Hi to those who read me!
Yeah, I know I'm not as frequent as I'd like to be on this blog, but many things happen, as you know...
Here after you can find the posts about the preceding editions I commented:
So Veruno Prog has reached its 8th edition.
As you can argue from the shot on the left, taken with my cell phone during the Uriah Heep concert, Veruno Prog is growing fast (about 5000 heads banging!), and maybe in the next future, hopefully for the 10th edition, they will need more space and different organization for food and drink needs, since on friday night collapsed!
By the way... we are only in it for Music!
And at Veruno 2Days Prog + 1 you can listen to something very near to the best one! And as ever... it's all FOR FREE!
You only need to take a look at the complete lineup on the right.
First of all I have to say that the progressive (hey!... the right word in the right position!) opening to progfusion, started with Area last year, is bearing its fruits.
To my opinion, among the best performances there are Special Providence and Soft Machine Legacy, even the first are surely up to date, with their metal influences, with the respect to the second ones, more jazz and Canterbury (if not them...who?) oriented.
But this edition has given to its wide audience a lot of good vibrations, as I'll try to say after in this post.
Also this year the bands were presented by the always smiling and sunny Octavia Brown, but maybe for the narrow times between the bands and the other duties in which she was involved, I had the feeling she couldn't express with her own spontaneity as in the past edition.
But don't worry... good job and nice presence, after all!
But this edition has given to its wide audience a lot of good vibrations, as I'll try to say after in this post.
Also this year the bands were presented by the always smiling and sunny Octavia Brown, but maybe for the narrow times between the bands and the other duties in which she was involved, I had the feeling she couldn't express with her own spontaneity as in the past edition.
But don't worry... good job and nice presence, after all!
DAY 1
As in the past I noticed for FEM, once more I have to say that the band which opens such a Festival, always has more shivers than the others, for a great number of factors: they play at 18.30 with still the sunlight beating on the stage, the first day lots of people come late in the evening because of work, something always has to be tuned up, the excitement to find friends you don't see since last year takes advantage on the stage performance, and so on.
Ubi Maior (Italy), with their histrionic singer/violin/trumpet Mario Moi, the great work on keyboards of Gabriele Manzini and the talented guitar player Marcella Arganese (who I had to calm and shake before the performance) seemed to be the best choice.
The crowd, before distributed all along the location in search for friends, CD, LP and other merchandise, slowly has approached the stage, caught by their music.
I have to say, I heard UM many times before, in other locations in Milan neighbourhoods, but never I noticed such a power in their music.
At the moment it seemed to me their best performance I ever heard!
Veruno has its fascination, its mystical microclimate, and everyone gives his best on stage... and also the powerful equipments have their importance!
Here is an example of their music.
Here is an example of their music.
Special Providence (Hungary), as before mentioned, are something new in Veruno Festival, with their sound mixing fusion and metal, above all.
I first met SP at Casa di Alex and I was as impressed by their music (and their virtuoso drummer Adam Markò) that I bought all their albums.
They enchanted the audience with their complex rhythm patterns on which captivating melodies lay on, sometimes almost danceable, as the last performed at Veruno, 'Lazy Boy'.
Pleace notice that in their discography there's a lot of good music, especially from their second and third albums, to my opinion the two best releases until now.
Mystery (Canada) are in newprog stream and since I developed a strange idiosyncracy for this kind of music, I can only say that the audience was enthusiastic and moved by their music, but I found the way to go to have dinner.
Unfortunately the crowd was so great that I didn't have dinner until the next end of Uriah Heep performance!
Here after you'll find a beautiful song by this band.
Uriah Heep (England) were the first headliner of this edition.
I have their Very 'eavy Very 'umble LP and I've always filed them as hardrockers, not progrockers.
But what does it matter? Their exploding energy made us jump and headbang for the whole performance! How amusing!
DAY 2
To my feelings this has been the weakest day.
