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: : Sunday May 1st and Cryptic
Vision : :
I arrived at the venue early; I mean really early considering what time
I went to bed. To be honest it looked like less than half the house was
going to show up simply due to that “late night party”.
I walked back stage to talk with George and meet Cryptic Vision and I
overheard George telling the guys “not to worry if the turn out was some
what light, most people were up late last night.” The band was not
worried and in fact by the time the lights went down the crowd had
significantly increased. Even better, by the end of their set the house
was almost full.
I must say, I really loved Cryptic Vision’s first CD, “Moments of
Clarity”, but seeing these guys perform live was like getting a direct
infusion of nuclear power. From the opening notes these guys were ON. I
was suddenly wide awake, aware and clearly in the presence of some kick
ass great players. Todd Plant sang his heart out and man this dude could
hit those high notes. By the end of the show he was totally spent and it
was a good thing they had run out of time as I do not think Todd had
even one short encore left in him.
One cool thing these guys did was
a medley supposedly paying homage to prog gods of days past. They
started with “The Water” by Spock’s Beard, Yes “Yours Is No Disgrace”,
Kansas “Song for America”, Dream Theater “Erotomania” and ELP “Karn Evil
9”. Now while I do not think bands like Dream Theater or even Spock’s
Beard should be or even could be considered prog gods of old, I suspect
no one could argue that both those two bands are clearly influences of
Cryptic Vision.
I could not imagine a better opening act for Sunday and it was funny
that while some missed the opening minutes of their set, most of the
weekend attendees did get to see these guys and how they put their
entire heart and soul in their music.
Next year I bet a lot more people make sure they are on time for the
Sunday opening band as you just never know. Cryptic Vision has
definitely raised the bar.
: : Man on Fire :
:
Man oh Man on Fire. It was a very bold step to open a concert playing
100% of a new CD but to my mind and ears these guys pulled it off
perfectly. “Habitat”, MoF’s most recent CD is a dark excursion into the
many pitfalls and even sadistic parts of mankind.
Having only heard one song from this CD I was a bit surprised that they
did not play a few familiar songs off the bat to remind the audience
just how excellent their first two releases have been.
But no, true to this bands full
commitment to playing and performing truly progressive rock music with a
hint of funk, they played the entire new CD from start to end with
perfect visual accompaniment that is really unseen in modern era
progressive rock shows.
The addition of Steve Katsikas on keyboards from Little Atlas really
helped flesh out their live sound. A great set and as they did close
with a few familiar tunes all in all they were a big hit with those in
attendance.
: : Sylvan : :
From the moment Sylvan was announced to play at RoSFest I was in
complete anticipation overload. These guys were just one of those bands,
much like RPWL from RoSFest ‘04 that I thought I’d never get a chance to
see live.
When I purchased their first CD “Deliverance” back in 1999 they were
still sort of in the neo-prog style or at least they were described that
way. I remember after hearing this first CD it was clear that they were
not really anything like neo-prog or maybe they have finally hit on a
newer crisper, certainly more different form of the so called neo-prog
style.
Anyway, live they were simply
tremendous. Unfortunately for me they did not play anything from that
first CD and concentrated on songs from their last two releases
“Artificial Paradise” and “X-Rayed” both of which are excellent CD’s
themselves.
These guys really were tight and the music they played for this very
welcoming crowd was loud, crunchy, and sometimes rather in your face.
Much more in the prog metal vein than the more subdued neo-prog image
many had framed them with. I must tell you they had me on the edge of my
seat literally and at one point (as with most of the bands this entire
weekend) had to get out of my seat and go stand against the wall so I
could let my dancing muse flow.
Very interesting young men,
friendly to talk with and more than willing to sign anything you shoved
in front of their faces. A great lead in to the dinner break hours and
the final headliner of the weekend, The Tangent.
: : Gary
Strater Memorial : :
As anyone who attended RoSFest ’04 remembers there was a raffle of a
guitar, signed by all the bands who were playing RoSFest as a means to
raise some funds to help pay for Gary Strater’s medical bills. Gary of
course was the original bassist in Starcastle.
The guitar had a life of its own as the winner of the guitar decided NOT
to keep it but wished to pass it along so that it could be raffled again
at NearFest where all those bands signed the guitar. Thus more funds
could be raised. Well the winner of the guitar at NF passed the guitar
along and it was again raffled at RogueFest where all those bands signed
both the guitar and case. As precedent was set, it moved from RogueFest
to ProgDay in North Carolina then to the Nektar/Caravaan Show and then
back to RoSFest ’05 where the guitar and funds were provided to Gary’s
wife. It had been hoped that Gary would have been able to accept the
guitar but alas he passed before this moment arrived.
This was all done with a very
moving video presentation covering Gary’s life in Star Castle and simply
pointed out how this bright and gentle man loved life and lived it
seeking peace and enlightenment.
