Northern Prog Festival:
Picklelegaz, Leap Day, Unkh,
Ricocher and X-Panda

November 5, 2016 - De Uthof, Siegerswoude (NL)


Just like it became a tradition to visit the annual Progfarm Festival many years ago, it has become a tradition to visit the Northern Prog Festival in the Northern parts of the Netherlands. Even if our team has to take a two hour long drive, it can't stop us from going up north. Just like in the days of the legendary Progfarm Festival, the hospitality of the people of the organisation and the location is always a reason to step into our car and get ready to enjoy five progressive rock acts. Also for the 2016 edition, a great line up was booked to hear on the first Saturday of November, some amazing progressive rock music. This year the Dutch acts Picklelegaz, Leap Day, Unkh, Ricocher and the Estonian formation X-Panda were on the bill.
 

Picklelegaz

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Ernst Brobbel
This year's festival opener was for me a totally unknown band. Picklelegaz hails from Vlaardingen and was founded in 1988. They label themselves as a neo-progressive rock band and mention bands such as Genesis, IQ, Pink Floyd and Marillion as possible influences. So far they have released the albums In Progress (1999) and Bedroom Circus (2012). In the meantime they already started to write songs for their third release. They probably wanted to try out the new material, because they started their set with
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three brand new songs-pieces of music which can't be find on any of their albums. Although I never had heard them I still could enjoy them mainly because the included solos done by Harry Steen (guitar) and Philip van der Mark (keyboards) were really well done. They closed their one-hour long set with two songs from their second album. The last of them Anger And Fear, was without a doubt the highlight of their entire live performance. The leading role in this 16 minute long epic piece was for lead singer Ernst Brobbel. Not only were his vocals sounding very strong but also his acting on stage was fun to watch. I certainly enjoyed myself during the band's fine performance because they certainly can entertain a crowd and that's what prog is all about after all!
 

Leap Day

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Jos Harteveld
What can you say about an amazing band such as Leap Day that hasn't been said before? I guess those who have seen them do know what I am talking about. Again this year's performance was one big highlight. The six band members were probably all in a good mood because they just had released their first live album titled Live At The Northern Prog Festival (see review), recorded exactly one year earlier at the same festival. Strangely enough they didn't play much from the songs that are on this release. I guess they did find it more important to come up with a setlist that differs from the concerts they did in the last couple of
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Eddie Mulder and Gert van Engelenburg (r)
months-something which gets my full approval. Hearing songs such as Road To Yourself, Ambrosia, Skylge's Lair and Little Green Man again, really felt good. At the same time I was glad they did songs such as God Of Wars and Deucalion which have become live favourites of mine without a doubt. The band is still working on new things and they proved this by playing the brand new piece Like Icarus. A future stage classic might have been born because it contains everything their fans love so much about them. The musicians on stage did all play brilliantly but I have to tell you the biggest complement goes to guitarist Eddie Mulder. It was only after their show that somebody told me he had an ear infection and went home before waiting for the response of his followers. Well he played his parts as if nothing was wrong with him and like a real professional he did his job without complaining about his handicap. So bravo to all band members and especially Mr. Mulder!
 

Unkh

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The last time I witnessed a concert from Unkh, they supported the Cuban formation Anima Mundi (see review). After their performance I have to mention some things that could have been better although they played (in my humble opinion) a rather strong set. It was mainly their presentation on stage which looked a bit static and hardly contained any contact with the audience. Also the band members were not introduced and it looked as if they were playing on an island with no audience surrounding them. Therefore I advise that they should be working even more on their overall presentation when they do their thing on stage. Moreover they only did songs which hadn't been released
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Maarten Habraken
on any album. Most of them I hadn't even heard before. Therefore I hoped the next time I would see them they would do some familiar album tracks as well. A new concert and so new chances for a band which deserves to be in the spotlight. With guitar player Maarten Peerlings, who played on the band's debut, they opened with a very recognizable tune, namely Theme Of The Mighty Mushroom. It was not so strange as I'd heard it before, because it was taken from their fantastic debut album Traveller (2014, see review). Also the farewell song Borderlines.Fr. I had heard before, again a piece taken from their first musical effort. In between those two album tracks, the band presented 4 new compositions which were also done during the aforementioned support concert earlier this year. Again, the songs were very well done, only they had the bad luck of a power failure that killed almost one of the new songs but after some fast technical help the show could go on but this time with some announcements as well. I guess you are never too old to learn new things!
 

Ricocher

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Erwin Boerenkamps
Most members of this band started their musical career in a school band playing covers. This resulted in forming a real cover band. This led in the end to the start of an international act which even played at the famous Baja Prog Festival in Mexico. The band even supported acts such as Arena and Saga. With one EP and two studio albums released in the early 2000's they called it a day a couple of years later. Now ten years later the band reformed in almost the original line up. Only their guitar player was replaced. With two shows behind them in the new outfit, Ricocher climbed the stage very confidently
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Marchel Mertens
with a mix of songs taken from all releases the band has made leaving a rather strong impression. The vocals of lead singer Erwin Boerenkamps are still high pitched. This time around bassist Niels Nijssen even added some bass pedals to his gear. Although keyboard player John van Heugten hardly could be seen at the back of the stage, his playing still sounded very pleasant. Just like Maikel van der Meer he's a strong rhythmic player behind his drum kit. I guess the star on stage was for most people in the audience the presence on stage of Marchel Mertens. You could tell that former Queen Of Hearts guitar player was a gifted musician. Even more than the guitarist he replaced, his heart lies in the progressive rock genre. According to van Heugten the band has enough material in the vaults to come up with a new album. Well only time will tell if this ever will happen. What I can tell you is that they came back on stage with a bang!
 

