Former Spock's Beard frontman Neal Morse has been forced to cancel his shows at The Academy 2 in Manchester and The Arches, Glasgow as a result of poor ticket sales.
The London show, formerly at the legendary Koko, has been moved to the Kings College London Students Union in Surrey Street.
The remainder of the tour is unaffected, as is his appearance at this years High Voltage festival in July.
Paul Wiffen, who has worked with such greats as Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson and Vangelis as well as playing in Silhobbit faves Fire In The South has finally released his own debut single.
Venetian Suite: Love Theme was originally written by Paul whilst at the Venice Film Festival in 2007 as a commission for a film called Venetian Heat, which sadly has still not seen the light of day. The Love Theme is the culmination of the themes of love and self-sacrifice which run through the film. The final version of the Love Theme was refined on the terrace piano at the world-famous Hotel Cipriani. Paul has been playing the piano since the age of 4 and his compositional style owes much to Rachmaninov but also Michel Legrand.
The track can be downloaded from CDBaby for under a quid!
On the 25th June 2011, UK progressive rock band IQ celebrate 30 years of their own particular ‘prog nonsense’ with a special one-off party at The Assembly, Leamington Spa. With a vast heritage of material to choose from, there are sure to be some surprises in the set even for those who have faithfully followed the band for many years.
To mark this special occasion IQ are resurrecting their tradition of exclusive freebies at landmark points in their career. Everyone attending the concert will receive a free, exclusive CD of new and unreleased mixes – unavailable anywhere else and certain to become a highly sought after collectable.
In the summer of 2010, Sky Architect set out to record a follow up for their debut album Excavations of the Mind. In the lovely woods of Sweden they found their new home, where their musical creativity felt no boundaries. The result: A stunning 76 minute long concept album telling the story of a man’s flight to redemption, entitled A dying man’s hymn.
Their second album sounds much more mature, and overall more balanced. Mellow at some points and at other times a real prog-extravaganza with distorted Clavinets, soaring guitar solos and crazy odd rhythms. Surely a must have for fans of Gentle Giant, the Flower Kings, Beardfish and Pain of Salvation.
Again they put their faith in Galileo-records, who will release their ‘A Dying Man’s Hymn’ worldwide 6th of June 2011. The artwork is created by the famous rock-illustator Mark Wilkinson (Marillion, Fish, Judas Priest a.o.).
Track List
Treebird (9:15)
Melody of the Air - expositio (6:16)
The Campfire Ghost's Song (10:01)
Woodcutters Vile (12:59)
Melody of the Air - explicatio (11:15)
The Breach (11:05)
Hitodama's Return (6:38)
Melody of the Air - recapitulatio (4:39)
A dying man's hymn (5:12)
Judie Tzuke announces pre-order of "One Tree Less"
Judie Tzuke's next album, 'One Tree Less' is in the process of being recorded and everyone who's heard the progress so far, has been blown away. It does feel like this is going to be a very special album, and of course we want to do these great songs justice, unfortunately that involves spending more money, with this in mind we have decided to do an album pre-order with a difference.
Firstly we'd like to say that if you want to wait for the album launch, the album will be on sale at the normal price via the usual outlets. But, the great thing about the pre-order is that you will receive the album before the official release and you will have the chance to own an authentic, original and unique 'Welcome to the Cruise' Gold Record which was originally given to Paul Muggleton to celebrate 100,000 albums sold. This is not offered up lightly but he feels that 'One Tree Less' is worth the sacrifice.
So one lucky pre-orderer will receive the Gold Record and five others will receive framed pictures of the iconic 'Welcome to the Cruise' cover. A video of the draw will be placed on YouTube.
The cost to pre-order 'One Tree Less' is £15 + P&P
We hope that you understand that Judie's albums are recorded completely independently with your support and we sometimes need to find different ways to fund our recordings but we hope you appreciate the results.
Jon Anderson To Release Long Awaited New CD 'Survival & Other Stories'
The new CD Survival & Other Stories by legendary Jon Anderson features eleven new songs with themes about love, life, understanding, healing and survival.
