AltRock Festival 2013 - looks like some killer prog had by all

[man-erg]

Here's a review of a progressive rock festival by someone who wasn’t even there: I was wondering how the AltRock Festival at the beginning of June went, since 1) I really love Italy and would love to go back one day 2) the lineup was one that I really would have loved to see. So I checked on YouTube and sure enough there are a few clips to enjoy (thanks bungle77 – I hope you post more). From the clips it sounds like it was a really great set of concerts.

A few points of interest:

October Equus is a 4-piece now of guitar, bass, drums and sax. Keyboards have been jettisoned. I like the sound.
Ske sounded excellent live. No surprise since I guess most of the players were from Yugen? Love the use of toy instruments.
Wobbler sounded really great too...vocals seemed spot on.
Not a Good Sign has a nice mix of elements that’s a little different and very creative. More great vocals.
Looks like there was a decent crowd (?)

I hope some people who actually went will chime in. Here's a bit of ske:

[Scrotum Scissor]

They had a marvellous lineup altogether encompassing RIO-style avant-progressive (October E.) and very advanced, experimental "symph" (Ske), indie-like new prog with NoGS, classic retro-style "symph" with Wobbler etc.

One of the things learnt by Gouveia, I suppose, is the not-so-secret trick of coming to terms with the width and depth of the whole "prog" phenomenon so as to have all flanks securely covered. I know of other "prog fest" efforts which folded effectively due of the exact lack of such an approach.

[NogbadTheBad]

Would have loved to have been there, heard great reports from those I know who attended.

[calyx]

I was there. And really had a great time. Marcello of AltrOck seemed pleased by the turnout - 160 people on the 1st day (Fading label / "symphonic" bands), somewhat less, predictably, on the 2nd (AltrOck label / RIO/avant stuff).

Highlights of the 1st day for me were Ske, in a sextet line-up (Zago, Botta, Wawrzyniak, Cipollone, Signo, who all played on the CD, plus Yugen's Jacopo Costa on vibes, who also happens to be Camembert's drummer !), performing what was playable in that format from the album, plus a couple of quotes from KC's "Talking Drum" and VdGG's "Man-Erg", the latter closing the show. Wobbler were also excellent, beginning with their older, Anglagard-like repertoire which is pleasant but all over the place compositionally (imho), and finishing with their more recent, coherent, and somewhat "yessier" stuff. Great playing and great singing. I wasn't so thrilled by Ciccada, who came minus their female vocalist (a [good] singer from another Greek band sang on a few tunes) and with a violin player and a pianist, both of whom seemed classically-trained with not a rock'n'roll bone in their body, but did a fine job. The performance was OK. I liked the organ playing from the band's leader who also played flute (correctly) and tenor sax (not terribly well). I wish they didn't feel the need to include cover material, which was unnecessary if competently performed - they began with a medley of Gentle Giant's "Prologue" and VdGG's "Theme One", and later in the show they did an extended "Snow Goose" medley. La Coscienza Di Zeno opened the proceedings, and looking back, since they shared singer and bass player, I would say they are an inferior version of the excellent Not A Good Sign, which performed the following day.

The 2nd day began with a performance by October Equus, who appeared in quartet format (sax, guitar, bass and drums), which I found lacked in variety a bit, not aided by a total lack of stage presence. It was a bit like a jazz gig, and not in a good way. Still it was a fautless performance by very able instrumentalists, but for me it didn't really live up to their recorded work. Not A Good Sign were next, and AltOck "supergroup" led by Francesco Zago and Paolo Botta of Yugen. On paper, it may seem a "sell-out" for them to basically play this more "mainstream" form of prog, but they seemed really into it, and the music was great. They also have a strong vocalist in Alessio Calandriello, although he is evidently still perfecting his stage presence. There were extended instrumental passages compared to the album for which he left the stage for several minutes at a time. Those sections were excellent - I was surprised at how good Zago was in this context, and Botta did a marvellous job of laying the various organ, Mellotron and piano parts. And young drumer prodigy Martino Malacrida is something to behold. Great stuff. The festival ended with an incredible performance by Humble Grumble from Belgium. The obvious comparison is obviously Zappa - the instrumentation consists of guitar, bass, drums, vibes, sax and bass clarinet, plus two girl singers wearing sexy outfits while doing a remarkable job of singing perfectly in tune over this rather complex material. The songs are all on the funny/parody side, but (imho) in a more lighthearted and, for me, enjoyable, than Zappa's similar ("Sheik Yerbouti" era) material, so there's less of a separation between the vocal and instrumental stuff as there is, for me, in a lot of Zappa. Whether the Belgians' composition work compares to that of the great American master is another story, but there certainly is a LOT of substance and some superb playing from all. And stage presence galore. A great ending to a great festival !