“Great to see some of the original members doing it the right way.” – Steve Hackett
The Security Project has once again reinvented itself, this time with vocalist Happy Rhodes. Together with Jerry Marotta (drummer from Peter Gabriel’s first five records), Trey Gunn (King Crimson), Michael Cozzi (Shriekback) and NY keyboardist David Jameson, the group continues reimagining the early work of Peter Gabriel (and also, on this disc, Kate Bush), but with Happy’s impressive four-octave vocals adding an entirely new dimension.
The Security Project will be releasing their new live album “CONTACT” on November 18, 2017! The material is culled from shows in the US and their recent Japanese tour. The band will be touring the US in support of the album release in November.
“The Security Project live is a beautifully reverential and creative reinterpretation of these Peter Gabriel classics!” – Kevin Killen, engineer of Gabriel’s “So” record
The Security Project:
Happy Rhodes – Lead Voice Jerry Marotta – Drums, Vocals Trey Gunn – Touch Guitar, Vocals David Jameson – Keyboards, Eigenharp Michael Cozzi – Guitar, Vocals
Mid-West/East Coast US Fall Tour Dates:
November 2, Thursday – Kingston, NY (BSP Front Room) November 3, Friday – Newton, NJ (Newton Theater) November 5, Sunday – New Hope, PA (Havana) November 7, Tuesday – Northampton, MA (The Iron Horse) November 8, Wednesday – Pawling, NY (Daryl’s House) November 10, Friday – Boston, MA (Regent Theater) November 11, Saturday – Schenectady, NY (Van Dyke Lounge) November 12, Sunday – Syracuse, NY (The Lost Horizon) November 14, Tuesday – Cleveland, OH (Beachland) November 15, Wednesday – Louisville, KY (Headliners Music Hall) November 17, Friday – Indianapolis, IN (Emerson Theater) November 18, Saturday – Auburn Hill, MI (Callahan’s) November 19, Sunday – Chicago, IL (Jerry Marotta drum clinic, info & venue TBA) November 20, Monday – Milwaukee, WI (Shank Hall) November 21, Tuesday – Chicago, IL (Reggie’s)
Show: Haken w/ Mammoth and Sithu Aye Venue: Delmar Hall, St. Louis, MO, Sept 22, 2017 Review: Jason Turner Pics: Jon Fiala
I have been a fan of Haken, the progressive metal band hailing from London, England, for just over three years. I initially came across their music through Amazon’s suggestion bar, of all places, a coincidence which I have a hard time labeling chance or fate–it could go either way. Being that I am a dedicated listener and consumer of band’s such as Opeth, Fates Warning, The Mars Volta, Steven Wilson, The Dear Hunter, and Dream Theater, the algorithmic wizardry of the dot-com behemoth placed Haken’s third album, The Mountain, in the ‘you might like this’ scroll, and on a whim I purchased it, something I had never done before, or since. I immediately became a fan, and have over the past few years delved into the rest of their catalog with fervor and abandon, two attributes which are certainly needed to gain a full appreciation of this intense, complex, mystical music.
On Friday night, September 22, I saw Haken live for the first time in my hometown of St. Louis, MO, at the relatively new and decidedly top-notch Delmar Hall, a venue that seemed the perfect fit for Haken. Situated in The Loop neighborhood of St. Louis, a bustling strip of bars, restaurants, movie theaters, music stores, book stores, and smoke shops, Delmar Hall is a pristine venue which holds 750 people comfortably. It’s as if the creators of Delmar Hall wanted to streamline the concert going experience; there is not a bad spot to watch from in the building, the sound system is state of the art, and the acoustics are spectacular. When I heard Haken would be playing there I thought, “Yeah, that’ll do just fine.”
