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Festival News: FMPM Announces Partial Line-up For Its 2007 Edition

Posted on Sunday, February 18 @ 21:19:19 UTC by nightowl

Strawbs, Samla Mammas Manna, Nathan Mahl, VEBB, at FMPM 2007 in Montreal

ProgresSon Music (ProgQuebec), in association with Unicorn Digital, announces that the 2007 edition of the Montreal Progressive Music Festival (FMPM) will be held on Friday, September 14th and Saturday, September 15th.

This year's line-up will include the world famous Strawbs in their electric formation, Swedish legends Samla Mammas Manna, as well as native Quebec groups Nathan Mahl and Ville Emard Blues Band (VEBB). Two other groups will be announced within the next few weeks, as well as the name of the venue where FMPM07 will be held.



The STRAWBS are one of the most renowned British progressive bands of their era. Their highly successful 1970s albums, Hero And Heroine and Ghosts, were rightfully acclaimed by music fans selling over 250,000 copies each, and their mixture of emotional progressive rock and folk have won them legions of fans around the world. Other notable albums include Grave New World, Bursting At The Seams, Burning For You, and Deep Cuts. In recent years the acoustic Strawbs has played across North America, and in 2004, the electric band headlined NEARFest, playing a few other sold-out concerts as well. Rock fans in Quebec have been patiently waiting over 25 years for a chance to see the electric Strawbs in concert, and will finally have the opportunity to see the complete original electric formation of David Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, John Hawken, and Rod Coombes.

SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA is one of the great progressive bands from Sweden, and one of the founding members of Rock in Opposition. Since their first album in 1970, they have combined instrumental virtuosity, tight group interplay, sophisticated compositions, and a sense of fun and infectious energy that cannot help but bring a smile to anyone who sees them play. Albums such as M?ltid and Klossa Knapitatet are stone-cold classics, and their 1999 release Kaka was hailed as a brilliant return to form. The current line-up of the band includes original members Lars Hollmer, Coste Apetrea, and Lars Krantz, and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei, and Korekyojin fame.

Samla headlined the ProgDay festival in 2003, but appearances in Quebec have proven elusive until now.

Outaouais valley-based NATHAN MAHL, led by keyboardist and composer Guy LeBlanc, has been at the forefront of the modern symphonic progressive rock sound. After releasing the obscure gem Parallel Eccentricities in 1983, the band went underground for 15 years before emerging with the prog-fusion powerhouse The Clever Use of Shadows, since re-interpreted as Shadows Unbound. After blowing away the audience at NEARfest 1999, Mahl embarked on a symphonic album trilogy called Heretik which saw its sound approaching that of the legendary group Camel while retaining its uniqueness. Around this time LeBlanc joined Camel, where he participated on A Nod And A Wink, embarking on a world tour. With a new album entitled Exodus coming out in 2007, it is time for Mahl to make another high-profile festival appearance. The line-up today includes Guy LeBlanc, Marc Spenard, Guy Dagenais, and Alain Bergeron.

Montreal's home-grown VILLE EMARD BLUES BAND comprised the largest stage in prog music history, consisting of up to 24 musicians, and combining rock, jazz, funk, and folk. VEBB headlined the Montreal Forum and was nominated for best new group at the 1975 Canadian Juno awards, a category won by Rush that year. The complete works of VEBB were reissued on CD by ProgQuebec in 2004. Former band leader Bill Gagnon's son, Chris Gagnon, now heads up the core group of 12, along with veterans Serge Vallieres, Michel Dion, and Richard Perrotte. FMPM07 will showcase this unique ensemble performing a special set of its most progressive and energetic jazz-rock, featuring tracks by related groups Contraction and Toubabou, proving that Quebec was a bastion of creativity during the 1970s.

A limited number of Gold tickets, entitling holders to the best seating, will go on advance sale at www.progquebec.com sometime in March, while Regular tickets will go on sale at a later date to be announced. For more information, please consult our festival web-site on a regular basis at www.fmpm.net, and direct any inquiries to info (at) fmpm.net. We thank everyone for their interest in our event and expect that this year's festival will be an even greater success than the last.

Posted in Festival News