Live Shows

REVIEWS OF RECENT LIVE SHOWS IN MONTREAL
(and everywhere else...)

June 30, 2008
Fish in Montreal: A review.
On Saturday June 28, Fish, ex-Marillion singer and renowned solo artist, performed at Le National on Ste-Catherine street to a crowd of 450-500 fans. It has been many years since his last visit and people were looking forward to what the gentle scottish giant had been working on...

And it was a great showcase for one of our local bands, Jellyfiche, who were presenting the opening show. Settling comfortably in the dressing rooms of the National, the guys were putting the final touches on their setup when Fish walked in to introduce himself to the opening act. Looking at Syd's outfits backstage, Fish made the remark that he used to be in this band a long time ago where he wore many costumes and makeup also!

At 9:00 sharp, Jellyfiche stepped onstage. Their 40-minute set was magnificent, they played with much energy and a lot of passion, it's not everyday that you have the chance of opening for a legendary scottish singer like onkel Fish! Their set included Tout Ce Que J'ai Rêvé, Les Arbres, Dans La Peau D'un Autre and La Cage Aux Vautours. Their great performance was cheered with enthusiasm and several members of the Fish team were quite impressed by Jellyfiche's brilliant blend of psychedelic prog, folk and jazz fusion. Bravo guys, your great performance earned you a bunch of new fans! Thanks again to our photographer Claude Dufresne for the excellent pictures of JellyFiche.

Click on the image above for pictures of Jellyfiche in Montreal, 28/06/2008 - ©2008 Claude Dufresne

And around 10:00, time for Fish. He is one amazing fellow, and the combination of his talent as a composer to his charisma and friendliness, adding to that his irreverent sense of humour, and you've got an incredibly entertaining show to say the least. His between-song bander, although long-winded at times, was quite humorous and colorful, his voice may not be what it was at the time of Misplaced Childhood and Fugazi, but his almighty stage presence and his intensity more than makes up for it. The setlist included some Marillion classics such Clutching At Straws and The Last Straw as well as material from his numerous solo albums including Slainte Mhath, Dark Star, Manchmal and Hotel Hobbies. Guitarist Frank Usher was outstanding, offering passionate guitar solos and breathtaking licks! The sound was intense but well-balanced. The crowd loved every minute of it! Here are some pictures of Fish in concert, courtesy of Claude Dufresne.

Click on the image above for pictures of Fish in Montreal, 28/06/2008 - ©2008 Claude Dufresne

The merchandise counter in the back of the auditorium featured many t-shirts, CDs and DVDs but sadly, they ran out of their latest album, the 13th Star, which I would have loved to get my hands on. Before the show, Fish patiently and diligently signed autographs from 6:00 to 8:00 at the Brutopia pub, although a bit tired, he chatted with the crowd and signed plenty of CDs and T-shirts for the admiring fans.

Overall, an amazing evening and a fantastic performance from the opening and main acts! One of these great, unforgettable shows where people really got their money's worth and then some!

June 25, 2008
NEARFest X: A review.
The tenth edition of the North-East Art Rock Festival (NEARFest) was consistent with the previous 9 other editions... An amazing and varied progressive rock festival put on by passionate and dedicated people that unite prog fans, musicians and enthusiasts for one solid weekend of pure fun. And let me tell you, it began with a bang!

Friday, June 20: Preshow
After the long trip from Montreal to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, we arrived at the Zoellner Arts Center in the late afternoon, just in time to set up our booth, as we were representing again our own FMPM festival, as well as ProgQuebec and Unicorn Digital. I quickly picked-up a copy of the official program as well as a few CDs from different vendors. At 7:00 PM, it was time for the first performance of the day.

Larry Fast and his fantastic Synergy started the first day with style and class. His mesmerizing electronic music was brilliantly presented live for the first time in North America... and they said it couldn't be done! But thanks to a clever setup of computers and sequencers hooked-up to his kurzweil keyboard, he performed a mix of his material from various albums going all the way back to his first effort some 30 tears ago. A lush, hypnotizing blanket of music accompanied by fascinating video projections and captivating narrations by Larry as he explained a bit of the evolution of electronic music and synthetizer technology. Larry stretched his set a bit so the break between the Synergy and Fish performances was quite short. Barely had the time to have a beer and a hot dog.

