Those bands did, to varying degrees, fraternise back in the day. Most were based in London, lots of cross-pollination.Originally Posted by Stickleback
Meanwhile, I note Cruise to the Edge 2014 doesn't quite have all those acts, but it does have Yes, UK, Steve Hackett, The Strawbs, Three Friends, UK, Marillion, Tangerine Dream, Patrick Moraz, Soft Machine Legacy, PFM, Renaissance and others.
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
I guess no one on board caught that interview! Of all the rumors I heard about Jon's closing set, no one was mentioning Tales at all. (However, when I was snorkeling the day before, I DID remark how it felt like we were swimming through topographic oceans cover, with all of the gorgeous fish!)
As for Beardfish -- yes, they had a great time with their sets and a huge number of their fans were out in force. I know a lot of people love them, I just haven't connected with their songs for some reason, so I only watched them a bit, but a very talented band.
I think most of the main bands have been mentioned here already. Yes, there were about 20 additional bands added at the last minute - they were mostly unsigned bands who had submitted demos to Mike Portnoy and got added to play the "Millennium Stage", which was a small bar stage. The down side was that they were almost all booked at the same time as the main performers, so I think they suffered from very low attendance as a result. That issue will hopefully be reworked next year if they offer that opportunity again. But most of those bands were metal acts, and weren't really of interest to me anyway. "Thank You Scientist" was the only band in this category that was given special consideration with a prime booking time - and deservedly so.
Maybe IZZ will get asked next year? Who knows where this will head. For this inaugural year, Mike said he had a wish-list of 30 bands of his "dream team" and 23 of them accepted (Opeth and Steven Wilson were among the ones who didn't...perhaps they'll reconsider for next year?). I would imagine next year there'll be some repeats, plus perhaps others on his list who didn't make it this year. I don't know if he'll go full-scale into finding new bands to play, like the other prog festivals might do. He's already got so many connections in the prog world that they alone could fill up this event for many years to come. But we'll see what happens. With the success of this new cruise, plus Cruise to the Edge in its second year (which may be more of an appropriate spot for IZZ in future years?), the prog festival scene seems to be taking new twists and growing!
Did they have all the regular cruise-ship activities? I am asking because I just *might* be able to convince my wife + kids to go on this next year if it is the same week as it was this year. My wife has unfortunately zero interest in prog but she loves cruises. As long as she can go to the cooking classes and yoga, and the food is very good, and the kids can stay by the pool all day, this could be a win-win.
Well, wait and see if it's the same ship next year (Norwegian Pearl), or if they get a bigger boat due to bigger artists and attendance. If it's this ship, I don't honestly know if your wife & kids would enjoy it. It was ALL prog fans (there were no "regular" passengers not associated with the prog cruise), and the music was pretty omni-present. However, the musicians and other prog fans did bring some of their families, so there were some kids around. Yes, there was good food from lots of different restaurant choices (most prog-heads only ate in the quick buffets to maximize their concert time, so I would suspect many of the sit-down restaurants were fairly empty), there is a gym which offered a yoga class each day (one day it was even on the beach) and other classes, etc... Plus, two days in port that you can book excursions (additional fees) which would be fun for them to do. As for the pool, the main one was covered up since it was in front of the main pool stage. There was a smaller one available plus numerous hot tubs, but these were all in the vicinity of the pool stage too, so while the concerts were going on there, there were a lot of music fans all around. Still, I did see a bunch of kids in the pool area, probably families of the musicians and prog fans.
So, if she loves cruises anyway, then it might work out, but probably wouldn't be the best circumstances for her, as this was extremely music-oriented.
It is difficult to see the wheat from the chaff when it comes to everything Anderson says, so I forgive you all this time. But don't do it again!
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
So, the Norwegian Pearl has a max capacity of 2394. Was the cruise sold out because, if so, that was the attendance.