The atmosphere upon arrival was relaxed and convivial. While the crowd was sparse early on, the room eventually filled to (roughly) three quarters capacity. In between sets I struck up conversation with several of my fellow concert goers, bantering about the usual prog show topics; favorite DT album, favorite DT song, is DT still good without Portnoy (yes it is, damn it!), etc. One guy had driven in from Columbus, OH, to catch the gig with a friend, while another, a student at Washington University, attended the show by himself. “I don’t know anybody else who likes Haken,” he told me somewhat shyly. “Don’t feel bad,” I responded. “Neither do I.”
The two opening bands, Mammoth and Sithu Aye, were intriguing in similar ways. Both were instrumental acts, both were progressively experimental, and both were enormously talented. I had never heard of either of them before arriving to the show, but made a note to check out their respective catalogs’ over the next couple of days.
As Haken took the stage at ten o’clock, the crowd transitioned from the polite appreciation it had shown the openers into displaying an outright enthusiastic devotion, coming to life with hoots and hollers and ear-piercing finger-whistles. The excitement was tangible, and I personally experienced a sense of relief; the previous week in St. Louis had been filled with protests and civil unrest over the acquittal of a white police officer who had killed an African-American man after a car chase, and several concerts had been canceled at Delmar Hall and its neighboring venue, The Pageant. Had the protest returned to The Loop, I have no doubt the concert would have been called off.
My first impression of Haken was one of confidence and concentration. The six band members, dressed mostly in black (the notable exception being Ross Jennings, the band’s singer, sporting a neon green necktie over his black ensemble), took their places on stage with an air of focus and control. With the opening notes of Affinity.exe/Initiate I knew that we were in for a special night, were in fact going to witness a band at the peak of prowess and passion, a perfect representation of a group of staggeringly talented musicians celebrating ten years of making music together.
It is one thing to hear top-shelf progressive music on an album, but something completely different to behold in person, particularly when you are familiar with the music being performed. It has been my experience that there is always an aspect or quality of the band/music that you don’t fully appreciate until you see and hear it live. In the case of Haken, the in-person surprise happened to be their drummer, Raymond Hearne.
Dude was a revelation.
Towards the beginning of the show, through the songs In Memoriam and 1985 (two of my personal favorites ), I was marveling at how amazing the band sounded, but my attention kept drifting back to the drum kit. “He sounds really good back there,” I found myself saying, over and over again. As the show progressed I found my attention zeroed-in on Hearne, trying to categorize the qualities of mastery I was beholding. There was a fullness and power to his playing and presence, like Matt Cameron on Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, matched with the precision of, say, Danny Carey’s work on Tool’s Aenima. But even those comparisons fell short of Hearne’s stick and foot work, as there was a unique quality to his playing; to say he sounded like such-and-such doesn’t do him justice.
Seeing Raymond Hearne play drums on September 22nd, 2017, was like peeking through a window into the higher potentials of Form and Idea. Not to be melodramatic about it, but it was like bearing witness to the manifestation of the human soul. Plato would have been proud. There was not only no flaws in his playing, but his playing was imbued with a sense of rarified personality, a rhythm and pulse that was undoubtedly the backbone of the band, yet nonetheless completely individuated from it. It was the definition of magnificent.
This is not to take anything away from the rest of the band. Each and every member was in top form, technically and sonically. And each band member had their moment to shine–Ross Jennings’ singing of the somber As Death Embraces comes to mind, as well as Diego Tejeida’s epic keyboard solo during the joyride that is 1985. As for the guitarists, Richard Henshall and Charlie Griffiths, well, their stoic demeanor belies the fire in their bellies and fingers; their synchronized and juxtapositional playing sent my mind cascading through realms of futuristic supercomputers and tryptamine-esque hallucinatory landscapes.
Simply jaw-dropping.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the bass work and impressive backing vocals of Haken’s lone American member, Conner Green. In fact, now that I think about it, the entire band’s backing vocals were deeply impressive. Their live recreation of complex harmonies embedded forever digitally on CD and MP3 left me shaking my head in delight, especially on my favorite song of the evening: Cockroach King.
