A Night of Prog LIVE #3- Coming April 7th!

[Sean]

We’ve got another Night of Prog LIVE event coming up April 7th at The Avondale Towne Cinema in Avondale Estates (an Atlanta suburb). This will be our third yearly event. Last year we did “A Night of Epics” with the likes of CTTE, 2112, Tarkus, Supper’s Ready, Starless, Magnum Opus and more on the list. I honestly didn’t think we could top that setlist but this year we’ve come up with one I think will be as entertaining. This is a 4 hour night of live music and we’ve gotten started on rehearsals this month with some good results so far. It’s a lot of music to prepare, as you can imagine. Thankfully we are a collective of 30+ players so we can carve the setlist up in a way where nobody has to take on more than they can handle. Each song has a different lineup of players. Here’s what is on the setlist this year. I hope you can join us! It’s a fun night of live music in a theater setting with a great PA and lights. Just wait till those bass pedals kick in!! And you should see the keyboard rig. It would make Wakeman blush. We may have to fly them in from the rafters to get in it. So expect all those classic prog tones....

Thick As A Brick (Bursting Out edit)
Roundabout
Perpetual Change
Tempus Fugit
Machine Messiah
In The Dead of Night/Light of Day/Presto Vivace
Firth of Fifth
The Musical Box
Return Of The Giant Hogweed
In The Cage/Cinema Show/Slipperman/Afterglow
Pictures of a City
The Great Deceiver
Vroom
Elephant Talk
Fallen Angel
Dinosaur
Journey From Mariabronn
The Wall
Paradox
Knife Edge
Bitches Crystal
Karn Evil 9 Second Impression
Cygnus X-1
The Camera Eye
Recycled

-S

[Sean]

Here's a few pics from practices so far... Genesis and Nektar, respectively....

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[proggy_jazzer]

Super cool! If I were in the area, I'd be banging down someone's door begging to participate.

[Sean]

Here's a few more from Genesis and Kansas practices....

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[Sean]

And don't you all want this shirt?

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[JKL2000]

As I've said before, if something like this was happening near me, I'd go for sure! Sean, did you set the first one up, and if so, how did you do it (briefly, for your sake, but feel free to go into as much detail as you'd like). How did you hook up with the people who are involved?

[Sean]

Thanks for asking, Jed.

It’s funny, I hear the comment a lot when this show comes up- “How can you find all those prog musicians?! I am lucky to know three people who even know what prog is in my town!” I guess I’m lucky to live in a large city where there’s a lot of musicians. I know there is no way I could do this elsewhere (in smaller towns) and I feel lucky to even have the opportunity. Playing songs that made a big impact on me over the years has raised more than a few lumps in my throat where I literally think “I can't believe I am playing this song I have loved since I was a kid”. It’s a bucket list kind of night for sure. I think it could work in any big city that has a lot of musicians and I encourage you all to give it a try.

How I know all these players is just a matter of me living here for 25 years and being friends with a lot of the prog fans/players in town. Though every year more come out of the woodwork when this show comes up, so I guess I don’t know them all yet. LOL I’m part of a collective that does a themed night of music like this twice a month. It’s pretty much what I have done for the past couple years and we’ve put on 40 or so shows since I joined the collective. A Night of Prog is just one of many, and of course my fave. We did some great ones last year like Phil Collins VS Peter Gabriel (A Night of Prog “Lite” I called it), Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd (we did The Wall last fall), 90s Night, 80s Night, Woodstock Jam, Muscle Shoals Jam, Steely Dan Night (we do that one 3 times a year thanks to the demand), David Bowie Night, etc. This year we have Guitar Heroes Jam, Fleetwood Mac Jam, Women In Rock Jam and even a Spinal Tap Jam night coming up in the next month or so. So something is always cookin’, though I am saving my energy for this event here, mostly. Most of these jams we prep for a week or two in advance (and we always do a 4 hr, 40 song night), but for A Night of Prog the prep starts months in advance. It's a LOT of work but the night makes it all worth it in the end. We are lucky to have a talented cast of players, it's great to just sit back and watch them.

[JKL2000]

When you say "a collective," what do you mean exactly? How did the collective collect?

