BAJAPROG 2003 – Seven Year’s Strong  
Review by: Bob Rosenthal

BajaProg is a prog music festival held in Mexicali, Mexico during the first week in March.  Mexicali is the capital of the state of Baja California, located in northern Mexico at the border with the American state of California, just south of Calexico.   

BajaProg began in 1997 as a simple one day festival with only three bands.  It has grown in the past seven years to be one of the most respected…and fun…festivals in the world.  This year, 18 bands were featured over a four day period held during the week of March 5-8.  Also this year, Mexicali celebrated its 100^th anniversary.   

The atmosphere at BajaProg is always very relaxed and friendly, and this year was no exception.  Mexicali, although perhaps not one of the best (or cleanest) vacation spots in the world to visit, is an easy place to get around.  It has many great places to eat, with the local flavor of Mexico at your fingertips. 

On to the festival…BajaProg 2003 featured 18 bands performing on two stages.  One stage is located in a bar at the official festival hotel, the Araiza Inn.  The other is the main stage at the festival’s theatre, Teatro del Estado.   In the past 5 years, BajaProg has given the festival goers more than their fair share of music by featuring bands each day in the afternoon.  This year (just like last year) 1-2 bands performed each day at the Araiza Inn.  Also, as the official festival hotel, many of the bands stay there.  So in addition to all the wonderful music, you have the opportunity to ride the elevator with your favorite prog rock musician. 

The afternoon bands across the four days included Gallina Negra (Mexico), Trespass (Israel), Index (Brazil), Pig Farm On the Moon (Venezuela), Entrance (Chile) and French TV (USA).  The atmosphere in the bar is very quaint, but a bit warm.  Air conditioning would be very welcome.  Also starting on-time would be nice, as each day started over 1 hour plus late.  This made the time between the last band (and the dinner break) and the first of the evening’s bands very short.  Each band is allowed a 60-75 minute set.  The highlights of the afternoon were Trespass, Pig Farm On The Moon and French TV.  It should also be noted that the best of the “afternoon bands” is chosen each year to return to perform on the “main stage” the following year.  To limit the size of this article, suffice to say that all bands performed their music well.  This is a great way to spend the afternoons. 

Day One evening’s entertainment on Wednesday featured Ars Nova (Japan), Cast (Mexico) and Alquilbencil (Spain).  Of the three Alquilbencil were outstanding, with their complex blend of symphonic, prog-metal and jazz-fusion styles, with some Eastern flavor for good measure.  A great end for the first day…with three more to go. 

Day Two featured Cabezas De Cera (Mexico), Ricocher (The Netherlands) and Ankh (Poland).  CDC was the winner of the “afternoon band” award from BajaProg 2002 and returned to the main stage this year.  They blew away the audience in 2002 and made an even greater impact this year on the full stage.  They are a 3-piece band featuring a guitarist on both electric and 12-string acoustic and Chapman Stick, a percussionist on mostly electronic percussion and a third member on assorted woodwinds.  Their music is best described as a combination of King Crimson and Shadowfax.  Yet this does not do them justice…they need to be seen...make that “experienced”…live to really appreciate their unique talent. 

Day Three began with Magenta (United Kingdom) and proceeded with Ange (France) and Focus (The Netherlands).  This was a day of heavy hitters, with all three in excellent form.  Of particular note, Ange’s performance of “Pagan” rock took the audience by complete surprise.  Christian DeCamps’ campy ( sorry, but it fits) performance was so over the top to be thoroughly entertaining.  This is a band that is as visual as it is musical.  The facial expressions and physical (often overtly sexual) antics of DeCamps were amazing and a bit unexpected to say the least.  The front cover of their latest CD says it all.  As to the music…look out.  Although the band now only has Christian as an original member, they feature his son Francis on keyboards and vocals. And 'oh yeah…the boy can sing'!!  To add to an already stellar performance of Ange music, Francis took center stage for a tune from his forthcoming solo CD that was just breathtaking. 

Focus went on last and did not disappoint.  The current line-up (similar to Ange) features only one original member…Thjis Van Leer on keyboards and flute.  Well…not on flute this time out.  Thjis very unfortunately is suffering from partial face paralysis, so he was unable to play the flute.  But this barely took away from the performance.  Focus these days is made of Thjis and three new musicians.  These new musicians were in a Focus tribute (cover) band that Thjis had the chance to see at a festival in Europe a couple of years ago.  He was so taken with their abilities that he reformed Focus with them.  The current guitarist, Jan Dumée, has the licks of Mr. Akkerman down pat, but is able to add his own touches to make the music vital for today.  The performance of both old and new material was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.  Get better, Thjis.  We want to hear “Hocus Pocus” with that trademark flute again! 

Day Four…final day…opened with an amazing performance by Amarok (Spain), followed by Par Lindh Project (Sweden) and ending with PFM (Italy).  With four CD’s of a blend of Eastern/folk/prog music under their belt, most were expecting a fairly laid back performance from Amarok.  Not the case at all…their live set is a mix of the folk elements with some harder edged material as well.  Featuring electric instruments as well as flute, clarinet and other “acoustic” instruments, they put on a performance that brought their CD’s to life.  Par Lindh Project (a repeat from past years) followed with his keyboard based prog.  Finally the act everyone was waiting for hit the stage…PFM.  With a recently released live 2 CD set from Japan (and accompanying DVD), expectations were quite high for this classic ‘70’s band from Italy.  Up until now, most of the previous bands played at a volume that was quite pleasant…even a bit louder in some cases would have been fine.  But PFM must have thought they were playing in an outdoor stadium.  The music was unbearably loud, to the point of distortion in many places.  Their performance was also a bit too showy, with the drummer constantly jumping around the stage like a jack rabbit.  The music was played quite well overall, but the newer tracks from their 2000 release, “Serendipity”, were not received as well as the older classic tracks.  Their 2 ½ hour set was a bit of a let down for many, but still ended the festival on a bright note. 

So, BajaProg 2003 was definitely a resounding success, with over 1000 people in attendance on each of the four days.  It is very rewarding to see that a festival of this nature can thrive over many years and just keep getting stronger.  Festival organizers were asking attendees who they’d like to see next year.  This just adds to the relaxed “homey” feeling of the festival…one that should go on for many years to come.  Congrats to Alfonso Vidales and crew for another successful year!!  Also, thanks for bringing the after show party back to your house…another class act indeed!!

Our sincere thanks to Bob Rosenthal and the Prog West group

VISIT THE BAJA FESTIVAL AT: http://www.bajaprog.com/