Then on to the Fish performance. The legendary ex-singer of Marillion performed a splendid set. What a charismatic fellow, and although his voice isn't what it used to be, his stage presence and his energy onstage more than compensate. Even the normally quiet NEARFest crowd participated with enthusiasm, clapping their hands and cheering loudly at Onkel Fish' command. Accompanied by a great video presentation courtesy of Mark Wilkinson, Fish performed material from Marillion's Clutching at Straws album, much to the pleasure of the numerous Marilion fans, as well as material from his latest album, 13th Star, including Dark Star and Zoe 25. The crowd cheered with much energy at the end of the set, so Fish rewarded them with numerous encores. The complete setlist consisted of Slainte Mhath, Circle Line, Square Go, Open Water, So Fellini, Manchmal, Hotel Hobbies/Warm Wet Circles/That Time of the Night, Zoe 25, Arc of the Curve, Dark Star, Faith Healer, White Russian and for the encore, Sugar Mice, Cliche, Incommunicado and Last Straw.

At the end of the evening, we made a brief visit at the Comfort Suites for the after-hours gathering, where we caught-up with many friends and had a few ales!

Saturday, June 21: Day one
After a hearty breakfast at the Hampton Inn, we headed to the auditorium around 9:30. First band of the day was Koenji Hyakkei and they were extroardinary! Talk about a wakeup call! Powerful and intense, they were so amazingly precise and well-timed. This formidable japanese band is compopsed of Yoshida Tatsuya on drums and vocals, Sakamoto Kengo on bass and vocals, Kanazawa Miyako on keyboards and vocals, Yamamoto Kyoko on lead vocals and Komori Keiko on reeds and vocals. Their brilliant mix of Zeuhl, klingon opera and groovy jazz fusion was offered to the audience in a non-stop manner, Yoshida stumbled a bit with his english, but his gratitude was genuine towards the highly enthusiastic audience. Rarely have I seen a Saturday morning show so well-attended. All the band members were simply awesome. The new singer has a spectacular vocal range and although she had little time to familiarize herself with the challenging material, she was absolutely impeccable. The keyboardist is so impressive, switching from honkytonk to full Emerson -ish fury in a split second, and Yoshida wins hands down for the most outstanding drum performance of the entire weekend! They woke eveyone up real good! I was a bit disappointed that they didn't play their "anthem", the ultra intense Grembo Zavia, the first song I ever heard from this band. The set was glorious, tight, captivating, perfect start to the day!

Right before the Discipline set, Chad offered me a few moments onstage to plug FMPM. Always a few butterflies when you speak in front of 1000 people, but I did a good job (I think). Backstage, I met the whole Discipline band, including Matthew Parmenter, these guys are so nice and friendly, and Matt was asking me losts of questions about FMPM.

Then on to the Discipline set. An intense, poignant, emotional set from Matthew on the keyboards, face paint on, It was a pleasure to see these guys together again, and their performance was gorgeous. Not familiar with their material, I grabbed Unfolded Like Staircase and Matt's Horror Express. Looking forward to spin these.

Unfortunately, I left mid-show to go out before closing-time at the liquor store in a rather futile quest for microbrewery beer. State law in PA makes it real hard to get any decent beer in reasonable quantities in this state. A total waste of half a great show that I was enjoying and an hour of my life... But from what I saw of the Discipline set, I knew I witnessed a great moment of NEARFest history.

Back at the Zoellner, I felt the tiredness of yesterday's big day sweep over me (10-hour drive, 2 shows, many beers and the after hours gathering). So I decided to chill out and skip entirely Peter Hammill's set. Blasphemy? Oh well... I really wanted to be in shape for the LTE set so that was alright with me.

Finally the evening ended with one of the highlights of my concert-going history. The Liquid Tension Experiment set was brilliant. It started with a Wagner orchestral intro that unfortunately jammed-mid way, so the crowd proceeded to whistle and sing the end of the cut-off intro, just as Mike portnoy entered the stage and humorously waved his hands, conducting the audience. After nearly 10 years, I thought these guys would be a bit rusty and offbeat, but not so... they rocked the roof off with prescision, energy and grace. Petrucci was very sharp, Levin showed his "metallic edge", Rudess was impeccable on the keys and Portnoy was ...Portnoy! just a monster of precision and enthusiasm on the drums. They went through most of the memorable tunes from their two classic albums, their setlist consisted of Acid Rain, Kindred Spirits, Biaxident, Freedom of Speech, Another Dimention, State of Grace, Universal Mind, Rhapsody in Blue, When The Water Breaks and for the encore, Osmosis and Paradigm Shift. One of the great surprises of the set was this gorgeous, energetic and wonderfully adapted version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in its entirety, with a devilish metallic edge! Wow... just wow! The show was loud, but the sound was well-balanced and crystal-clear. I was blown away!

