Adresse on St-Denis Street, for providing fine food to the band members of Arena. Thanks again to Claude Labrecque for the amazing pictures he took. Also thanks to Claude Dufresne and Olivier Jean for additional photography. Thanks to Peter Grainger of CTV for his support and his kind friendship. Thanks to CKUT for offering us a co-presentation for the Montreal show. Thanks to Matthieu, Danny, Sylvain, François and Stéphane of the group Sense for their splendid performance. Big thanks to my good old buddies Denis, Yves, Jean-François and Sébastien of Hamadryad for their rockin' gig and all their help. Of course, thanks to Mick, Clive, John, Ian, Rob, Andy and Nathalie of Arena for two incredible performances, we were honored to have you guys in our neighborhood! Thanks to Michel St-Père of Unicorn Digital for his financial help, as well as his skills and talents as a stage manager for the Montreal show, and for providing the group Hamadryad to make this show so special. And finally, last but not least, thanks to Gérald Laurion for taking the entire Montreal show on his shoulders financially, I only hope that your resolve and dedication will pay off soon.
text by Robert Dansereau 10/11/2005

November 7, 2005
Arena in Montreal and Quebec City - Photos!
Last Thursday, November 3 and Saturday, November 5 was the Montreal and Quebec City concerts featuring Arena, Sense, Hamadryad (in Montreal) and MAG (in Quebec City). Watch this page for a full review of the gigs. for now, click here some great pictures of the Quebec City gig, courtesy of Olivier Jean. You can also see excellent pictures of the Montreal show with Sense, Hamadryad and Arena.

October 14, 2005
The Terra Incognita Convention in Quebec City
A great musical event happened on Saturday, October 8 in Quebec City... the Terra Incognita convention. This one-day festival was organized by Michel Bilodeau, to celebrate the second anniversary of his excellent magazine, Terra Incognita, and was all we expected it to be... a great day dedicated to fans of progressive music, the perfect opportunity to fill up on great shows, CDs and DVDs, and a get-together for all of these enthusiastic, passionate fans of art rock in all its forms. Michel selected a great variety of groups, ranging from jazz fusion to symphonic, from RIO to classic prog, all presented at the Impérial de Québec, a wonderful auditorium that I was visiting for the very first time (I even got a bit lost on the way... don't trust MapQuest's indications for this one...) The Impérial is a beautiful classic hall, reminicent of beginning-of-the-century movie theatres, reminding me vagely of the Cabaret du Capitole, if just slightly smaller. The walls are adorned with gigantic oil paintings, a bar at the back of the hall, tables and chairs on the floor and balcony. After our arrival in town, and after a quick meal, my colleague Jerry and I headed for the auditorium early, where we set up our booth, as representatives of ProgQuébec and Unicorn Digital, to sell CDs from both labels. A guitarist, Simon, was showing his amazing skills on custom made guitars from a local guitar maker, and also in the merchants hall, an audio equipment store and two record stores. Around 2:00 PM, the show begins....
Quartik
This great festival decidedly begins in style! A great little band from the region of Saint-Jean-Chrysostôme that's simply amazing, Quartik were very impressive with their skillful micture of jazz fusion and prog. The band is composed of Jean-Félix Bélanger-Auclair on the 5-string bass, Philippe Binette on drums, Norbert Couture on the vibraphone and Nicolas Turcotte on guitars. The band began their set with a great drum intro by Philippe, with Norbert standing up at his right, on the cymbals... great musicians playing original, cheerful, enjoyable music. The guitarist, Nicolas, wowed us with some stunning guitar riffs and Norbert was simply brilliant on his Yamaha vibraphone. Their set was composed of 1-976-BOZO, Charly & Gumby, Bump & Jump, That Funk, a brilliantly reworked version of A Night in Tunisia, Phinojini Inc. Luck In Time, and Out Rageous. You can see some nice pictures of Quartik by clicking on this link! A must-see band, great friendly guys. Their latest album, Hecho a Mano, is one of these fantastic albums that you just can't take out of the CD player, and be sure to look forward to their next CD, coming soon!

Unisphère
Being at the busy ProgQuebec/Unicorn booth all afternoon, we unfortunately missed Unisphère's set, but from what we heard of it ever so briefly, it sounded damn good! Lots of variety, great melodies, with wonderful hooks. This band from Trois-Rivières is highly inspired by the best elements of Genesis of the 70's, ELP and of course, Pink Floyd, since the group shares two members with tonight's main event, Flying Adventure.

Karcius
Around 5:30 PM, Karcius hits the stage. And as they usually do with ease, they conquered the crowd in a snap! An excellent performance, clocking at 40 minutes, everyone in the audience would have loved some more! A few technical problems with amps and drums, but in no way impacted on the energy and intensity of their set, which consisted of Kunidé intro, Back to Earth, Destination, Evolution, Liquid Meat and Absolute Decadence. Back from their triumphant performance at Prog In The Park in Rochester, last September 10, this band's popularity is ever growing. Their CD Sphère was a best-seller on our table! These young talented musicians proudly carry the torch of prog music's future and are the all important and necessary "changing of the guards" of this musical style. Their next album, sure to be amazing, should arrive next spring.