In reality, though, to actually pick a “favorite” song of the night would be silly. Every song was stirring in its own way. Which was better? The Architect or Cockroach King? The Aquarius Medley or Visions? Really, it’s a matter of opinion and disposition, a relativity prone to change with moment and mood.
In any event, there was a prevailing spirit gliding above and diving through each and every song. You could not only feel the joy the music induced in the crowd, but in the band itself. Haken likes their music, too. A lot. In fact, I would go so far as to say they love it, not in a narcissistic, self absorbed way, but in an ecstatic, spontaneous, joyous way.
I keep thinking back to the smile on Diego Tejeida’s face, standing behind his keyboard rig. All night he was smiling, happy to be sharing his occult compositions, forged in dedication and tribulation with his brothers in sound, with strangers in St. Louis, MO, a city ravaged by problems all-too earthbound. It makes me think of a single word: affinity. There is an affinity found in the sounds of progressive music, a natural liking of and attraction to minds that meet on the edge of discovery. And it doesn’t matter if you are on this side of the musical instrument or that. We are all sharing in the same field of experience, the same field of understanding.
It just so happens that Haken are bloody good at being on that side of the instrument.
Steven Wilson has announced a series of dates for his upcoming North American tour. The tour which will highlight his recent album To The Bone, kicks off April 20th in Quebec and concludes May 14th in Phoenix. Steven made a comment about the tour on Facebook.
“I’m happy to announce a return to the USA & Canada in April and May of next year with my band, and with a new show based on the current album To The Bone. As well as featuring songs from that album there will be favourites from previous tours, as well as some of my older songs that haven’t been played by the solo band before. The visual aspects of the show are planned to be on an even higher level than previous tours, and as always the sound will be in quadrophonic.”
Tickets go on sale this Friday (22nd September), don’t miss out!
Progressive rock invaded Tennessee this Labor Day weekend as it was once again time for Morsefest, Neal Morse’s weekend of prog in his hometown of Cross Plains, just outside of Nashville. This was the 4th such weekend, which is rather shocking considering Nashville is not exactly the hotbed of prog. For anyone that doesn’t know, the Morsefest weekend consists of Neal Morse playing 2 of his albums on consecutive Friday and Saturday nights. In 2014, it was Testimony and One. In 2015, it was the ‘?’ album and Sola Scriptura. Last year, the unbelievable happened as Spock’s Beard reunited with Neal Morse and Nick D’Virgilio to perform Snow for the first time ever. This year the festival returned to its namesake as the now Neal Morse Band were set to perform Testimony 2 on Friday night and the mammoth Similitude of a Dream on Saturday night along with the usual addition of long epics and surprises. For anyone in attendance, the band and the weekend did not disappoint.
Having had the privilege of attending Morsefest two prior times, in 2015 and 2016, it is hard to come up with new words to convey the awesomeness of what this weekend is. To say that it’s just for overzealous Neal Morse fans would be to shortchange what has become a beautiful community of prog fans from all over the world. Since its inception in 2014, not only have the audio and visual elements grown beyond any expectation, but the festival has repeat visitors, many for the 4th consecutive year; fans who have become friends in the interim staying in touch on Facebook and planning the trip to Cross Plains together, with attendees from as far as Iceland, Japan, China, and South Africa just to name a few places. This time a couple even got married Saturday morning. It has become that type of family event.
The weekend is exactly that, a full weekend from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, where barely a minute is left unaccounted for, other than to get a quick lunch. Friday and Saturday afternoon both began with a VIP session where the band played a take-off on Wheel of Fortune called “Neal of Fortune”. Guests from the audience were picked to complete and win prizes while trying to figure out difficult answers like Randy George’s solo album “In the Light of the King’s Countenance”. From there, the band did a signing session where each fan got to speak with each member and get anything they wanted signed. This lasted over an hour. Then they took pictures with each person. Once this 3 hour meet and greet was over, the band ran through a sound check before letting the full audience back in. Meanwhile, the VIPs in attendance were fed a nice dinner down the hall.