Celebrity sightings during the weekend: Gary Green, Annie Haslam...

Sunday, June 22: Day two
We did a bit of grocery shopping in the morning so we arrived a bit late at the auditorium, not in time for the Morglbl set, and from what I was told, I missed a great performance. The NF attendees were still on the high of Saturday's worth of musical entertainment. The Radio Massacre International show began a few minutes late. Great stuff, this group offered a series of long, lush soundscapes of electronic music with a space rock/psychdelic accent. Some parts were quite reminiscent of a mix between Pink Floyd's echoes and Tangerine Dream. Electric violinist Cyndee Lee Rule participated on a few numbers. Although there was a drumkit on the stage, it was used very sporadically. An excellent group, who performed mesmerizing music, but I have to admit that it was just a bit too smooth and soporific for the mood of the day and I nodded my head quite a few times... I feel they weren't the best choice for that slot of the day.

Afterwards, it was time for the Progressive Ears group photo. Quickly the hill got populated by various creatures of the PE underground... Here's a great picture of a great bunch of prog rock fans who meet daily on the PE forum!

Photo by Sean@progressiveears
Then on to Echolyn. As quiet as RMI was, Echolyn was anything but! A sublime performance from the kids... they "rawwked". Pulling a few rarely played gems from their catalogue, their complete setlist included Georgia Pine, As The World, Too Late For Everything, The Great men, Entry 11-19-93, Winterthru, The Cheese Stands Alone, Another Lovesick Morning, Texas Dust, The End Is Beautiful and an excerpt of the Mei epic... for the encore, a poignant interpretation of Never The Same and Those That Want To Buy. Brilliant performance, the guys were having a bunch of fun onstage and it showed in their energy and enthusiasm! Sweet stuff! Here's a quote from Tom Hyatt: "It was an exciting and scary set for us. Most of all, it was humbling to play amongst our peers and to an audience who has stuck with us for so many years. I hope we delivered the goods for everyone. The show itself was such a whirlwind I can barely remember if I was playing the same songs as everyone else. It was strange going back to the cubicle life today and thinking "I had an opportunity yesterday to play in front of 1200 or so people". Thank you to everyone who has enabled us to live out our teenage musical dreams."

At the end of the day, after we were all packed-up and ready to go, it was time for the last performance of the evening and the end of the festival. Before the Banco set, a nice little ceremony to salute Chad Hutchinson and Rob LaDuca, the founders of the fest who are stepping down this year, for their monumental contribution to the world of progressive music, a well-deserved kudos for these guys. Dave Kerman offered them a chicken dance and balloon hats... Then Jim, Ray and Kevin, the new head organizers, offered them a nice commemorative plaque. Emotional moment when everyone gave them a long standing ovation.

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso hit the stage nearly an hour late, it was a very elegant, highly dignified performance from legends of the genre. They arrived slowly one by one onstage and offered superb music to the NF crowd. A setlist comprized of all their crowd favorites, Di Giacomo's voice was marvelous. Brilliant light show, pristine sound, the fans cheered loudly and the italian masters kindly offered a generous encore.

And then it was over. Just like the Echolyn song says: After the song is over, the dance goes on, so dance away.
When all is said and done, remember what's been given, not taken away.

A great festival, always an amazing pleasure to see all our friends, that big, crazy extended family of prog fans. See y'all next year! Thanks Rob, thanks Chad for your extraordinary work.

June 6, 2008
The Musical Box at the Bell Center: A review
Montreal's own The Musical Box played on Friday, May 30 to a packed Bell Center Theatre in Montreal. An audience of around 6000 people, maybe more... Quite a bit of attracting power for a tribute band, isn't it? The reason is simple, they are just that good to be able to build such an incredible following. And what a magical, mesmerizing evening it was.

