Wow. An upcoming 3rd Bubblemath album??! Great news. And only 2 years after their last one! Who would've guessed that? Too bad I didn't make it to Chicago for Saturday (daughter's birthday). But Bubblemath was the main band I wanted to see from that day's lineup. Sounds like it was a great show.Originally Posted by boilk
I thought the only one that didn't do a great job was yours truly... not close enough to the mic!
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
Ah, so that was you on Fainting in Coils?
"French TV. After hearing about these guys for probably 15-20 years, this first time I heard them they were sadly a disappointment. Only on the last tune (Cornocopia of Riches IIRC) did they really start to jell and cook. Before that it was too random and scattershot. Didn't build to anything."
You know what's really cool? When, after you've just finished playing to an appreciative and lively crowd and barely had a chance to begin wrapping your cables up, a young guy in his early 20's who can't possibly have been into prog for more than a year tells you that you're his favorite band of the festival and wants to know if you have any cds on hand that he can buy.
Oh this is good news.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Stick with the good vibes Mike, you know its not great to read all your reviews.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Ok, I drove up for the Sunday shows only, and didn't get there until about mid afternoon, so I saw only about 9 hours of music, lol. The great thing about Reggie's location wise is that its right off I-55 next to Chinatown, really easy to get to. Unfortunately my timing was not the greatest, as I arrived right about the time traffic was exiting downtown from Da Bears game. I had been to Reggie's one previous time, for last year's Anglagard show, so I knew the setup even though it was my first Progtoberfest. Btw, thanks to the staff there re tix; I had already bought a Sunday only VIP ticket months ago but they initially were not offering reserved seats unless you bought a 3 day pass. So later when I checked the website for the schedule, I noticed they were now selling reserved seating in the Rock Club for individual days, and I was able to in essence "trade up" my regular VIP ticket for a Sunday ticket with a reserved seat, just paying the price difference, which was very gracious of them. That made a world of difference, as I had a great center view seat for all the Rock Club shows--the knees wouldn't have been able to take 9 hours of standing.
It was kind of amusing walking into the Music Joint with the main bar initially in the afternoon, and seeing most of the tables filled with big rough looking dudes wearing Bears jerseys and downing chicken wings, watching prog rock. I guess Reggie's does a shuttle bus thing from the bar to the game, so all the post game traffic was back and taking in Axion-Neuron and Lovely Little Girls.....First guy I ran into was Dale, who is always at these Chicago shows (and organizing them), and also later Rich P and Matt from Da Midwest Gang. Also met and talked a bit with arturs and SteveSly with the help of the reserved seating placards, very nice guys.
My quick impressions of some of the bands:
Zappa Collective.
I'm not a huge Zappa fanatic but know enough to be entertained, and these guys were very imaginative and entertaining as they added their own humorous spin and between song narration to Zappa's songs, doing mostly stuff from Joe's Garage. Decent singers and harmony and just plain weird.
Mobius Strip. As mentioned, all instrumental young Italian fusion type band, very mellow, keyboards prominent. Very good musicians. I felt a little sorry for them, because they not only had to contend with the bleed through noise of a louder band in the Music Joint next door, but a pretty chatty group by the bar in the Rock Club.
Bruford/Holdsworth Tribute--One of a Kind album. District 97 guys along with Chris Seibold. I have a different take on this than arturs, I really enjoyed hearing this complete album live and thought Seibold was darn good with Holdsworth's guitar parts. The other guitarist I agree, not so good.
Soft Machine. This was the primary reason I drove up for this show, having never seen Soft Machine in any version. A bit bummed that we didn't get Marshall on drums, but I guess the plan was he was only going to do the initial east coast dates. But hard to be too disappointed when Gary Husband is the replacement. I love Husband's muscular 'hairy armed' drumming (Nearfest 12 w UK!). He has that Bruford like style and tone, but I agree, maybe not an exact match for the more subtle parts of SM's repertoire. We didn't get Facelift or Chloe and the Pirates unfortunately. The set was more mellow than I was expecting, but they ramped it up in the second half of the show with a little more power and jamming. Etheridge had some tasty guitar licks and I really like Babbington's very punchy solid bass tone. I've seen Travis before with Steven Wilson and he was stellar as usual. Out Bloody Rageous and Hazard Profile were probably my favs. All in all, one can quibble about the name etc, but I was very glad to see these stellar musicians play this stuff. I did find it somewhat amusing that Reggie's venue poster for the Sunday show had Ratledge, Marshall and Holdsworth pictured. Well worth the trip by itself. Bought the new album and surprised they had T shirts with their tour dates on them, and in sizes that fit, so nabbed one of those.
