I do understand that this may be a tough one to narrow it down to just one band/performance but give it a try.
One band and their performance in particular really stands out for me.
IQ in 2005 at NEARFEST performing their side long masterpiece from the Dark matter release , Harvest OF SOULS.
All i can say is WOW, they really blew me away.
Did you get the DVD (IQ, "Stage")?Originally Posted by seatrain
Chad
Happy The Man at NEARfest 2000 (no DVD unfortunatelly).
It would be damned near impossible to narrow to just one "best" because holy god the bar for quality is high across so many festivals.
So I'll go with the one that probably had the biggest impact on me personally: Deus Ex Machina at Progday in 1996. Effectively jumpstarted my passion for the prog rock scene beyond the "big 'uns" and changed me from "guy who mostly only likes stuff that sounds like Yes and Genesis" into "holy cow, this is weird and unfamiliar and I can't get enough of it."
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
A few really memorable ones for me:
Banco, Kenso and Supersister at Prog Fest 2000
DFA, Happy the Man, and Thinking Plague at NEARFest 2000
Miriodor at NEARFest 2002
Three Friends at FMPM 2009 (I sat next to Brett Kull of Echolyn, and he said it was one of the best performances he's ever seen)
Bill
{SNIP}
Oh, man! They were amazing. Before that performance, I owned two albums by Kenso, max. After that weekend, I owned everything they had put out up to that point. I spent a small fortune!
I've only been to the one festival -- NEARFest 2002. I mainly went to see the headliners, Nektar and Steve Hackett. Nektar put on a dynamite show, but the mix was pretty awful for the first third of the show -- could not hear Roye's guitar at all. Hackett's show was also excellent but a little too predictable.
But two bands I was not familiar with blew me away: Miriodor and Caravan. If I have to pick a single "best performance I have experienced," it will be Caravan's incredible performance, but Miriodor is a very close second.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Very hard problem. And I haven't been to that many 'Progressive Rock' festivals.
Also 'best'. Most enjoyable? Opened your eyes to a new band? Biggest ticket punch?
Jaga Jazzist at BigEars '18 fills most of those. Last time I danced.
Gosta Berlings Saga at Nearfest Apocalypse was one of the biggest WTF to OMFG!
Bent Knee at Rosfest '16 ( and Progday ) for making my brain very happy.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
Unitopia at Summers End 2010 UK
I would have loved to have gotten to a NEARfest...
In my local I'm a prog expert, here I'm a nobody......
Gosta Berlings Saga at Nearfest.All superlatives apply.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Banco at Nearfest 2001 was pretty near perfect for me.
Magma in 2004 (Helsinki). Stunning intensity.
My progressive music site: https://pienemmatpurot.com/ Reviews in English: https://pienemmatpurot.com/in-english/
This is a list of all bands I have seen through various prog rock festivals and stand out the most:
Magma
Anglagard
Camel
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
PFM
Anekdoten
Hatflied & The North
Three Friends
UK
Keith Emerson
Echolyn
Strawbs
Wobbler
Nektar
La Maschera di Cera
Le Orme
The Musical Box (although a cover band, still powerful)
That's all of the best from Nearfest, Terra Incognita, and FMPM. I have a sneaking feeling I'm missing some of the acts.
BEST - Anglagard at NF
Runner Up PFM/Banco/Le Orme at NF and FMPM
Third Place - Three Friends FMPM
Last edited by mozo-pg; 01-05-2024 at 09:55 AM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Keith Emerson at NEARfest!
Great question, but an extremely difficult one. I have attended:
NEARfest: All of them
ProgDay: All but 5
Progtoberfest: At least some of all of them
ROSfest: 6 or 7 of them
Picking one performance out of all of those is impossible, so I will go with the first thing that popped into my head when I first saw this question which was Kraan at ProgDay 2002. What an amazing show that was.
That IQ performance ranks right up there for me too. A band I never thought I would see live.
Banco & Kenso were both amazing. Totally exceeded my expectations with both of them.
Chad,
I did get the Iq dvd ,stage and loved it.
Magma, the second time they played NEARFest.
Sadly, I have never been to a prog festival. ProgDay is near me, but it's at an inconvenient time of year.
Morglbl on a Sunday morning…..WTF? Nearfest 2008?
The Ice Cream Lady Wet her drawers........To see you in the Passion Playyyy eeee - I. Anderson
"It's kind of like deciding not to date a beautiful blonde anymore because she farted." - Top Cat
I was expecting to be kinda meh, but it made my nips stiffen - Jerjo
(Zamran) "that fucking thing man . . . it sits there on my wall like a broken clock " - Helix
Social Media is the "Toilet" of the Internet - Lady Gaga
Magma at NF....both shows.
Me neither.
I'm not sure I could handle more than one concert and at most one opening act.
RIO Fest
Art Zoyd's 44 1/2
Univers Zero/Present/Aranis - Once Upon A Time In Belgium
Robin Trower @ 3daysofloveandpeace in Loreley (2005, I think)
Colosseum & Caravan @ Canterbury Sounds festival (Mt Ephraim Gardens in 2001, I think)
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Wow, real, real tough one. I'm going to tap dance around the 'pick only one' issue, by doing categories.
BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE: Magma NEARfest 2007 - Incredible intensity and perfect setlist with Kohntarkosz, for me.
BEST SINGLE SONG: Three Friends FMPM 2009 - Hearing Kerry sing Think of me With Kindness damn near brought tears to my eyes.
MOST BLOWN AWAY BY UNKOWN BAND: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum NEARfest 2003 - Best 'what in the actual fuck am I hearing/seeing' moment ever.
SO GLAD THAT I STUCK AROUND BAND: IZZ NEARfest 2003 pre-show. Not many left late in the evening at the bar it was held, but IZZ absolutely smoked, featuring their brand new, at the time, masterpiece I Move
BEST OUTDOOR SHOW: Morglbl PROGDAY 2019 - fun, pyrotechnical playing and a great vibe through the whole set.
Neil
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