Jupiter 9
After an early evening supper, around 7:45 PM, the group Jupiter 9 was next... Phew! I have to admit that I was absolutely blown away by this astonishing band, by their incredible originality, a project dear to the heart of bassist and the drummer of Sense, Mathieu Gosselin and Danny Robertson respectively, combined with the talent of their buddy Richard Lehoux on keys and guitars. The band offers a brand of avant/RIO that's totally refereshing, something wildly different, exploring unusual tones and rhythms that goes from arythmic RIO to a cool ditty à la Hoedown by Aaron Copland, sometimes venturing into some sizzling power prog fusion that would uncurl the wool of a sheep! All this amazing musical chemistry results into something really good, totally new. The word "progressive" is most pertinent to describe their music as there is real progress in the evolution of this enthusiastic trio. Add to this the immense talent of these musicians and their diversity, you can imagine why the audience was so enthusiastic. I must mention Mathieu's incredible versatility, playing a 6-string bass, a piccolo bass and a Chapman stick, all with unparalleled skill! The set they played was composed of Jupiter (a stunning epic) Cartoon, Smog, Krépuscule, Joystick, ending with a terrific improvised jam! But wait, there's more! Believe it or not, during their entire set, painter Devid Deschênes was onstage, with a blank canvas, brushes and paint, and created a painting inspired by the music that Jupiter 9 was playing! Okay, they win hands down for originality! And just to rouse the crowd even further, this show was also the official album launch of their new self-titled CD, which I recommend highly. Jupiter 9 was really my highlight of this festival!

Sense
At 8:15 PM, it was Sense's turn. Composed of Matthieu Gosselin at the bass and stick, Danny Robertson on drums, Sylvain Laberge on the flute, François Bérubé on vocals and guitar, and Stéphane Desbiens on guitars and vocals, this band is among the best prog groups in the region of Quebec. With a discography of three excellent albums, including their brilliant Out of Range, on which Brett Kull of Echolyn and Fred Schindel of Glass Hammer contribute, their place in Quebec's prog hall of fame is well secured. Their style, from luscious symphonic prog to folk, ranging from delicate acoustic ballads to Rush-inspired power prog rock, immediately conquered the audience of the Impérial. Their set was composed of the following: Desperate, Nothing Left For You, Shadows Of Ignorance, Be The One, Out Of Range, YYZ (Rush), Pirates and ended with a great medley composed of I Was There, Madness and You and I. Oh, the intensity! Sense is a talented and versatile band and it will be a pleasure to se them again on November 3 at the Medley in Montreal and on November 5 at the Impérial de Québec again, both shows opening for British band Arena.

Flying Adventure
Flying Adventure, for those who aren't familiar, is a Pink Floyd tribute band. They cover the best eras of Floyd's history, from classic tracks of the Meddle album, right up to the latest albums of the british group. Again, due to the restrictions of the long travel back from Quebec to Montreal, associated to the fact that we had to pack-up all our merch and follow-up on all our contacts and give our regards to all our new friends, we missed most if all of Flying Adventure's excellent performance. This band is reknown for their tight, impeccable renditions of the music of Pink Floyd. What began originally as a one-time benefit show for the Fondation En Coeur, turned into a regular thing and the band is still going strong five years later, better than ever, presenting shows in Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Val D'Or even in Baie James (LG3)... This fantastic floydian family is composed of Ian Chouinard on bass and vocals, Claude Boisvert on keyboards and vocals, Fanny Tremblay on sax and percussions, Pierre Spain on slide and electric guitar, Norman Auger on drums, Pascal Mayrand on guitars and Annick Bélisle on keyboards and choir, and add to the choir Hug Mercure and Gaby Beaudet.

I have to say that this cool little festival satisfied everybody! Excellent bands, great times, a great auditorium in the wonderful settings of old Québec. A magical combination... and a winning formula! Bravo Michel, congrats on a job well done!
text by Robert Dansereau 14/10/2005

October 14 2005
Premier Ciel at the Medley
On Friday, October 14, the elegant Harmonium tribute band Premier Ciel presented their third gig at the Medley this year. Their talent, associated to their growing fanbase (and also to the numerous tickets that were given away in the days before the show) had the Medley packed to the rafters that night. A young, noisy crowd of about 800-900, less respectful to the musicians, sometimes more interested at chatting over a beer than listening to the music it seems... A totally different kind of crowd than what you had at the Medley on September 29 at the Steve Hackett show, of course a totally different kind of music too. Again manning the ProgQuebec merchandise tables, we were accompanied by our good friends Stephen Takascy, Jean Lalonde and Sean McFee, the entire ProgQuebec team! Prog music amateurs were satisfied by the proggy tracks from L'Heptade, and fans of French pop music were happy over the classic tunes Dixie and Un musicien parmi tant d'autres. The band, officially sanctioned by Serge Fiori, is composed of Bob St-Laurent on drums and vocals, Julie Valois on keyboards, accordion and vocals, Sylvain de Carufel on guitars, mandolin and vocals, Richard Lanthier on bass and vocals, Denis Faucher on keyboards and vocals, Michel Dubeau on saxophone, clarinet and flute, and of course, the lead singer Francis Gagnon also on guitars and percussions. They played crowd favorites like Pour un instant, Dixie, Aujourd'hui, je dis bonjour à la vie, Comme un fou, Premier ciel, and for the encore, un musicien parmi tant d'autres which was the evening's most awaited tune. And again, a brilliant, perfect performance from a great band, that pleased everybody, young and old, men and women, French and English!

text by Robert Dansereau 14/10/2005

September 30, 2005
A memorable evening with Steve Hackett at the Medley
I had been waiting for a long time to see Steve Hackett in concert, the last time was in 1980, and I didn't even have a chance to see the show although I had a ticket... So on Thursday September 29, I was very much looking forward to get to the Medley for an evening with the Steve Hackett acoustic trio. A rather large venue for such an intimate, quiet evening, but the audience of about 350 people was very respectful to the musicians, you could hear a pin drop during the performances, and very enthusiastic in their applauses, expressing their great appreciation of the trio's brilliance.

The concert was organized by my dear friend Mark Morrow, of M+E Productions, who was kind enough to invite me to this fine concert, and I was happy to give him a hand in the setup of the auditorium, and at the merchandise tables. Steve just recently released a new album of classical music, called Metamorpheus, available at all good record stores, from InsideOut/Camino Records. Shortly before the doors of the auditorium opened, the MusiquePlus crew made a quick interview with Steve onstage, and filmed a couple of excepts of the show. Look forward to see Steve on TV! Many thanks to Simon of Fusion 3 for the splendid job promoting this event!

