ProgDay News?

[Scrotum Scissor]

I had no idea that Swans is a high-cost band.

Well, they do have a back catalog stretching 32 years, with a two-digit number of actual *world tours* behind them and a merit of influence on independent rock music in general that would make Steven Wilson's head spin off from the top of his spine like a frisbee propeller heading for Uranus (hair dinglin' n'all). Still, what impresses ME about them is their ability to produce mammoth releases with global distribution every second year or so - and turning five-digit numbers of those.

Wonderful to see more progressive rock fans take note of Swans, though. They are a seriously important act, and particularly within the confinements of "art rock".

[Baribrotzer]

TP were the highlight though...in particular I recall a short piano interlude mid-set that just sent chills down my spine (I had not heard them before, so I can't honestly say I recall the exact song).

Matt Mitchell is a truly amazing player.

These days he's playing mostly modern jazz, with various of the newer-generation "out-cats" - I'm going to see him tonight, in fact, with Tim Berne's Snakeoil. But I'm almost more impressed that besides Thinking Plague and guys like Tim, he's played with some of the cranky old in-the-tradition jazz mossbacks. It's one thing to participate in creating something new, where you can play it your way and put your own stamp on it; it's quite another to absolutely inhabit a players' music from before your dad was born, and do it well enough to suit guys who've worked with people like Bud Powell or Herbie Hancock.

[Jon]

Well, they do have a back catalog stretching 32 years, with a two-digit number of actual *world tours* behind them and a merit of influence on independent rock music in general that would make Steven Wilson's head spin off from the top of his spine like a frisbee propeller heading for Uranus (hair dinglin' n'all). Still, what impresses ME about them is their ability to produce mammoth releases with global distribution every second year or so - and turning five-digit numbers of those.

Wonderful to see more progressive rock fans take note of Swans, though. They are a seriously important act, and particularly within the confinements of "art rock".

Swans recently played at Cat's Cradle in Carboro, NC, but I couldn't make the show.
I figured any band that plays Cat's Cradle (a fun but small venue with tickets for $18) could do ProgDay, but I guess I'm wrong. (So what's new?)
Thanks for the info, SS.

(Man, oh man, your handle makes me cringe.)

[Shadow]

And mostly I just remember their lead singer, who sadly could not sing half as well as she looked

Better than singing twice as good as she looked.

[mx20]

Swans recently played at Cat's Cradle in Carboro, NC, but I couldn't make the show.
I figured any band that plays Cat's Cradle (a fun but small venue with tickets for $18) could do ProgDay, but I guess I'm wrong. (So what's new?)
Thanks for the info, SS.

(Man, oh man, your handle makes me cringe.)

Swans were also a big draw at Raleigh's Hopscotch fest a year or two ago, playing to a capacity club and (presumably) getting paid way more than the PD budget would allow.

[SteveSly]

Sweet! Actually, I also forgot Equinox on Saturday morning, as they were the only band to actually play Storybrook before the weather went sideways. And mostly I just remember their lead singer, who sadly could not sing half as well as she looked

song).

I think yon u might be getting your bands mixed up. I don’t remember Equinox having a female singer. There was a band the other year the festival moved indoors that had a female singer that was very attractive, but not the greatest vocalist in the world. Off the top of my head I am not remembering who that was. Of course my memory could be wrong as things are getting more and hazier from back in the day, but I don’t remember Equinox having female vocals.

Also, they were actually the 2nd band of the day. House Of Usher from Detroit opened the festival Saturday morning and played outdoors. I remember this because I got caught in football traffic and did not make it to the farm until their set was almost over, and I was supposed to be helping out with stuff.

[battema]

I think yon u might be getting your bands mixed up. I don’t remember Equinox having a female singer. There was a band the other year the festival moved indoors that had a female singer that was very attractive, but not the greatest vocalist in the world. Off the top of my head I am not remembering who that was. Of course my memory could be wrong as things are getting more and hazier from back in the day, but I don’t remember Equinox having female vocals.

Also, they were actually the 2nd band of the day. House Of Usher from Detroit opened the festival Saturday morning and played outdoors. I remember this because I got caught in football traffic and did not make it to the farm until their set was almost over, and I was supposed to be helping out with stuff.

I think you may be quite accurate...I could've sworn it was Equinox, but I could be wrong. I just remember they were South American...

Good call on House of Usher! I totally forgot about that...

[oilersfan]

My wish list of the possibly realistic

echolyn
Eccentric Orbit
Ut Gret
Make A Rising
Jack O The Clock
Free Salamander Exhibit
Atomic Ape
miRthkon
Thinking Plague
Hamster Theater
Rabbit Rabbit
Cheer-Accident

Labor Day weekend is so early in the school year that it's been near impossible for me to make it to PD but, if this were the lineup, I would find a way to make it happen, without question.

[Gerhard]

I think you may be quite accurate...I could've sworn it was Equinox, but I could be wrong. I just remember they were South American...

Good call on House of Usher! I totally forgot about that...

It WAS Equinox. She was a cutie, but my oh my, she could not carry a tune. Equinox had put out an album and played at Baja Prog '98 (I think) with a male singer, but then had this girl, Dalys Truno, sing for them at ProgDay. They even put out an album in 2000 with her on vocals, called Spirits of Freedom. It has numerous photos in the booklet of them playing outdoors at ProgDay '99 (I had to pull out the CD to refresh my memory, haven't listened to it in ages). They were a pretty solid band other than the vocals.