Nemo was one of my proposals to Alberto Temporelli (fulfilled! Thank you Alberto!), and I enjoyed them so much, I already knew about Airbag's devotion to Pink Floyd music by listening some songs from the Youtube, and I was curious about Saga, never heard before to know them LIVE directly, but I felt not as impressed as I thought I could have been, apart the greatness of their frontman.
Cheeto's Magazine (Spain) I lost their performance to go to pick up a friend at Borgomanero rail station. The audience was divided in "crazy but good" and "crazy and stop", but the craziness was saved!
They stayed also after their performance dressed in their strange coloured costumes, smiling, laughing and signing their autographs on the bottoms of who was according to!
From what I listened in this video, they maybe wouldn't have been my cup of tea...
From what I listened in this video, they maybe wouldn't have been my cup of tea...
Nemo (France) Is a band which, in my opinion, is grown CD by CD, reaching its highest with double Le Ver dans le fruit (2013) and the latest double Coma (2015). The dark atmospheres are typically french, and the guitar work reaches high levels. As an example I post a beautiful song, not performed at Veruno's Festival (but I talked about it with Jean Pierre Louveton after their performance), containing one of the most impressive (to me) guitar solos of the last five years.
However they didn't reach the goal to create the same atmospheres you can find in their albums.
Funny the end of their performance, with the stage assistant thumbing up to say "ok", and JP answering with a thumb up saying "one more?" and started to play! Amusing to us but not for the musicians, who were disappointed to be forced to end up the song!
Encores are permitted in Veruno only for the headliners, since the stage shift between bands has to be very fast!
Funny the end of their performance, with the stage assistant thumbing up to say "ok", and JP answering with a thumb up saying "one more?" and started to play! Amusing to us but not for the musicians, who were disappointed to be forced to end up the song!
Encores are permitted in Veruno only for the headliners, since the stage shift between bands has to be very fast!
Hope Jean Pierre was not as angry as it seemed in a subsequent post on Facebook! Don't mind! Things can happen! Your performance was great!
Airbag (Norway) are a carbon copy of Pink Floyd, with a little different and more powerful rhythm section (you don't need too much to be more powerful than Nick Mason...). It sounded me not interesting, too well known and sickly, so I decided to go to dinner...in this case successful!
However I have to notice that a great number of people was satisfied by the performance and by the gilmourish guitar solos.
As Philip Ball says in his book 'The Music Instinct': "If you ask to music nothing more than what you already know, that's your loss"
Saga (USA) Once more I have to say that I intentionally didn't heard anything of this band before, to listen them LIVE.
I can't say why I felt so uninspired after two or three songs. Maybe I expected something different from a pompous easy-yes-ish, Toto-like band.
Maybe I expected something like Echolyn or Umphrey's Mc Gee or many other bands that in USA perform good prog music.
No problem... the wide open place was almost full of happy people that enjoyed the music, danced and sung with Michael Sadler and this is what matters!
No problem... the wide open place was almost full of happy people that enjoyed the music, danced and sung with Michael Sadler and this is what matters!
Veruno to me is important also in this way!
DAY 3
Maybe the best in terms of good vibrations, confirmations and surprises!
Syndone (Italy) They are acknowledged as one of the best prog bands in Italy.
Their unusual lineup, with three keyboards, a vibraphone and no electric guitar, is greatly supported by the powerful rhythm section formed by Maurino Dellacqua (bass) and Martino Malacrida (drums), one of the most talented young drummers in Italy.
Their frontman Riccardo Ruggeri has a powerful and delicate voice at the same time and generates deep melodic emotions on the harmonic strucures created by the founder/main composer Nick Comoglio.
Syndone music is not readily for all, but when you're in is great and satisfying!
Frequency Drift (Germany) I heard something on CD and found them quite good. The electronic Harp played by Nerissa Schwarz gives to their music a particular sound. Unfortunately they were forced to play without their singer Nadja Jaye, so the performance was a little poor and influenced by the forced guitar work by Michael Bauer, sometimes out of tune.