X-Panda

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Tamar Nugis
For a lot of people the Estonian formation X-Panda was the musical sensation of the last couple of years. After their performance at the second Progmotion festival (see review) in 2013 the Dutch audience embraced them whole-heartedly. Their debut Flight Of Fancy (2011, see review) was sold out during almost every show they did in the Netherlands. Of course everybody was waiting for its successor. This was finally released in 2016 and got the title Reflections (see review). This album showed a more song-orientated band. Bassist Tamar Nugis handed his instrument over to Roland Jairus to focus more on the vocals. It was obvious that the focus during their performance at this festival was on the new album, however I had not expected that they would play the entire album just like the track list on the album. So starting off with The Game and ending with Esivanemate Pärand. The last title was very well sung in their native language. In between the mentioned titles you could say the musical highlights were for me personally the Toto-like sounding instrumental On The Way
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Roland Jairus and Risto Virkhausen (r)
and the in two parts divided title track. During the performance of the new musical pieces a second power failure did strike upon the band but it was not a problem for them. According to Nugis, playing progressive rock music is a technical business after all. After the entire new album was done, some time was left to get the focus on their debut with the songs Black and Flight Of Fancy. The crowd would not allow them to get off stage without doing an encore. Therefore one more track from their debut could be enjoyed. An amazing version of Revelation did leave the audience with a big smile on their faces. Including myself. Once again they did set the hearts of their Dutch fans on fire with an incredible live performance. I guess I didn't expect anything else after seeing them twice before!

As for the overall feeling of the fourth edition of this festival I can only put my two thumbs up! We could enjoy five great bands. Furthermore, the organisation from the band Leap Day and the people of the Uithof was in good hands and made sure everything went very well. So all I can say finally is that hopefully same time next year another fantastic event can be enjoyed in the Northern parts of the Netherlands!

Henri Strik (edited by Robert James Pashman)

Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Monster By Surprise (6:11)


Setlist Picklelegaz:


Hands Up
Open The Gate (aka Nice Bitches)
You Could
Monster By Surprise
Anger And Fear


Pictures Picklelegaz by Arthur Haggenburg

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Line up Picklelegaz:

(left to right)
Harry Steen:
guitar
Jan Willem Meyer:
drums
Ernst Brobbel:
vocals
Wilco Duijverman:
bass
Philip van der Mark:
keyboards
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Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Heamus (4:40)

Setlist Leap Day:


Road To Yourself
Heamus
Secret Gardener
Ambrosia
God Of Wars
Like Icarus
Phaeton
Skylge's Lair
Deucalion
Little Green Man




Pictures Leap Day by Arthur Haggenburg

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Line up Leap Day:

(left to right)
Peter Stel:
bass guitar
Jos Harteveld:
lead vocals and acoustic guitar
Gert van Engelenburg:
keyboards and backing vocals
Derk Evert Waalkens:
keyboards and backing vocals
Koen Roozen:
drums and percussion
Eddie Mulder:
electric guitar and backing vocals
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Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Delusional Warp (10:30)

Setlist Unkh:


Theme Of The Mighty Mushroom
You Are I Am
Delusional Warp
Dreamcatcher
Flight Of The Night Owl
Borderlines.Fr.




Pictures Unkh by Arthur Haggenburg

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Line up Unkh:

(left to right)
Maarten Peerlings:
electric guitar
Maarten Habraken:
drums and backing vocals
Matthijs van Nahuijs:
bass, bass pedals and backing vocals
Jeroen Habraken:
keyboards and lead vocals
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Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Sand In Your Eyes (9:40)

Setlist Ricocher:


Point Of No Return
Your Pride
Live Your Life
Sand In Your Eyes 1: Perception
Sand In Your Eyes 3: The Silhouette Of you
Question Within The Answer
Cathedral Of Emotions
Haunted By Dreams
Quest For The Heartland
Breaking The Chain
Mask Of Illusion




Pictures Ricocher by Arthur Haggenburg

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Line up Ricocher:

(left to right)
Niels Nijssen:
bass
John van Heugten:
keyboards
Erwin Boerenkamps:
vocals
Maikel van der Meer:
drums
Marchel Mertens:
guitar
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Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Reflections (14:29)

Setlist X-Panda:


The Game
Denial
Hit and Run
Slaves Of Lies
Rise Up To Fly
On The Way
Reflections: Inner Battle
Reflections: Silent Friend
Esivanemate Pärand
Black
Flight Of Fancy
Encore:
Revelation




Pictures X-Panda by Arthur Haggenburg

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Line up X-Panda:

(left to right)
Roland Jairus:
bass
Karl-Juhan "Juki" Laanesaar:
drums
Tamar Nugis:
vocals
Kaarel Tamra:
keyboards
Risto Virkhausen:
guitars
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