What a weekend! Looking back, it seems just a blur, and I don't have the greatest memory, so those involved, you too Chris, if I leave anything out, feel free to fill in the blanks. As Gary, LTP, Bob L, and fs can attribute, once I start telling stories, well, let's just say if you need to go to the bathroom, do it now...
George Roldan of the Philly Prog Rock Connection, one of the promoters and organizers of this event, has become an online friend of mine via his internet radio show on progrock.com. Before I go any further, I'm probably going to catch some flack for plugging the "competition", but the way I see it, the more people that promote this music and these artists, the better it is for ALL of us, including DLBN, in the long run. Anyway, I happened to be tuned in to George's (DJ Iggy) show when they announced the line-up for Rosfest, and was completely blown away. Jadis??? RPWL??? Alias Eye??? Coming to the States??? Not to mention, IZZ, and the rest of the line-up??? Holy Shit! PROBLEM... impending back surgery. You know what? NO WAY am I missing this show, I don't care if I have to be wheeled into the place. So George set me up, said they had handicap access, and I got a wheel chair seat. My eternal thanks to George, btw, for his constant concern for my (and Chris') comfort, and for his friendship.
Five weeks ago, as most of you probably know, I had major back surgery. Basically, I have 3 vertabra and my sacrum connected together by screws and rods, with bone grafts in the 3 disc spaces. Travelling over 700 miles by car was going to be interesting, so we planned on leaving Thursday, so we could take our time, maybe see some of Philly on Friday before the pre-show at the pub. Unfortunately, Chris had to work the entire day, so we didn't leave until midnight Thursday night/ Friday morning. We did stop once to take a nap, and arrived at the hotel around 2:30pm, took in easy for a while, then hit the pub around 7 for dinner, Frogg Cafe to begin at 9. So we walk into the bar, sit down, and who do I see sitting at the end of the bar... Martin Orford of Jadis (and IQ)! Then I see John Jowitt, and sure enough, Gary Chandler and Steve Christy, MY GOD, Jadis is here! I was actually star-struck, one of my favorite bands in the friggin' world are in the same bar as we are. They had dinner and a couple drinks, then left. In the mean time, the bar tender comes to our table and says someone bought us a round of drinks. My first thought was they were from someone who knew ME from DLBN or wherever, since I had my walker and was wearing my back brace (easy to spot). Turns out, this dude wearing a black shirt with planets on it (imagine that LOL) had the hots for CHRIS. Interesting lot, prog fans. But I did meet Beth (Princess Beth), who promotes prog bands on the east coast, and also coordinates interviews for PSR, and George, face to face, for the first time. George told me about this guitar they were going to raffle off, signed by all the bands, to benefit Gary Strater of Starcastle who is battling cancer and has no health insurance. He made a comment that they thought it would be cool if whoever won it would donate to NEARFest, so they could do the same and raise MORE money. Great idea.
Frogg Cafe were interesting. Violin and trumpet made for an interesting sound... not bad. Man On Fire were next, and they were great! They have this instrument called the Electric Tree, which is basically a block of wood with all these programmable buttons on it, which they used for drum sounds. The Tree would be the "gadget of the weekend", as Jeff and it made numerous appearances in numerous places (crazy guy that Jeff...). Unfortunately, Chris and I were very tired, and weren't able to stay for the entire set, and we had a long day on Saturday...
After almost 15 hours in the car the previous day, the wheelchair was a necessity. George was very helpful getting me to my "area", and was very gracious, anything you need... Orphan Project started things off. Not bad, but their OVERTLY Christian message was a big turnoff for Chris. After their set, Chris and I were kind of standing there, letting the theater clear out before I hobbled out, when all of a sudden, I hear my name being called across the theater... my partner in crime on Wednesday nights, Gary Sauer. Along with Gary were Bob L, and Lara. Yes, LTP was there, but no jumping, scratching, blinking... LOL The five of us would be pretty much inseparable the rest of the weekend.