The concert was divided in two parts, the first set, played solo by Steve and his acoustic nylon string guitar. The second set featured Steve on guitars, his brother John Hackett on the flute and Roger King on the keyboard. The first set, according to the setlist given to me by John, Steve's tour manager, consisted of: EM intro, Beethoven, Lily, Tales of the Riverbank, Tribute to Segovia/Metamorpheus Excerpts, Bay of Kings, Mason Williams' Classical Gas, Elizabethan, Mexico City, Black Light, Skye Boat Song and Horizons.

After a 20 minute break, during which merchandise sales were quite brisk, the trio stepped onstage to warm applauses. The second set consisted of: Jacuzzi, Bourrée-Bacchus, Jam/Red Flowers of Tai Chi/Hands of the Priestess, After the Ordeal/Hairless Heart, Roger King's M3, Imagining/Second Chance, Jazz on a Summer's Day, John Hackett's Next Time Around, Kim, Erik Satie's Avant Dernières Pensées - Idylle/Aubade/Méditations, The Journey, Ace Of Wands, and for the encore Walking Away from Rainbows and finally, Gnossienne #1. The evening ended with a long, well deserved standing ovation.

Oh what a beautiful, emotional evening! Such talent, such dexterity, and such a thrill to be just a few feet from this legendary musician, to whom we prog fans owe so very much. Steve's simplicity and modesty, his humorous banter between songs, and his immense talent as a rock/prog/blues/classical guitarist made this evening very special, very personal, as if he was playing personally for each one of us in the audience.

The audience's reaction was instantaneous when the trio played a quick little hommage to Firth of Fifth during the improv jam of the second set, proving that Steve is still the closest thing to Genesis that fans and enthusiasts will ever have a chance to see... Many people will always identify Genesis ex-members to their music, and will always hope to hear bits here and there of this music that brought prog to the mainstream. Memories of the 80's when Steve played GTR's Imagining. The second part of the set was generous in Steve Hackett classics, much to the pleasure of the crowd, and mine! Roger King treated us to a beautiful piano solo called M3, and John Hackett played a wonderful piece called Next Time Around, from his CD Velvet Afternoon. Many tunes had been reworked from their electric version to accomodate the settings of an acoustic show, most notably on Ace of Wands, which had been completely rearranged, all musical parts were inverted, like Roger playing John's flute parts, and John, playing Steve's guitar parts, a deliciously disconcerting version!

And true to the man's qualities and kindness, Steve Hackett was generous enough in his time to join, with his brother, the merchandise table at the end of the evening and diligently and generously signed every piece of memorabilia presented to him by the fans, also patiently having his picture take with countless people... what an extraordinary man. It was truly an honor to shake the hand of this great musician, and great human being. My souvenirs of the evening were my copies of Spectral Mornings and Please don't Touch on vinyl, as well as my Time Lapse CD, signed by Steve. After giving a hand to my friend Mark to pack the equipment in the van and cleaning-up the backstage area, I left the Medley thoroughly happy, literally on cloud nine. As I said in the beginning of this review... memorable.

text by Robert Dansereau 30/09/2005

September 28, 2005
Jérôme Langlois trio at the bistro La Kémia
On Monday, September 26, I was invited to a little evening at the bistro La Kémia (4115a St-Denis Street) organized by ProgQuébec to present a great trio composed of Jérôme Langlois (Maneige), Bernard Cormier (Conventum) and François Richard (Orchestre Sympathique). A nice evening in good company, with the musicians, friends, colleagues, and a few journalists. Why review a private show, you say? In fact, this performance was a little preview of the show that will happen at the Gesù on October 24, a great opportunity to see these amazing musicians together at last, an appetizer before October 24's big feast, and a good idea of what we can expect at that show. a little warm-up show if you wish.

Jérôme Langlois is the creator, the composer, keyboardist, clarinetist of the legendary instrumental prog band Maneige, who was part of Quebec's music landscape in the 70s. This evening coincides also with the release of Maneige's new, previously unreleased CD, Live à l'Évêché, a show recorded in 1975 at the Hôtel Nelson.

After a short introduction by Stephen Takacsy, President of ProgQuébec, Jérôme at the clarinet and at the piano, François at the flute and at the piano, and Bernard on the violin played selections from Jérôme's latest solo album, Molignak, and of course a few Maneige tunes. They played Rafiot, Arrivée, Souffles d'Ivoire et d'Écrin, Je suis le Démon de ta Vie, and for the encore, Huard 1 and Tango 2000. An evening of quiet, smooth music, this short performance was exquisite. I would have loved to hear them play all night long. In one word, magical! Cradled by the beatiful melodies, this brilliant music was simply mesmerizing. An inspired performance from these great Québécois musicians, where passion and intensity were hand in hand, with a touch of humor. Looks like the main event at the Gesù is going to be a hell of a good show, your chance to see part of Quebec's musical history at its best.

As a quick reminder, here are the details: Jérôme Langlois, with friends Gilles Schetagne (ex-Maneige), Bernard Cormier (ex-Conventum), Mario Légaré (ex-Octobre) and François Richard (ex-Orchestre Sympathique) together for one sensational, unforgettable show, on Monday, October 24, 2005 at 8:00 PM at the Gesù (1200 Bleury Street – Place Des Arts metro). Tickets are $25.00 plus taxes, and are available on the ProgQuébec website and through the Gesù, also through Admission by phone at (514) 790-1245 or online at www.admission.com. A ProgQuébec presentation.
text by Robert Dansereau 28/09/2005