One thing that surprised me was how half empty the reserved seats were for Soft Machine in the Rock Club. I know their set started at 10 pm on a Sunday night, but man. And because FM started at about 11 next door, the SM crowd started thinning even more as people made their way over.
FM---I don't know why I have never truly gotten into FM deeper or seen them live, as they are certainly a band in my wheelhouse, but I made my way over to the Music Joint right after Soft Machine ended and found a place to squeeze in and sit down to catch most of their set, including the entire Black Noise album. Great stuff, really enjoyed it. The Music Joint was packed for their set, and the prog "chicks" especially seemed to dig these guys. Kind of surprised at the contrast between the audience vibe there vs for Soft Machine. Their set lasted to almost 1 am if I remember. A long day....
A very fun day of music, and considering the number of bands and the double venue juggling, amazing they kept it running as smoothly and timely as they did. And the sound, especially in the Rock Club was stellar imo. My one critique would be try to avoid pitting 2 "bucket list" bands that most would want to see against each other at close to the same time, but maybe due to scheduling there was no other way around it. Still only missed about 30-40 min of FM.
I see checking setlist FM that Soft Machine's set for Milwaukee, which was supposed to be the next day, Monday night, is not even listed anymore. Does anyone know if they played Shank Hall in Milwaukee? I was originally going to go to that show if my plans for Progtoberfest fell through, and I was still tempted but had to get back home. Been on a bit of a Prog Bender the last few weeks--Progstock in NJ, Kansas in both KC and StL and then Progtoberfest. Whew.
Last edited by DocProgger; 10-25-2018 at 07:58 PM.
2 live shows in an 18 year period...
So the last time they played live was that Nearfest show? Wow, glad I stayed late.
I agree. I do think it is cool you got a new fan and that most were appreciative. Sorry to be a downer--I don't enjoy dissing musicians--but your show just didn't click for me.
Time to jot down a few thoughts about last weekend’s Progtoberfest in Chicago. Once again it was incredible somewhat exhausting weekend of music. Kevin and his crew do an incredible job with this festival. Considering there were more than 40 bands everything ran pretty close to on time the entire weekend which is amazing. Reggie’s has two venues within it with the Rock Club being the larger and the Music Joint being more intimate. It seemed to me that for much of the weekend The Music Joint had more people in it making the Rock Club seem a bit empty at times, but both venues have their own unique appeal. Unfortunately for me, I caught some kind of gastro intestinal bug over the weekend and was not feeling the best, especially Saturday night and Sunday, but good music can cure most ills. In the end I managed to see at least partial sets most of the bands, although I did miss a few.
The Performances;
Friday:
Things got off with a bang in the Rock club with the band Source. A 3 piece prog metal outfit from Colorado. I really enjoyed their set and ended up picking up their CD.
Next in The Music Joint was No More Pain. Another rather heavy band somewhat in the Porcupine Tree mold. I dug what they did.
Next in The Rock Club was Escaper. They were a New York based fusion rock outfit. Kind of hard to describe, but I enjoyed it.
Next was Inner Ear Brigade from San Francisco in The Music Joint. I caught some of their set while socializing. They were kind Avant to my ears, but very good at what they did.
Back to The Rock club for The Knells. This band features 3 female vocalists who sing together in different parts. They were great at what they did, but to be honest it was not really my thing and I wanted to get a good spot for Tempano in the Music Joint, so just stayed for a few songs.
Tempano was playing their first U.S. show since ProgDay 2002 (which I attended). They were outstanding mixing up material from their most recent album with older classic material. The guys are a bit older, but they can still put on a great show.
Next in The Rock Club came a band that I think was one of the big surprises of the festival for many people. Screaming Headless Torsos were a band that I would not really call prog, but I don’t know how else to describe them either. They had a definite Latin influence to their stuff with bongo / percussion player who was very entertaining to watch. The lead vocalist was incredible; probably one of the best overall entertainers of the whole weekend, and apparently this was just her second gig with the band. I ended up staying for the whole set.
I only caught part of Nick D’Virgillio’s set in The Music Joint. By the time the Torsos were done, Nick had already started and the joint was packed. I did stand in the back and watch some of the set. Nick had a fantastic group of musicians with him and did an instrumental prog medley of famous tunes along with some Spock’s Beard. Everything I heard from the set was instrumental, so not sure if Nick sang at all or not.
