Progdreams III - Day2: April 5, 2014 - Cultuurpodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer (NL)
The two-day Progdreams Festival at Cultuurpodium Boerderij in Zoetermeer is well on
its way to become an annual tradition in the Netherlands after this third
edition. This venue is a perfect location for organizing this kind of events.
This time seven bands were given the opportunity to present themselves to quite
a large audience. During this edition a very special event took place, namely the reunion gig of the Swiss band
Clepsydra. On both days the festival was hosted by the well-known Belgian music journalist
John 'Bobo' Bollenberg; he had the honour to announce the gigs and to tell some
interesting facts about the bands. On the first day the German bands Crystal Palace and RPWL
and the Estonian band X-Panda
performed, but this review is focussing on the second day with four promising bands on the bill.
Eclipse Sol-Air
The voices of the male and female vocalists were well-tuned, and the emotional and sincere crossover-prog caused goosebumps by many people. Especially the song Watch Over You had a deep impact since it was dedicated to Anna Kotarska, who painted the cover of their second album Bartok's Crisis (2011). Recently she died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver; she was only 24 years old. During this moving piece you could feel the pain and sorrow of the band members, which caused many people to be carried away with emotion. It was quite an impressive experience, which turned out to be a perfect start of the second day. Harvest
At the beginning of the gig these Spanish neo-proggers made a somewhat poor and unstable impression. Apart from that the relaxing songs sounded quite alike which made it difficult to keep the attention of the audience. However, halfway through the concert they were able to turn the tide. This was not only caused by the improved sound reproduction and the regained confidence of the band's singer, but also by Harvest's new compositions. The new songs contained more dynamics and variation than what we already know from their earlier work, so maybe they will surprise us in the near future. Harvest is still called a promising band, but for the time being it's difficult for them to come up to the expectations live on stage. Haken
However, gradually it became better. The Gentle Giant-like piece The Cockroach King was very entertaining which vivaciously brought us back to the debut album Aquarius (2010, see review). That is to say: until the noise returned by the end of the song; even the singer's microphone failed for a while. It was corrected rapidly, but unfortunately the damage was already done... Clepsydra
But hey, it's all about the music, isn't it, and that was really stunning! Maggini grabbed many visitors by the throat with his strong pervasive voice. There was also a major role for Marco Cerulli with his emotional guitar playing. Goosebumps! However, Philip Hubert (keyboards), Andy Thommen (bass) and Pietro Duca (drums) excelled on their instruments as well. Clepsydra regaled the audience on great classics from the four studio albums they recorded in the past performing many highlights like No Place For Flowers, The Nest and The Last Grain. The visitors witnessed the return of a true prog legend for whose reunion they have waited fifteen years. It was a perfect ending of the third edition of Progdreams! Martinka Zandijk-van Noorloos & Arthur Haggenburg (edited by Peter Willemsen) |
Setlist Eclipse Sol-Air: The Reactorsong Waiting For You Destiny Of Freedom Lydian Dream Asylum Watch Over You Crazy In The Cage Part IV |
Pictures
Eclipse Sol-Air by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge.
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Line up Eclipse Sol-Air: (left to right)Stefanie Heelein: keyboards, vocals Markus Himmer: bass Agatha Sörgel: violin Mireille Vicogne: lead vocals Philippe Matic-Arnauld des Lions: lead vocals, keyboards, guitar Fritz Hoffmeister: guitar David Bücherl: drums, percussion |
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Setlist Harvest: Roundabout Unknown Sky The Spell Silent Run No Return Intuition It All Becomes Clearer Stars Rush Change Life Moonquake The Machine |
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Line up Harvest: (left to right)Jordi Prats: guitar Jordi Amela: keyboards Monique van der Kolk: lead vocals Toni Munné: bass Alex Ojea: drums |
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Setlist Haken: The Path Atlas Stone In Memoriam Falling Back To Earth Pareidolia Cockroach King Shapeshifter Celestial Elixir Visions |
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Line up Haken: (left to right)Charles Griffiths: guitar Diego Tejeida: keyboards, background vocals Connor Green: bass, vocals Ross Jennings: lead vocals Richard Henshall: keyboards, guitar Raymond Hearne: drums, background vocals |
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Setlist Clepsydra: The Missing Spark Alone 4107 Tuesday Night Hold Me Tight No Place for Flowers Fearless The Nest The Cloister The Nineteenth Hole Travel Of Dream Prisoner's Victory / The Last Grain Encores: Moonshine On Heights End of Tuesday |
Click on the picture to enlarge.
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Line up Clepsydra: (left to right)Marco Cerulli: guitar Philip Hubert: keyboards Aluiso Maggini: lead vocals Andy Thommen: bass Pietro Duca: drums |
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