September 24, 2005
Virtual Max at La Place à Côté
There are those groups that are so incredible and unique that you feel privileged to see them in the cosy, intimate settings of La Place à Côté on Papineau Street... Virtual Max is one of those bands. What a thrilling show they gave last night, on September 23! The trio just blew everyone's socks off last June 2 at the Medley when they opened for The Flower Kings. Virtual Max is composed of Pierre Dragon on drums, Patrice Charbonneau on Mallet KATs and vibraphone, and Daniel Pancaldi on Mallet KATs, chapman stick and guitar. Three of the most talented, individuals I have ever seen. Their music is so original that it is hard to put them in a particular category, a mix of prog rock, jazz fusion, classical, electronic music, space rock, sometimes sounding like Alan Parsons' Eve and Tales eras, at other times, like Ennio Morricone's movie themes, it's wild and crazy stuff from wild and crazy guys (... SNL puns intended). The group's setlist was Double agent, The Hunted, Demeter, La Mer, Hobgoblin & The Imp, Nails of Ice, Crimson King, Death Of Innocence, The Balloon, Frankenstein/drum solo, Overflight and for the encore, Dill Pickle. The interaction between the members of the band is incredible, even the slightly reserved and shy Patrice just explodes behind his Mallet KAT and vibraphone. Danny, the funny guy and narrator of the group, introduces the tunes with humorous one liners, very at ease with the crowd, his banter just cracks me up! Pierre, very physical, goes along and punctuates his performance with hilarious mannerisms, it's just a joy to see how much fun all three of them have onstage, but the music is some seriously brilliant stuff though! The elaborate reworked version of Demeter, title track of their first album, was just mesmerizing... Patrice, Pierre and Danny could play the sweetest, quietest melody, then switch to pure power metal mayhem in an instant. During the brilliant and very extended Death of Innocence, the guys were in a transe, an admirable electronic orgasm that would make Klaus Schulze sound like a 4-year old on a playschool toy! Patrice is one of the fastest vibraphone players I've ever seen. It's simply a wonder how his wrist work! You look closely at his mallets and they literally become blurry to the naked eye! Damn! Pierre Dragon's drum was quite an impressive array to see, with the numerous cymbals and the gong behind him! A much more elaborate drumkit than the one he used on June 2 at the TFK show. During his solo in the middle of Edgar Winter's Frankenstein, we witnessed the coolest, zaniest, weirdest performance by a drummer I have ever had the truculent pleasure to see! He completely rewrote what a drum solo should sound like, using every part of his sticks, shouting insanely and humorously during his killer performance. Simply amazing! At one point, Danny's guitar was quite a bit out of tune, and he humorously mentioned that every note was meant to sound like that... yeah, right! Overflight, one of Virtual Max' favorites, is in a word the most impressive interpretation of "Flight of the Bumble Bee" that you could ever imagine to hear! Patrice and Danny virtually give it their max! Ending the night with a funny little ragtime ditty called Dill Pickle, the evening ended with a well-deserved standing ovation! What a great evening. It's incredible to have seen such an impressive performance by such amazing musicians. Virtual Max is ready to go into the big leagues now. My souvenir for the evening was an autographed setlist of the show, thanks Danny. They will be soon working on their next album and don't be surprised to see them at your favorite prog festivals very, very soon!

text by Robert Dansereau 24/09/2005

September 14, 2005
Relayers at La Place à Côté
Tuesday September 13 was Relayers' first live show at La Place à Côté. Relayers is the latest tribute band, this time to prog supergroup Yes, and their performance was long awaited by the 50 or so people at the club. The band is composed of Charles Fortin on bass/vocals, Simon Mercure on keys/vocals, Jean-Philippe Fortin on drums/vocals and Clément Larose on guitars. The show began around 10:00 PM and they began their set with a blistering version of Yours Is No Disgrace, switching flawlessly to the 90125 era with It Can Happen, then on to Starship Trooper, Hold On, and ending the first part of their set with the grandiose Close to the Edge. The second part of their set featured Roundabout, Siberian Khatru, Long Distance Runaround/The Fish/drum solo, Owner Of A Lonely Heart, Heart Of The Sunrise and for the encore, I've Seen All Good People. Keyboardist Simon Mercure was quite efficient, able to reproduce a fairly accurate Rick Wakeman sound using only two keyboards, a Roland XP-80 and an Ensoniq MR61. Lead singer/bassist Charles Fortin has a great presence and can easily reach Jon Anderson's high vocal range. An excellent performance considering it was their very first live gig. A few bits here and there to improve upon, like the vocal harmonies on the very challenging Close to the Edge and some guitar bits on I've seen All Good People, but overall, Relayers has reached its goal, of capturing the essence of Yes and delivering an enjoyable performance. Their interpretation is true to the original tracks, while giving them a cool twist. The guys know their material very well and have a great stage presence, guitarist Clément Larose even looks vaguely like Steve Howe! A great tribute to a band whose music is quite complex. If they play in your neighborhood, do yourself a favor and go see them, you won't regret it! Kudos to these fine musicians for a great evening of prog bliss!
text by Robert Dansereau 14/09/2005

September 12, 2005
Prog In The Park festival, Rochester NY
On Saturday September 10 was the third edition of the Prog In The Park festival, in Rochester NY. Organized by Michael Martin and Jack Moore of Prog on the 90, the one-day event was a great meeting of great bands and enthusiastic fans. My friend an I arrived in Rochester a bit before noon. we headed for our hotel, the lovely Clarion Riverside (and thanks to the PitP team, we had a great rate of $65 per night!) before we made our way to Rochester's German House, the new home of the Prog in the Park festival. Perhaps it might be renamed "Prog in the House" from now on! Since I was representing ProgQuebec and Unicorn records, we were alloted a vendor's table on the balcony and we set up our stuff. Unfortunately, we missed the performance of Navigator but arrived just in time for Red Sand's show around 1:45. Their set was very good, slightly marred by a few sound-related glitches. The singer of the group, Stéphane Dorval, has a very powerful voice and a very dynamic, theatral presence onstage. A great performance from this Quebec-based band!

Around 3:30 came my personal highlight of the festival, Helmet of Gnats from Stamford, CT. Holy smokes! What a band... Incredibly tight, fantastic arrangements, stunning compositions, splendid musicianship. Their style is a brilliant blend of keyboard/guitar-based instrumental prog/fusion, extremely edgy, well crafted stuff. Guitarist Chris Fox says "we're just a garage band"... all I could say is that it's a hell of a great garage! Look for a review of their latest CD soon!