One of the most recognizable voices in music, the legendary Jon Anderson, best known for his work with Yes, Vangelis, Kitaro and other notable music artists, as well as his innovative solo efforts, is preparing to release one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year, 'Survival & Other Stories'. Featuring eleven new luminous songs with themes about love, life, understanding, healing and survival, Jon's new CD has an inspirational message for all who will listen!
“About four years ago I just put in an ad on my website: 'Musicians Wanted'... This is the result. Writing the songs for 'Survival & Other Stories' was uplifting for me on many levels, I was working with musicians from around the world Via the Internet, it's a new world, music is a healing energy, I had a tough 2008, through illness, and the Music I've been writing since is a celebration of life on many levels...I hope you get the chance to hear the album..Big Love..Jon." 'Survival & Other Stories' is the first of three albums to be released by Jon Anderson in the next two years.
Jon recently completed a successful east coast tour of the US, “An Acoustic Evening With Jon Anderson”, which featured and exciting mixture of material from Jon Anderson's prolific solo career, collaborations with Vangelis and classic YES songs, along with new compositions from his new CD 'Survival & Other Stories'. Jon will be performing select shows throughout this summer in the US and Canada. For tour dates visit www.jonanderson.com/tour.html
Ex-The Enid and Jadis's Nick May's band Whimwise have a few dates coming up in the coming months:
Friday May 27th - Classic Rock Club, Cheshunt Football Club Sunday June 19th - Great Linford Waterside Festival, Milton Keynes Friday June 24th - Mandala Stage, Glastonbury Festival Sunday June 26th - Mandala Stage, Glastonbury Festival Saturday July 9th - Fuse Festival, Beacon Park, Lichfield Sunday July 24th - Parks Trust World Picnic Event, Milton Keynes Saturday July 30th - The Small Festival, Gillingham Saturday September 24th - The 12 Bar Club, Swindon
TOTO announce one-off UK concert at London Hammersmith Apollo
PRESS RELEASE
Celebrated rock band TOTO will perform a rare concert at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday 26th June, 2011. This will be TOTO’s only UK concert this year.
TOTO will perform all their classic hits from a career that spans 34 years. Fans can expect to hear all the greatest hits including Hold The Line, Rosanna and Africa. The current line-up features Joseph Williams (lead vocals), David Paich (keyboards), Steve Lukather (guitar, vocals), Steve Porcaro (keyboards), Simon Phillips (drums), and Nathan East (bass guitar).
The band will also perform songs from their 12 studio albums including their eponymous debut Toto (1978), followed by Hydra (1979), Turn Back (1981), Toto IV (1982), Isolation (1984), Fahrenheit (1986), The Seventh One (1988), Kingdom of Desire (1992), Tambu (1995), Mindfields (1999), Through The Looking Glass (2002) and Falling In Between (2006)
TOTO are featured on the front cover of the new issue of “AOR” magazine. The new issue features an 11-page retrospective that chronicles the history of TOTO written by Derek Oliver, plus a free cover mount CD, “AOR Anthems,” that includes a live recording of TOTO’s “Pamela” exclusively mixed for AOR by TOTO drummer, Simon Phillips.
