TAKE A BOW
Australia’s Progfest takes top billing this month, plus we’ve been off to see the Jon Hiseman tribute show, Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik, Blood Ceremony, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Focus, Carl Palmer, Francis Dunnery, Amorphis, and more…
VENUE CROXTON BANDROOM, MELBOURNE DATE 26/01/2019
This year is Progfest’s 10th anniversary, and it’s time to worship at the altar of Aussie progressive music for 10 hours. The fact that there are a number of major overseas acts on the bill only adds lustre to the occasion.
The first and only time this reviewer had seen Red Lotus play, vocalist Stephanie Briffa was struck down with laryngitis, and so their set had been all-instrumental. While the rest of the band pulled that vocal-free set off impressively, today, it’s great to see them in their full glory. Briffa has an excellent voice and presence, and her aggressive but melodic delivery only adds flair and life to the band’s heavy, sometimes twisted but always appealing sound.
M0dal1ty are a brand new band, featuring two members from now-split Melbourne prog act Branch Arterial: vocalist Nigel Jackson and drummer Adam Zaffarese. Their set starts a little shakily, technical issues rendering the guitars and bass inaudible. However, at some point early in the third tune everything kicks into gear, and the rest of the set is mighty impressive. Particularly sweet is the male-female vocal trade-off, Nigel Jackson’s aggressive lead lines offset beautifully by Danielle Teychenne’s impassioned yearnings (especially during Art1f1c1al 1ntell1gence).
The three-way tapping riff between bass and both guitars during The Call1ng is just as cool. Keep an eye on this band: the potential here is quite astonishing.
Mushroom Giant smash out their strange, beautiful vocal-free sounds for the growing throng. They’re difficult to describe beyond the ‘instrumental’ tag, but we’ll give it a shot: they combine elements of prog, stoner and avant-garde rock in one very heady concoction, and the set today covers much of their recorded career. That they are unable to use their usual psychedelic visuals for this set only proves that their music is more than strong enough to rise above this, and that the visuals are just a bonus.
Mike Mills is a rock star. A magnetic stage performer and prodigious musician, he draws you inexorably into the wonderful Toehider world. Plus, the rhythm section that he has put around himself that completes the entity known as Toehider is a seriously talented one (drummer Thom Mann’s use of the double stroke, for example, is sensational), and it all adds up to a wickedly entertaining package that combines prog with classic and glam rock to smileinducing effect. The only slight disappointment is that their set runs a little over and Mills must cut the last tune down to a minute or two. But even that this band do with style.
By contrast, Ballarat’s Ebonivory are bombing the smaller room’s stage and packedout crowd with their djent-laced, highly
“THE OCEAN’S SOUND EBBS AND FLOWS BEAUTIFULLY AND WASHES OVER THE THRONG LIKE A TIDAL WAVE OF SOUND.”
melodic heaviness. Their use of sonic booms to enhance their wall of sound is enjoyably disconcerting, their songs are at least potentially iconic and they sure do appear to be having a rollicking good time onstage. And of course, this means we, the audience, do too.
Another sharp turn to the left and we are back in the main room, experiencing the fusion-esque shreddings of Sydney-based master guitarist James Norbert Ivanyi. The three-piece format of JNI’s ensemble, the busy but grooving drums of Liam Weedall, Liam Horgan’s percussive, propulsive bass and of course the sleek, slick, blistering lines of Ivanyi himself, allows his compositions to really breathe. His virtuoso but accessible set is a wild ride, enormous instrumental prog giving way regularly to more jazzy stylings.
Melbourne’s Khan fill the capacity side room with aggressively ambient post-rocky sound, and receive an absolutely uproarious reception for their trouble.
From Perth, Chaos Divine prove their legendary status. Their sound is slick but savage and their magnificent rendering of Toto’s Africa sets the crowd alight. If things are alight during this tune, they veritably explode with enormous closer One Door.
Melbourne band Figures give the packed side room a taste of some of their new material. It seems as though they may be taking a slight deviation from their usual slick but heavy sound into a more raw, angry, punky territory. Whatever the case, they still put on a sleek and crunchy show.
While the true roots of Aussie alternative/ progressive music can be traced back to the bountiful early-to-mid-90s and the likes of Tool, Faith No More and Nirvana, strong hints of an earlier movement can be heard in
Kiwis City Of Souls. The mind is drawn back to the early 80s and the likes of Ultravox,
The Human League and Joy Division when experiencing this Auckland act. Add in modern progressive rock power, tension and drama and you have a unique and entertaining mix.
Give Circles 30 minutes and they will simultaneously blister skin with their energy and send emotions soaring to the very heavens with their huge choruses. They lean heavily on recent album The Last One, although with homage still being given to 2013’s Infinitas, and they prove once again why the heavy music world is taking serious notice of this Melbourne four-piece. Their set is a joyous highlight of a jam-packed day.
In direct contrast to Circles, Bear The Mammoth create cerebral instrumental textures with evocative atmospherics and tension-filled ebb and flow.
The big international names have now entered the building. Indian/American act Skyharbor start tentatively but definitely warm to the occasion and by mid-set they’re absolutely howling, their sound a lot heavier live than on record. That said, their presentation still features the famed mix of melody and ambience to great effect, and they play a beautifully rounded 40-minute set. The band’s musicianship is a real highlight: new singer Eric Emery handles the older material (sung by TesseracT’s Daniel Tompkins, no less) with aplomb and Krishna Jhaveri’s ultra-active basslines are a joy to behold.
Opus Of A Machine share a fanbase and some similarities in sound with their Brisbane compatriots Caligula’s Horse, but are definitely their own beast at the same time. The sound is slick and heavy, melodic and full of interesting dynamics.
Monuments live up to their name, putting on a monumentally heavy set of djenty progressive metal. The band are insanely tight and the sound is monstrous; Chris Barretto possesses one of the finest voices and is among the most dynamic frontmen in heavy music. His forays into the crowd are quite the sight. Thankfully they play their best cut, Origin Of Escape, which rounds out 60 minutes of beautiful brutality.
It’s been a sea of world-class prog, and fittingly the finale comes in the form of Sydney’s quirky and ambient, poppy but powerful Glass Ocean on the side stage, and immersive German masters The Ocean in the main room. Opening with a few cuts from their stunning latest album, Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, the latter absolutely lay waste to the venue for the next 70 minutes, the sound ebbing and flowing beautifully and washing over the throng like a tidal wave of sound. Their songs are long conceptual, cerebral pieces of avant-garde heaviness, delivered with devastating impact, and they leave the crowd simultaneously stunned and elated. What a magnificent way to finish.
A decade into its existence, this festival is a rapidly growing phenomenon. It is becoming more than just a music festival, it is a community, a movement, and it is starting to make serious waves in an international sense. Here’s to another 10 years of Progfest!