Down in deepest, darkest rural Devon is the semi-mythical rural town of Totnes, which some inhabitants now believe is twinned with C.S. Lewis’s magical land, Narnia. Renowned for its atmosphere of alternative lifestyles and ‘New Age’ hippy culture, Totnes is…
View More Magic Bus – Transmissions From Sogmore’s Garden
[With photos by Tony Colvill, Nigel John, Leo Trimming and Dave Glaves] The Drill Hall, Chepstow – 2nd to 4th October 2015 As a warmer than average September ebbs away and the temperatures start to dip it’s time once again…
View More Summer’s End Festival 2015
…And I Saw a Boy Looking Up Dreaming of his Future from my Past, from my Past Such poetic words open Riverside’s sixth captivating album, and set the scene perfectly for a dream-like journey of reminiscence and hope. This is…
View More Riverside – Love, Fear and the Time Machine
Thirty-three years ago, King Crimson played in Oxford, Guildford, Cromer, Dunstable and Poole. You would have to go back to 1972 to find the band performing in cities such as Cardiff, Brighton and Birmingham. Almost unbelievably, King Crimson have now…
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Kings Place, London 14th August 2015 [No photos of the band in action, by request of both band and venue, so many thanks to Tony “Quick Draw” Colvill for his on-the-hoof sketch, and thanks to BBT for signing it! Band…
View More Big Big Train
King for a Day is the latest impressive release from Norwegian Symphonic/Progressive Rock band Magic Pie following on from 2011’s well-received The Suffering Joy. This new album develops their usual style and themes with powerful flourishes, flamboyant passages and elements…
View More Magic Pie – King For A Day
Cross have been described as a ‘neo-prog’ band from Sweden, headed by multi-instrumentalist, Hansi Cross, which have been going since 1988, although this is the first time I have heard the band. The working title for their latest album was…
View More Cross – Da Capo
[With many thanks to Josep Monrós for the use of his photos, please visit his Flickr stream] April 2015 – The Exchange, Bristol “Sel Balamir for Prime Minister!” When The Progressive Aspect were offered an opportunity to review a show…
View More Sel Balamir – Amplifier
[With many thanks to Josep Monrós for the use of his photos, please visit his Flickr stream] The Exchange, Bristol 23rd April 2015 Charismatic and enigmatic Amplifier front man, Sel Balamir, amusingly described in a pre-gig interview (which you can…
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Holdfénykert, originally issued in 2006 and recently re-released by Seacrest Oy Records, is the first album by Yesterdays, a Romanian based but ethnically Hungarian progressive rock band. They started out playing Yes covers so it is no coincidence that their…
View More Yesterdays – Holdfénykert