Btw, that Equinox CD sits on my shelf alphabetically right next to my one and only Ephemeral Sun CD (Harvest Aorta).

[battema]

It WAS Equinox. She was a cutie, but my oh my, she could not carry a tune. Equinox had put out an album and played at Baja Prog '98 (I think) with a male singer, but then had this girl, Dalys Truno, sing for them at ProgDay. They even put out an album in 2000 with her on vocals, called Spirits of Freedom. It has numerous photos in the booklet of them playing outdoors at ProgDay '99 (I had to pull out the CD to refresh my memory, haven't listened to it in ages). They were a pretty solid band other than the vocals.

Btw, that Equinox CD sits on my shelf alphabetically right next to my one and only Ephemeral Sun CD (Harvest Aorta).

Yyyeeeaaah...we'll try and put out something to add to that CD in the next year or so ;-)

(thx dude!)

[Digital_Man]

[There was a band the other year the festival moved indoors that had a female singer that was very attractive, but not the greatest vocalist in the world]

That would have been Thieves Kitchen. I don't remember much about them but yeah the female singer(Amy)was cute.

[Gerhard]

That would have been Thieves Kitchen. I don't remember much about them but yeah the female singer(Amy)was cute.

Thieves Kitchen did play ProgDay the other year it moved indoors (2002), but I think Amy Darby (?) has a great voice. Unlike Equinox, TK replaced a not so good male singer with a much better female one, IMO.

[SteveSly]

It WAS Equinox. She was a cutie, but my oh my, she could not carry a tune. Equinox had put out an album and played at Baja Prog '98 (I think) with a male singer, but then had this girl, Dalys Truno, sing for them at ProgDay. They even put out an album in 2000 with her on vocals, called Spirits of Freedom. It has numerous photos in the booklet of them playing outdoors at ProgDay '99 (I had to pull out the CD to refresh my memory, haven't listened to it in ages). They were a pretty solid band other than the vocals.

Btw, that Equinox CD sits on my shelf alphabetically right next to my one and only Ephemeral Sun CD (Harvest Aorta).

Weird……….I have a very specific memory of cooking hamburgers with M.B. Sheppard under the pavilion (back when ProgDay did their own food service) with the hurricane rolling in and the wind blowing the drummer’s cymbals all over the place……….but have no memory of the female singer. The mind ain’t what it used to be……………

[smcfee]

Amy has a very good voice. She was battling two things that weekend; she was pretty sick, and she was singing material that was written for Simon's range. She did well despite those challenges.

[JKL2000]

Once again, Gwar shall grace the ProgDay stage.

[progeezer]

Amy Darby is a great singer, and TK is a great band.

Age & wisdom have spoken.

[Proglodite]

Gerhard and I saw Thieves Kitchen with the original male vocalist at BajaProg. It was embarrassingly bad and I recall trying my darndest to convince the Band Committee NOT to book them. The ProgDay performance was not very good, but certainly miles ahead of their Baja show...and not long after that they released the awesome Water Road album (which I'm sure they'd be better remembered had they done a festival date in the US for that album).

Steve probably has no memory of Dalys with Equinox because she was mixed out of the track she sang on that was on the ProgDay Box Set

Peter

[Joe F.]

TP played PD in the late 90's, when the fest was forced indoors into Cats Cradle by a hurricane. Arguably one of the greatest sets I've ever seen, actually; the setting really added something to the atmosphere.

NeBeLNeST also played, and gained something from the atmosphere as well. Also Discipline, CAP, Dark Ether, Ten Jinn, and a couple of others whom I've awkwardly forgotten

The only Progday that I've attended. Thinking Plauge kicked ass. I remember the crowd yelling "Encore" after the last number. When Mike Johnson said they hadn't rehearsed any more songs the crowd started to yell "Improv". Good times.

[Gerhard]

Steve probably has no memory of Dalys with Equinox because she was mixed out of the track she sang on that was on the ProgDay Box Set Peter

I forgot about that! You play a festival with a new singer, then release a studio album with that same singer, then allow a live track to be included in a box set, but entirely remove the vocals from that recording. Wow, I totally feel sorry for Dalys now (though, she truly should not be singing in a band - I'm sorry, it's not just pitch, it's everything except her appearance).

The Thieves Kitchen show at Baja 2002 is also etched in mind but for all the wrong reasons (ask me for details some time at a show). Their show at PD 2002 was a relative triumph, and they have really come a long way since then, so kudos to them.

As far as TP at PD99, I do remember it being a great show. I was busy trying to help keep vendors happy, etc., but I could tell they were on fire. I remember Matt M's piano part at the end of the first song on In Extremis, and thinking then (and throughout the show) this kid looks like he's in high school, yet he's nailing it, he must have ice in his veins.

[SteveSly]

Steve probably has no memory of Dalys with Equinox because she was mixed out of the track she sang on that was on the ProgDay Box Set

Peter

I probably have no memory of it due to destroying too many brain cells at ProgDay pool parties......

[SteveSly]

As far as TP at PD99, I do remember it being a great show. I was busy trying to help keep vendors happy, etc., but I could tell they were on fire. I remember Matt M's piano part at the end of the first song on In Extremis, and thinking then (and throughout the show) this kid looks like he's in high school, yet he's nailing it, he must have ice in his veins.

If I remember right I was working the ticket table through their whole set at the high school. I would duck in the auditorium from time to time, but in fairness only caught bits and pieces of their set.