Next it was back to the Rock Club for Marc Martel and the ultimate Queen tribute. Martel is a freak of nature, and sounds amazingly similar to Freddie, and can also play keyboards well. I am not usually big on tribute bands, but this guy is the real deal. His band was all great as well. They went through a 90 minute set of Queen standards with Martel telling stories in between songs. I enjoyed this more than I thought I was going to.
Saturday
Got to the music joint to catch a bit of The Gabriel Construct, but wanted to go over to the Rock Club for the School Of Rock. These kids performed Supertramp’s “Crime Of The Century” album from start to finish. It was really cool as all of the kids are very talented. They closed things out with a rousing “Carry On My Wayward Son” from Kansas.
Back to the music joint from Ad Astra who I saw at ProgDay a few years ago. Unfortunately their drummer could not make the gig so they had to play to pre-recorded drum tracks, but they pulled it off nicely and put on a great show.
Back to The Rock Club for Alpha Lighting System. A young band from Mexico who were very impressive.
In the Music Joint I caught some of Farmhouse Odyssey who were interesting younger band, but I was socializing again so was not paying close attention.
Back to the Rock Club for the Boston band Strange Changes. These guys were really different kind of jazz, rock, ska, weirdness. At first I did not really care for them, but over the course of the set they won me over, and they put on a fun set.
Back in The Music joint Valdez was already on stage. I had seen them at ROSfest and enjoyed what they do. Simon Godfrey is a great front man, and they put on an enjoyable set.
The Twenty Committee was next in the Rock Club. I caught some of their set, but wanted to be back to the Music Joint for the next act so only a few songs, but I liked what they did.
The Cyberiam is a band I have hearing a lot about in Midwest prog circles and they did not disappoint. There is definitely a bit of Porcupine Tree sound to what they do with maybe some Muse thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed what they did, and I think this is a band that could actually have some commercial potential with a little luck.
Back in the Rock Club Jeavestone was already on stage. I have several of their albums, so was looking forward to seeing them. Apparently the entire band could not make it, so this version was just a 4 piece with 2 guitars bass and drums. At one point the guitarist broke a string and they turned, what could have been a mini disaster moment into some funny jokes and an improvised jam. I really enjoyed them a lot and hope I get the chance to see them again.
Bubblemath in the Music Joint. I have seen these guys a few times, so just dropped in for a short bit of their set. They are great at what they do as usual.
Back in The Rock Club another tribute band ABACAB was next. Again, tributes bands are not usually my thing, but these guys are so good that it was a really enjoyable set. They started with a song from ABACAB and worked their way backwards doing a song from each Genesis album. Nick D’Virgillio came out and sang “In The Cage” with the band which was awesome.
Back to the music joint for the last half of Soften The Glare’s set. I had just seen these guys at ProgDay back in September so knew what to expect. This 3 piece do incredible instrumental compositions and the bass player is fun to watch on the stage. Great stuff.
Next back to the Rock Club for Dinosaur Exhibit. This was basically a Chicago area all-star band that featured violinist Jerry Goodman. It was a fun set with as much soul / blues as there was prog.
The finale in the Rock Club was Neal Morse. This was a solo show where he used loops, guitar and keyboards to present a loose, laid back, storyteller’s type of set. I imagine Neal did a lot of this kind of thing back in his early California days as a bar act. At one point he pulled out a slew of about a dozen tunes all centered around the word yellow. It was pretty amazing actually. He also did a very cool vocal loop thing to Spocks Beard’s “Thoughts” in which he covered all of the vocal parts. For the finale Nick D’virgillio joined Neal for a run through “The Doorway” and “Wind At My Back”. It was a late night set but very enjoyable.
Sunday:
Sonus Umbra was not on the bill, but was added as a last minute replacement. Unfortunately we did not know this and walked in the club just as they were hitting their final note.
In The Music Joint Chicago’s Coyote Man tor it up with a very enjoyable set. They have played my home town and hopefully will be back.
On to the Rock Club for Devil’s Staircase an all-star band featuring members of Sonus Umbra, Ramses Luna, and drummer Matthias Olsson. This was a very enjoyable set and hard to believe that they had only had a few days rehearsal time to put it all together. In talking with some of the band members after the show, this was not a one off, and the band plan on releasing an album and more live shows in the future.
Back in the Music Joint I caught a bit of Ovadya’ set from the back of the club. They were a large ensemble with a very good vocalist. I am not sure how I would categorize what they did, but I enjoyed what I heard.