The Band are also playing the following European dates: 21 June 2011 - Forest National, Bruxelles, Belgium 23 June 2011 - Heineken Hall, Amsterdam, Netherlands 24 June 2011 - Heineken Hall, Amsterdam, Netherlands 26 June 2011 - Hammersmith Apollo, London 27 June 2011 - Le Zenith, Paris, France 28 June 2011 - Halle Tony Garnier, Lyon, France 30 June 2011 - KB Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark 01 July 2011 - Skansen Solliden, Stockholm, Sweden 03 July 2011 - Riihimakirock, Riihimaki / Helsinki, Finland 05 July 2011 - Slottsruinen Borgholm, Borgholm, Sweden 06 July 2011 - Tradgardsforeningen, Gothenburg, Sweden 08 July 2011 - Gjerstad Hovud ArenaTysnesfest - Bergen, Norway 09 July 2011 - Ravnedalen, Kristiansand, Norway 10 July 2011 - Open Air, Vejle, Denmark 12 July 2011 - Stadtpark Freilichtbühne, Hamburg, Germany 14 July 2011 - Jazz an der Donau, Straubing, Germany 15 July 2011 - Klosterhof Wiblingen, Ulm, Germany 16 July 2011 - Live at Sunset, Zurich, Switzerland 17 July 2011 - Castello Scaligero Di Villafranca, Verona, Italy
NEAL MORSE ANNOUNCES BIGGEST TOUR YET FOR TESTIMONY 2
TWO 8-PIECE BANDS FOR NORTH/CENTRAL AMERICA AND EUROPE. MIKE PORTNOY FEATURED ON NORTH AMERICAN DATES
Join Neal and his two 8-piece prog powerhouses for a tour that's bigger, longer and probably louder than any before.
Experience 50 full minutes of tunes! Wait, this is Neal Morse, who are we kidding? Experience 2.5+ hours of amazing music until your prog hurts. Hear the new Testimony 2 in its entirety, plus past favorites, and maybe songs from Spock's Beard and even Transatlantic. (They haven't decided yet. So technically, it's possible that they'll play the B-side of Boston's Third Stage album. But, that's unlikely.)
And while most prog bands, like Kansas, give you five or six players, tops...on this tour, you get eight—in two different bands! Hear stuff you've never heard before, literally. Watch them devour lesser-numbered bands like Nickelback.* Be amazed at so many musicians on stage not playing Ska.
The two separate bands are catered to the North American and European continents. Because that's how we roll. In North America, you get guys from the original Testimony tour and concert DVD. And yes, it features the mighty Mike Portnoy (while supplies last).
Europe gets Neal's legendary EU extravaganza. Led by drummer and Mr. Clean stunt-double Collin Leijenaar, they bring enough win to make Charlie Sheen jealous. And it features guitar-wonderling Paul Bielatowicz from the Testimony 2 album. This band has more experience touring Neal's music than anyone. Including Neal.
But let's be serious for a moment. If you've seen Neal Morse in concert, then you already know why Classic Rock magazine listed him in their "100 Greatest Frontmen of Rock" article. His shows are non-stop music… breathtaking virtuosity fused with captivating emotional expression. And his bands throw themselves into the fray like a new group with something to prove. Morse adds, "We may never do a tour like this again…it's the big one!"
Topping it all off will be an epic show at London's legendary Koko theater. Epic even for prog. Will a DVD be taped there? Can special guests be expected? Are there really four levels of balconies there?
Find out this summer with Neal's mightiest tour yet!
June 02: Zwolle, The Netherlands - Hedon June 03: Beek (LB), The Netherlands - Asta June 04: Zoetermeer, The Netherlands - De Boerderij June 05: Bochum, Germany - Matrix June 07: Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal June 08: Memmingen, Germany - Kaminwerk June 09: Praque, Czech Republic - Futurum June 10: Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club June 11: Budapest, Hungary - Diesel Club June 13: Milan, Italy - Alcatraz June 14: Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7 June 16: London, United Kingdom - Koko June 17: Manchester, United Kingdom - Academy 2 June 18: Glasgow, United Kingdom - The Arches
Festivals
July 23: London, United Kingdom - High Voltage Festival July 30: A Coruña, Spain - Finisterrae Festival
The Assembly Presents: IQ's 30th Anniversary Celebration
Date – Saturday 25th June
Tickets - £14adv + Booking Fee
Doors – 18:00
Age Restriction – 14+
With a history of nearly 30 years IQ are widley regarded as one of the world´s most highly respected progressive rock bands.
Founded in 1981 by guitarist Mike Holmes, the band soon had it´s international breaktrough album with “The Wake“ in 1985. This instant classic, seen by many as one of the defining progressive rock albums of the eighties, will be reissued in a 4 disc-special edition this year to celebrate its 25 anniversary.