As announced a few months earlier, Nick D’Virgilio was scheduled to open each night but no one really knew exactly what would take place. Friday night he appeared with songwriter Stan Ausmus, a long-time Spock’s Beard collaborater, and the two ran through a variety of acoustic choices from the Octane track “There Was a Time” to Nick’s own “Mary Jane Says”. Nick surprised everyone by singing a Big Big Train song “Telling the Bees”. The set closed with a tremendous version of the Spock’s classic “The Doorway”. It was a great way to kick off the evening.
Neal Morse along with Mike Portnoy, Eric Gillette, Bill Hubauer, and Randy George, took the stage and jumped into the title track from the Lifeline album. From there, they played two 30-minute epics “So Many Roads” and “Seeds of Gold”, only taking a break between to the two to do a rousing acoustic rendition of the song “Supernatural” with Bill playing the lead on mandolin. The group segued into an impromptu version “I’ve Seen All Good People” inviting the audience of 700-800 people to sing along. Both “lost” epics were truly “Epic” but it was “Seeds of Gold” that had everyone on their feet by the time it was over. Gillette filled in on the Steve Morse solo proving he doesn’t need to take a back seat to any guitar player.
After a short break, the band returned to perform the album Testimony 2. From the opener “Mercy Street” through the challenging “Time Changer” the band were flawless. The addition of a horn and string section, along with a choir, elevated the proceedings to another level. Morse than performed “Jayda” the story of his daughter’s miraculous recovery from a heart defect as a baby. The emotional Morse was in tears at the end as his daughter ran onstage to embrace him. There was barely a dry eye in the house. The band then tore through the rest of story, recanting how Morse decided to get off the road, and leave Spock’s Beard. Epic moments like “The Truth Will Set you Free” and “It’s For You” were pure prog ecstasy. The closing track “Crossing Over” was a beautiful conclusion to the evening as everyone stood in awe of what they had witnessed.
Saturday began early for the few hundred Inner Circle members, Neal’s fan club, who were treated to a private acoustic show by Neal, who was only joined briefly by his son Will and female vocalist Julie Harrison.The relaxed set was made up mostly unreleased material, some new, that Neal had written upon the band’s recent European tour. One called “He Died At Home” told the tale a soldier who took his own life as a result of PTSD, a truly sobering moment that left most grown men claiming they had something in their eye..
After another VIP session Saturday afternoon, the lines began to form around the New Life Fellowship Church, where the weekend was held. The merch table was overflowing with guests purchasing anything from Cds, Dvds, and shirts designed specifically for the event, the most popular being a shirt that said “Makes Zero Sense” a reference from the song “Makes No Sense” from the Similitude album. For any non-prog fan that sees the shirt outside of Morsefest, the shirt will most certainly cause an on-looker to agree with that sentiment.
This night began with another Nick D’Virgilio performance, this time with a unique performance with his band UniKue, a group made up entirely of Ukulele players. The group of 6 members, with Nick on drums, was a real treat, one perfectly designed for this audience. Playing songs like “Closer to the Heart” and closing with “Roundabout”, the group surprised everyone with how creative and spectacular this group of ukulele could be.
Then came the Neal Morse Band again, ready to perform their highly successful double concept album from last year, The Similitude of a Dream. They had been on tour for the last few months performing the album in its entirety. The tour coincidentally began in Nashville and now the band were set for their 50th performance of the album, which would also be the last show of the tour. They would send the album and tour off in grand fashion as a band of about 20 players, professional lighting and video teams, sound-man extraordinaire Rich Mouser, video designer Christian Rios and a cast of dozens more, put on the show for the ages. For anyone that had seen these band on this tour before, it was like seeing it for the first time.