The show began at 8:00 sharp with a young and very talented band called Addicted Bones, who offered a fantastic set. Their music could be described as an energectic prog rock version of Loreena McKennitt, a clever blend of alternative and progressive rock with celtic/middle-east tones. The band is composed of Annie Saumur on lead vocals, Martin Robert on guitars, Jonathan Moorman on violin, Serge Larouche on bass and Frédéric Brossoit on drums. They performed with a lot of energy and passion, for what must have been an extroardinary experience for them, playing for the biggest crowd in their carreer. Their setlist, all compositions of their own, included Dust, A Place You Go, Strange Thought, Waltz, Fearless and Where the Demons Feed among others. Jonathan was absolutely amazing on the violin, and was cheered with enthusiasm by the crowd for his blistering and passionate solos. Annie's voice was full of emotion and passion. The band was rewarded by enthusiastic (and well-deserved) applauses. A perfect start to the evening. Our photographer Claude Dufresne took some wonderful pictures, see all of them by clicking on the images below:

Around 8:45, it was time for TMB. The band is composed of François Gagnon on acoustic and electric guitars, Sébastien Lamothe on bass, bass pedal and guitars, Gregg Bendian on drums, percussion and vocals, Dave Myers on keyboards and piano and of course, Denis Gagné on vocals and flute. A fantastic performance. The band displayed their skills and their perfectionism with much exuberance. Denis Gagné was truly at the top of his game, a majestic performance on vocals. Apocalypse in 9/8 was breathtaking, and the crowd responded with equal ebullience. The sound was wonderful, although I noticed they increased it quite a bit towards the end of the show, nearly to an uncomfortable level... Knowing the show by heart, I knew exactly when to cover my ears when the flashpots went off at the end of Supper's Ready. Their setlist was the typical Watcher of The Skies, Cinema Show, Horizons, Firth Of Fifth, Dancing With The Moonlit Knigh, I Know What I Like, The Battle Of Epping Forest and Suppers Ready, with The Knife for the encore. The crowd enthusiastically cheered right up until the house lights came on. Click on the pictures below to see all the great Musical Box shots captured by our star photographer Claude Dufresne:

Their magnificent and insanely accurate interpretation the Genesis' Selling England by the Pound performance from the 1974 era was not only impeccable as always, but also a bit nostalgic. Indeed, the band will be embarking on a whole new chapter of their history when they will perform for the first time a "post-Gabriel" era show with the Trick Of The Tail tour scheduled to begin in Europe next fall. This will mean that Denis will step down as lead vocalist of the group. I'm wondering who will fill these mighty big shoes?

May 9, 2008
ROSFEST 2008: A full review!
Oh what a great time I had at RoSFest 2008. The Rites of Spring Festival is held each spring in the surrounding areas of Philadelphia, PA. For this wonderful fifth edition of the popular prog rock festival that took place on May 2, 3 and 4, the headliners were Ambrosia, CIRCA: and Wishbone Ash. And thanks again to the organizers, George, Tom, Krista and all the gang behind the event, it was a fantastic three-day-long party of monumental proportions!

After a long but uneventful trip from Montreal to Glenside PA, we arrived at the Keswick theatre, a wonderful auditorium in what can only be described as a an idyllic setting, a very nice little neighborhood with cobblestone sidewalks, nice little restaurants and flowers everywhere. Just a wonderful place. After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we headed to the main hall.

Day one:
The groupe opening the festivities, GPS, stepped onstage at 7 PM. Great stuff. The band is composed of John Payne on vocals and bass, Guthrie Govan on guitars and Jay Schellen on drums and vocals... with the spectacular Erik Norlander on keyboards in replacement of Ryo Okumoto (Spock's Beard) who couldn't make it unfortunately because of a scheduling conflict. Payne offered a very nice performance of GPS material with a sprinkling of two or three Asia tracks from the Payne/Downes era. It was just a fun show and everyone was quite impressed by the exceptional skills of Guthrie Govan on guitars, a stunning musician. Aside from the obligatory drum solo, the band was tight and the energy level was high.

Between shows, the vending area, in the vast lobby of the Keswick, was very well attended. This new configuration is vastly superior to the separate vending area in previous years in Phoenixville, PA. The level of enthusiasm was very high as many people were getting together and catching up, and the prog vendors were doing some brisk business.

Then on to Ambrosia. The band is composed of Joe Puerta on vocals and bass, Shem Von Shroeck on vocals, David Lewis on keys, Christopher North on organ and keys, Burleigh Drummond on drums, percussion and vocals & Doug Jackson on guitars and vocals. Not being familiar with their body of work, I was quite impressed by the chops of these old veterans, and their material was an interesting mix of prog stuff, and jazzy/poppy stuff. Very good musicians and a splendid performance.

