RITES OF SPRING FESTIVAL
The Colonial Theater
Phoenixville, PA, USA

April 29^th and 30^th and May 1st 2005
Concert review by Stephen Ellis


 

Friday - April 29th
ARENA
MYRIAD
DENNIS HALEY
 

In retrospect it is at one moment a very easy thing to review this wonderful 3 day event and the next moment a rather difficult thing to describe with mere words. For those that were there you more than likely understand what I meant by that opening statement.

For The Rites of Spring Festival is so much more than just a bunch of bands playing great music. I mean Cryptic Vision’s performance as the opening band on Sunday morning is the stuff legends and tall tales are made of but I jump ahead. On to the review.

The Rites of Spring Festival is truly an international event, just like the other east coast prog shows (ProgDay & NF) and I expect the west coast prog show, CalProg, to be the same way. There were probably 10 or more people from the UK alone, a couple from Norway and others from Mexico and others from lands further south. Of that group were four of JoAnn and my dear friends that we had met originally at the first Progeny show in London in 2003.

Gareth, Miles, John, and David (all from England but not all British) arrived at our home on Monday April 25th. For that week before RoSFest we entertained and were entertained by these gentle, peaceful, and musically passionate men. They got to really milk the US dollar VS. The British pound (better than 2 to 1, 2 dollars for every pound) as they really enjoyed shopping and eating large American portions of mostly beef. I leave that thought for another story on another day.

So with our good friend Todd Woerner in tow the seven of us left right at 6:00 am on Friday the 29th heading to RoSFest. Having learned that the route up to PA taking I-85/I-95 goes through several MAJOR east coast cities, the last couple of years we have taken I-77 north to I-81 then the PA Turnpike into the hotel.

While this is a much more scenic ride, on this day it was pouring down rain so that all the sights you’d love to see as you cross into the Appalachian mountains were “obscured by clouds” which in fact is not a bad link or metaphor that ties this weekend of music we were soon to bathe ourselves in to the roots of progressive rock itself.

So 8.5 hours later we arrive at the Sheraton which once again handled the motley crew known as RoSFest attendees with kid gloves and really did all they could (other than breaking the anal retentive PA state laws about when alcohol sales MUST stop) to make sure all needs were met. And the $75 room rate was perfect when you consider than the normal rate is just over $200 per night!

After unloading our gear and meeting up with numerous old friends from prog shows past, we were off to the venue, the loveliest Colonial Theater (where the original “The Blob” movie was filmed). I must thank George and Tom for the idea of making the “pre-show” a truly official part of the weekend and having the Friday bands play with the same lights and sound provided to the weekend bands.

Sure enough he was announced to open RoSFest 2005 and what a perfect opener he was.

I’ve had a very soft spot for “space” music since around 1980 as I saw it as the next progressive music that would replace the classic prog I had loved for so long. While that may or may not be true what the audience was treated to early on that Friday night was a most wonderful excursion to that wonderful place I like to call the bar located in the reefs of space.

Dennis’s music was crisp, clear, spacey, and totally captivating. It was mellow and bright. It allowed the audience to relax from the long trip into town and just sit and groove. I could not think of a better opener for this weekend of music. Something loud and raucous would have been just plain wrong after spending over 8 hours driving in. A perfect choice George & Tom, not sure how you will top it next year.

: : Myriad : :

A strong 3 piece outfit that had good chops and a strong feel for musical nuance. While on the surface many people would call this band something in the vein of say later day Rush but to be honest they presented a musical soundscape that was truly theirs and theirs alone.

It’s hard for any three piece rock band to not get some Rush comparisons but in Myriad’s case that is not a bad thing. Myriad’s intricate song structure as well as the top notch “chops” of all three members made them and their set a joy to see and hear. A great band to set the stage and cleanse the pallet for the Friday night headliner. I expect these guys to go farther and I for one am looking for a new release to see how they have matured.

: : Arena : :

I must tell you that when George called me up and confirmed that Arena had agreed to the Friday night headlining spot and that the Friday show was going to be at the Colonial Theater I came close to wetting my pants.

I’ve wanted to see Arena since I first heard “Songs from the Lions Cage” around 1997. This band has continued to mature and develop and without question is one of the finer progressive ROCK bands playing today.