[Sean]

A collective is an ever expanding roster of players who play our events. Ours is called The BadAsh Allstar Team. I think there was a local jam night about five years ago at a club that inspired the jam nights we do now. Though ‘jam’ is not a good word for it because that implies you just show up and wing it, and back then they probably did. We actually have some rehearsals for these events though. And it’s a house full when we do; it looks like we are having a keg party when we have 30+ players in tow for some of the most popular nights like Zep or Floyd. Last count we had nearly 200 players in the collective. Every jam and every theme and has certain players where it’s their wheelhouse- their forte stylistically. And then a core group of players like myself that augments the lineup. So we never have a night that appeals to everyone in the collective. Each band brings out a certain batch of players. Some folks only do one jam a year; the folks on the Night of Prog are often like that. Others do several. It’s a bit addictive, truth be told. How we collected these players was pretty much done by word of mouth.

[proggy_jazzer]

Your collective sounds very much like Tributosaurus in Chicago. Definitely easier to do in a large metro area. You would think a college town with a substantial School of Music might be another likely spot, but I've found it not to be so - so far. There are some talented folks around, but they tend to be working already in one or more outfits (of course) with day jobs and families, etc. There's also some insane talent among the music students, but they're already so freaking busy with what they have to do for school they don't have much time for extra-curriculars. Plus, they're only around for 3-4 years; not much chance to develop a nucleus.

I'm making a go of it, though! I've booked a performance date here at my school for September, where I and a group of a half-dozen will attempt arrangements of several prog-rock classics. The instrumentation will require serious adaptation, but everyone seems very enthused, and I've allowed enough lead time to ensure that things have a possibility of being put together well. If it does, perhaps it'll turn into something ongoing. Sure hope so!

[Sean]

Drop me a PM and I will clue you to how we organize this. We work from a spreadsheet, but there's more...

[gearHed289]

Man, that's a whole lot of fun stuff to play! I'd be all over this if I were in ATL.

[Yodelgoat]

Might be worth a road trip... Anyone from Tejas thinking of going?

[progeezer's ghost]

If I'm ever in the Atlanta area around the time of one of these, I'm in. There is a Madison band, aptly named PROG, that plays exclusively Yes, Genesis, Rush, and Jethro Tull covers several times a year. However, the scope of what you're a part of (just in the progressive rock shows, let alone all the others) appeals to a great many different types of folks. Have fun, Sean!

[mozo-pg]

Good luck Sean! Sounds like a blast.

[Sean]

Practices are rolling along. Here's a few pics of "Team Yes" working on Machine Messiah, Tempus Fugit and Perpetual Change.

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[Sean]

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[Sean]

Just wanted to bump this.

The show is NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT- April 7th.

www.mytownecinema.com

Tickets are just $10 for FOUR hours of live prog classics.

Hope you Atlanta folks can attend!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1569323083104804/

[Supersonic Scientist]

This almost fell off page 1....deserving of a bump

Tomorrow night

[Sean]

Well, that was one heck of a night! Out of the three years we have done this I think this was easily the best on many levels. Sorry the majority of you locals didn't swing by, you missed a four and a half hour trek through the prog catalog. To the one that did... Thank you! It's cool though, the place was packed regardless. To paraphrase Belew "I wish you were there to see it!" because I think you all would have had a great time. It's not like you're gonna wander into Wild Wing Cafe (or any similar local place that has live music) and hear any of these tunes. But once a year, we make it happen in a fantastic theater setting.

I would share some vids of the night but they are all on FB. SO if you have FB, click the link below and scroll down the discussion wall for the event and check out some of the best of the night-

https://www.facebook.com/events/1569...tab=discussion

Here's a few pics-

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In The Cage

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Opening Acoustic Tull/Moodies set

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The keyboard rig of doom!

[Sean]

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Thick As A Brick

[Sean]

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Elephant Talk

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Fallen Angel

[Sean]

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The Musical Box

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[JKL2000]

Cool, glad it was a success!

[proggy_jazzer]

I guarantee I would have been in attendance if I were local. Perhaps even on your side of the monitors! Glad it went well, and thanks for sharing the pics and vids.