Neal, Mike, Bill, Eric and Randy, were in complete synch from the opening of Long Day and did not speak to the audience until halfway through the second act. Highlights from the first act included “Makes No Sense”, Bill Hubauer’s “The Ways of the Fool”, the rocking “So Far Gone” with Eric Gillette leading the way, and the grand “Breathe of Angels”. The choir was a glorious addition to an already transcendent number. Act 2 brought on a few “Sloth” masks in the audience when that song came on as Neal slithered across the floor. The closing sections beginning with “The Mask” through “Broken Sky/Long Day (Reprise)” kept the audience standing and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the performance. The group returned for the encore of “Author of Confusion”, “Agenda” and “The Call”. It was a perfect ending for this long tour that has cemented the Neal Morse Band as a major force.
Sunday followed with 2 church services by Neal to round out the weekend. And there it was, another Morsefest in the books. Amazing production, amazing performances and an all around great time. While the music, as expected, was incredible, it was the fans and community of proggers that made this weekend so special. Neal and the band, along with Joey and Amy Pippen, organized a great weekend for all involved and left everyone excited about the next one. It is rare to get such an intimate experience with a band like this. Let’s hope it’s not too long until it happens again.
Night 1 setlist:
Lifeline So Many Roads Supernatural (Acoustic) Seeds of Gold Testimony 2
Night 2 setlist:
The Similitude of a Dream Author of Confusion Agenda The Call
Argentinian progressive rock luminaries Bad Dreams and PledgeMusic have joined forces, and the band has launched their first ever crowdfunding campaign for the release of their third album entitled “Chrysalis” which will hit the shelves worldwide on November 17th, 2017.
“It’s been a very busy year at the Bad Dreams camp and we have decided to harness the momentum and use all our energies into making a killer new record” – says Gabriel Agudo, the band vocalist – “We have teamed up with Pledge Music to be able to bring our project from inception to completion with the help of those who really matter: you, OUR FANS. It is with only with your support that we will be able to see this through. Our new album Chrysalis will be out next November, and we are asking you to step in and join us to make that dream a reality”
Hailing from the land better known for tango melodies, Bad Dreams is a group of veteran musicians who had honed their chops as a Genesis tribute band for 10 years. After the release their first album “Apocalypse of the Mercy” in 2014, they have been forging a name for themselves in the international prog-rock scene. “Apocalypse of the Mercy” garnered worldwide recognition among classic and progressive rock fans, and the band opened for Steve Hackett and played alongside Marillion’s Steve Rothery and his band during their South American leg. In 2015 they became the first South American band to be invited to the prestigious Cruise to the Edge celebration, sharing the bill with household names in the prog-rock scene like Yes, Marillion, Mike Portnoy, Änglagård, PFM, Neal Morse Band, Lifesigns, Allan Holdsworth, and many others; and performing two very successful shows in front of an audience which was unaware of the band and welcomed then with warm, standing ovations.
2016 saw the coming of their sophomore record, entitled “Déjà vu”, marking a significant turning point for the band. “Déjà vu” was a record which pandered to no label, no media framework and no pre-conceived rules, taking a reminiscent of the prog most glorious melodies to a new dramatic level, coalescing all the passion, virtuosity and mellotron-ladden melodies trademark of the band in an upbeat, nostalgia-drenched musical ride. Invited one more time to the Cruise to the Edge Festival aboard the Brilliance of the Seas ship, this time around they stole the show in a couple of occasions in front of feverish and clamoring crowds, and their flawless performance paved the way for their third invitation to the event in February 2018.
A new chapter in the history of the band is now unfolding and Jorge Tenesini, the band founder and keyboardist speaks about it: “We wanted to take a new approach to the recording of our new album and decided it won’t be a better way to do so than bringing our fans with us along the ride. In our PledgeMusic store (www.pledgemusic.com/projects/bad-dreams) they can pre-order the new record, plus a variety of other exclusive items we wanted to include, making the album buying process even more interesting. But we didn’t stop there: we decided to also throw in our first ever live release in the form of a Limited Box-Set including a Blu Ray and a DVD of our concert during Cruise to the Edge last February which we named “Live From The Edge”. We are also preparing to document the recording process and offer all of you who decide to join us in this journey some special behind the scene access to the creative process as it progresses. Tell your family and friends and let’s do this together!”