At the end of the evening, a fun little gathering at the Holiday Inn where Gatineau-based The Rebel Wheel were invited to perform. Gary, David, Angie and Aaron blew the crowd away with a blistering performance that had George Roldan and Tom Smith cheering loudly, what a wonderful last-minute addition to the fest. I'm very proud these guys turned heads big time! A resounding success!

Day two:
After a hearty breakfast, we headed quickly to the venue to catch the first show of the day: Blind Ego was a hoot! What a fun, energetic set. The all-star band is composed of Paul Wrightson on vocals, Kalle Wallner on guitars, John Jowitt on bass, Yogi Lang on keyboards and Rwin Rieder on drums. Their material was really dynamic, Jowitt, Lang and Wallner were simply awesome. They performed a blistering interpretation of Arena's Crack in the Ice and Deep Purple's Perfect Stranger to close their set. A wonderful start to the day and a perfect wake-up call!

I skipped the Ritual performance because I opted instead to have a lovely dinner at the Keswick tavern with John Jowitt and Mark Westwood. JJ is a great, fun party guy and brilliant musician and we shared many stories over beer and BBQ pork. Unfortunately, I missed a splendid concert and many people mentioned that it was by far their favorite performance of the fest. The group is composed of Patrik Lundström on lead vocals & guitar, Fredrik Lindqvist on bass, irish bouzouki, mandola, recorders & whistles, Johan Nordgren on drums and nyckelharpa and Jon Gamble on keyboards.

I had the pleasure of shaking hands with Tom Brislin of Spiraling, who was there promoting his work. A talented musician and fun guy, he kindly offered me his latest CD entitled Time Travel Made Easy. Just an awesome album, featuring keyboard-driven, modern hard pop/prog rock.

After a wonderful, sunny afternoon, it was time for RPWL. Oh my, these guys are terrific! What a brilliant show. The group is composed of Yogi Lang on vocals & keyboards, Kalle Wallner on guitars, Chris Postl on bass & Taurus pedals, Manni Müller on drums and Markus Jehle on keyboards. Okay so i'm quite partial to this band and I really enjoy their material, but these kids are simply magnificent live, a very energetic performance! Kalle was simply sublime on the guitar and Yogi Lang was perfect on keys and vocals. Awesome lighting, excellent videoclips accompanying the tunes, great vocal harmonies and a very well-balanced setlist. They ended their set with an emotional performance of Roses.

Then on to the main event... CIRCA: The band is composed of Billy Sherwood on lead vocals & bass, Tony Kaye on Hammond B3 & keyboards, Alan White on drums, percussion & vocals and Jimmy Haun on electric & acoustic guitars & vocals. Overall a great performance, Yes veterans White and Kaye were simply awesome, and the CIRCA: material was well-performed, they ended their set with a monumental Yes medley covering all eras from the early 70's right up to their 90's material, which included among others, bits and pieces of Looking Around, The Prophet, Harold Land, Every Little Thing, Something's Coming, No Experience Necessary, Yours is No Disgrace, Heart of the Sunrise, South Side of the Sky, Roundabout, Close to the Edge, Ritual, Sound Chaser, Parallels, On the Silent Wings of Freedom, Tempus Fugit, Changes, Owner of a Lonely Heart, Cinema, Rhythm of Love, Lift Me Up, Loveshine and Mind Drive... it lasted around 40-50 minutes! It was an interesting performance although Jimmy Haun seemed to struggle a bit on certain parts, and overall it was a general concensus that the sound was way too loud and the mix was improperly balanced. Thank god I had earplugs, and even at that, I did notice it was much more intense than all the other gigs. In the eternal words of Spinal Tap... all the way to 11! Overall a fun performance and I did enjoy seeing Tony Kaye live for what will probably be the only time for me.

The after hours party in one of the conference rooms at the Hilton was a real blast. Imagine a crazy performance featuring John Jowitt, Tom Brislin, Erik Norlander, Alan Benjamin (of Advent) jamming like there's no tomorrow, even Tom Smith joined in briefly on drums to perform Have a Cigar. Also featured was Cyndee Lee Rule with a spacey electric violin performance. Had the pleasure of shaking Alan White's hand! The beer was flowing and the fun was unending... till 2:00 AM when I headed to my room on the 3rd floor.

