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I'll post my pix as soon as I can, but I've quickly discovered that Vax is a much better photographer than me, so view his first anyway.
My impressions:
Eyestrings:
Great band, lots of mood and dynamics. One of the better drummers of the festival. Ryan (keyboards/lead singer) was getting over a cold, and his vocals were not as strong as they could be. He still was a capable and dramatic lead man.
Kino:
John Mitchell, guitarist from Arena leads the band with vocals and guitar. Even though he's leading this band, he features his guitar less than Arena does, and that's a shame, as he's very melodic and tasteful. Quality pop with a progressive edge, I liked them but their music wasn't as interesting to me as some of the other great acts, after 60 minutes.
Tiles:
Heavy. Hard rock. Much harder than I typically like, but I enjoyed them a lot. Great arrangements, good musicianship. Lots of people left during their show, which I though was a shame, as I thought their talent level was notable. A notable point of this festival was the quality of the bass players, and Tiles was no exception. The drummer was quite impressive, great chops. Guitarist was quite good. I liked the vocalist, since he was not the stereotypical hard rock/metal vocalist (my generalization), but he lacked a stage presence.
Magenta:
Excellent! A great new band playing music in the classic prog style. Rob Reeves on keys leads the band, writes most of the music, and is a great performer. Good rhythm section. Lead singer Christine is quite good, and the single boys all swooned. Chris Fry on guitar is amazing! I own two of their CDs and like them a lot, but I hadn't understood how good this guy is on guitar. Hoping to get more of their music soon.
Day2
Cryptic Vision:
Ask Rick or Vax.
Man On Fire:
Arguably the least progressive band at the fesival. Yet I enjoyed them immensely. My brother was lukewarm on them, as I think Rick and Vax were. I liked that they had a really unique sound, not derivative of any prog band that you might name. I'd describe them as 80's new wave, with a slight rap/trip-hop influence, also with a strong progressive influence on their arrangements and jams. They had the best light show/multimedia presentation. They played their new album "Habitat" in it's entirety; I'm going to try and get it for the station.
Sylvan:
Tight, very talented. But heavy. And in a way that I personally don't like. Reminded me of Metallica. Maybe Metallica after music lessons.
Tangent:
With all the hype, I thought they'd be great. After fortuitously meeting them in person on Friday, and chatting again Sat nite, my expectations raised greatly. After all that, Tangent still blew me away! Andy Tillison is perhaps the most gracious host of a concert I've ever seen. And he can play keyboards with the best of them. I don't have enough words to praise Krister, Theo, Jonas and Jaime on guitar, woodwinds, bass and percussion. Suffice to say it was one of those technically impressive and emotionally satisfying performances that you remember for a long time.
The logistics were well run, and I look forward to next year's ROSfest...
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