Pay a good attention to the above track, and you will realize that Veruno performance has been a pale example of their beautiful music.
I have to notice that they were the only band which spent a word for the Amatrice earthquake victims, and this is a signal of their sensitivity.
I have to notice that they were the only band which spent a word for the Amatrice earthquake victims, and this is a signal of their sensitivity.
Anekdoten (Sweden) One of the most awaited bands in this edition, which I know from their CD Vemod, From Within and the latest beautiful Until All the Ghosts are Gone.
Sadly to me they've been the deepest delusion: the singing was poor, even if it was from the guitar or the bass player and frequently off-tune, the guitar was sometimes off-timing and this, in my opinion, compromised the whole performance.
I never heard them LIVE before, but some people said their singing has always been their weakest point.
No problem. Now I know it's better to listen to their great music from studio CD than LIVE.
Soft Machine Legacy (England) They've been the best way to end this exciting festival edition.
I have to admit I wasn't sure they could catch me, so I said to my friend: "OK, we are going to listen a couple of songs and than we'll go home."
I was wrong... starting from the very first tune I realized we'd stayed until the end of the along acclaimed encore!
Their music is formed by incredible soft and magnetic melodies on a magic carpet of rich rhythm section. Theo Travis (sax) and John Etheridge (guitar) mixed together the Canterbury style with a special soft jazz (which is actually already present in Canterbury style), with great solos and interplays, ending up in a fascinating and captivating mood, greatly satisfying. Really GREAT and touching performance, really great and talented musicians!
So, if the great bands acted their best (apart someone, as before mentioned), giving us the expected good vibrations, I have to say that, for the first time with such a powerful impact, the young bands from Auditorium have surprised the audience so high.
El Tubo Elastico (Spain) and Eveline's Dust (Italy) proposed quite good music and have reached good satisfaction in merchandise.
But the most beautiful thing is that they both fraternised with those crazy boys of Cheeto's Magazine and at the ED's encore, a melange of prog songs by Wilson, PFM, and so on, the other two young bands danced and jumped down the stage in front of them, to join together at the end. GREAT!
Once more I have to say... If you are going to attend Veruno Prog for the first time, surely you're not prepared at what you will find: Enchanting location and surroundings, powerful equipments, friendship, freedom, wellness, astonishing, unexpected and crazy situations, owed to the exciting atmosphere you breathe. It's a fantastic, unique moment of life and everyone at the end says: "I'll be here next year!"
El Tubo Elastico (Spain) and Eveline's Dust (Italy) proposed quite good music and have reached good satisfaction in merchandise.
But the most beautiful thing is that they both fraternised with those crazy boys of Cheeto's Magazine and at the ED's encore, a melange of prog songs by Wilson, PFM, and so on, the other two young bands danced and jumped down the stage in front of them, to join together at the end. GREAT!
Once more I have to say... If you are going to attend Veruno Prog for the first time, surely you're not prepared at what you will find: Enchanting location and surroundings, powerful equipments, friendship, freedom, wellness, astonishing, unexpected and crazy situations, owed to the exciting atmosphere you breathe. It's a fantastic, unique moment of life and everyone at the end says: "I'll be here next year!"
And all is continuously supported by good music in the best way you can listen to!
Already waiting for the 9th edition!
http://www.contagiorni.it/contatori/id/162056/
Already waiting for the 9th edition!
http://www.contagiorni.it/contatori/id/162056/
2 commenti:
Thank you so much Enzo for your kindly review!
You're right, in Veruno we could show an energy that we never reached before. Because of the people listening to us of course, what an audience we have had that day, thank you all!!
And because of our rhythm section, Walter Gorreri on bass and Alex Di Caprio on drums, constantly up with the groove, the very Ubi Maior engine!
You're welcome!
As you may realize, I try to be always clean and sincere!
Thank you to you all, rhythm and solo sections! :-) :-)
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