Abingdon United Football Club, Oxfordshire
Saturday, 19th July 2025
Mark Cunningham and his team put on another successful charity prog rock festival at the Northcourt Music Venue at the Abingdon United Football Club in Oxfordshire – all in aid of the Headcase Charity Trust, researching Glioblastoma Multiforme (and more) – the brain cancer that claimed the life of the legendary drummer with Rush, Neil Peart. The festival took place on Friday and Saturday, July 18th to 19th, 2025, with a pre-festival party evening the Thursday beforehand. DAVID EDWARDS has collected his mini update reviews from the weekend, and selected photographs, to hopefully recapture some of the spirit of this great, intimate and friendly UK progressive rock festival and the wonderful performances from all the musicians.
Saturday, 19th July 2025
The Saturday started off with another performance from Mark Cunningham’s Forgotten Gods – very much the festival house band. Another strong set of melodic prog and classic rock, mainly from their Memories album. Mark’s vocals were as strong as ever and the band slotted in as good smoothly, with Steve Harris dazzling on guitar. Special mention to stand-in drummer Matt Mohangee who did a fine job covering for the absent David Hallett (all the very best!) Pillars of Petra was an epic start, and Everyone’s Hero was as moving as ever, as was Alone. New music included the Scottish folk-tinged Ailsa Craig and Promises ended proceedings very nicely indeed!
It was great to see The Round Window live for the first time. The Essex-based progressive rock band is a Lock family affair with Richard on vocals and Thomas and Jack on keyboards and drums respectively – augmented by the marvellous Gareth Cole on guitar and Dan Stubbs on bass. Their cinematic, storytelling, melodic prog proved a lovely early afternoon choice for the festival. The moving The Silence started the set powerfully, with the melodically upbeat but still dynamic The Tides following. Hourglass had a lovely, contemplative quality with Gareth excelling. Ending with the brooding Another Chance and a majestic crescendo, the band played with great confidence and verve and put in a consummate performance. The band have ‘come of age’ live – you nailed it, guys!
It was a welcome return to the Prog For Peart stage, where it all started for the South Wales band 3 years ago. Andy Edwards on vocals and guitar, Dave Rowe on bass and Rob Griffiths on drums, were joined by Jeremy Robberechts on keyboards as they delivered a lovely melodic rock set with prog flourishes, with most of the tracks coming from their soon to be released new album (called, Now In A Minute). Gods of Reality started the set off energetically and later Sakura flowed with melodic vigour. A vibrant Freedom (with full intro) pleased the Ramigos in the audience, and Dave’s musical rant at the modern world, Mr Disingenuous, started in a jazzy mode but ended in a powerful, dynamic rock flurry. Revolution had a real classic 70s rock vibe and the psychedelic space rock of Will We Ever Know (one of my favourites) was a great way to end a well-judged and entertaining performance. Looking forward to the new album!
Dream-like keyboard patterns and Shaun’s Gilmouresque, Floydian guitar lines weaved a lovely tapestry of sound. Starting with Songs Of Fallen Mermaids, the set then focused on the latest Dark Skies album, with Time Ships, Embraced By The Rain and finally the title track. Dreamy and hypnotic music taking us through to teatime.
The evening’s musical entertainment started off in fine fettle with Northumbria’s Stuckfish and their accessible brand of melodic prog rock. As replacements for Wallner from a few months earlier, the band brimmed with confidence and hit the ground running with the energetic GameChanger, before surprising with the rarely played Breathe. The ever popular The Bridge (That Spans The Edge of Time) gave some real gravitas, whilst the AOR pomp and vocal harmonies of Shadows and Moonbeams just gets better with every performance. Phil Stuckey’s vocals were as impressive as ever, along with Ade Fisher’s melodic rock guitar excursions driving the songs over Paul McNally’s expansive keyboard lines. The choice of the more intimate and emotive Thief In The Night straight after Calling, was a well-judged change of pace, and their more proggy side showed on Age Of Renewal. The rhythm section continue to impress with Adam Sayers’ drumming increasingly showing finesse as well as power and Phil Morey’s lyrical and melodic bass is always wonderful to hear. Ending with the moody and dark epic, SkiesFall, was a decision rewarded with a great ovation. Lovely to see how this band have grown over the years, since their first festival performance in 2021.
The St Ives symphonic progressive rock quartet were one of the highlights at the first Prog For Peart back in 2021 – and their late evening performance at this year’s festival was arguably even better. I found the interplay between Ally Carter’s guitar, keyboards and saxophones, and Tree Stewart’s keyboards, flute and haunting vocals absolutely stunning! Their unique style mixes symphonic prog with jazz, rock and classical influences, with eclectic art-rock elements in a mesmerising amalgam that overwhelms the senses. Meanwhile, Dave Greenaway on bass and Tom Jackson on drums must be one of the most innovative and talented rhythm sections on the prog circuit. Starting with the twisting complexity of their shortest ever song, Dancing With The Spirits (from the forthcoming new album), and then playing the ethereal And I Stood Transfixed, it was clear the audience was in for a real treat.
The new, 4-part epic Under Changing Skies, was wonderfully diverse and cinematic in scope (enhanced by Tree’s evocative backdrop projections) and is bound to be very popular with their growing fan base. Timeless saw the band’s synergy at its most impressive, but it was a mere aperitif to the majesty of Out of Time. The musical sparring between Tree and Ally, against the rhythmic complexity from Dave and Tom, was truly memorable and quite staggering and is something that will stay with me for quite a while. True UK prog treasures to savour live when you can… and keep an eye out for the forthcoming new album!
The festival ended on a high with a rare UK appearance from the excellent German progressive rock band, Sylvan. Although technical issues delayed the start, the band made up for it with a deeply emotional performance for the expectant crowd – with many seeing this opportunity of watching them live as the highlight of the festival. Marco Glühmann has a truly distinctive voice, able to cope with a diverse range of emotions, and in Jonathan Beck they have a gifted and expressive guitarist that can add depth to any track. Musically, they alternate between light and shade, power and delicacy, with touches of neo-prog and prog metal at times, to give an edge to their atmospheric melodic and symphonic prog. However, the music produced is both accessible and yet full of intricate complexity where necessary – often supplied by keyboardist Volker Söhl. Drummer and bassist, Matthias Harder and Sebastian Harnack anchor the melancholic soundscapes effortlessly.
Starting with In Between and then Encoded At Heart, they played a broad range of songs such as Trust In Yourself, Vapour Trails, In Chains, Bitter Symphony and earlier the moving The Colours Changed – accompanied by the audience waving glow sticks (a festival first, I think). Pane of Truth, A Kind of Eden and the emotive and sweeping Posthumous Silence ended the show wonderfully and had a real magic to them. The whole performance was very well received indeed by the audience. The curfew came all too soon, but the band were rightly allowed the much-deserved encore – ending another excellent Prog For Peart festival.
Mark Cunningham and his team deserve lots of praise for their hard work and efforts in their brain charity fund-raising. Thanks to all the wonderful musicians and the prog faithful for supporting the festival. Looking forward to next year, already!
