Night of the Prog 2018

Night of the Prog XIII, Loreley, Germany – “As it Happens” Photo Blog

Loreley Amphitheatre, St. Goarshausen, Germany
13th to 15th July 2018

So here we are once again, Lovely Loreley….




Unfortunately, due to traffic, we missed the opening band – Deafening Opera – but made it to hear the final few songs of Polish proggers, Retrospective.

Now’s a chance to grab some refreshments before Antimatter hit the stage…

Slightly melancholy, but really good, Antimatter!

Antimatter are very good, checkout their recent album, The Judas Table – I’ve been listening to it over the last week and loving it.

I’ve never seen Night of The Prog so full on a Friday! I think Riverside and Big Big Train are bringing in the fans.

After a pause for refreshments it’s time for Threshold. Meantime, you may recognise this guy…

Threshold sounded a bit weird, now I see they’re a guitar short. Didn’t realise that Pete Morten was no longer with the band. I think they suffer the absence, despite Karl Groom’s fabulous playing.

OK, new/old singer Glynn Morgan is filling in some guitar on some tracks…

Threshold turning up the heat!

What Mr. Prog 2018 is wearing!


After some beverages, the mighty Riverside enchant us. Huge cheers from the big crowd…

Sun setting in Loreley…

These guys are all the way from New England, ‘Merica, for the festival ❤️

Apologies folks, the biggest fear in the first-world – dead battery!

Finally, last night, we were treated to Big Big Train, with a brass ensemble. Incredibly professional performance and a rapturous reception!




Day Two: it’s s bright sunny morning here on the banks of the Rhine and we are nursing quite bad hangovers…

Today we’re looking forward to Smalltape, Gungfly, Wobbler, Long Distance Calling, Mystery, The Sea Within and Camel. Stellar line-up!

Kicking things off is Germany’s Smalltape. They’re absolutely astonishing, one of the big finds for me.

Well, Smalltape blew everyone away. Extended standing ovation at the end. Highly recommend you check out their album, The Ocean. Amazing stuff, crowd going crazy for them!

Here’s Rikard Sjöblom chatting to fans…

And now Rikard Sjöblom is on stage with his Gungfly project. A real mashup of styles, but with Rikard’s signature style.

And had a chance to chat with Smalltape – lovely people!

More Smalltape guys – what a performance they gave, even more so as we discovered that the previous drummer quit a few days ago and the new guy nailed it with just two rehearsals!

Wobbler playing the title and opening track from their latest album, From Silence to Somewhere – think Änglagård/King Crimson/VDGG mashup. Another “find” for me, but not for the faint-hearted!!

Wobbler – hard-core Nordic Prog! I think you either love or hate, I love ❤️

Here’s an old friend some of you may know…

German band Long Distance Calling – hard, driving instrumental. Tight as hell and fabulous groove. It’s their second time here at Loreley. Checkout their new album, Boundless.

And nice to meet Andreas and Lars from Wobbler – they only had time for 4 songs in their 75 minutes ?

Long Distance Calling absolutely rocking the house – heavier than most metal bands!

LDC were fabulous. What a day! Still three big bands to come! Now, after some liquid refreshment, Mystery from Quebec!

And we met up with Olivia, who has compered Night of The Prog for the last four years.

Aaaaand we bumped into Long Distance Calling guitarist David Jordan.

Mystery charming the crowd…

It’s around this time of the day where the quality of the posts degenerates… Weissbier…

Jean Pageau in the crowd…

My old friend Roine Stolt, with his new project The Sea Within – another great album that grows with multiple plays…

Marco Minnemann drum solo? Yes please!

And now we have Camel playing Moonmadness


Morning to you all, well afternoon, I guess. Slight problem this morning having left my phone in the hotel room, realising just as the ferry started across the river. So a trip back and then back again. Pfff!

Anyways, this is the third and final day, and Anubis from Australia are playing right now. I consider them a heavy, up-tempo Pink Floyd.

And it’s hot and sunny, as usual… This the life!

Anubis were mightily appreciated – a great start to the day!

Important to keep hydrated…

A change of pace now with Casey McPherson playing a set of his solo songs along with some Flying Colours stuff. And we have insider info that he has a surprise special guest on violin…

He’s a super singer!

And there you go, Olivia on violin. Super cool!

That’s was a really beautiful set by Casey and great to see/hear Olivia – she’s the compère of the event, keep up now…

And here’s Casey at the famous “Loreley Gate”, greeting fans. What a lovely man he is too!

From one/two on stage to 11! Norwegian band Gentle Knife. Heavy ’70s Prog with quite some VdGG flavours.

OK, here we have all 11 playing…

Crazy stuff, as you would imagine… This. Is. So. Prog.

French Prog legends Ange played an entrancing set, with a lot of support from their devoted fans, despite the World Cup Final being played at the the same time.

And now we have Arena playing their superb album The Visitor.

Arena ripping it up!

This is fabulous!

When at a Prog gig, read a book… ?

John Mitchell absolutely nodding it!

And who do we have as the final band of a tremendous Loreley – Isildurs Bane featuring Steve Hogarth and Richard Barbieri

And there’s the h dude…

The Gentle Knife lady – no idea of her name, but they were great!

Loreley…

Chilled.

And now playing the album Colours Not Found in Nature – check it out, folks!

Splendid!

This is really nice and a great, chilled end to a fabulous weekend.

Have to admit that it’s quite hard to post, due to alcohol poisoning…

Wow, h was just amazing!

What a fabulous festival!! Come to Loreley, do it, at least once in your life!!

The End!

[All photos by Dave Baird]


LINKS
Night of the Prog – Website | Facebook

~ The Artists:

Ange – Website | YouTube
Antimatter – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Anubis – Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Arena – Website | Facebook
Big Big Train – Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Camel – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Casey McPherson – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Deafening Opera – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Gentle Knife – Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Gungfly – Facebook | YouTube
Long Distance Calling – Website | Facebook | YouTube

Mystery – Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
Retrospective – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Rikark Sjöblom – Website | Facebook
Riverside – Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
The Sea Within – Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Smalltape – Website | Facebook | Instagram
Steve Hogarth & Isildurs Bane – Website | Facebook
Threshold – Website | Facebook | YouTube
Wobbler – Website | Facebook | YouTube