Abingdon United Football Club, Oxfordshire
Friday, 12th July, 2024
TPA returned to Abingdon United Football Club in Oxfordshire for the fourth Prog For Peart festival, with fourteen bands to entertain the prog faithful over two days, all in aid of the Headcase Charity Trust, researching into Glioblastoma Multiforme (and more) – the brain cancer that claimed the life of Rush drumming legend Neil Peart. Organiser Mark Cunningham and his team worked tirelessly to make it yet another very enjoyable, friendly, intimate and wonderfully musical event. Here, David Edwards collects the mini-reviews and photographs he posted during the event – edited and enhanced as necessary – to hopefully recapture the spirit of this great festival and highlight some of the wonderful performances from the musicians.
Thursday, 11th July 2024
Prog For Peart started with a highly enjoyable and fun-filled pre-festival evening session with Buzz Elliott in the club bar for the early arrivals. The guitarist and Progzilla radio presenter played a diverse and well-received selection of covers to an intimate, appreciative and suitable relaxed audience. Starting with an excellent Sylvia by Focus and moving through covers by The Beatles, Lindisfarne, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel and Squeeze, extracts from Tubular Bells, The Musical Box etc. with lots of loop effects and suitable accompaniment from the audience, the evening flashed past. A relaxed and amusing start to the festival with the Human Jukebox!
Friday, 12th July 2024
Vmbra (pronounced ‘Umbra’) from Manchester started Friday with a very intense and powerful set of symphonic prog metal. Starting with their new single, Makes Us Smile, their sound is defined by Ai’s lovely, soaring vocals, Jack’s intricate guitar patterns, and a dense wall of sound from Pete on bass and an incessant metal drum attack from Kieran. There were periods of light amongst the dark soundscapes, especially on Wyrm and Submarine and the more melodic closing track Echelon. Loud and with the brashness and confidence of youth – they appealed more to those who veer towards the metal-side of prog, but who also appreciate eclectic complexity, but still went down well with the audience. A very professional and well-received performance, overall.
Fluctus Quadratum went down very well with the early afternoon audience with their infectious brand of keyboard-led neo-prog and symphonic rock. Since I saw them at Fusion 4 they have gained more confidence in their sweeping epics with Jopheus Burtonshaw’s retro keyboards and Curtis Adamczyk’s rich vocals. Although relying on backing tracks for bass and acoustic guitar, the live guitarist Mark Worledge added some lovely sparkle here and there, and Rick Burtonshaw anchored everything on drums. A nice selection of old and new – with Acquiescence 2 and 3, Laplacian, Inertia, Alone and a stunning Direlight to end, all highly enjoyable, with stunning keyboards from Jopheus throughout. This is a band making great strides indeed!
It was another consummate performance by Berkshire’s Spriggan Mist, who have become a well-known and much-loved fixture on the prog live circuit over the last year or so. Their unique blend of melodic rock and folk-tinged prog livened up the afternoon, with Baz Cilia and Fay Brotherhood holding court as they began with Isambard The Mechanical Dragon and The Portal – all well supported by Neil Wighton and multi-instrumentalist Maxine Cilia. Praise for temporary drummer Terry Vass too. A broad set list of old and new, with Brighid, the folky Remember The Day and When Stars Collide all impressing before a vibrant Faery Queen ended proceedings. We were all ‘sprigganised’ for sure!
A stunning performance from Pat Sanders’s Drifting Sun – with an atmospheric and brooding set of symphonic neo-prog, full of instrumental virtuosity and complemented by the dramatic vocals and stage presence from the impressive Jargon. The wonderful John Jowitt was as dynamic as ever, and Fudge Smith’s superb drumming always hits the mark. With Ralph Cardell painting lovely guitar textures, the band started with a vibrant King of the Country. They focused on tracks from their latest album, Veil, including the likes of Through the Veil, The Old Man and Frailty and the imposing epic The Thing amongst others (with John’s Viking helmet a memorable addition!) Pat’s keyboards created a rich soundscape throughout and he was even joined by Jargon on the keys for the finale. Top notch prog indeed!
Nick Jackson and his band (pronounce ‘It’ rather than ‘I.T.’) brought a really nice change of style to Prog For Peart on their return to the festival, with their politically-charged, groove-led rock with its prog flourishes and indie/psych touches. With the ever-animated, force of nature, Mark Gatland on bass and the impressive Andy Rowberry painting soaring guitar lines, the band powered through the likes of The Stranger Inside The Self and Pray For Sunday, delving back into their back catalogue with Burn and Space Cadet amongst others. However, it was the strident Revolution, their prog masterpiece, The Path of Least Resistance and the poignant The Working Man to finish with, that sealed the deal. Tom Ashcroft kept it tight on the drums, and the ethereal backing vocals of Tiffany Twisted worked very well. Great to see this band still at the top of their game.
After following the singer-songwriter duo of Andy Nixon and Pete Riley for many years and loving their poignant, emotionally-charged and poetic musings on the futility of war – it was very special to see them perform live at last, with the help of Rain’s John Jowitt (once again!), Andy Edwards and Rob Groucutt. As a result, they were able to add dynamism to many of their mid-tempo, contemplative songs, to create a well-balanced and thoughtful live set. Highlights aplenty with Holding On, Names in the Stone and Enigma (with Rob providing some real sparkle at times), but it was the beautiful intensity of Broken Road that will last long in my memory. They even had time for a cover of Pink Floyd’s Time as well. Let’s hope we can see Andy and Pete perform live again in future to perform their wonderful, heart-felt songs again.
Neo-prog icons Galahad brought the Friday evening to a close with a wonderful performance full of emotion and dynamism. Starting with a buoyant Alive and then an epic Guardian Angel, Stuart Nicholson brought a lovely theatrical intensity to the music with his expressive vocals, with Lee Abrahams exceptional on guitar throughout. Galahad bring a warm, contemporary, electronic hint to the music at times from Dean Baker’s keyboards, especially on the newer tracks, but it was classic neo-prog all the way for the timeless Empires Never Last. The Last Great Adventurer was as poignant as ever, with Stuart really pouring out his soul on this homage to his father, Bob. An ever-smiling and exuberant Mark Spencer prowled the stage (and floor) superbly and Spencer Luckman propelled the rhythm so well on the drums. A very pleasant surprise was a stunning version of Sleepers, followed by This Life, but by ending with exceptional new epic, The Long Goodbye, Galahad seemed to top everything (Lee’s solo was so poignant and emotionally-charged). Still a refreshingly original prog band after all these years!
LINKS
Prog For Peart – Facebook