It does appear that the long anticipated new Star Castle release has
been completed and hopefully will be released in the coming months. Who
knows, maybe Starcastle will be on the RoSFest 2006 lineup? I’ve
included the trek of the guitar provided by Greg Stafford and April
Bower
: : Gary
Strater Guitar Raffle History : :
The Gary Strater raffle began on April 24th 2004 during the first annual
Rites of Spring Festival. Gary Strater, the bass player for the
progressive rock band Starcastle was diagnosed with liver and pancreatic
cancer. Being a musician he does not have insurance to cover the costs
of the treatment. A guitar was donated by a local music store to George
Roldan, one of the promoters for the Rites of Spring Festival (coined
RoSFest). It was his vision to raffle the guitar to raise money to help
Gary. It would be signed by each of the bands at RoSFest and the money
would go towards Gary’s cancer treatment. What he didn’t expect was the
response he received and what came about when the guitar was raffled. It
is not known who actually started it, but it was mentioned on stage at
RoSFest by John Jowitt of Jadis that the winner should pass it on. Pass
it on to what we had no idea at the time. Then on April 25th the raffle
winner was announced and Joel Craig won the guitar. He came to the stage
and claimed his prize only to pass it on.
The guitar took on a life of its
own and the winner passed it on to NEARfest and Chad Hutchinson accepted
the guitar for a similar raffle. On July 10th 2004 NEARfest began their
raffle of the guitar after having every band member from the bands
playing at NEARfest sign the guitar. In addition, the guitar was also
signed by Annie Haslam, Larry Fast, Mike Portnoy, Gayle Ellett, Chuck
Oken, Guy LeBlanc, and Roger Dean!
On July 11th the second raffle was drawn and the winner, Norm Nied. Norm
took to the stage and announced that he too would pass it on. This meant
it would make the next festival which was announced to be ProgDay, but
there was another festival just a week later that could help in the
cause, The Rogue Music Fest in Atlanta, Georgia. April Bower of The Prog
Palace had gotten a hold of Beth Folland in hopes to get the guitar for
Rogue Fest and with the help of Sean Tonar of the band Noise Dot Com it
was able to be brought down to Atlanta for the Rogue Fest the following
weekend.
There was a problem though, with the members of every band at RoSFest
and NEARfest, plus the additional signatures, the guitar had run out of
room for bands to sign. April Bower, Vice-President of The Prog Palace
contacted Guitar Center via email explaining the raffle, the guitar and
the need for a guitar case. A day later I received a call from Guitar
Center saying they would indeed donate a guitar case for the event.
After April made it to Atlanta we stopped and picked up the case.
On July 17th along with the music of Rogue Fest streamed LIVE on The
Prog Palace, the raffle began. Later that afternoon the guitar arrived
at the festival and was placed into the case for the first time. The
case had already been setup and members of the bands had begun to sign
it. Many came to see the guitar and the signatures on it. It was asked
by each band that a CD be given to the raffle so the winner of the
raffle would not go home empty handed for passing it on to the next
festival. Each band of the Rogue Fest donated a CD or two and some were
even signed by the band.
On July 18th the raffle was announced as George Roldan listened in over
The Prog Palace. It was his hopes the guitar would be once again passed
on and make it to ProgDay. The winner was Kevin Jarvis and the members
of the band Farpoint. It was indeed passed on to ProgDay by the band
along with the CDs that each band contributed. The CDs would be added to
the CDs the festival gives to the winner of the drawing if passed on.
It made it to ProgDay and was
passed on, it made it to Atlanta, but due to miscommunications it made
it as far as reaching the Nektar/Caravan show here in Atlanta, but did
not make it to the Prog Power. It was then sent back to George for
RoSFest after that.
It is great to be a part of such
an event as this. Not only do you help out someone in need, but you get
to see history in all the signatures that made it on the guitar. We were
happy to be a part of such an event.
Greg Stafford & April Bower
Prog Palace Radio
: : The Tangent : :
What a great combination of world class virtuoso musicians make up this
band. At each instrument you have players that are some of the best in
their field. And while there were different players on both of The
Tangent’s CD releases, “The Music That Died Alone” and “The World We
Drive Through” than played on the RoSFest stage that in no way detracted
from The Tangent’s performance.
Andy Tillison has one of those voices that you either love or hate. I
fall squarely in the love category as Andy’s voice has a hardened edge,
an edge that speaks to his life experiences and more.
The one really cool lineup change
was the adding of Jamie Salazar, the original Flower Kings drummer, on
of course drums. Hearing him once again laying down a strong back beat
in conjunction with Jonas Reingold (still in the Flower Kings) was like
going back in a really cool way back machine and reliving one of the
best rock rhythm sections ever to grace a rock and roll stage.
Andy has a great stage presence
and his banter between songs was very nice and often enlightening as to
the progress of this band. Andy even made it clear that The Tangent,
while starting out as a studio band, was now working to be a more formal
band for both future studio and live performances. In fact The Tangent’s
third studio CD is well underway and is expected to be released in 2006.
: : The End : :
When the noise finally faded away and the stage had been cleared the
reality that it was all over really began to sink in a somber melancholy
mood settled over me. My wife and I drove back to the hotel in silence,
at times wanting to talk about not only the Tangent but also the entire
weekend, but we both felt that just letting it all sink in was best.
Nothing on the stereo just mental energy filling the car as we plodded
back to the hotel.
As the Beatles wrote “…and in the end, the love you take is equal; to
the love you make…”
That in fact is how RoSFest works for me. George and Tom with a true
labor of love put together a show of seriously good music and musicians
where the love they put into to it makes each attendee receive a
tremendous amount of glorious love and enjoyment out of it from start to
finish.
All I can say is that RoSFest 2006 can not get here fast enough.
Reviewed by Stephen Ellis |
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