The ’87 UK tour with Wishbone Ash led to a lucrative major deal with Phonogram. The band toured throughout europe to promote their album “Nomzamo“ and their chart-hit “Promises“ which was recorded with their next album “Are You Sitting Comfortably?“ Their world-wide success gained strength and momentum when the band again embarked on an extensive tour, this time with Mike and the Mechanics.
At the beginning of the 90´s the band decided to leave the comfort of the major label in exchange for the independent’s promise to offer total control of their music. The label were backing the band into a more commercially viable, mainstream corner. And so, friends and associates founded the label “Giant Electric Pea“. In the next years albums like “Ever“, “Subterrenea“ and “Seventh House“ proved how well that concept worked out, allowing the band to grow to their own strengths and passions. They have since set new standards in the prog-rock world, with their latest album “Frequency“ being voted album of the year across many European, British and overseas websites and magazines.
With Peter Nicholls (vox), Mike Holmes (git), Paul Cook (drums) and Tim Esau (bass) four of the original band members are still (or again) on board. Keyboard player Neil Durant joined the band in the beginning of 2011.
Scottish Prog pixie, Alan Reed - formerly of proggers Abel Ganz and Pallas, has finally remerged from his enforced absenteeism and has released his first proper solo track.
He has fittingly released Begin Again (acoustic version) via his Bandcamp page, where you can buy the song for £1.
In a press release, Alan says that the track: "is a (shorter) acoustic arrangement of a song which will be on my forthcoming album in slightly grander form. This is a stripped-down version with only vocals, guitar, bass and percussion, which emphasises its essentially folky flavour. It's also how we'll be playing it at my forthcoming acoustic gigs. It's not entirely representative of the style of the album, but I thought I'd gone long enough without releasing anything, and it'll give you all a chance to learn the words and tune for the inevitable singalong."
Alan is still working on the album, and has drafted in Pendragon drummer Scott Higham and ex-Pallas keyboarderist Mike Stobbie, as well as guitarists Kalle Wallner of RPWL and Jeff Green.
Alan will be playing at Mattfest at The Peel in Kingston on Saturday 4th June, along with Twelfth Nights' Mark Spencer.
More news on the Reed front can be found on his official facebook page or at Reverbnation.
Cumbrian proggers It Bites started their It Happened One Night tour last night with a triumphant gig at The Academy in Manchester.
The tour, which promotes their new DVD, will also stop at the following venues:
Sunday 15th May - Z Rock Festival, The Asylum, Birmingham Monday 16th May - The Peel House of Progression, London Wednesday 18th May - The Cluny, Newcastle Thursday 19th May - The Arches, Glasgow Friday 20th May - Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven
The band have posted a clip on YouTube which shows them rehearsing The Old Man And The Angel for the tour:
YouTube of the Week - Roger Waters / David Gilmour "Comfortably Numb"
Ok, this probably needs no introduction, but that never stopped anyone who ever said that, did it. Thursday night at the O2 in London, at the Roger Waters "The Wall Live" show, Roger was joined on stage (well, on The Wall) by special guest David Gilmour for "Comfortably Numb". My camera only takes crap videos with awful distorted sound, so I was glad to find this clip by timJvale up on YouTube:
There are loads more clips of this floating around, but I reckon this is the best I've seen so far, and captures the visuals best.
Italian proggers Daedalus release third album "Motherland"
The first core gathered in 2000 following an idea by Fabio Gremo who proposed to Andrea Rinaldi, Alessio Brunetti, Giuseppe Spanò and Davide La Rosa to set up the band.
They worked on the first songs drawing inspiration from different musical genres and bands as Queen, Arena, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden and Rush, all the same trying to define a new musical identity.
In 2003 the band recorded and published the first album "Leading Far From a Mistake".
In 2004 Rinaldi and Brunetti left the band and their place was taken respectively by Davide Merletto and Andrea Torretta, as new vocalist and guitarist.