After lunch, and some story telling (I DO tend to go on a bit), it was time for IZZ. Chris became an INSTANT fan. They are great live, and the interplay between the Galgano brothers is fun to watch. After their set, and with all the applause, the MC came on stage and said "I don't care about George's rules, we want more IZZ", so they came out for an encore. Chris and I BOTH got autographed copies of Ampersand. (I had to get my own, I know how Chris is, I haven't seen my Opeth CD since November) I also met Greg Walker, who was there with part of his enormous CD catalogue. It was around this time I also met Jerry George, the founder of progrock.com, and Shawn Gordon, present owner. Jerry and Shawn also own Prog Rock Records, representatives of some of the bands playing the fest. While standing outside, we met Steve Katsikas and Rik Bigai from Little Atlas (after standing next to Steve, I now know how the name of the band came about), and Jeff Hodges from Man On Fire. Jeff is crazy, and we were talking about his "toy", the Tree, or Zendrum. Jeff plays everything, and he joked about eventually just getting rid of everyone in the band and playing himself. I may have said something about him coming out on stage with a monkey on his back playing cymbals, anyway Jeff and "Chim Chim" became one of our running jokes for the weekend. Jeff also was sporting THE T-shirt of the weekend, just a simple white shirt with the words "gearslut" emblazoned across the front of it.
Alias Eye was next, and I was really looking forward to seeing them live. Phil Griffiths has an AMAZING voice, and you just have to like a band with an accordian. Despite some keyboard problems (they didn't think about differences in electrical systems between here and Germany, and therefore couldn't use there own keys) in which the keys cut out during Clown's Tale, they sounded great.
After dinner, drinks, and more stories, it was time for Jadis. I'd have driven to PA to see JUST them (or RPWL for that matter). There was a weak spot in the stage, and John Jowitt was doing his best to jump through it LOL. They really are great live, and after 2 encores, it was back to the hotel for the after-hours party for Patron Ticket holders, which Chris and I were. As I wheeled my chair out of the theater, again, I hear my name being called out. This time, it was Frank (fs) saying hi. I actually learned something from Frank that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Frank actually RECORDS our archives and listens to them in his CAR, how cool is that! We really do have some great people in our little "community". Frank made sure I got down the hill to my car OK (without losing control and ending up in Delaware), then, off to the party.
I had intended to try and record some of the festivities, unfortunately, battery power was lacking. Here's hoping some of this stuff ends up on the internet cuz it was pretty cool. Alias Eye started things off, doing some blues and Hendrix. Then Man On Fire did some stuff. These guys are very talented, and their CD, which I actually had BEFORE the show, is very good and I highly recommend it. Then IZZ did some Marillion, followed by Orphan Project doing In Your Eyes by Gabriel... very nice! Martin Orford then came out and played alone, was then joined by Gary Chandler, and eventually, the rest of Jadis. Next up was Salem Hill, then Little Atlas, who blew everyone away with some Floyd: Breathe (both parts), followed by On The Run, during which everyone milling around, including Martin Orford, came back into the room to watch Steve get these amazing sounds out of the keyboard. Mike Dearing from Salem Hill then joined them as he and Steve both sang Eclipse. Jeff Hodges and his Tree then joined Steve and they played a bit. The Galgano brothers, John on bass and Tom on DRUMS, then joined Steve (I wish I could remember what they all were playing at this point, but this was all just too surreal. Then it got ugly. We were hanging out with Gary Chandler and John Jowitt from Jadis... let's just say that John and I made a "love connection". When I find somewhere to post the pics you'll see what I mean. That guy ain't right! We had such a blast, Gary and John (and Steve and Martin as well) are just great guys, and I'll always cherish their friendship (Gary was amazed that I made the trip in my condition, call it dedication, love of their music, or just stupidity!)
Sunday, Chris and I got off to a late start. The trip and the length of the previous day had us pretty wiped, so we only caught the last song by Sonus Umbra from Mexico. What I heard sounded pretty good, and they got a very nice ovation. We then had lunch, and took some pictures outside of the DLBN contingent. Chris was in the ladies room when a girl came up to me and asked, "are you Joel?" Finally, I met my friend Mare. Anyone familiar with Enchant and their message board knows who Mare is. Of course I had to give her a hard time about waiting until Sunday afternoon to come up and say hi, not like I'm that hard to spot, and she and Dave were having lunch at the same time we were!
