ProgFest 2000, September 1 - 2, 2000, La Mirada Theater For The Performing Arts, La Mirada, CA, US

With this year's Progfest still a pleasant memory, I thought I'd reflect upon my Progfest experience. Although I'd been going to sci-fi conventions for years, this was my first music festival. Not so different from the sci-fi cons, though the crowd remained dressed in street clothes. I must say that when everything is taken into account - venue, attendees, schedule, sound, performance, etc. - it was the best concert I've ever been to.

First, my resolution for next year: make sure camera works and bring it. Unfortunately, this is why I've thrown this into the editorial rather than a full-blown feature. If you got pics you want to share, send 'em in (details below).

Anyway, the highlight performances for me were Kenso (Friday) and Banco (Saturday), both performing in the US for the first time. It was a tight and stellar performance from the get-go [for Kenso]. Their set list included "Gips" from their most recent studio release Esoptron, as was "Bifuka," "Negai Kanaeru Kodomo Wo Tsurete Yukou," "Anesthesia Part 2"... at least according the printed set list the band distributed at their table. Masayuki Muraishi smoked on drums, turning in the best percussion performance of the weekend, though each band's percussionists were very good. No, the whole band smoked... if I weren't already a Kenso fan (though I'm not much for song titles), this would have done the trick.

With Banco, we waited about 40 minutes before we were seated in the theatre, but it was worth waiting for. I wasn't too familiar with Banco personally, but I was blown away, planning to rectify my ignorance rather quickly. If there was anything to mar their set, it was the inaudible horns - a technical glitch rather than performance fault, as I just know Alessandro Papotto was wailing away on sax, clarinet, and other woodwinds. This glitch was fixed for the second half of their set.

Sound glitches were a problem for almost every band, and getting the levels up at the right moment seemed to be the major challenge. Mostly at the expense of the guitarists... Roine Stolt, during Transatlantic's set, seemed especially annoyed by it. And I half expected Neal Morse to charge off stage and strangle someone. And charge it would have been as he was quite wired. Feeding off Mike Portnoy's energy, which was fed by Morse's. I loved, though, that I could hear Trewavas bass work, as I find he is often not in the mix enough... at least for me.

Codice opened Friday night with a very good, beautiful set, playing selections from their debut album Alba Y Ocaso, including most of their 54 minute suite "Iconos" (the first 25 plus a few later segements). Saturday's opening band was Tempus Fugit. If Codice were a touch classical, Kenso fusiony, Transatlantic rock, then Tempus Fugit were the neo-prog entry. Their sound is a touch of Marillion, especially the guitar of Jose Roberto Crivano. But I think Andre Mello is a fabulous keyboardist, both in the rock context and in the new agey solo piece he performed while Crivano was off fixing his guitar.. double wammy of sound problems and broken string (so I hear on the latter).

After Tempus Fugit, we were treated to the theatrics and antics of Mona Lisa. Excellent music with a good sense of humour. They made their entrance from the rear of the theatre, marching across the aisle throwing confetti - a lot of confetti. But it made for a very energetic set... in fact, I think the energy level was higher than for Transatlantic, as all the players got into the spirit of things. Oddly, I don't recall any sound problems during their set... Oh yes, costumes, too, were present: the guitarist Guillaume de la Piliére in a red, flare-legged pantsuit and a long, dark wig, the drummer Benoit de Gency in a mix-match of paisley (patterns at least), the bassist Martin Goethals in a dark vest over a white shirt and a wig/headband combo, and the keyboardist Alain de Lille in a colourful silky shirt and black and white stripped/checked spandex pants. The band are actually members of Versailles, another French progressive band, leaving vocalist/flutist Dominique le Guennec as the only original Mona Lisa member. He wore a variety of costumes - first an old man (a dark robe), then that man younger, then a woman in a pink dress with an apron, then a clown, and so on... whether this was all from one album (Le Petit Violon de Mr Grégoire) or selections from several, there seemed to be some narrative thread running through it,,, or perhaps that was just me piecing the parts together.

Before the dinner break, it was the reunited Supersister. Keyboardist/vocalist Robert Jan Stips joked to the audience that he thought at first that the invitation to Progfest was a joke - one-hundred fifty plus proved him wrong (I didn't actually count bodies, but it was a good-sized crowd). While their performance was great, the first half seemed a little long. The show picked up with their livelier tunes, including a rousing rendition of "Wow." Sacha Van Geest played a beautiful flute that was only occasionally swallowed by the keys. Bassist Ron Van Eck's playing filled both the guitar and bass roles simultaneously. Lighting effects were put to the most use during their show, used to throw their shadows on the rear screen. The screen itself changed colours, for all bands actually. Sometimes it made the band members appear in extreme 3d, which was an interesting effect.

I want to leave with a big round of applause to not just the great bands that entertained me for the weekend, but also to the organizers of this event: David Overstreet (Art Sublime), Greg Walker (Syn-phonic), Brian Parker and Alex Castro. Standing O, guys. Let there be a next year!!

Photo submission guidelines: if you want to send in your Progfest pictures, or any festival or concert, in fact, you can do so one of two ways. You can scan and send them via email if they're large files, send in separate emails. Image size should be 350 pixels wide The email address is: info@progressiveworld.net.

You can also snail mail them with a SAE so we can return the originals. The mailing address is ProgressiveWorld.net, P O Box 1476, Glendora, CA 91740-1476.

In return, you'll receive credit for your photos and a place in our gallery.

[Sadly, this was the last ProgFest... you can find Dave Cisco's pictures here in our gallery ... co-organizer Greg Walker is currently - in 2011 - working on organizing FarFest for 2012. Though planned as a one-off event and on the east coast somewhere rather than the west. However, of course, on the west coast we have CalProg, which I hope makes a return for 2012... {it did not; PapaJ does schedule one-offs under the CalProg name - 2015} -ed.]