In 2009 Galileo Records and ProgRock Records released the second album "The Never Ending Illusion", with SPV distribution. Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth) and Alessandro Corvaglia (La Maschera di Cera) appear as guest singers. Roland Grapow (Helloween, Masterplan) mixed the tracks while Mark Wilkinson (Marillion, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) drew the artwork. "The never ending illusion" contains 10 songs: each one of them deals with a different way of being concerned with the dualism between reality and dream/illusion. The lyrics draw a sort of path starting from facing the every-day life, passing through the sensation of "something" existing beyond the common aspects of life, then ending with a contemplation of one's own dreams, in a way that could be seen as closing the circle. In late 2009, after completing the pre-production of the new songs, the keyboardist Giuseppe Spanò left the band.
In 2010 Daedalus recorded the third album "Motherland", then Sandro Amadei joined the band as new keyboardist. Roland Grapow was asked again to mix the album and played a killer guitar solo, Trevor (Sadist) and Elisa Montaldo (Il Tempio delle Clessidre) appear respectively as guest singer and keyboardist. The artwork has been drawn by Davide Nadalin (Threshold, Extrema, Vision Divine, Sadist). “Motherland” got a very accurate production and is a modern-sounding, heavy and straight album. It contains 11 songs and the lyrics offer different points of view concerning the uneasiness in today’s world. The album will be released in 2011 by Galileo Records.
During these years Daedalus played many live shows in relevant venues and as opener for well-known artists such as Claudio Simonetti (Goblin, Daemonia), Daniele Liverani (Twinspirits), DGM, Extrema, Misfits, Stramonio and Simon Says.
Track List
What a challenging world (2:20)
Your lies (3:55)
Until you're here (4:53)
Perspective of the moon (4:57)
For aye (6:18)
Motherland (6:52)
Sand (5:06)
Weather the storm (5:39)
Underground (4:25)
A tale (6:11)
Empty rooms (6:42)
Gran Torino is a band of four Italian gentlemen who in the past enjoyed playing the classic masters of rock and hard rock, such as Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and then started to approach the sophisticated and enchanting world of progressive.
So the band decided to start a new ambitious project, which was born with the will to create a product that could resume the refinement and the technicality of the great progressive bands of the 70’s, with the power and the originality of their own rock’n’roll.
Every member of the band has studied in important Italian music schools, and they have different musical past and experience:
Cristiano, the guitar player, started his studies with the latin techniques, then he approached electric guitar: Gibson is his first and unique love;
Alessio was born with the study of classic organ, and then his curiosity was stimulated by metal harmonies;
Gian Maria’s heroes were John Bonham and Ian Paice, but then he started to look for a more intimate study of drum, in order to create his own drumming, powerful but refined at the same time;
Fabrizio is a bass player who spent most of his time studying jazz and then fusion techniques and harmonies.
Their favourite progressive bands are Genesis, Kansas, king Crimson, Jethro Tull, Spock’s beard, Area, PFM.
So, after a serious work of composition, arrangement and recording, they are coming with their first album: technicality, emotions and fun, all mixed together to create a new product: grantorinoProg, rock–progressive made in Italy!
Track List
Sinapsi (5:52)
Jack Montorio (5:24)
Rock Waters (5:42)
Joy (5:34)
Miridiana (4:29)
Fox Box (4:30)
Five (1:18)
Radio Vox (4:42)
Eco (3:59)
Zorro (6:44)
Polish Travellers to take A Journey Into The Sun Within in June
Travellers is the name of the new band put together by Polish prog legend Wojtek Szadkowski (Collage, Satellite and Strawberry Fields). The band, which also consists of Robin (vocals), Grzegorz Leczkowski (guitars) and Krzysiek Palczewski (bass) release their debut album A Journey Into The Sun Within on 6th June on Metal Mind Productions.
The album consists of 6 tracks, 2 of which (Magic and Dreaming) can be heard on the Metal Mind Myspace page.
Wojtek Szadkowski, who plays keyboards and drums on the album, says: "It's a mixture of prog, ethnic music, the 80's, a large dose of magic and space, all of this crowned with Robin's beautiful voice..."