Right after dinner time, at 6:00, Ottawa's Nathan Mahl hit the stage. An impeccable performance from Guy Leblanc and his team. This veteran of prog started his set with a track from his very first album of over 20 years ago, soon followed by tracks from "Shadows Unbound". It was a delight to see this band perform their great mix of symphonic prog, sometimes with dark overtones, venturing into jazzy fusion on some tracks. Guy's brilliant keyboard work was, as always, spot on!

At 8:15, it was Frogg Café's turn. Another superb performance of the Froggies, who were accompanied by Nick Lieto's brother, John on the trombone. their set consisted of All This Time, You're Still Sleeping, Fortunate Observer of Time, Questions Without Answers, Reluctant Observer, 2001- A Frogg Odyssey, No Regrets, Eternal Optimist and their encore was Zappa's Peaches En Regalia. Nick and John's horn duo was simply on fire! An awesome performance from this group we always expect no less of! we checked with Michael Martin to make sure that Karcius' set wouldn't begin before the end of FC's and as soon as Frogg Café ended their show, we quickly headed downstairs at "The Keg" stage downstairs so that we could catch our boys from Montreal do theit thing. The Keg stage downstairs is in the sports bar/pub/restaurant, the same stage where the Dave Schmeidler's Waildogs played earlier in the afternoon. Sadly we also missed their sets because we had to take care of our table.

Around 9:45, Karcius began their set. And what a set they did! They actually played several new songs from their upcoming album, including Main Tenant, Destination and Hypothèse A, ending with a classic track from their album Sphere, Absolute Decadence. A powerful, jaw-dropping, exuberant performance that caught the audience by surprise, everybody was cheering loudly, including the whole crew of Frogg Café and Gentle Giant's Gary Green! I had a big pile of Karcius CDs on my table and sold ten in as many minutes. I was quite happy when Michael Martin considered inviting Karcius again next year, and this time... on the big stage! Dominique, Simon, Mingan and Thomas can be proud of this first performance at a music festival! it was simply superb and they really made a name for themselves!

Finally, the conclusion of this great festival with Marillion/Genesis tribute band The Waiting Room, a local group from Rochester, who performed a good chunk of Marillion's "Misplaced Childhood" album, and ended the evening with a few well selected Genesis tunes, including Supper's Ready and The Musical Box. That was the cherry on top! Uneventful return from the States into Canada, Prog In The Park 2005 was a great event, a resounding success and left us with great memories. See you next year PitP!

text by Robert Dansereau 12/09/2005

August 30, 2005
Dave Mason/Frogg Café at La Tulipe
Hall of famer Dave Mason and his merry musicians were at La Tulipe on Friday, August 26. Dave is one of those legendary performers active since the mid-sixties, and who played with such legends as Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison and Fleetwood Mac, not mentioning that he was among the original musicians of the group Traffic, along with Windwood and Capaldi. It may not be prog, but it was damn good rock'n'roll. The opening band though, was prog at its finest. New York's Frogg Café, performing in Montreal for the third time in a year! They're getting to be city favorites! Being a helping hand to my good friend Mark Morrow, the organizer of the event, I saw how fast and efficient the guys of Frogg Café are, setting up their gear in record time and doing a 15 minute sound check, just in time to open the doors of La Tulipe around 6:00 PM. Frogg Café took the stage at 7:30 PM sharp and delivered a splendid performance as usual. Their 45-min. set consisted of All This Time, No Regrets, Eternal Optimist, King Kong, Fortunate Observer of Time and finished with Questions Without Answers. The sound was great and the members of the band were simply on fire, Stevie Ray Uh just blowing away everybody with his King Kong monster solo, Nick Lieto's trumpet solo kicked ass! All of the guys seemed very at ease, even on the diminutive La Tulipe stage, crowded with Dave's gear. What was great was that although this was not a prog fusion crowd, they enjoyed thoroughly the show and cheered loudly the Froggies. I was a happy tadpole! The crowd was modest, a bit over 100 people, hard to believe for such a legendary musician as Mason. Dave Who? I guess he's among the best unknown players of his time, and the select few who know him were treated to a great show. The Mason set started a bit early and lasted about 2 hours. Immensely talented musicians accompanied Mason, including Alex Drizos on bass, Johnne Sambataro on guitars, Eric Powers on drums and Bill Mason on keys and Chris Curtis on the sound console. A solid performance from these dexterous musicians, great sound and wicked cool solos from Mr. Mason and Sambataro made this an evening to remember. Their set consisted of Only You And I Know, 40000 Headmen, World In Changes, We Just Disagree, Look At You Look At Me, Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave, Ain't Your Legs Tired, Let Me Go, Dear Mr. Fantasy, All Along the Watchtower, Let It Go, Let It Flow and ending with his classic Feelin' Alright. A great evening was had by all! Many thanks to Kirk for providing these great shots. text by Robert Dansereau 29/08/2005

pictures by Kirk Bennett/CVMC.ca

July 28, 2005
Pictures of IQ/Hamadryad at the Medley on July 7
Click below for some stunning pictures of IQ and Hamadryad taken on July 7th at the Medley in Montreal by our very own master photographers Claude and Lise Labrecque!

July 26, 2005
Present at the Lion D'or
On Wednesday, July 13, the legendary Belgian band Present was in Montreal, and played one of the most intense, mind-blowing show ever presented at the Lion D'Or! And again, another ProgLands production that we organized. Fourth show of our great run that saw Frogg Café, The Flower Kings and IQ play in Montreal. What an amazing show it was, and what a great production, with two of the best bands of the genre together, Miriodor and Present... a killer combination! Here now are the details of this great prog event.

