PROG THE FOREST
VENUE THE FIDDLER’S ELBOW, LONDON DATE 04/12/2022
She performed solo here in 2021, now Carola Baer leads and frequently conducts the full Ruby Dawn band at this fourth annual charity event. Set against gentle keyboards, languid pacing and slow dynamic builds to towering crescendos, her atmospheric vocals are replete with impassioned pleas and her effective signature rasp.
Easily the most sartorially excellent band of the day, Dutch combo The Dame deliver their neo-prog/hard rock storytelling. From the new wave vibe of Everlasting Nightfall and cool grooves of Momentary Inn, to the gorgeously dirty bass riff of Wastelands and the syncopations of debut-album title track Losing Sight Of What You Want, it’s an accomplished and varied set.
Exquisitely accompanied by Oliver Day (acoustic guitar), Matthew Lumb (keyboards) and John Hackett on flute, multi-award-winning singer Ms Amy Birks gives a near flawless performance of her often ethereal, neo-classical folkprog. Her voice is by turns poignant, fragile, commanding and always deeply authentic; her arrangements generally sparse but shrewdly constructed. Displaying a keen sense of humour, she quips that, given pronunciation issues created by recent album title In Our Souls, she probably shouldn’t be allowed to name the next one!
Young, energetic and fabulously talented instrumental trio Cabiria provide instant contrast marrying metal, funk and fusion with a touch of psychedelia and noise rock. Opener Infinite Bridges suggests Rush at their noisiest with some great rhythmic interplay. There’s inventive use of effects coaxing a keyboard atmosphere out of the guitar, and drummer Kye Phillips delivers both challenging and deeply tasteful chops throughout. Raw, dark, brooding yet consistently exciting.
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate’s Malcolm Galloway performs Shine On You Crazy Diamond before being joined by constant collaborator Mark Gatland for a set of spiky neo-prog and art-rock. Drawing on their back catalogue and throwing in occasional brand-new tunes like the apposite Burn The World, HOGIA are never less than entertaining, passionate, humorous and committed.
The Emerald Dawn are almost designed for this event. Drawing on strands of the progressive rock tapestry and holding environmental credentials, they enthral with their majestic, mostly long-form music. It’s a heady and evocative journey communicating the power of nature in And I Stood Transfixed or environmental activism with Musique Noire, and they range from hints of a more pastorally inclined Soft Machine to heavy symphonic rock. Everyone in the band shines, but natural focus is drawn towards multiinstrumentalist Tree Stewart, who looks like she’s having the best time ever.