Tracklist:
1. Magic
2. Letters To God
3. Dreaming
4. I Dream Softly
5. I See The Light
6. The Sun
Credo launch "Against Reason" at The Peel this weekend
West country neo proggers Credo, fresh from their well received appearance at last weekends IO Pages Festival at de Boerderij, will be playing the final date of their Against Reason Album Launch Tour at The Peel in Kingston this Saturday, 23rd April.
The album, which is available from www.progrock.co.uk has the following tracklist:
Staring at the Sun
Cardinal Sin
Intimate Strangers
Against Reason
Insane
Reason to Live
Conspiracy (MCF)
Ghosts of Yesterday
I got my copy this week, and I'm loving it already!
The band, who have a new website at www.credo.gb.com will be playing the following gigs:
Saturday 23rd April, The Peel, Kingston-upon-Thames
Sunday 15th May, Robin 2, Wolverhampton (Guests of The Tangent)
Thursday 19th May, Electric Garden Festival, Blackpool
Friday 20th May, The Ferry, Glasgow (with Guests Abel Ganz & Comedy Of Errors)
Tuesday 21st June, The Borderline (Guests of Solstice)
Sunday 3rd July, Robin 2, Wolverhampton
Sunday 7th August, Cambridge Rock Festival
Support at The Peel comes from London based guitar virtuoso Matt Stevens
Ultimate Setlist Live are promoting a series of gigs at the Pacific Road Arts Centre in Birkenhead. Their aim is to give punters what they really want, memorable gigs by their fave bands / tribute acts. As they say on their website, www.ultimatesetlistlive.co.uk, "a simple 'greatest hits' show rarely satisfies, and in many cases it makes no sense at all. for example, to us, an ultimate setlist could showcase a special album or replay a specific era from a band's history"
Genesis act Los Endos played there last night, while forthcoming gigs include Pendragon on the 2nd June and G2 Definitive Genesis on the 25th June.
The man with the poshest name in prog (which is no mean feat!), Piers de Lavison, has emailed in to say that top Genesis tribute act, G2 Definitive Genesis will be playing their excellent blend of old, older and classic Genesis tracks at the following shows
Friday 4th March - The Guildhall, Gloucester Friday 11th March - The Grand, Clitheroe Sunday 13th March - The Assembly, Leamington Spa Friday 15th April - The Swan Theatre, High Wycombe Saturday 7th May - The Arts Complex, Solihull Saturday 14th May - The Stables, Milton Keynes Friday 17th June - The Harlequin, Redhill Saturday 25th June - Pacific Road Arts Centre, Birkenhead Saturday 24th September - The Wharf, Tavistock Saturday 15th October - Stag Theatre, Sevenoaks
YouTube of the Week - Pendragon "Skara Brae [edit]"
Hot on the tail of last weeks Blackfield premier, this week see's some teaser clips from the forthcoming Pendragon album, Passion. The band have created their own YouTube channel, where they have posted three edits from the album. The tracks in question are Empathy, This Green And Pleasant Land and Skara Brae, which you can see below.
I've heard the album, and you're sure in for a treat. It is up for pre-order at www.pendragon.mu
Hot News
Ex-The Enid and Jadis's Nick May's band Whimwise have a few dates coming up in the coming months:
Celebrated rock band TOTO will perform a rare concert at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday 26th June, 2011. This will be TOTO’s only UK concert this year.
NEAL MORSE ANNOUNCES BIGGEST TOUR YET FOR TESTIMONY 2
Scottish Prog pixie, Alan Reed - formerly of proggers Abel Ganz and Pallas, has finally remerged from his enforced absenteeism and has released his first proper solo track.
Cumbrian proggers It Bites started their It Happened One Night tour last night with a triumphant gig at The Academy in Manchester.
Ultimate Setlist Live are promoting a series of gigs at the Pacific Road Arts Centre in Birkenhead. Their aim is to give punters what they really want, memorable gigs by their fave bands / tribute acts. As they say on their website, 
The man with the poshest name in prog (which is no mean feat!), Piers de Lavison, has emailed in to say that top Genesis tribute act, G2 Definitive Genesis will be playing their excellent blend of old, older and classic Genesis tracks at the following shows
