Brian's Progressive Rock Music Blog

Guy Babylons debut alum ‘The Best of Guy Babylon’ was released on 15th Feb 2010 as a download only on iTunes.

Featuring 10 tracks of total brilliance, keyboard mastery and composition the album includes a remixed version of the classic track ‘Babylon Bleu’ (the track which won Guy the Keyboard Magazine readers competition in 1987).

Check back here soon for a full review of the album.

A trust has been set up for the family of Guy Babylon at the following. Please do your best to buy the album, popularize the trust and give something back to Guy and his family for his gift of music.

Thanks must go to Jan who runs the main website and source of information on Guy at www.guybablyonfan.net

The opening act for The Watch consisted of a mellow flute and piano set by respected names John and Hackett and Nick Magnus which was excellent but a little quiet for a Glasgow crowd on a Friday night. It perhaps would have suited more of a chamber orchestra venue.

The Watch opening set continued in the same vein with John Hackett guesting on some old Genesis tracks as well as a few of their own. The crowd were as polite as Glasgow audiences can be (only shouting some ‘words of encouragement’ to the band in between songs in Scots which I’m sure was totally lost on the Italian band) but they soon got what they came for when the band launched into some Genesis classics.

This video shows them plying The Musical Box (not at Glasgow) but it shows how adept they are capturing the early Peter Gabriel-era Genesis

I just stumbled across the website of photographer Al Ligammari 11 (Alimar) with some great backstage an concert photos of ELP from several shows by Al himself.

1. Backstage at Toronto in 1973 (Maple Leaf Gardens?) with a few stage shots (black and white)
2. On stage in Buffalo NY (Rich Stadium?) in 1974 (black and white)
3. On stage in Buffalo NY in 1978 (colour)

Can anyone confirm the venues?

Great shots Al – thanks for sharing
Al also has others personal photos of Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Steve Hackett and Gentle Giant

The Watch are an Italian band who, it seems, sometimes perform as a Genesis covers/tribute band. They seem to have a good reputation for doing what they do quite well so I am interested in seeing them at The Ferry in Glasgow on Friday 12 Feb 2010. Genesis are not an easy band to cover so they gotta be on the ball.

The last Genesis tribute I saw was the French Canadian band called The Musical Box at the Clyde Auditorium a few years ago. They were very good and are very proud of the extremes to which they go to capture a Genesis show. The front man has studied every little body movement  and voice of Peter Gabriel to re-present the early Genesis gigs in minute detail.

They use the original stage set used by Genesis in the 70’s (made out of crepe paper and orange boxes I reckon) to deliver as close to the original gig as humanly possible and regard their gig as ‘theatre’ rather than being a covers band. Memorable moments were (I guess obviously the ones with a clear costume) such as Watcher of the Skies, the Musical Box, I know what I like and Suppers ready

The Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut has listed tickets for sale for the Emerson Lake gig. They appear to be offering VIP tickets too which includes a meet and greet.

2010 is looking good for gigs already  for progressive rock bands (at least my favourites anyway) and more. Already lined up are:

• Nik Kershaw at Oran Mor in Glasgow (a superb songwriter who breaks a lot of new ground with great catchy melodic songs and clever lyrics)
• Pink Floyd Tribute (In the Flesh) at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
• It Bites at ABC Glasgow. They played here in March 2009 and had a stupendous gig. This will surely (after ELP) be one of the highlights of the year and in a small intimate setting too.
• Transatlantic at Manchester. I gotta head south for this gig
• Emerson Lake and Palmer at High Voltage Festival. This promises to be the best gig since …er…. the last ELP gig I saw in 1997 at Elbufer in Dresden (not counting the Keith Emerson band gig at Astoria in London which also was awesome )
• Jethro Tull at the Pavillion , Glasgow
• Mark Knopfler at SECC, Glasgow
• Whitney Houston at SECC, Glagsow (Yes, yes I know she is not technically a prog rock artist but she is still an awesome singer with an awesome backing band and great show)

In my ongoing attempt to get a wider picture of whats going on the world of Prog Rock I ventured to listen to Morow.com. It’s a ‘web only’ radio station run by three French blokes and is excellent. They play a wide range of progressive rock both old and new from right across the spectrum.