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
No, definitely not sold out. It sounds like there were about 1,400 "guests". I'm not sure how many additional musicians, family members, entourage, etc... who are not in that count (with over 40 bands total, that could be sizably larger). The cool thing is that it was the right-size ship, so that there didn't have to be any non-prog passengers aboard, like with what happened on the Cruise to the Edge last year (and who had a bigger ship than this one, it seems). Perhaps they'll keep it on the same ship next year again and it'll be closer to sold out. But I suspect word of mouth is going to pump up attendance next year...I already plan on enlisting new friends to join me based on the caliber of the event this year. So, if the band lineup is even stronger next year (i.e. more well-known bands like Opeth), they might need to consider a larger boat! I'd be happy if they keep it the same level, though -- lots of room and chance for interactions with the musicians.
The Divina, the host ship of the CTTE cruise holds 5,000 passengers and another 1200 crew (for a size comparison).
Personally I would've loved to have been on this cruise.
If I hadn't already committed to CTTE I'd have been there but two consecutive trips across the pond just wasn't on.
Theatres on cruise ships tend to accommodate about half the passengers at most. Were there any capacity problems for the big headline events?
I don't know yet how this will be resolved on the Divina - I believe theatre seats are going to be pre-allocated.
It's solved by having bands do at least 2 shows, so everyone gets a chance to get in. The shows are supposed to be basically the same set so no one feels cheated.
Sounds like no one did the same set twice, however.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Last year on CttE afaik bands repeated sets with only perhaps one or two song differences. At least, I can't think of any bands who played different sets... (The "storyteller" sets are exceptions.) Steve H might have done different material.
I doubt that I could ever afford this, but it sounds like a great, great time. Hope they can continue with these.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
I don't recall hearing about any progressive music festivals back in the 70s that featured those bands. I don't think those bands shared bills very often or pooled their resources. Also, it seems like some prog musicians didn't want to be categorized with those other "artsy" bands (ie. Phil Collins, Derek Shulman).
Last edited by Stickleback; 02-25-2014 at 04:07 PM.
In regards to stage/theater size, for Progressive Nation cruise the main indoor theater (Stardust) was excellent and probably held around 1,200. There were always simultaneous concerts going on though, so I think they knew that the theater would likely not fill up since people were spread out over different shows (probably around 1,500+ people who were going to shows). However, when Transatlantic played (and a couple of other headliners), there were NO other shows going on at the same time, so those concerts were at the Pool Stage which could accommodate the entire boat at once, since it's outdoors with plenty of extra space.
In terms of sets (which were usually 1 hour long), every band played twice, and it was up to them if they changed sets or not. Since we didn't need to worry about getting "sold out" of a show, you could get in to see every band twice if the schedule allowed (sometimes had to make hard choices, like Spock's and Riverside having one of their sets scheduled at the same time!). So, some bands played the exact same set twice, while others changed it up to a degree. Almost no one seemed to play entirely different sets each time, I think, except for Transatlantic.
I don't know how that compares to CTTE. In our case, the smaller boat (and crowd size) made it pretty easy to go see whoever you wanted, or catch part of a set and then go to another one.
They did cross paths, though, simply because they were all touring their asses off. Yes opened for Jethro Tull, Genesis played on the same bill as Van der Graaf, The Nice shared a bill with King Crimson (which was how Keith Emerson met Greg Lake), and so on. So maybe not big festivals focusing on prog music per se, but they certainly did share bills at The Marquee, or in Rome, or at the Leicester Technical College, etc.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Indeed. Peruse http://www.m-ideas.com/sullivan/Yesgigs.html and you see lots of festivals in the early years where you'd get multiple big name prog acts together, and later on you've got Gentle Giant opening for Yes etc. Take two examples, adjacent dates in July 1969:
11 London UK Lyceum, 'Midnight Court' w/The Nice, Keith Relf's Renaissance, Peter Cooper, Peter Hammill, Yes
12 Nottingham UK Racecourse, "12 Hour Happiness" w/The Nice, Eclection, Caravan, King Crimson, Juniors Eyes, Edgar Broughton Band, Idle Race, Status Quo, Yes
Henry
Where Are They Now? Yes news: http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm
Blogdegezou, the accompanying blog: http://bondegezou.blogspot.com/
They should have done marketing/promotion like this clip from JOLLY to promote the cruise, the drinking and the fine dining.
What time did the shows typically end at night, it wasn't a party all night thing like the jamcruise was it? Were there any after hours impromptu jams? I read something about an impromptu Beatles set that Mike P. was in on (no surprise although he must have been pretty tired with all the sets he played).
I was not on the boat, but you can find the beatles jam on YouTube. I stumbled accross it the other night.
The last of the concerts usually ended around 1am - 1:30am. Started at 1pm'ish. On the days we were in port, there was no music all day until 6pm when the boat left port. That turned out to be a fine schedule, though I'm sure some would have been happy with more music during the day, too. It actually felt like the perfect amount to me, otherwise I would've been totally burned out. As it was, I was just nicely toasted!
Oh, and not as many impromptu jams as I might have thought, at least that I know about. But there was some sitting in on each other's sets and lots of support from one musician to another. Maybe there'll be more extra jamming next year, but again -- I felt totally satiated from what was offered and didn't want for anything more.
I see Mike Portnoy posted all his set lists on Facebook.
MIKE PORTNOY PN14 PERFORMANCE SETLISTS:
2/18/14 - Transatlantic Show #1:
• INTO THE BLUE
• SHINE
• BLACK AS THE SKY
• BEYOND THE SUN
• KALEIDOSCOPE
2/18/14 - Bigelf Show #1:
• THE EVILS OF ROCK & ROLL
• MADHATTER
• HYPERSLEEP
• VERTIGOD
• BLACKBALL
• CONTROL FREAK
• MONEY MACHINE (w Baron Fox on Drums)
• MONEY, ITS PURE EVIL
• ITM
• COUNTING SHEEP
--------------
2/19/14 - PSMS Show #1:
• A CHANGE OF SEASONS PT 1: THE CRIMSON SUNRISE
• ACID RAIN
• THE STRANGER
• APOCALYPSE 1470
• TONY MACALPINE SOLO
• BIRDS OF PREY
• BILLY SHEEHAN SOLO
• THE FARANDOLE
• MIKE PORTNOY SOLO
• NIGHTMARE CINEMA
• SHY BOY
--------------
2/20/14 - Bigelf Show #2:
• THE EVILS OF ROCK & ROLL
• MADHATTER
• HYPERSLEEP
• ALIEN FREQUENCY
• VERTIGOD
• BATS IN THE BELFRY I
• (BIRTHDAY)
• HYDRA (w Baron Fox on Drums)
• MONEY, ITS PURE EVIL
• ITM
• BLACKBALL
-------------
2/21/14 - PSMS Show #2:
• A CHANGE OF SEASONS Pt. 1: THE CRIMSON SUNRISE
• APOCALYPSE 1470
• STRATUS
• BURN (w/ Tony Harnell & Bumblefoot)
• ANNA LEE (w/ Ted Leonard)
• BURNING MY SOUL (w/ Devin Townsend)
• HELL'S KITCHEN
• DEREK SHERINIAN SOLO
• LINES IN THE SAND (w/ Dug Pinnick & Tony Harnell)
• SHY BOY
2/21/14 - Transatlantic Show #2:
• THE WHIRLWIND MEDLEY
• INDISCIPLINE (w/ Adrian Belew)
• WE ALL NEED SOME LIGHT
• ALL OF THE ABOVE / STRANGER IN YOUR SOUL
• THE REVEALING SCIENCE OF GOD (w/ Jon Anderson)
• LONG DISTANCE RUNAROUND (w/ Jon Anderson)
• AND YOU AND I (w/ Jon Anderson)
• STARSHIP TROOPER (w/ Jon Anderson)
But why didn't he want Jews to eat it?
I am still kicking around the possibility of CTTE.
The Jews' lot is to suffer, hence no bacon.
Any reviews on Anathema? I've just recently got into them, and quite enjoy their last 2 albums
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