Never heard of them before I stumbled on a cd at the French prog rock-section. What a silly name, I thought! But eventually I got it...and I like it quite! What can you tell me?? Internet is not exactly filled wth info about this band.A really interesting cd. Must be played yet again.. I was happily surprised by this oneSo..Where do I go next? Any Halloween fans???
Brilliant band from France. Le Festin was sadly their last Album (out of 4 Studio Albums)
The one before Le Festin "Merlin" is also very good and recommended. I also like their live Album
Silence...au dernier rang very much (it has a very cool VdGG cover).
Their first two albums were without Géraldine Le Cocq, and I don't like the male vocals on those to much.
(the songs from these on the live Album Sound much better).
Still "Part One" and "Laz" are worth owning, but they are much darker than the later albums.
To the OP: You may want to find the Edhels thread. There was some discussion of Halloween in that thread, iirc.
Their Progfest 94 performance was also quite good. Greg Walker over at Synphonic has some of it on both CD and DVD.
Mmmm, Geraldine... Just get everything with her on it. You won't regret it.Originally Posted by TheH
I'll also recommend "Merlin" as your next pick.
I don't care for the first one (Part 1) that much
I saw them live at Progfest '94 around the time of Merlin. It was pretty good, but Gerladine was a little awkward, some ill choices of "costumes", imo and it seemed she was pretty nervous. Still a fun show.
I second this. Some information to be had there, so dig up that thread!
I personally think Laz would have been a much stronger album if the vocalist (who's otherwise a damn fine violinist) sang in French and not that tossy attempt at English. Some of the instrumental work is pretty great on that release, although not on the level of Merlin or Le Festin.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Thanks alot! Well, since reading all of the replies in this thread, I did actually order the rest of their catalogue (on Musea records.) I love what I'm hearing so far, especially 'Merlin'. So, what can you tell my about Geraldine le Cocq? Just love her voice and presence.. Did she record with other bands?
None that I've heard of; I think she was the girlfriend/domestic partner of one of the other member - IIRC. But you will want to check out another French act called Nil and their Novo Sub Sole release from 2005. They basically continued where Halloween left off, furthering that very "contemporary", introspective symph progressive - and with an excellent femivox as well.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
I would like to second the recomandation. Nil are incredible good, and yes they are close to the late Halloween. Get their last two albums (these are the only ones you will be able to find anyway)
"Quarante Jours Sur Le Sinaï" and "Nuovo Sub Sole"
She got out of the prog scene, but is still performing. I'm pretty sure it's the same Geraldine le Cocq in dream-pop band Mediavolo (tho she's now a brunette). She's done a few albums with them.
Yes, I forgot about them - they were posted in here once before! And that's definitely her. She sounds good, of course.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Nil...! Here I come...!!!
[She got out of the prog scene, but is still performing.]
That was the case with Sylvia Erichsen of White Willow also although she did return to WW eventually.
Regarding this album I still don't have it. However, I heard parts of it playing in Zoellner after a band's set at Nearfest 2001. I was probably the last person to leave because I was blown away by what was playing. I remember Rob LaDuca telling me what it was. Sooner or later I'll pick it up for sure.
The band just reunited, and yes Geraldine is on board. Let's hope they do more than just a concert.
https://www.facebook.com/Halloween-r...7512451709812/
Michael Myers still sing lead vocals?
Sometimes :-) Most are sung by the lovely Geraldine..
I was on a buying spree for a while with Kinesis before the site closed down. One of the cds I happened to pick up was "Silence au Dernier Rang" which I believe is a live album. I haven't listened to it yet but now that this thread has popped up I might do so and report back with my opinion on it.
Anyway, it's interesting that they reuinited just in time for Halloween. I wonder if that was intentional.
Last edited by Digital_Man; 10-23-2021 at 09:30 AM.
Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)
Halloween played BajaProg in '99 and 2000 - both were phenomenal shows and Geraldine's stage presence must have taken a quantum leap forward over the ProgFest performance because pretty much everyone I spoke to agreed that she was like the female version of Matthew Parmenter (Discipline). I did videotape them and maybe someday I'll get some of that footage up on Youtube.
I did try some of the Mediavolo tracks on Youtube, but didn't care for them at all.
--Peter
I hope they will release another CD.
Wow great news. I saw them at Progfest 94 as well as Baja Prog 1999 and 2000.
Ditto. Though I won't hold my breath.
Yeah, Halloween is good prog for... Halloween (why isn't there a thread about this?), especially the older stuff. But truthfully, everything Geraldine did with them was at a whole 'nother level.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
"Twenty years after", the Brest progressive rock group Halloween is reforming after 20 years of silence, and will be on the Vauban stage on Wednesday 3 November.
Jean Philippe Brun, Gilles Coppin, Philippe Di Faostino, Géraldine Le Cocq reconnect with the public and welcome two new musicians Cédric Monjour and Romain Troly.
Halloween is good for you!
They were friendly to chat with at the Baja prog after party. Geraldine is very fluent in English so that made it easy for me. Gilles Coppin I think has some high level technical job. Random factiod Brest France is a sister city to Denver where I live.
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