I’d corresponded with Clive Nolan for some time and did finally get to meet him at Baja Prog in 2002 when he was performing with Pendragon (another one of my most favorite bands). He told me then that Arena was where his heart and brains were and if their performance on Friday night was any indication it is truly a labor of passion and love amongst all of the Arena band mates.

With so many releases I’m sure it was very hard for these guys to figure out exactly what to play but they did an excellent job of hitting the highlights.

I was in awe of these guys from start to finish. Rob’s weird little “glowing glasses” were too cool, Clive in his full length leather jacket, John Mitchell’s screaming guitar, John Jowitt’s thundering bass and Mick’s solid back beat just kept me and the entire audience in a musical trance. Believe me, I was not the only person who had waited years to see these guys live and all were not disappointed.

They did two encore’s and were prepared for a third and I was told that Mr. Jowitt had a “special” outfit he was going to put on but alas the house lights came up and well we will just have to wait for next year to see what Mr. Jowitt can surprise us with. Could not have been more interesting than the plaid multi-zippered pants he wore with Jadis at RoSFest 2004.

After sitting in my chair and letting the music fade over me it was time to go back to the Sheraton for some late night meet and greet with old friends, new friends, band members and more.

: : Friday Night Back At the Sheraton : :

After kissing my lovely wife good night, the first people I see when getting back to the hotel lobby bar are my friends Gareth, Miles and David from England. They were busy watching Matt Cohen the bass player for Magenta, flirting with some local hottie and teaching her how to cuss in the Queen’s English. Pretty much Matt was teaching her to say “hey you #$&# wanker”. It was the accent and the word “wanker” that was the different part.

Needless to say Matt was feeling no pain and glory to his youth was still prepared for a major set the following day although there was some reported “cramping in his hands”. As a foot note, his hands were just fine by the time of the Gold Patron meet and greet or else they were permanently cramped around one bottle of brew after another!

And yes around 2:00 am the bar had to close. Regardless that there were 150 people still busily buying rounds for the Arena mates, the guys from Myriad, a couple of the Man on Fire dudes, etc.

So for some, the party simply moved to one of many rooms and continued into the really wee hours of the night.

Not so your fearless MC, I not only needed my beauty sleep but of course knowing that Saturday night was going to be the REALLY late night, decided to see if I could get a few hours of shut eye before the Saturday festivities began.

: : Saturday April 30th : :

Having very little for supper on the previous Friday evening, Jo and I went in search of a great breakfast place. We went all the way into Phoenixville and found this wonderful little place calling itself an Irish pub. Whatever it was it was great food and portion sizes typical of the US as opposed to say Ireland.

After a filling breakfast we prepared for the opening band on Saturday, Eyestrings.

: : Eyestrings : :

I must tell you I had listened to Eyestrings’ debut release “Burdened Hands” several times prior to seeing them live and I seriously could not pigeon hole them as to what they sound like.

My first thought was that those detractors who like to call RoSFest a ‘neo-prog’ festival would have to change their tune once Eyestrings hit the stage. This band has a complex mixture of sonic fury. They are often melodic but in the same breath can be discordant. They are straight ahead rock while infusing jazz like music footnotes.

Their set on Saturday morning was very good and certainly made the audience sit up and take notice. I did see many of their debut CD’s leaving their merchandise table after they played so they obviously did make an impression on many who got to enjoy their brand of modern progressive rock.


: : Kino : :

As anyone who is reading this knows, Mostly Autumn was scheduled to play and at the last minute due to some act of God (or lack there of) could not make the RoSFest gig.

Much to the surprise and great pleasure of the multitudes that would soon descend on Phoenixville, Kino was announced as the replacement band.

To this reviewer these guys were a great choice and with John Mitchell of Arena already in place it was a most logical choice. Chris Maitland, Kino’s drummer on their first release “Picture” was unable to attend but he was masterfully replaced by Bob Dalton of It Bites.

Now you might think that with John from Arena and Pat from Marillion there would be a good chance that their music would have a strong Marillion-esque vibe or even sound. This is not even close to true. In fact I’m not sure that you could say “hey they sound like this or that”. No; Kino has grabbed a sound that for a first release comes across as very new in a familiar sort of way. And live they sounded almost identical to what was put down on CD.

They play a melodic power “pop” prog if you will. This must be a direct link to John Beck as It Bites definitely established a clean linage to this type of poppy prog music. This style of pop prog may just be what brings more women and younger people into the progressive rock music family. My wife really liked them as did everyone I talked to about their set.