For the recording of “Chrysalis” the Argentinian have enlisted some special guest: singers Lorelei and Durga McBroom, also known as “The McBroom Sisters”, who performed as live backing vocals for Pink Floyd since 1989, will lend their angelical voices to a track entitled “Goblin’s Seduction”, tune which will also include a fantastic saxophone solo courtesy of Jamison Smeltz. Jota Morelli, considered by many the greatest drummer to ever be born in the land of Pampas (with an impressive resume as the stickman for Al Jarreau, Gloria Gaynor, Alejandro Sanz, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson and countless more) will sit under the drumkit in “Change” and the title track “Chrysalis”, which will also have a unique melody-soaked guitar solo, once again played by the band longtime friend Steve Rothery. Angel Mahler, a world-renowned composer, pianist and orchestra conductor will be featured in another track.
On the other hand, the “Live From The Edge” Blu Ray/DVD Box will include the band’s presentation at The Pool Stage during the last Cruise to the Edge in February 2017, including a guest appearance by Steve Rothery. Both discs will be house in a single box, with the Blu Ray sporting three audio tracks: Stereo Uncompressed PCM, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio. A picture gallery of the show will be included in both DVD and Blu Ray discs.
Throughout and up to the album release, the band will keep the PledgeMusic and Bad Dreams fans updated with the album’s progress and news from their world through the PledgeMusic AccessPass. “We consider PledgeMusic to be the best in their field and after much thought feel that they as the new masters of the art, offer the band and the fans the most exciting possibilities” – concludes Gabriel Agudo – “We also want to thank all our fans for their amazing support over the years and we hope this excites them as much as it does for us!”
SONS OF APOLLO, the highly anticipated new project featuring former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force) have announced their debut album ‘Psychotic Symphony’ for release on October 20th, 2017 via InsideOutMusic / Sony. Now they are pleased to reveal their first track titled ‘Signs of the Time’.
Mike comments: “Signs Of The Time was the very first thing myself, Derek & Bumblefoot wrote when we got together to begin writing for Sons Of Apollo in March of this year.
It starts with this heavy, brutal Bumbleriff (initally coined “Korntera”), then goes into a cool verse with a 2-Pt vocal melody that I wrote sung by Jeff and myself…which eventually opens up to a HUGE vocal hook in the chorus that Jeff wrote (sung in 3-Pt harmony by Jeff, myself and Bumblefoot)
The middle section riffs are a few things that Derek brought in and show why he is the most BADASS keyboard player in the biz (playing the keys like a guitar player on fire!) and then we have the long extended breakdown and guitar solo which shows why Bumblefoot is one of today’s greatest GUITAR HEROES! This album is going to get him the recognition he truly deserves and this particular guitar solo is one of the tastiest, most insane solos I’ve EVER heard…
So all in all, this song has a little bit of everything that makes Sons Of Apollo so special…great heavy riffs, amazing solos with individual instrumental virtuosity and a big, catchy chorus with more hooks than a tackle box!!
I figured this would be a great “first taste” to introduce the world to this amazing new supergroup…and there’s a whole lot more of different musical styles and twist & turns still to come all throughout the album…”
The debut album, PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY is now available to pre-order on 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD, Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download.
The full track-listing is as follows: 1. God of The Sun 2. Coming Home 3. Signs of the Time 4. Labyrinth 5. Alive 6. Lost In Oblivion 7. Figaro’s Whore 8. Divine Addiction 9. Opus Maximus
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Featuring My Album Of The Week, The First 3 & so much more. So a 3 hour show with great new progressive rock music, great features and you can join The Friday Family in chat[...]
The full track-listing is as follows:
