Tally Ho Theater, Leesburg, Virginia
Friday, 7 August 2026
I had no idea when I wrote my 9th article about Nektar just two months ago that my 10th would be a live concert review. In fact, I only just found out that Nektar would be playing near me a week before the gig, thanks to a lucky Facebook advert that reached me. This advert told me it was founding member Derek “Mo” Moore’s farewell tour and that the band would also be adding some King Crimson to their set. As TPA’s Nektar correspondent, I couldn’t say no, and with the bargain value of $32 per ticket, I didn’t want to say no.
I roped in a local prog friend to accompany me, and we drove to the quaint, historic town centre of Leesburg. The well-preserved 18th-century downtown was bustling with music seeming to pour out of every door onto the brick-lined streets. Bar and restaurant patrons were milling about, alcoholic beverages in hand, providing an obstacle in our quest for prog.
When we finally made it to the venue, I looked around. We weren’t early, arriving about 50 minutes after the doors had opened. Nevertheless, the floor in front of the stage appeared practically deserted; I counted roughly a dozen other fans patiently waiting there for the gig to begin, with a few more seated far back in the gallery. I could scarcely believe it when the intro tape music started with so few people, and I hoped the group would not be discouraged by the low turnout.
Having reviewed Nektar’s recent live album Journey to the Other Side, I was aware that the band were almost certainly going to be playing some unfamiliar new songs, so I had taken the week to swot up by binge listening to their latest release Mission to Mars. This was not hard to do as the album was only 32 minutes long, ideal for repeat listens. While I was slightly appalled by the simplistic glam rock of the opening title track (compared to its nine-minute length), I was more impressed with the rest of the tracks.
Binge-listening Mission to Mars turned out to be an excellent decision as the group played three of the album’s four tracks, beginning with the epic One Day Hi One Day Lo. The commanding bass and drums in the opening section of this piece are absolutely fantastic, and belong alongside much of Nektar’s classic material. If anything, the song suffers from being too long with too few ideas, but it was still a great start to the evening.
The band frontloaded the concert with mainly new material, only briefly revisiting the past with Smile, an excerpt from Remember the Future, Pt. 2. They also broke up their Mission to Mars material with Skywriter from 2020’s The Other Side. These newer songs were entertaining and well played, but hearing them all at once felt like eating all your meat before being allowed to have pudding. After all, how can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?
But how delicious the pudding was. Singer Ryche Chlanda gave a small speech about the late, great Ian McDonald, whom he had met 50 years earlier in New York when McDonald agreed to produce Fireballet’s debut album Night on Bald Mountain. I had no idea about this connection and was stunned to learn that McDonald also played saxophone and flute on the album. Afterwards, Nektar launched into their two-song tribute to Ian, playing I Talk to the Wind followed by The Court of the Crimson King. Without a flautist of their own, keyboardist Kendall Scott was able to create a rather convincing flute sound on his instrument; backing vocalist Maryann Castello was also able to create great harmonies with Chlanda. The band and the audience were having a lot of fun; who doesn’t love a bit of classic King Crimson? I had hoped they might play some 21st Century Schizoid Man, as it’s the best song from KC’s debut in my humble opinion, but it wasn’t to be.
It was now time for the group to play their own classics, so they played the furiously percussive King of Twilight from A Tab in the Ocean. In my memory, this was the first time I’d heard it divorced from Cryin’ in the Dark, as the two songs are usually played in tandem. With lots of the band’s family and friends in the audience, the group then played Happy Birthday for one of them. After that, the band served extra-large helpings of trifle with a full playthrough of Remember the Future, Pt. 1. I had hoped they would play at least one of their sidelong tracks, knowing that they rarely shy away from doing so.
This concert was my first chance to assess Jay Dittamo, the replacement drummer after founding member Ron Howden passed in 2023. Being able to stand as close to the stage as I liked, I was able to get a good view of his playing and appreciated his authentic performances of these songs. As a drummer myself, I was fascinated by his spiral hanging cymbal, which made a unique, trashy sound when struck.
The band signalled that it was time for the encore, but that they weren’t going to bother with the charade of heading off and on again. The encore ended up containing four songs, the first of which was a brand new song that the band were still working on. This was exciting to me as it felt like the archival live recordings I’d heard when the band tested new compositions on their live recordings to tweak and refine before entering the studio. I was getting the classic Nektar experience. And the song itself, The World Inside of Me, was a lot more adventurous and twisty and turny than I had expected. It’s shaping up to sound good!
The group then played the energetic I’m on Fire (also from The Other Side), where Mo seemed to be having the time of his life, rocking hard when singing the chorus. Ryche had to remind us that he had just turned 80. Afterwards, the band played two more classics, the rocking Let It Grow and the nostalgic Good Day. This final song was extended as Ryche named all the musicians and crew for our applause. In an awkward turn, he then began to hawk merchandise at us in a move that seemed really desperate; the rest of the band were still playing soft repetitions of the main theme, mind. With the audience turnout as low as it was, I wondered if this brazen advertising strategy was a necessary measure to break even. It felt very capitalistic and American.
With the concert over, the band were all too happy to come out and meet the public and give signings. I cursed that I had forgotten to bring any of my review copy Nektar box sets with me. However, I ran into Jay, who let me keep one of his sticks after I mentioned I was also a drummer. This proved to be the perfect medium to collect other signatures on.
A distinct advantage of the low turnout was significantly reduced clamour from fans to meet the artists, which gave me the chance to have a fascinating conversation with Ryche, who turned out to be just as big of a prog nerd as I am; I told him about my recent interview with Fruupp guitarist Vincent McCusker, who had also told me about his similar connection to Ian McDonald, who had produced the group’s final album Modern Masquerades the same year as Fireballet’s debut. When I asked if he was aware of Fruupp, he told me, “Of course!”; the positive recognition was in stark contrast to the last time I asked a prog guitarist about the Northern Irish group. Ryche also showed me the reinforced glossy nails on his right hand, which he used for picking and how he’d fooled Annie Haslam into thinking he was using a pick (which he told me she had requested) by getting a large pick before his concert with Renaissance, showing it to her and then pocketing it.
When Mo joined the conversation as well, I was able to get some valuable insight into the state of Nektar at the moment. When I asked why this was to be his farewell tour, he responded that it was the physical travel required for touring that was taking the biggest toll on him. I also asked if this sort of turnout was normal for his concerts, but he told me that they were usually sold out, which made me feel relieved that we were not watching another Anvil! The Story of Anvil story, but were instead at an anomalous, lowly attended concert.
While I naturally would have preferred to hear more classics than new offerings, I felt satisfied to have finally come face-to-face with the group that I’ve scribbled about for all these years. While I’m sure it wasn’t great for the band’s bottom line, the low turnout felt like a blessing as I was free to move about and stand as close or as far away as I liked. At first, my natural inclination had been to stand right by the bar to feel as close as possible to the music, but as the night wore on I stepped away to let others have a chance and get a wider perspective of the group. The intimate environment made us feel more special, as if we were an especially loyal group of fans for following them to this small theatre in Leesburg. And the conversations with the group afterwards was the best experience of all. It’s very rare that one gets to have such a close experience with a beloved group; I will never have that experience with Dream Theater, for example, unless I pay for an extortionate Meet and Greet package. So to have the experience I did for just $32 felt like some of the best value for money I’ve ever spent going to a concert.
SETLIST
One Day Hi One Day Lo
Smile
Mission to Mars
Skywriter
Long Lost Sunday
I Talk to the Wind
The Court of the Crimson King
King of Twilight
Happy Birthday
Remember the Future, Pt. 1
~ Encore:
The World Inside of Me
I’m on Fire
Let It Grow
Good Day
MUSICIANS
Derek “Mo” Moore – Bass Guitar, Vocals
Ryche Chlanda – Guitar, Vocals
Kendall Scott – Synthesisers, Orchestral Programming
Jay Dittamo – Drums, Percussion
Maryann Castello – Vocals