Catchy riffs, delectable keyboard passages, strong vocals with a strong and positive lyrical message. Each song played was strong on its own but when you are able to hear each song taken as one massive musical undertaking it appears, at least to this listener’s ear, to be greater in total of all the songs rather than one or two songs that normally carry a live set.

Yep, Kino rocked the house and it was clear they really enjoyed themselves as they played.

: : Tiles : :

Well, these guys can rock. I’m not sure if they are metal or not but then, I’m not sure that is even the question. This was a band on a mission and if I’m not mistaken that mission was to rock the house in a very American sort of way. By that I mean that these guys are from Detroit, one of the most obvious “old school” American cities and their version of, if you will, progressive metal, has the Motor City written all over it.

You have here a three piece band with a very distinctive singer who simply struts his stuff around the stage. A rock band that wears the ROCK part on their sleeve and whose prog rock roots are subtly located just below the surface.

I’ve got to point out the drummer, Pat DeLeon, who reminded me of Animal from the old Muppet Show. Except of course Pat can seriously play the drums. I even talked with him at the after show party and told him I’d never seen a drummer at war with his kit before and even more astounding, he was actually winning every battle.

Tiles selections from their newest CD “Window Dressing” were perfect as were their entire set.

Again, Tiles came to rock the house and that they surely did. They truly set the stage for the headliner that was to follow. Tiles’ driving set was loud, passionate, well executed, intricate, thought provoking, and exhilarating. They clearly raised the bar so that Magenta really had to be on.

: : Magenta : :

Ah Magenta. Where do you start describing this most excellent band? This was the third time I’d seen Magenta and it was by far the best yet. And the fact that Annie Haslam was on hand to introduce Magenta really pointed out how this music and this band in particular have brought symphonic and melodic progressive rock music full circle.

From the opening notes of the programmed keyboard intro to the audience mandated third encore where they had to replay a shortened version of their opening song {King of the Sky} this band had the audience clearly in the palm of their hands. And yes, Christina is ‘worth dying for’.

We were treated to just about all of Magenta’s “Revolutions” and “Seven” <which is an entire CD with each song based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins> as well as the singles “Broken” and “I’m Alive”. In fact if you pick up a copy of their current Live CD you will have a near perfect copy of this RoSFest show.

One big difference and a reason why I do hope a Live at RoSFest CD is released is the wonderful 100% acoustic “Anger” from Seven. Chris Fry sat in a chair with Christina on her knees (and of course barefoot) adjacent to him as he played a most wonderful almost classical guitar version of Anger. With Christina’s angelic voice washing over the audience we were all treated to a rare moment in time where in fact time almost stood still.

One of the great moments of their set was when they came back out for the final encore and asked, nay demanded the audience get out of their seats and come forward to the front of the stage.

It was great to see this crowd of aging prog-rockers out of their seats and bouncing like little kids to the replay of “King of the Sky”. A great and truly unforgettable musical moment.

To me this was as close to a spiritual experience I can have this side of church. A moment I will not forget. Then it was on to the after show party for the Gold Patron ticket holders.

: : Saturday Night Gold Patron Ticket Holder Party : :

One of the many great things that George and Tom have brought to these progressive rock music festivals is this idea of the special party with a band meet and greet for those attendees who were willing to spend a little more for their tickets. It is these Gold Patron ticket sales that allow George and Tom to have some initial operating money to get started purchasing flights, securing the venue, holding rooms at the hotel, etc.

And we (the Gold Patron ticket holders) get a chance to socialize with band members, see interesting musical performances, and drink too much and stay up way too late.

Magenta did a cover of the early Renaissance song “Northern Lights”, Andy Tillison did a cover of some obscure Van der Graaf Generator song and Jonas Reingold with Pete Trewavas did a very interesting “dueling bass guitars” thing that was another musical highlight and one where you really had an opportunity to watch two great bass players do their thing. John Jowitt was not in the room at the time and it would have been even greater to have a trio of bass players dueling each other.

All in all another great Saturday after show party and one that will probably force George and Tom to sell even more Gold Patron seats for next year.

So it was around 4:30 am when this reviewer finally hit the bed and it was with great anticipation of the music to come just a few short hours away.

[  Next Page  ]