Cyan / Peter Jones

Poppodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Saturday, 11^th May 2024

Supergroup Cyan performed at the last ProgDreams Festival held at the Boerderij, unfortunately I couldn’t attend their show at the time. But one year later, the English progrock band led by Magenta frontman Rob Reed is back at the Zoetermeer pop temple, this time as a headliner. With Cyan singer Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Camel, Red Bazar) also as support act. It goes without saying that a true prog fanatic must/should be present. And so it came to pass.

PETER JONES

The announcement that Peter Jones would also be the support act was an extra bonus to not miss Cyan’s concert. Multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones was led onto the stage by Cyan-colleague Robert Reed where he took his seat behind a horizontally placed electric guitar and with his trusted saxophone by his side, he performed single-handedly. Peter Jones indicated that he would play a combination of Genesis and Tiger Moth Tales (TMT) material, which elicited an enthusiastic response from the audience present. Jones is an excellent entertainer, announcing his songs with lots of humour after which his great voice and guitar playing did the rest.

The Genesis material starts with Turn It On Again, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, Carpet Crawlers, a surprising Harold The Barrel and majestic Ripples alternate with Feels Alright, folky The Lock Keeper, the moving tribute to David Longdon We’ll Remember and finally Still Alive, dating from the lockdown period. Peter’s wonderful English humour, a few forgivable mistakes, but above all that great high-register voice, with those specific authentic details, Phil Collins eat your heart out. A forty-minute solo show by the Nottinghamshire man was an excellent warm-up for this evening’s main act.

CYAN

This main act starts at half past ten sharp and the band is visibly looking forward to this show. They kick off with the instrumental Snowbound which swings and rocks from the start with leading roles for both flute and sax. Don’t Turn Away follows, and here the the sound is a bit too loud for my ears. Pictures From The Other Side is the melodic sequel, it reminds me a lot of Camel, especially because of the saxophone and guitar. The latter also applies to Call Me, with a great solo by Luke Machin.

All Around The World is best known for ProgAID, Jones’ sensitive voice is completely at ease here. Master of ceremonies Peter Jones introduces the next song, Man Amongst Men, with a sad story about main character Harry. The image on the big screen supports the story. The beautiful ballad Follow The Flow was originally a duet between Peter Jones and the unfortunately absent singer Angharad Brinn, she does however make an appearance on the big screen. This is followed by the Camel-like I Defy The Sun, especially Machin’s guitar work enhances the comparison.

Brinn also sings along in Broken Man, unfortunately Jones’s encouragement to dance along noisily is only partially followed. To the disappointment of the fans after 75 minutes the last song is announced. But not just any song: the epic The Sorcerer stands for more than fifteen minutes of pure prog magic, containing all the ingredients that make a strong (prog) song what it is.

The band briefly leaves the stage, with the euphoric Jones led away by Reed. But not for long, a quick return to the stage is followed by an introduction of the band members, everyone is deemed ‘fabulous’. The last song is actually the title song of the first album, For King and Country. A cracking rocking version, with much needed audience participation follows an impressive intro with guitar and vocals. This is literally and figuratively speaking the vocal highlight of the evening. Peter also manages to squeeze out a piece of saxophone at the end, he is completely knackered after almost two and a half hours of intense performance.

Luke Machin (The Tangent, Maschine, Frances Dunnery’s It Bites) is an extraordinary talent on six strings. The leftie masters all styles: from shredder to rhythm, both hammering and fluently melodic. And everything so high on the neck that at times he’s in danger of running out of frets. Bassist Dan Nelson (Magenta, ex-Godsticks) plays melodically when possible and driving when required, whilst his Magenta buddy, drummer Jiffy Griffiths, plays solidly and smoothly – it all seems to come effortlessly to him. Composer/bandleader Rob Reed (Magenta, Sanctuary) plays his keyboard instrument in a swinging, groovy manner, with his vintage sound – the man’s an old-fashioned top-notch soloist. Who also provides background vocals.

But the real star of the evening is singer/master of ceremonies Peter Jones, he delivers a top performance; not a note wrong, especially the high-pitched parts which are downright impressive. Hats off to the consummate showman, and must not forget he also contributes on guitar, flute and saxophone. It should also be mentioned that the interplay between both guitarists and the duets and unison playing with keyboards are also absolute highlights of the show.

After an hour and forty-five minutes it’s all over and done with the 150 people present making double that amount in terms of noise. The experienced film crew of John Vis were busy making video recordings, who knows, maybe one day a DVD/Blu-ray of this memorable show will be released? The sound was excellent this evening, although the volume was a bit on the high side at times. The light show, with the band frequently bathed in appropriate blue light, also deserves applause. Supergroup? Well, I don’t know about that. But one thing is certain: this group is really super. And those who chose to stay at home? Well…

[Photos by Ron Kraaijkamp (Progwereld) used with kind permission]

SETLIST
Snowbound
Don’t Turn Away
Pictures From The Other Side
Call Me
All Around the World
Man Amongst Men
Follow The Flow
I Defy The Sun
Broken Man
The Sorcerer
~ Encore
For King and Country

MUSICIANS
Jiffy Griffiths – Drums
Pete Jones – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute
Luke Machin – Guitars
Dan Nelson – Bass
Robert Reed – Keyboards, Background Vocals

LINKS
Facebook | Bandcamp