THE ARRIVAL
Back from my emotions of IQ's Montreal gig and NEARFest 2005, I arrived in the evening from Bethlehem, PA on Monday, just enough time to pick-up things and clean-up a bit (We have offered to have the members of the band as our guests at our homes, to save on expensive hotel fees for 9 people for two days, and they all agreed without any problems). The group would be arriving early Tuesday evening in Montreal and we asked them to meet us at the Lion D'Or so that we could split the team in groups to bring them at our respective homes, Denis, Jerry and I.

ANGST
So after taking care of some last minute details, we waited all day long to get Roger Trigaux' call that they had arrived in the city, a call I was expecting between 6:00 and 7:00 P.M. Time was flying as I nervously waited for the call. Finally around 8:00 P.M. I got a call, but it wasn't Roger Trigaux, it was a lady from the Immigration Office... gasp! The lady asked if I was the promoter in charge of the group Present that will play on the 13th at the Lion D'Or, I said yes, and then she told me that the band couldn't be cleared because they don't have a work permit and they need one. I immediately told her that according to the CIC, they don't and that I had made sure by calling to numerous representatives at Canada Customs and at the Immigration Office, and gave her all the details and people I spoke to. She said she would call me in a few minutes. It actually took 30 minutes and during these 30 minutes, my heart literally stopped, my tongue was pasty and I was dizzy... THE most anxious half-hour I have ever spent in my life! When she called, she simply told me that they had been cleared and that they were on their way to the Lion D'Or... phew! I asked if everything was in order, and she said yes, they actually weren't sure if the Lion D'or qualified as a cabaret exempted of requiring any work permit, and after further inversigation, they confirmed it is. So I almost died of anxiety because that lady had made a mistake. Aargh!

So around 9:00 PM, the Present team arrived in Montreal, at the Lion D'or in two vans, filled with all of their equipment. I greet Roger and the rest of the team, who are all tired and hungry, so we brought them to a pizzeria across the street that's open late. After discussing after setup details for tomorrow's concert, we parted our way with the various band members, I inherited Reginald Trigaux and Udi Koomran, Jerry brought Pierre Chevalier and Pierre Desassis, and Denis got Roger Trigaux, Martine, Keith Macksoud and Matthieu Safatly, the last member, Dave Kerman will be sleeping at the Roberval hotel on René-Lévesque, since he suffers from numerous allergies. We arrived at my house quite late and after Reggie and Udi settled for the night, I slept on the couch.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13th
In the morning after I brought the two guys to a nice little restaurant for a hearty breakfast, we made our way to the Lion D'Or auditorium, picking-up Dave at his hotel on the way, and we started setting up the gear and begin the soundcheck. Meanwhile, Pascal Globensky and most of the Miriodor team arrived and started setting-up Rémi's drum (who will be used by Dave Kerman too). To complete the setup, we needed to rent some equipment at La Boîte à Musique nearby. We got a Roland A90EX (since during transportation a few days before, Nicolas' keyboard got damaged) and a second 100 W Fender guitar amp for Reggie. After setting-up the backstage area with food, beer and water, and the merchandise at the concession table, all was ready for the evening. With only 31 tickets sold, we expected a modest audience. Surprisingly, we had around 30 walk-ins, so we finally got closer to 60 paying clients, plus some 15 guest, for a more reasonable 75 people total, but still a bit under our target for this show not to be in the red.

BREAK-IN
At 7:30 PM sharp, Miriodor is ready for their gig. With pride, I introduced the group onstage, and then, the group started their great set, loud and powerful, to keep their own vis-à-vis their belgian counterparts. But just minutes into Miriodor's set, I see Keith Macksoud, Present's bass player, looking quite worried. As he was going to his van to pick up a piece of gear, he saw that his window had been broken and the van had been picked clean! After a quick look at the van, and reassuring all the Present band members (who looked very distraught), I spent nearly 20 minutes on the phone in the steaming-hot kitchen of the Lion D'Or restaurant, waiting for the police to answer my 911 call... just to be told to go to the police station to fill a police report (the police doesn't respond to car break-ins, you have either to be dead or bleeding for them to come...) pff! So after picking-up a blank police report, I had it filled by Keith, just moments before he was to step onstage. Brought back the filled report to the police station in order for Keith to have a police report with an event number, both for his insurances, and to pass through US customs without too many questions... Imagine arriving at the US border with a broken window... not a good idea!

After I was back at the Lion D'or, the guys were putting the finishing touch on the changeover and tuning their equipment onstage, in front of the crowd. Denis introduced the band very briefly and Present just exploded onstage! Imagine the intense, exuberant performance of NEARFest, but concentrated on a smaller stage, Louder, more intense, more hysterical, really more of everything. Present gave the most amazing performance the Lion D'or had ever seen, I was afraid the walls would crack and crumble! Dave Kerman is one of the most thoroughly satisfying drummer to see live, perfect in his rhythms, while looking like an escaped madman from the asylum, again beheading barbie dolls on his cymbals. He truly gave the people what they want! The atmosphere at the Lion D'Or was getting red hot, so we saw Reginald Trigaux and Pierre Chevalier take off their t-shirts to continue the show bare-chested. Again, Pierre Desassis was torturing the hell out of his clarinet and sax with supreme intensity, and Matthieu was fiddling on his space-age cello with maniacal, mechanical precision. Finally, Roger, the conductor, guitarist, keyboardist, led this aural tornado in a majestic way, ending the show on a ELP/Who note with guitars flying and keyboards crashing on the floor. No pipe slammer in a kilt this time, though... Even a concussion grenade wouldn't devastate the crowd that much. Present were treated to a long, loud standing ovation. People were in awe, shell-shocked! Roger and friends had played a good part of #6, and tracks from High Infidelity, as well as a few classics from their long history and generous back catalogue. Just an extraordinary show which stunned the public. The band members stayed after the show to sign autographs and talk to fans. I had a picture of the band signed by everybody, and Dave signed one of his drumsticks for me. Great souvenirs! Sales of their CDs were brisk, some people picking-up three or four CDs at a time. Miriodor's Parade double CD was also a great seller, I picked-up a copy myself which I will review soon in a future section of my site, which will be appropriately entitled "CD reviews"...