After some good ol' grease for lunch, it was time for Little Atlas. This band really needs to be seen live to be appreciated. Their rendition of Firth of Fifth was stellar! As was the rest of their set. Steve had told us that Surface Serene was all him, but that the entire band is contributing to their latest project, and he sees that as a strength. Little Atlas was probably my "surprise" of the weekend. Steve Katsikas is very talented, and just a very nice guy with whom we actually spent a lot of time (BTW Lurker, I DID tell him you sent greetings). BTW, Jeff Hodges and his Tree made another appearance as he joined Little Atlas on stage for a song, the did a "drum" duet with LA's drummer, before leaving.
Salem Hill was next. A little harder edged than a lot of the music heard over the weekend. You could tell they really enjoy playing, but at the same time, that they don't play live very often, or at least hadn't in a while. Their bass player, Patrick Henry, is very good. A fun band to see. Off to dinner.
BobL, Gary, and I happened to be standing by the Inside Out display, after spending some cash and getting RPWL's autographs, when George came up and said he couldn't find the guy who was supposed to introduce RPWL, and would one of us like to do it. I said I wouldn't know what to say (imagine that!), but that if he couldn't find the guy, to call me up. This is where it all comes full circle and surrealism sets in...
Before RPWL took the stage, George raffled off the guitar with all the musicians' autographs. Unfortunately, all the house lights were OFF when they drew the winning number and no one could see, let alone find their tickets. After a couple minutes, the lights came on, just as Chris found our tickets. The first number she saw was 1 off of what was drawn, then opened our string of 5 tickets... She hands them to me, I look, mumble "oh fuck", then, very timidly, stand up, raise my hand, and say, "uhhh George..." I won the damn guitar! So I go up on stage, and for the first time all weekend, I'm speechless. I just looked at it sitting there on the stand, all those autographs. The first thing I said was something like "I don't even play guitar". I never even imagined picking it up, and I knew right then why I heard George talking about the guitar in the first place, hell, even why these entire last couple of months happened the way they happened, and how I got there in the condition I was in in the first place. I told George that I wanted to leave the guitar in his hands, to make sure it got to NEARFest, so they could do the same thing and raise some more money for Gary to help with his medical bills. On top of all this, while I was up there, I had the honor of welcoming to an American stage for the first time, RPWL.
Presented in surround sound, their multi-media presentation was absolutely stunning! I would travel to Germany to see these guys again. Yogi, their singer, told Chris after the show that they were absolutely petrified before they took the stage. They did a killer version of Floyd's Welcome To The Machine that benefitted from the surround sound treatment, and also Cymbaline, which was beautiful. This show was so emotional for me, part from being in a daze over my experiences, but also because their music is just so positive with simple messages like "don't give up, love will find a way" and presented so beautifully...
The weekend was a blur. After the show, George gave the guitar to Chad Hutchinson, one of the promoters of NEARFest. I told George it would be really cool if that guitar came full circle, that I would be at CalProg, and I'd love to see it make it out there. We said goodbye to Gary, and to Lara and Bob, who had to leave and drive to Newark so Bob could catch his 6am flight home, and so Lara could go to work in the morning. Back to the hotel bar, talking to Phil from Alias Eye about his experience at "Ground Zero" in NYC earlier that day, and whether that may have an effect on any future material. Time will tell. Also, Steve K. was with us again and Beth joined us for a couple drinks. You could tell no one was ready for the weekend to come to a close.
After a "good night's sleep" :-) Chris and I got up around 10am, went down to check out, and again, no one was quite ready to go. After some long goodbyes with Beth, Steve K. Gary Chandler and Martin Orford, and of course, my good friend George Roldan, we headed home, thanks to me, in the wrong direction LOL. After almost directing Chris into Delaware, I said she better stop and get some directions, I was having a hard time thinking straight. After another 700 mile drive, we arrived home around 11:30pm, tired, but elated from our experiences. The music, the musicians, the comraderie, and the friendships, not to mention karma or destiny or whatever you want to call it, made for a weekend that I will never forget.
They expect to make an announcement in about a month, most likely about next year's Rosfest. You know I'll be there, but in the meantime...
It's very cool you got to meet so many people. The funny thing is the person on your list I'd probably most like to meet is every prog fan's best friend, Greg Walker!
Hope you got lots of goodies. I'm looking forward to hearing all of your exploits again on your show tomorrow. I'll see you at CalProg and you'll do it all again (only this time you won't have to tell me about it, unless I pass out).
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The Healing Colors of Sound & Epic Prog with The Lurker Friday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern ONLY on The Dividing Line www.thedividingline.com
Joel, you really did a nice job recapping this weekend. I'll spare all the details as to how much toilet paper I used or how much water I drank (just kidding). First of all, it was real great to meet 'the guy in the wheelchair' and Chris and Bob L too. Made a fantastic weekend even more complete. I did pop in on some of the band to hear them, but there's no way I wanted to stay in the theatre for 121/2 hours each day (I don't know hor you did it Joel) So I spent part of my time back at the hotel in the hot tub (it WAS a vacation). I would have liked to see IZZ, but got in town too late (thanks to a wrong turn). I was there to see the headliners Jadis & RPWL. The after hours party Sat. nite was really a high point of the weekend too. For a first run prog festival, it was trully amazing how well it was run. From the incredible sound to even the band starting right on time. You knew right when to get in your seat for showtime. I loved Jadis who put on a very good set mixing their 'very old' as Gary Chandler put it, to playing everything off their latest cd 'Fanatic' .
Time for Sunday evening and the band I drove 425 miles to see RPWL. I have been singing their songs to myself for 2 days now just savoring the moment (an RPWL 'high' I guess). The sound the put out was so incredible, the only other band I've ever seen that moved me as much as they did was Genesis back in the 70's. I don't care what you say, I'm just saying how I feel.
RPWL extended alot of their songs live, compared to the album versions and the presence on stage could be felt throughout the theatre, from being very dark to almost laughing as they sang....they had fun playing to us. What A Show! Joel, help me you were there, it's hard to describe how good they really were. Ok, maybe Pink Floyd puts on a better show true, but RPWL doesn't put a million dollars into a stage show either. Anyway, RPWL was even better then I had imagined them to be. The best performance I've seen at a 'Prog festival' type show yet.
Thanks for a great weekend of memories & prog! I'd love to do it all again real soon!
Lurk.......in my opinion (the attendance) was the single most dissapointing thing about the whole weekend. I was really hoping to see a packed or near packed venue. Well, the upper balcony wasn't even used and the floor level had plenty of seats open in the rear of the theatre. My God, this place should have not even been big enough to hold everybody based on the progressive talent they assembled for the festival. Pisses me off that this music doesn't reach a wider audience that probably doesn't even know it exists.
Shawn......I've got pictures of Joel recieving his guitar & donating it right back(bless his heart). I emailed him and I'm waiting to hear back from him so I can get his address and I'll mail them his way. They're not digital but I'm sure he can scan them to put them here if he wishes! He's truly is a great guy. Frank S.
As of yet, I've not gotten an email. Try this instead of the DL.com addy:
joelcraig23 (AT) comcast (DOT) net
I've enlisted the help of my nephew, who is somewhat proficient in html, to help me either throw together a quick site, or at least u/l them to a file locker. Unfortunately, most of my pics aren't very good, as they are digital, but the camera probably wasn't set right or something, so any good pics are greatly appreciated.
cool......bring it on Gary. Can't wait to read it! I wish I'd had a chance to talk with you & get to know ya Sounds like I might have another chance next year..........hope so!
