FUSION 6: Day Three

The Civic Hall, Stourport
Saturday, 8^th March 2025

What a joyous start to Day 2 of the Fusion Festival! With the 4-piece Splink, like me, Steve Gould (the promoter of this event that grows in stature every year) was so impressed when witnessing this band at HRH Prog last year that he simply had to get them on the bill.
The band take us on a journey through all sorts of genres, which they describe as ‘no rules’ music. It’s a great description as we experience a combination of spacey folk rock and upbeat symphonic prog, with some gorgeous Canterbury undertones that actually wouldn’t be amiss from a 60’s Soft Machine album. The track, Jeremy’s Been Shot was even described as a “neo-gothic cowboy waltz”, which had the ladies dancing.

The wonderful be-cloaked Vikki Ings is front and centre on violin, with Matt James/Evans on guitar, keys, and very engaging vocals. I’m also mighty impressed by the rhythm section, Andy Crickett on thumping bass and Tim Chapman on drums holding it all together, allowing those guitar and violin melodies to shine bright.

With a new album in the pipeline, we have to remain patient as the band are being very specific about where they want to record it. If it’s anything like what they showcase on stage, they are very much trying that patience. I, for one, can’t wait!

This is a wonderful band, guaranteed to put a smile on your face. I wouldn’t be surprised if Splink weren’t (again…..) my top band of the festival. Wouldn’t they form a high quality double-header with Solstice? You bet they would…

This is a fun-filled aural and visual spectacle of a band who’ve been around since 1978 with the odd 10-year hiatus here and there. The McMahon brothers, Paul on guitar (plus a double neck) and lead vocals (the steadfast one), and Chris on bass, plus another double-neck, keys stack, and vocals (the flamboyant beaming stage-striding one), with Paul’s son Danny on drums (he’ll agree to wear a comedy hat if he thinks he’ll be visible enough!) and the adorable and jovial Catrin Ashton on flute, fiddle, and additional keys and vocals, combine effortlessly together to drop perfectly formed nuggets of engaging and accessible music into our ears with a plethora of styles that converge most satisfyingly. We get punchy ‘prop’ (my preferred term for proggy pop), lilting melodies, heartfelt lyrics, riff-tastic rock, heavy blues-funk, raunchy metal, and “seventeenth-century prog/folk/metal”, no less (so says Chris)! Plus, a whole dressing-up box of colourful, song-enhancing costumes and accessories to portray some of the songs’ characters, mostly by Chris, who clearly relishes this aspect of performance, so much so that, much later on, he is to be seen still sporting a fabric tail as he weaves himself in amongst the audience (possibly simply forgotten, but most likely not!). These include, ‘the Outlandish Knight’, a ‘Dragonfly’ (Catrin for this one), a bevvied-up devil – and even Death slyly slinks in and tries to start a fight, complete with scythe as mock guitar!

This is everything you could possibly imagine might feature from a prog band, and as such Haze are perfect afternoon fare, placed second on the bill of the second full day of this excellently curated festival!

The full on funky and heavy rolling rock-out sections in Drinking With The Devil, and Dragonfly, get a few of us seat-jiving, while the sweeter folk-pop of Waters Rising provides for a bit of a sing-a-long type anthemic chorus. The absolutely beautiful Redemption most suitably finishes the set… and I find myself slightly emotional! A good old cathartic response on reflection of such a varied and delightful performance!

Grace and Fire are a five piece band featuring Andre Saint on vocals, Aaron Gidney on guitar, Joshua Gidney on keys, Tim Ashton on bass, and Graham Brown on drums. Some may be familiar with Graham’s appearances on the drum stool for other bands, including The Paradox Twin and Cairo. The band immediately injected some prog metal into the Saturday afternoon Fusion crowd, with most of the tracks taken from their debut album Elysium, issued in 2021, and starting their set with the title track. The scene is firmly set for what is to come, and features some fine guitar leads from Aaron. Chains of Sanity follows, featuring a striking snarling riff opening out to a strident, confident rhythm getting the crowd clapping along; Graham’s drums driving a relentless and strident march, interspersed with staccato rhythm changes and syncopation. A Warrior’s Tale is up next, leading us through to The Great Divide Part One. Paradise Lost outlines the eternal tale of good versus evil, and new song Tabula Rasa sees the band strip down to keys and vocals only and sets a contemplative note. This format continues for the start of Sea of Dreams, before the rest of the band re-join for a rousing and impactful conclusion. The second part of The Great Divide follows, before the band conclude their set with the excellent Eyes of the Seer, a relentless guitar riff pummelling the audience into willing submission, and a soaring vocal inspiring us and accompanying another impressive guitar solo.

For anyone not familiar with Grace and Fire, if you enjoy your prog on the heavier side, you would do well to check them out. And my firm feeling is that the best is yet to come from them. Now, which one’s Grayson? I’ll get me coat…

[Photos of Grace & Fire by Rosamund Tomlins]

Italian band Karmamoi are here for all your man’s-inhumanity-to-man needs. They’ve done albums on 1984 and the Grenfell fire, so D:Ream they’re not.

Led by drummer (and composer) Daniele Giovanonni, what they are is a tight, Melodic Prog group with powerful, almost operatic vocals from keyboardist Valerio Sgargi. His voice really is the main event here, though there are occasional opportunities for the odd Gilmour-esque solo from guitarist Alex Massari.

An early stand-out is Black Hole Era which, like most of this afternoon’s set, is taken from their latest album Strings From The Edge Of Sound, which does seem to have a rather more positive outlook than their previous material so maybe Things are going to get Better after all 😉

The rather unfortunately titled I Will Come In Your Dreams is another highlight, with a disturbing video full of drugs and nails for some reason, and Zealous Man from Room 101 does rock out quite convincingly.

This is ultimately a strong, confident set of Big Ballads with excellent work from all concerned, including Alessandro Cefalì on bass. There are videos to accompany each song, and it all ends with the dystopian frenzy of Drop By Drop (I think it’s blood…).

The ubiquitous Peter Jones returns to the Fusion Festival with his full Tiger Moth Tales band, and as expected, is playing to a full house. In fact, it almost looked like people were pouring off the streets to witness this spectacle!

This time he has the quite excellent and versatile Gareth Cole on bass, who always adds something special to all the bands he plays with, along with his regulars, Andy Wilson on guitar and Paul Comerie on drums. And this is possibly the best I’ve seen Pete as he rolled out highlights from his exceptional album Cocoon, an absolute prog storytelling gem that will take all of a certain age back to their inner childhood.

Pete is always in fine voice but this evening there was something rather special about his vocals – pure power. And I always remain amazed at how he transitions from keys to guitar, configured as a lap guitar.

His set is peppered with the self-deprecating humour that is his USP, and he has a great gift in being able to engage the audience, in particular on The Merry Vicar and Still Alive. The smiles on his band mates faces are priceless, they must feel hugely privileged to be part of the TMT crew.

The first track, Tigers in the Butter, receives a rapturous applause. It’s followed up with Return to Chigwick, The Merry Vicar, A Visit To Chigwick and Don’t Let Go. Feels Alright is dedicated to our very own Leo Trimming. I bet that tugged at a few heart-strings, Leo! His set concludes with Still Alive which gets the whole room on their feet.

Pete, you really are a prog treasure. That was quite a show!

Charlie, Joey, Robin, and lastly, Shelby walk on to the stage and “Euro Pop Trash” lands on Stourport Civic Centre! The space-groovy instrumental intro to the opening song has us doing The Lean…if you know, you know. Maximum funk bass is supplied by Charlie, who as usual exudes enigmatic cool from behind his shades.

21st century glam-space-prog anyone? Kyros are a unique proposition in our musical corner. Try not to dance, if only in your head! This groove is infectious.

For once, a bigger stage is afforded the band, and their joyous infectious tuneage is certainly big enough to fill that space, and beyond that to the sizeable audience, who one hopes are seduced by this sensuous sound.

They are all on top of their game, and Robin gets the spotlight ending a song with an economic but involving solo. Joey’s fingers fly round his fretboard with consummate ease, and Charlie has bent his bass to his will with some fast slapping, played with nonchalant panache.
While Charlie and Joey are not shy in their stage attire, the visual focus is often on Shelby, who is regularly stepping out from behind her keyboards, sometimes slingin’ a Keytar, sometimes not. Her voice is as clear and as powerful as ever.

It takes a few songs before Shelby “brings things down a bit”, and along with the rest of the band she heads off on a symphonic spacewalk into rising tumultuous waves of sound. She follows that with a great call and response with the crowd, which is as good a way as any of doing one’s vocal exercises in public!

Reprising the call and response during the last number leaves us all on a high. You really should go see Kyros at the earliest opportunity, they are so much fun!

[Photos of Kyros by Rosamund Tomlins]

Well, apparently the Von Hertzen Brothers popped over from Finland for a wander around Whorcester, or perhaps that’s Worcester, but luckily whilst in the neighbourhood they managed to find time to headline the Saturday night spot at Fusion. The start of their set was delayed, but as soon as they at last hit the stage, they wasted no time, ripping into The Relapse from current album In Murmuration with gusto. The band has been expanded recently with the addition of keyboardist and sax/flute player Markus Pajakkala, and he adds some fine sax wailing to this song. The party has indeed started!

It’s also evident that the drum stool is occupied by another new face, Mikko. I didn’t catch his surname but we can call him Mikko. He can’t have been with the brothers long but seemed at home, and provided thunderous and energetic percussion. Starlings, also from the latest album is a wonderful slab of power pop rock, and Diamonds and Rust is similarly powerful. Mixed in with these gems are some relatively old and obscure tracks, as the band recognised they were playing for a prog audience. Playing the title track to 2017’s War Is Over was a master stroke, with Mikko Von Hertzen joking that when they wrote it, they were being a bit optimistic! All Of A Sudden You’re Gone was a poignant moment, a song written during, and about, lockdown. Sunday’s Child brought an opportunity for some communal singing, and Snowstorm was a moment of pure heavy metal. Throughout the set, the brothers play and sing their hearts out, with overflowing energy, enthusiasm and passion.

They round off the set with a crowd-pleasing New Day Rising which brought many to their feet, and many more for the well-deserved encore of Peace Patrol with superb solos from Markus on sax, and Kie on guitar, which he positively shredded. On this kind of form, The Von Hertzen Brothers are imperious and unstoppable, and we were so lucky to have them at Fusion. Just magnificent.

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LINKS
FUSION: Music Without Boundaries – Website | Facebook | YouTube | X