Day three:
The last day of the fest was unknown territory to me. Really enjoyed these four bands that I wasn't very familiar with. The morning began on a high note with Credo, who were simply impeccable. The band is composed of Mark Colton on lead vocals & percussion, Jim Murdoch on bass & backing vocals, Martin Meads on drums, Mike Varty on keyboards, violin & backing vocals and Tim Birrell on electric & acoustic guitars. Crunchy prog, an awesome singer with much passion and a fabulous sense of humour. Great harmonies, a very tight band, with an early-Marillion sound. Sensational performance.

After a quick dinner, it was time for Black Bonzo. Awesome! The band is composed of Anthon Johannson on bass, Mike Israel on drums & percussion, Magnus Lindgren on vocals, Joakim Karlsson on guitars and flute and Nicklas Åhlund on the Hammond B3. They totally ruled! These guys play old school prog with old school instruments, they are very young, extremely energetic and insanely talented. Their sound would be best described as a cross between Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Queen. Seems that some lowlife at the Pittsburgh airport decided to steal Nick's Mellotron sampler module, and even under these unfortunate circumstances, he offered a blistering performance with only on a Hammond B3 and a Leslie amp that would make John Novello sound like an amateur. Joe Karlsson is one of the most amazing guitarists i've seen in years. Chops X 1000. A brilliant show! Loved it ! My #1 fave of the fest!

Later in the day, the sun finally showed-up and took a long walk outside, just to be back in time for Crack The Sky. The band is composed of John Palumbo on vocals and guitars, Rick Witkowski on guitars, Bobby Hird on guitar, Glenn Workman on keyboards, Joe Macre on bass and Joey "sticks" D'Amico on drums. A nice performance, but they didn't turn me head over heels. Some good jammy moments and a few tasty guitar solos, I did enjoy the great interaction and complicity between the musicians. It was fun having most of the original band members from the past three decades onstage! John Palumbo uttered the funniest line of the entire weekend: "Could you lower the spotlight, I feel like i'm talking to God!" Someone summed-up their musical style with a hybrid (and funny) name: Lynyrd Crimson! After the show, a bunch of friends and I decided to head to a nice greek restaurant where I had an absolutely delicious meal. Good times, good food and great company!

And then, as quickly it arrived, it was already over... the last performance of RoSFest 08 with Wishbone Ash. The band is composed of Andy Powell on guitars and vocals, Bob Skeat on bass and vocals, Muddy Manninen on guitars and vocals and Joe Crabtree on drums. Some very cool geezers who rocked the place inside-out. I even recognized a tune or two that played on the radio eons ago. Former Pendragon drummer Joe Crabtree was quite intense. A very nice performance, they were very well-received and enthusiastically applauded. Awesome guitar duos and counterpoints. A delicious conclusion to RoSFest.

I had the pleasure to meet Alan White and Tony Kaye. Two very fine gentlemen. Kaye told me "why isn't CIRCA: playing in Montreal?" Told him i'd look into it... ;-) I also chatted with Billy Sherwood, a very fun, fascinating guy with a great sense of humour. He confirmed that the loudness of the Circa set was unfortunate but out of his control. Next time, perhaps he'll plug his bass directly to the line.

I have to thank again Georges, Tom and Krista for the amazing fest! A job well done guys! From the wonderful Keswick village to the great assortment of food, to the captivating, varied lineup, RoSFest is like old wine, it gests better and better with the years. And how about those great announcements for next year's edition, Nektar and Frost*. It was absolutely mandatory for 2009 to bring back again the patron saint of RoSFest, John Jowitt (who plays with Frost*). And I'm glad things worked out between Jem and George and we'll finally get a bit of Frost* at RoSFest 09. Nektar was a deliciously jaw-dropping announcement. Crossing my fingers and holding my breath on that one.

One of the cool things about prog festival is that you have all these vendors selling impossible-to-find CDs at great prices, it's the best moment to find those elusive albums that you've been looking for. My haul during the RoSFest weekend was Porcupine Tree Nil Recurring, Black Bonzo self-titled 1st and The Flower Kings Space Revolver. I was given Spiraling Time Travel Made Easy by keyboard wizard Tom Brislin himself (Thanks Tom) and Advent Cantus Firmus by Alan Benjamin, guitarist of the band... that CD is simply incredible! Wow! I listened to it non stop from Philly to Montreal this afternoon. What a fantastic piece of work, a bit of Gentle Giant, Vital Duo's Ex Tempore, Alan parsons and ELP all rolled into one mighty epic album, medieval/baroque themes with wonderful vocal harmonies! Ultra yummy stuff!

The Keswick Theater holds over 1350 people, with no balcony, and even though it looked a bit empty, the exceptional turnout of over 775 people made the 2008 edition of RoSFest a huge success.

The 10-hour drive back home drained me, but I had a great time in Glenside. looking forward to the next edition of the Rites of Spring. And I know i'll see many people again at NearFest this summer. It was great meeting all the prog fans during the weekend, feels like a second (very extended) family. What a great 3-day party!

April 3, 2008
Joe Jackson at the Metropolis
Legendary English singer-songwriter Joe Jackson presented a fun show at the Metropolis in Montreal on Wednesday, April 2, 2008. It had been more than 5 years since he visited our town, so the packed auditorium was filled with eager, enthusiastic fans. The evening began with an opening act, Mutlu: A great acoustic guitar duo performing some nice folky/jazzy tunes with great vocal harmonies and catchy melodies. Their 45 min. set was a great start to the evening.

Then, at 9:00 sharp, Joe Jackson began his set. An elegant, minimalistic set consisting of Joe at the grand piano, bassman Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton, each musician under a single white spotlight. The crowd cheered loudly as he began immediately with his monster hit Stepping Out, followed by some nice tracks from his new album Rain including Invisible Man, Uptown Train, A Place in the Rain and Too Tough, separating his new material with a great selection of his classics like Is She Really Going Out With Him? What You Want, It's Different For Girls and On Your Radio. Oh what a great time we had! The sound quality was impeccable, a rare thing for the Metropolis. The performance was dynamic, aside for a very quiet and melancholic composition called So Low that slowed down the pace a bit, but for the encore, an unexpected and delicious surprise as he performed a killer version of Frank Zappa's Dirty Love, much to the pleasure of the cheering crowd. Joe displays a wonderful sense of dignity and elegance, and although his white hair gives away a clue of his age, he looks and sounds as young, fresh and energetic as in his beginnings in the late 70's and his musicianship is better than ever! His style of classy, jazzy pop is as pertinent today as it was 30 years ago, Joe is truly a unique musician and his brilliant work is timeless.

Many thanks to Dominique at GEG for this great promotion and for the kind invitation to this wonderful evening!

March 20, 2008
Jellyfiche at the Lion D'Or
It was with much anticipation that I went to see Jellyfiche at the Lion d’Or on Tuesday, March 18 2008. Mid-week shows are always a bit complicated for me to attend, but I would not have missed this one for the world! This performance was in honor of the official launch of their first album, entitled Tout Ce Que J'ai Rêvé. I was looking forward to see what the Jellyfiche folks had in store for us. All I can say is that I wasn't disappointed because It was just a magnificent concert... but I expected no less from them, judging by the quality of their acclaimed performance at FMPM 2007. I was most happy to see the Lion d'Or packed with over 150 people, the atmosphere was truly electric!

The evening began with the opening act, renowned pianist André Delage, playing Genesis classics on the piano. He presented only three numbers, One For The Vine, Firth Of Fifth and The Musical Box, for a mesmerizing half-hour that was worthy of an enthusiastic standing ovation from the crowd at the end. André played with passion, giving his own twist at times to the legendary tunes. What a great start to the evening!

Around 8:30, time for Jellyfiche, two screens with back projection at each side of the stage, presenting spellbinding images throughout the performance. They performed their new album in its entirety, including Tout Ce Que J'ai Rêvé, Les Arbres, Caché au Fond Plus Haut, Source Infinie, In Vitro, Dans La Peau D'un Autre, parts 1 & 2, La Fontaine and La Cage des Vautours/Liberté. A brilliant performance from the very theatrical Syd, wearing different costumes that represent the various themes of the songs. Their music, highly melodic, psychedelic at times, is inspired by the songwriting of Harmonium, and the eerie musical arrangements of Pink Floyd. The musicianship is impeccable, from Éric Plante's exquisitely precise keyboard and saxophone work, to Jean-François Arsenault's Gilmour-inspired, blistering guitar solos and Syd's powerful and emotional vocals. Kudos also go to Sylvain Auclair on bass and Matt Bergeron on drums for their excellent work accompanying the trio. One of the few prog bands in Quebec to sing in French, Jellyfiche brings back the glorious atmosphere of the era when Harmonium, Contraction, Morse Code, Maneige and Pollen were masters of the airwaves, packing auditoriums where they played! What a satisfying show, and what a privilege to have seen the band bring all these songs to life in front of us! This is a show you have to see! Check out the great pictures that our friend Claude Dufresne took during the show.

Many thanks to Unicorn Digital and Sens Concept for this impeccably organized concert and congratulations to Jellyfiche for a job well done!

March 15, 2008
Jon Anderson in Joliette
It's always a pleasure to hear and see you favorite tunes being performed by the original artists who created them. It was especially wonderful this weekend in Joliette to have Jon Anderson, lead singer of Yes and prolific solo artist, perform the great classics of Yes and of his solo career in a most intimate way on the stage of the Salle Rolland-Brunelle as part of his 10-date Tour Of the Universe in the province of Quebec.

After departing from Montreal for Joliette in the early evening, I arrived early as people were slowly streaming in. And thanks to our kind host, the organizer of this tour, Richard Beaucage, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Anderson before the show, he greeted us warmly and spoke with interest to everyone backstage, we even had a short impromptu performance from Jon as he "rapped" with a young fan. The show began a few minutes after 8:00 PM with Jon on the acoustic guitar performing all the fan favorites including Long Distance Runaround, The Revealing Science Of God, And You And I, Close to the Edge, Yours Is No Disgrace, This Is, White Buffalo, Show Me, Standing Still, Your Move, Starship Trooper, a sensational interpretation of State Of Independence with a sampled sequence to accompany him. For the encore, Jon offered Roundabout.

An intimate performance, by a very soulful and inspired Jon, interacting with the audience with a great sense of humor. This being the first date of his tour and coming back from a nasty cold, Jon was a bit forgetful of the lyrics of some of the songs, but overall a captivating performance and a delicious playlist. At the end of the show, Jon sayed for an autograph session where he got his picture taken with fans and chatted with the people who brought DVD, CDs, old vinyls and t-shirts to have autographed! Looking forward to see him again in Montréal in a few days! Many thanks to Richard for the great evening.

November 23, 2007
Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Bell Center
Once again, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra visited Montreal for their annual Christmas show tour, on Thursday, November 22 2007 at the Bell Center. TSO is a rock ensemble formed by the members of prog-rock band Savatage and a major part of their music is basically composed of original and classical Christmas-themed compositions, arranged for a hard rock orchestra, bordering on metal at times, with varied styles going from prog to blues, from classical to acoustic... Add to this a massive number of highly-skilled musicians (over 20 at times, including the strings section) and a light show comparable to a supernova explosion and you've got a phenomenal show that's perfect for people of all ages, a Christmas tale that's absolutely magical!

The lineup of the band is simply stellar... joining guitar madman Chris Caffery onstage were among others the sensational guitarist Alex Skolnick, the stunning Jennifer Cella on vocals, Mee Eun Kim and Bob Kinkel on keys, Bryan Hicks, Jay Pierce and James Lewis on vocals and narrations, Jeff Plate on drums, Mark Wood on volins, and many others fine musicians. And one of the strong points of TSO is the outstanding musicianship of all the musicians, it's just a joy to see and hear them play!

The setlist included for the first part of the concert, the traditional Christmas-themed rock compositions from their albums Christmas Eve And Other Stories and The Lost Christmas Eve, and for the second part of the show, they treated us to a very exuberant cover of Proud Mary, as well as the powerful rock interpretations of Beethoven's Fifth, Carmina Burana, Pachelbel's Canons, and a wicked keyboard duo between Mee Eun Kim and Bob Kinkel. Among the highlights of the show was the enthusiastic Wizards in Winter, and of course the dramatic, almost apocalyptic interpretation of Beethoven's Fifth and Carmina Burana...

And as for the light show, TSO has raised the bar even higher, adding more punch to their already amazing visual performance, which includes a highly mobile lighting array with about a gazillion watts of powerful spotlights, moving lights, strobes, LED walls, floodlights, lasers, snow canons, flame canons, sparklers, pneumatic platforms, fireworks, and other amazing, magical stuff. The eye candy is simply mesmerizing, and believe me, even U2, Genesis and Van Halen can't even compete!

Towards the end of the show, Chris Caffery stepped onstage with a Montreal Canadiens sweater, and profusely thanked the audience for their enthusiasm, saying that it was the best Thanksgiving day (in the US) gift he could ever have had. And I wish to thank again the members of TSO for putting such an entertaining, captivating, all-out-fun show! I also wish to thank the Gillett Entertainment Group for inviting the ProgMontreal team to this grandiose event.