Ok, here's the scene from the eyes of a new fan of prog. First, nicest group of people I've met in a long time...both fans and artists. Not a single ego was encountered. Here I am, chatting it up with this group of people, laughing having a great time...go into the theater a couple hours later, and I look at Joel and say "hey, that's the guy we were just talking to - onstage!" Don't want to go as long as Joel, but here's a recap of the friends I met... The man of few spoken words (not that you were able to say much with Joel and me around) Gary! What a genuine treat and a nice (and very funny) guy to the core. (Gotta meet your wife though Gary, she and I could hit it off I think!) Bob! Bobble! Made me laugh the entire weekend. Cerebral with just enough raunch! I'll be working on my comebacks for Calprog, my man! Lara too, with out all the jumping (what does that mean? guess I gotta join chat to find out!) Sweet, beautiful, and really into music! It was my pleasure meeting you too. Frank! FS. You are such a great guy! Shared pics of the family...nice looking family too! Handsome boys! Nice talking with you! Beth, Princess Beth, new to the DLBN message board! You RAWK, as Steve from Little Atlas says. You totally made me feel like one of the Prog bunch, even though I'm new to the fold. You are truly the coolest! So many other people! Now for the artists...since Joel has a thing going with John Jowitt from Jadis, well, I'm jealous, but he is an amazing talent, so I'll have to be ok with it. My #1 new favorite band is absolutely, RPWL, or is it IZZ, maybe Jadis? Liked Alias Eye too, Man on Fire was like a great new discovery, Little Atlas...WOW, tight performance! Salem Hill and killer hamonies! Can't speak on Orphan Project, Sonus Ombra or Frogg Cafe since I missed most of their shows. Joel knew I would like RPWL, so we listened to them on the way to ROSfest so I could get familiar with some of their stuff. They were amazing! What a show! Wait, no...PRODUCTION! I wish I had spent more time talking to them! Gosh they seem so young too! Please bring them back next year!!!!!!!!Or sooner IZZ was fun AND amazing! I couldn't wait to listen to Ampersand! John to Tom: "I told you I have to do everything!" "I was making fun of you when you were doing that "no-looking" shit." Great stage banter and brotherly ribbing. I was too chicken to talk to the whole band so creeped up to John and Tom at the after show party and did the whole geeky "I'm such a a fan"-thing. They were soooo sweet about it too. Jadis, how can you NOT like Jadis? They are just, cool! They're like the guys you want around all the time, cause you know it's gonna be fun if they're in the vicinity. They have FUN onstage too, which is great to see and be a part of. I particularly love Gary's speaking voice too. Much deeper than expected! Alias Eye...can't go on unless you mention Phils AMAZING voice. I'm afraid I was so drawn to his voice I failed to pay attention to the rest of the band until it was "solo" time. They are a great band, and deserve all the props, but you just don't hear a voice like that very often. Little Atlas, the hardest working band in progrock! They are tight! Gotta say, when driving home, we listened to the cd and I could visualize the show again. Fun to watch and got the pleasure to meet Steve. He is just one of the nicest, most down to earth guys you'll meet. Also, I'm crediting Steve with the funniest line from all the shows... something like "...this song is about alien abduction. And from the looks of some of you out there, you might know something about that." Man on Fire ... I was too tired to remembeer much of the show, but meeting Jeff later was a highlight. What a ball of energy and light! Then we played the cd on the drive home and I was blown away. By the way, that was the only thing Joel got wrong; the "gearslut" t-shirt was Greenish blue with white lettering. Not that anyone was checking but... Frank, thanks for taking pics when Joel went onstage for the guitar. i was standing there getting all teary eyed, and realized, "crap, I'm supposed to take pics"! I only got about 5 and they are a bit shaky! I'm such a sap. Did I say I wouldn't be as long as Joel? OOps. Guess I had more to say than I thought. But to EVERYONE involved, thank you from a new fan to the music. You made me feel like part of the prog family. George Roldan did so much to make BOTH Joel and me feel important, welcomed and special. He's tremendous! Looking forward to next year already!
It’s long & bloated, so do a stretch before you attempt to read about my take on RoSFest 2004. If you’re at work, do what I do. Print it out and take it to the men’s room with you, unless you think that would be redundant. I’m posting it at the places I normally frequent, but feel free to spread the link if you enjoy it.
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Frank S.
Sounds like I might have another chance next year..........hope so! 