LATE EVENING GATHERING
After the breakdown, it was nearly 1:00 AM, and everybody was hungry, Francys L'Espérance, the manager, stage director and sound engineer of the Lion D'or suggested a little restaurant on Sherbrooke Street and we all headed there for a late late night meal. So there I was, at 2:00 in the morning, with Present, Jerry, Denis and Francys, enjoying a salad and a bottle of wine. A rare moment for a fan like me! After dropping Udi and Réginald at my house, I dropped Jerry at this house, to finally be back home at 3:00... I was getting dangerously tired at the wheel, my eyes almost closed while I was driving!

The morning after the show, we all met at a restaurant near Jerry's house for a nice breakfast, and after warm goodbyes, I led the Present caravan in my car on Champlain bridge towards i87 USA and bid them farewell one last time. What an experience! What an adventure!

THANKS
Again, many people were essential to the success of this event. Thanks to Francys L'Espérance and the entire staff of the Lion D'or for their professionalism and the high quality of the hall's sound. Thanks to Serge for giving us a hand with transportation and for being a good friend. A heartfelt thank you to Pascal, Rémi, Nicolas, Bernard, Chantal and Marie-Chantal of the group Miriodor for such a stunning, perfect performance, again spoiling us with their immense talent and generosity. And of course, Roger, Réginald, Martine, Pierre and Pierre, Matthieu, Dave, Keith and Udi of the group Present for coming from so far and performing the very last show of their 25th anniversary tour in Montreal, we really appreciated that and we were awed by their spectacular performance. Finally, thanks to the fans, supporters of RIO, this brilliant but misunderstood genre of progressive music.

Here are a few pictures of the concert if you click on this banner below.

text by Robert Dansereau 27/07/2005

July 22, 2005
NEARFEST 2005
This is a detailed account of my experience at NEARFest 2005. In the past two years, I went to this illustrious festival and every time, I was absolutely blown away, completely smitten, by the fact that you can meet and chat with the band members of every group there, meet "prog" celebrities like Mike Portnoy, Annie Haslam, Roger Dean, Paul Whitehead, Roine Stolt and Andy Latimer as well as pick-up almost every prog album ever made as well as merchandise, posters, t-shirts, and other stuff. You also meet tons of friends you've known online for years, but see for the very first time at the festival. Let's face it, it's as Rob LaDuca says: "A yearly meeting of 1000 of your closest friends", because in the world of prog, our passion for this strange music makes each and everyone of us rather unique, and our common interests makes it very easy to forge friendships and bonds that will last a lifetime! And finally, you get to see 10 great prog bands or artists, sometimes more if you count the "preshows" and the late night parties at various hotels... Can't get any better than this!

So this year, with a lineup like PFM, Le Orme, Present, IQ, Kenso... I couldn't miss! My only concern was the tight concentration of events, we're organizing IQ's Montreal gig on the 7th, drive to NEARFest from the 8 to the 11th, and then take care of the Present show from the 12th to the 14th... That's a lot to do with very little time to turn around!

THE BUS FROM HELL
One of the duties we were requested by the band IQ was to provide them with transportation from Montréal to Bethlehem, PA. Initially, John Jowitt suggested that flights should be booked, but I finally convinced him that a nice, relaxing bus trip would be much more fun, stopping for food on the way and having plenty of time to chat and enjoy the nice views of the Adirondacks. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that there would be those horrific terrorist attacks in London, England on the day of the IQ show in Montreal. Which led of course to a dramatic increase in security and utter paranoia at the american border. We got stuck for nearly six hours at the US border, sniffing dogs, x-ray machines, and five buses ahead of us. Our nice little bus trek turned into a 16-hour nightmare... Many of the passengers had paid to get to Bethlehem in time for the NEARFest pre-show, which featured this year Proto Kaw and PFM. So of course this was now out of the question since we would arrive well after the shows would be finished. During the long wait, I decided to put on a few DVDs on the entertainment system, just to discover much to my dismay, that the player in the bus is a VHS unit! Shit! Who the hell ever heard of a VHS system on a bus? So the DVDs were a bust. Took out my portable just to discover that I hadn't recharged the battery and it was nearly dead. No problem, i'll recharge it using a 110 v outlet... what? no 110 v outlet on the bus? Shit! We left Montreal around 9:00 AM and cleared customs around 4:00 PM... by then, everyone on the bus was intensely stressed, tired, thirsty and hungry... we had planned to get some groceries while on our planned dinner break, but since our plans had dramatically changed, we headed for the first exit we could find and found ourselves at a rather seedy-looking truck stop called "Betty Beaver"... basically a greasy spoon shack in the middle of nowhere... Being tired, it was by then easy to have a good chuckle at the absurdity of it all... we enjoyed a quick meal and then resumed our long trek in the rain towards Bethlehem.

The dreaded bus from Hell...

Patience is needed but spirits
are high.

They're not kidding
at the border...

Jane and Richard at the time
of our departure.

The Betty Beaver
Truck Stop...

A more revealing side view...

Peter, Robert and John
at this lovely restaurant...

Inside, everybody had a
pretty good time!

Although they were tired and disappointed to lose an entire day, the members of IQ retained their composure and their good sense of humour. We arrived at 12:30 AM at our destination. After our driver searched aimlessly for about 30 minutes in the maze that is the town of Bethlehem, we finally arrived at the Zoellner so that we drop some of the technicians and some of their gear. Our last stop were the three hotels where all of the passengers will be spending the NearFest weekend. I arrived at 2:00 AM at the Hampton Inn, just to discover that there was a problem with the bus driver's accomodations, and even worse, John Jowitt had mistakenly taken Allison's and Janes's luggage with him at the Comfort Suites, so Allison had to take a shuttle to get her luggage back from John. All that could go wrong did, Murphy's law prevailed with a vengeance today! By then I had it, and I just crawled to my room, mumbling furiously. I was sharing a room with Dave, a long-time NEARFest buddy so I thought of bringing earplugs (snoring keeps me up).