Back to The Rock Club for Little Atlas. I have seen this band before, but it had been a long time. They put on an enjoyable set of material from their several albums. Good stuff for sure.
Back in The Music Joint was a 3 piece band called Westward from Utah. I really enjoyed this band. They kind of reminded me of Muse in spots, but had their own unique sound. I bought their two cds.
Next in the Rock Club was Gramps The Vamp. There was definitely some funk to what they were laying down in their unique horror influenced music. This was a large band with a horn section and to my ears were one of the most unique bands of the weekend. A fun set that crossed many musical boundaries.
Back in The Music Joint I caught some of Axion Neuron’s set. It took me a while, but they began to grow on me towards the end. They had a female vocalist who reminded me of one of the girls who used to sing with White Willow, but whose name escapes me.
Next in the Rock Club was the Chicago Zappa Collective. I am hot and cold on Zappa, but I caught these guys last year and really enjoyed what they did, so wanted to catch them again. As usual they put on an entertaining fun theatrical set that I dug. Apparently these guys live in different areas and only do this once per year which is pretty amazing considering the show they put on.
I watched some of the Aaron Clift experiment from the back of The Music Joint. I had just seen them at ROSfest earlier in the year.
Mobius Strip was next in the Rock Club. They were from Italy and did straight up jazz fusion that somewhat reminded me of similar bands like DFA. These guys were incredible musicians and although this type of music is not always my thing, I stayed for the whole set.
Back in The Music Joint Lovely Little Girls we on. I watch a bit from the back and they seemed to be on the Avant side of the prog spectrum. I enjoyed what I heard, but eventually went to get something to eat.
Next up in the Rock Club was the recreation of Bill Bruford’s “One Of A Kind” album. I heard a few complaints about this one, but I thought they sounded fantastic. I am not familiar with the album itself, so maybe I had no expectations, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.
Back in The Music Joint, I caught the tail end of French TV’s set. I have seen these guys before, although it has been a long time. They are still great at what they do.
Soft Machine was up next in The Rock Club. I can’t say that this is a band that I have ever been a huge fan of, but there is no doubt that they are incredible musicians. I stayed for about a half hour of their set, which I enjoyed, but wanted to get back over to the over club for a good seat for FM.
FM closed out the weekend in The Music Joint starting out with 4 songs from their most recent album. I am not sure where they found the new violin / electric mandolin / vocalist, but the guy was on fire all night. They took a 10 minute break and came back to perform the entire “Black Noise” album which was an outstanding way to end the festival.
It looks like Kevin just announced today that the festival will continue on Oct 12 and 13 next year as a two day even with a pre-party on Friday night. The one thing I walk away from after attending this event is the amazing amount of musical talent there is out there. There was not a single act that I thought did not deserve to be on stage, and all of them were good to great. The other thing Progtoberfest has going for it is variety. Just about every branch of the progressive rock tree was represented over the weekend and it was all good. Can’t wait till next year!
^^^
Hat's off to you, man - it's been a long time since I've had those kind of hang chops. Really appreciate your taking the time to write it up, too.
David
Happy with what I have to be happy with.
After reading Steve Sly's review, did anyone else get the visual image from Airplane where the crowd of travelers keep running from one gate to the next? --Peter
.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
That is cool that they played music from Transformation. A great album, if not very prog. I'm sorry I missed it. I ran back to Music Joint right after Soft Machine's set and Caught City of Fear, Shapes of Things and the whole Black Noise album. I agree; an outstanding coda.
That's very funny and a big part of why i didn't go.
Thank You Steve for writing a nice detailed review, i'm exhausted after reading it (glad you stuck around for the whole Torsos set).
He did the "Yellow" thing on board the cruise also. At the time it felt more random, but I guess he's prepared for it. It's still amazing the way he just rattles off songs.
Nice review Steve, and I admire your weekend long dedication. After doing the full weekend for ProgStock, Sunday was enough for me.
Last edited by DocProgger; 10-27-2018 at 09:16 PM.
Ha...yea, I can see where that image could come from, although the venues are right next to each other, so not much of a hike between them.
Torsos where my surprise band of the weekend. I totally dug it, but had no expectations going in. They would make a great ProgDay band IMO.
What was kind of cool about it was people were yelling out songs from the audience and Neal could play everything that was suggested. Like I said in the review, my guess is that back in his bar days, he did stuff like this all the time, but it was still pretty amazing witness.
There is no way I could do Progtoberfest and Progstock both. Too bad they are so close together.
And getting closer together next year.
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks