Nearfest->Sunday : MAGMA

I was wowed by Magma twice in ’99, at Progfest, and then in LA. What do I think after Sunday night’s performance? WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!!

After eight years and some personnel shifting, they’ve only gotten better, more refined, polished. Face it--Magma’s element has always been live, and with a few exceptions their studio efforts fell flat. My favorite Magma album, indeed one of my favorite albums of all time, is HHAI. But get this: Even without bassist Jannick Top or a violinist like Didier Lockwood, I’d say Sunday night was better than that. This concert ranks as one of the best I've ever seen, up there with seeing a reunited Yes in 1990 and ten years later, Il Balleto Di Bronzo and Happy the Man.

The vocals of Stella Vander, Isabelle Feuillebois, Himiko and Antoine Paganotti blended together well into an amazing space opera. And Christian Vander, besides being one of the best drummers in France, Earth or Kobia, has a great voice himself. James Macgaw, whom I saw Friday in One Shot, surprised at one point by adding blues licks to the Magma sound. The xylophone was a nice addition, skillfully played by Frederic D’oelsnitz. Yes, I’d say Magma is better than ever, tighter, more intense. They know how to build tension in the music until the fabric of space-time seems ready to unravel. I don’t think any studio or even live album (even of Sunday’s performance) could ever capture it. You’d have to be there, to hear, see, and feel the Zeuhl flowing through you.

Nearfest->Sunday : Pure Reason Revolution

There is at least one group every festival where I ask myself, “What are they doing here?” Despite the hype that was given Pure Reason Revolution, I quickly deflated. Just basic drums and guitars, very muddled vocals, and some electronic whizzing in the background. No virtuosity to be found anywhere. I gave them three songs, and then ducked out to catch an early dinner at Sal’s.

[Opinionated Rant On] Q magazine might believe this group is a missing link between Floyd and the 21th century. But then, since the late seventies, mainstream rock has only degenerated and regressed, going from punk to hair metal to grunge, from bad to ugly to unlistenable. Mainstream rock isn’t so much dead as undead, that is in zombie-land. So, perhaps Pure Reason is a missing link between Floyd and the zombie-zone, along with nominally prog groups like Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, but it’s not my cup of tea at all. If I wanted to listen to this type of stuff, I’d go to a mainstream or alt fest.[/Opinionated Rant Off]

Nearfest->Sunday : Robert Rich

Because of its minimalistic approach, ambient music isn’t really Prog per say--it’s an extract of electronic progressive, a descendent of Prog courtesy of Brian Eno. It ensconces most of the melody and complexity and focuses instead on exploring sonic permutations. Of recent, I’ve picked up some Steve Roach, and when I’m in a certain mood, ambient hits the spot--albeit with a feather hammer.

Californian Robert Rich provided a palate cleanser from the more-is-more-is-more performances. In the midst of a mad-scientist setup, he fiddled with the keyboards, played steel guitar and an electronic wind instrument. Above him, a movie provided a visual accompaniment. Instead of lulling me to sleep, I found myself becoming very engaged and attentive, especially toward the end.

Nearfest->Sunday : La Maschera Di Cera

During my festival hiatus, I've often wondered what happened to Finisterre. I’ve an album or two by them, and of course, I saw them at Progday ’97. My all-time unforgettable Progday moment was when their guitarist nailed the solo in Firth of Frith.

Finisterre’s bassist, Fabio Zuffanti, went on to La Maschera Di Cera, where Italian Prog lives on. Agostino Macor smacks wall-to-wall keys, pumping out mellotron and juicy analog sounds. Instead of guitar, at times the flute is the lead instrument, piped by Andrea Monetti. The vocalist, Alessandro Corvaglia, provided a strong vocal, reminding me of Deus Ex Machina’s Alberto Piras. At times, Fabio’s bass provided a heavier, rockier sound, making up for the lack of lead guitar. Italian prog is always a treat and they went on to provide my second favorite performance of the weekend.

Nearfest->Sunday : Indukti

I was hoping Poland’s Indukti would change my mind toward Prog Metal. In fact, I was open to it. And, at their best, they were reminiscent of an instrumental Anekdoten, but much crunchier.

Wawrzyniec Dramowicz’s drumming was this groups best feature, verging on the melodic. Piotr Kocimski and Maciej Jaskiewicz crunched away on guitar, providing power-chord rhythms, but little melody or dexterous soling. The violin provided for atmosphere, but Ewa Jablonska just gave one good solo toward the end of the set.

In the end, they did not change my mind toward prog metal. They just left my ears buzzing and my blood pumping with adrenaline. But then, any decent alarm clock can do that.