NEARFEST, DAY ONE
After a lovely breakfast at the Hamptons Inn, we made our way in the tour bus to the Zoellner. Upon my arrival at the Zoellner, I began with a quick scan of the vendor tables, where I saw my good friend Andrew Sussman of the group Frogg Café, then briefly visited Annie Haslam's art gallery upstairs (she's a sweetheart, as well as having one of the most beautiful voices on earth).

WOBBLER
The first show of the day was Wobbler, from Norway at 11:00 AM. A good start to the day. Guitarist Morten Andreas Eriksen had that whole norse viking look with his long hair and thick mustache. Very good show, their music being very reminiscent of a cross between Anglagaard and Anekdoten and not because keyboardist Lars Fredrik Frøislie uses 2 mellotrons on stage (one slightly off key of course) he also uses a Mini Moog and a classical Hammond B3. The keyboard sounds were sometimes twisted and tortured, and the splendid flute work of Ketil Einarsen reminded of the classic Ian Anderson flute singing. Wobbler's music is composed of dark and intense melodies. They played only 4 songs, all of which were extensive epics, and adding their 20-minute encore, extended their set quite a bit beyond their alloted time, which in turn, made all of the other performances of the day start late. The show was slightly marred by the quirky, innacurate light show, either technical problems or a bad light technician (Rob LaDuca did mention that there were problems with the lighting equipment and that most groups did not bring their own light tech).

FROGG CAFÉ
After a quick bite and a well-deserved beer, I headed back in the hall for the second serving of the day, Frogg Café. Being very familiar with the band's music, and good friends with all of the members, I knew I was in for a treat. Steve, Bill, Andrew, Nick and James played just an amazing set. Added to the mix was Nick's brother, John Lieto on trombone, which made the froggies even more glorious and musically intense. For those not familiar with their music, I can tell you they made tons of new fans on this day. Frogg Café began their existence as a Zappa cover band, quickly turning to their own avant-inspired compositions and have released to this day three very impressive albums. The highlight of the show was Frankie Camiola, Frogg's ex-lead guitarist, stepping onstage with an acoustic guitar to play the majestic "Waterfall Carnival", their 20+ min. epic. Nearly moved me to tears. Bravo Frogg Café! One of the best performances of their carreer! Yet again the problematic light show. Their brilliant album, Fortunate Observer of Time, along with this magnificent performance, should catapult them into the Major Leagues of prog.

Skipped Steve Roach' set completely, and quickly made my way to the bus with a few friends to catch a good meal at the Bethlehem Brew Works, in the company of the members of IQ, again to discover that there was a communication breakdown with the bus driver from hell, and that the entire "IQ bash" started late because of him and as I arrived at the Brew Works, the members of the band were departing. Damn! Foiled again! I only had about 45 minutes to chow down my beer and bowl of chili before our little group headed back to the Zoellner in time for the Present show, which was going to begin nearly one hour late. So I had some time to shmooze around the vendor tables, met with the members of Echolyn and Glass Hammer, and chatted with Sean McFee of ProgQuébec about the projects his organization is working on, including the rerelease on CD of some classical prog albums from Québec.

PRESENT
Present was next on the agenda, starting at 7:00... Words fail me to describe the intensity, the raw power, the absolute exuberance of this band. They were simply on fire! Present plays a type of music not easily accessible to the general public, Rock in Opposition, or RIO as purists call it. But Present's music is on a much higher, complex level, with an almost death-metal intensity that is sure to wake up the dead! Being at a Present concert is just as intensive as being on a runaway rollercoaster with all the safeties off! Although looking a bit frail, Roger Trigaux astounded us with his agressive compositions and his brilliant leadership, conducting this orchestra of darkness with brilliance. Reggie Trigaux on lead guitar ripped through our brains with his incisive riffs, Keith Macksoud so perfect on bass, pulling furiously at the strings sometimes, Pierre Chevalier just banging on the keys those repetitive yet so insidious melodies, Pierre Desassis pushing the envelope of insanity on the clarinet and sax, sometimes to the point where I thought he'd fall unconscious from all the raw energy he gave out, Matthieu Safatly on an electronic cello that looked more like a creature from "Aliens", just brilliant, and finally Dave Kerman, one of the most spectacular drummer/percussionist I have ever seen in my life (and all the previous other lives...) Drumming with the intensity of a caged wild badger... hitting the cymbals with everything from plastic scissors to golf clubs to... barbie dolls, violently beheading them in the process! And just when you thought it couldn't get anymore intense, out comes a scary looking wiry bald guy wearing only a kilt and warlike facepaint, holding a long steel pipe, and banging on it to accompany Dave's syncopated rhythms. That crazed percussionist banged the pipe so hard that at the end of the song, it was actually bent! Such an enjoyable, but oh so exhausting performance! Took a few minutes to get my composure back!

An hour after the show, I went to see Roger Trigaux and introduced myself to him, since we are going to have the group Present play at the Lion D'Or on the 13th of July. I told Roger the bad news about the poor ticket sales in Montreal (as of the day of our departure to NEARFest, we only had 28 tickets sold...) and offered Roger to back out of the concert if he prefered. Roger told me that he never ever cancelled a show in his carreer, so I told him that we would greet him at the Lion D'Or in Montreal on the 12th and we would be ready for the live tornado on the 13th!

IQ
Then on the main show of day one, my good friends of the group IQ, their set starting around 9:30, over an hour late! The guys were obviously tired from that hellish bus ride and the very short night they had, being back at the auditorium real early for setup and rehearsals. The show started with "Sacred Sound" but immediately, some serious technical difficulties seemed to crop up, Someone had fiddled with the soundboard controls and there