They admirably mention that they are commercial free and that their agenda is purely the dissemination of Prog music.

It was also good to see some support from Prog artists who will definitely benefit including Mark Kelly of Marillion, Devin Townsend Project and Porcupine Tree.

Sods Law. Talk about luck or lack of it. It was bad enough that Yes were playing in Edinburgh on the same night as Steve Hackett plays The Ferry in Glasgow but the weather contrived to make it even harder to get to either gig. My buddies (both Yes fans) opted to go for the Yes gig at the Usher Hall but, given that I had seen Yes many times recently and that I hadn’t seen Steve Hackett live since about 1981 I opted to go to see him at The Ferry in Glasgow.

Arriving in Glasgow at 8.45 I literally got to teh show as the band came on which was excellent news. The gig was very busy (a lot of people crammed on to a wee ex-car Ferry with a shitty view). The first half of the gig was taken up largely by newer Steve Hackett compositions including some from current album ‘From the Mouth of the Tunnel’

The crowd took little encouragement to ‘go mental’ (a Scottish colloquialism for being loud and appreciative) and of course with Nick Beggs wearing his customary leather kilt we all felt at home. After the break the band launched into a bevvy of old Hackett favourites including The Steppes, Spectral Mornings and  also threw in a few old Genesis favourites such as Firth of Fifth and Horizons.

Overall it was a great gig by the band and the crows loved it too. Lets hope it not a another 20 years before he comes back to Glasgow

You can see some video of the Glasgow gig courtesy of Defector Mornings on YouTube as well a load of other video shots from the 2009 Steve Hackett Tour.

Having only just recovered from the news about Greg and Keith writing together again and the Emerson Lake and Palmer gig in summer 2010 we get even more good news. Greg Lake’s new website has finally been launched.

Some neat stuff on it including the Museum, Greg Lake Speaks and a new video of the Mandoki Soulmates featuring Bobby Kimball, Paul Carrack and Greg Lake.

If you fancy a wee chat with Greg there is also an opportunity for a ‘chat’ with Greg on 15  Nov 2009 at 10pm GMT (5pm ET). Lets hope people ask sensible questions.

Despite all the crap that Pallas have had to endure during their career they showed they they are still the best progressive rock band of the post 70’s prog bands on Friday night (the so-called New Wave of British Progressive Rock)  when they played the Ferry in Glasgow (the first time for them at this venue as far as I know) and played a very good show.

They had a few minor technical issues with Ronnie Browns keyboards but that prompted a wee bit of chat-chat between band and audience – perhaps the kind of chit-chat you can only get with a Scottish audience. No big deal though – that’s live performance for you. If you want perfection stay at home and listed to the CD.

In a fairly ‘typical’ modern Pallas set highlights for me were :

The Cross and the Crucible with the aggressive thundering Rickenbacker bass of Graeme Murray coupled with Ronnie Brown’s big choir pads and voice samples.  See a video of the Cross and the Crucible on filestube.com

Midas Touch – another thumping bass ostinato, a good catchy one line chorus and awesome guitar work from Niall.

Cut and Run – the classic Sentinel track complete with Euan on vocals

New Tracks – They premiered some demo tracks for the ‘imminent’ (in Pallas’ timescale!) new album. The new tracks showed a much more aggressive almost Metallica/metal type of feel but still with some melody and arrangements – which is exactly the thing Pallas are great at.

They were perhaps a little under rehearsed (their words,not mine) but it was still a great gig as always. Pallas have been together for eons and are very adept at performing so it is never going to be bad gig (except by their standards). They are band that always deliver in live performance. They don’t perform that much but they do prove that quality us better than quantity in the world of rock music.

As has become somewhat customary, Euan Lowson did appear for a bit of nostaligia with  renditions of Cut and Run and Arrive Alive. If you think Euan is unpredictable in normal circumstances try watching him performing when he has had a few drinks! Cavorting around on stage like a madman he lifted Alan Reed upside down behind his back over his shoulders – sort of thing, and continued to sing.

It was a good end to another rare Pallas performance. Great music, great musician ship, great performance and a bit of light hearted entertainment.  Pallas have it all, so lets have some more, lads

Who said prog rock doesn’t have a sense of humour?