ProgFest 2009

w/Rook, Ne Obliviscaris, Aeon of Horus, sleepmakeswaves + many more

Annandale – Sydney, 15th and 16th May, 2009.

After arriving in Sydney at 7:30am and spending several hours wandering around the city with absolutely zip to do, myself and the few others doing the interstate trek finally arrived at Sydney’s Annandale Hotel a bit before noon. Another hour of waiting went by and at last, the first band hit the stage and Progfest was underway.

While we were warned that the first band Toy Death were electronic, nobody was quite ready for what graced that stage. Three characters joined the stage, including a fireman and some form of teddy bear, who performed on children’s instruments; toy guitars, talking dolls, swords that make sound effects. Needless to say, they received massive applause and I am definitely looking forward to seeing them again one day.

The next band up, Rincon, were somewhat uninteresting but had a solid, tight rock sound nonetheless. Aeon of Horus was the first band to perform on the second stage and thankfully the sound was just as clear on both. Also the first metal band on the lineup, Horus put on a solid performance however I would love to see more a more consistent use of keys in their music, it just gives them that extra layer which pulled them further away from more straight-forward death metal sound.

Mirrorsessions brought the tone down a bit with their groovy progressive rock, filled with hints of Pink Floyd and other classics and Heirs destroyed the crowd once again with their intense, brooding, down-tempo post-rock. While I missed Captain Kickarse and the Awesomes, they deserve kudos just for their name. I thoroughly enjoyed finally seeing Mushroom Giant however I was perhaps a bit too filled with anticipation for the following bands to concentrate properly.

sleepmakeswaves, the band I had been looking forward to seeing the most, put on a spectacular performance and the clear sound really benefited their more intricate moments. And as a nice change, Tim Charles’ guest violin was actually audible. One of my absolute favourite post-rock bands, and they certainly did not disappoint. Unfortunately I missed Pirate as my ears were begging for a bit of a break, but I was quickly back inside at the slightest hint of the incredible Eleventh He Reaches London hitting the stage. All the way over from Perth, the band is touring in support of their new album ‘Hollow Be My Name’.

I was lucky enough to catch them twice on the tour, and I’m eagerly awaiting another show already. Playing a nice variety of tunes from their softer, more subdued songs through to their tremendously aggressive peaks; both lyrically and musically, Eleventh do not hold back.

Arguably one of the most progressive metal bands around, Ne Obliviscaris blew away the near-full room with a powerful performance of both tracks off their first EP, and newer ones off their upcoming debut full-length. With influences including black metal, classical, flamenco, progressive rock, and too many other genres to list, I could not think of a better band to headline a gig dedicated to progressive music.

While I wasn’t overly excited about the second day of bands, seeing as I didn’t know a single one, I was pleasantly surprised. Being in and out of the venue, I missed quite a few of the bands. Mish and i like cats were both quite enjoyable but didn’t stand out as anything too special.

It was the next two bands that made the day for me. Superb Lyrebird are one of those bands that you can’t take your eyes off, because you aren’t quite sure where their music is going. Progressive rock that constantly jumped between heavier alternative rock and lighter post-rock influences passages with electronics hiding subtlety in the background and three people sharing vocal duties, they were one of the most interesting bands of the weekend. super FLORENCE jam were off on a slightly different tangent than the rest, with a classic Zeppelin-esque sound but a tad more haphazard.

And as if their music wasn’t entertaining enough, it’s always great to see a band with a sense of humour. Their extremely lengthy final track was filled with laughs as they dragged the song out even further in a variety of different ways, with some awkwardly long pauses and the drummer bringing out gag drumsticks that were almost bigger than he was.

They were definitely one of the more memorable bands of the event. Nucleus were up next and while I can’t really fault them, it just didn’t grab me. It was well worth sitting through their set though for the dual-drummer moments. While I only caught the first couple of songs of Space Project, the use of trumpet and flute in a progressive rock band was an interesting surprise.

While seeing several of my favourite Australian bands on one (or two) stages was fantastic, the real joy of an event like this is finding so many great, new bands.

That’s where Progfest succeeded. The lineup was varied enough that there were bands to feed everyone’s appetite, and at no stage did you get bored of the music. The dual stage layout was organised perfectly.

Being directly opposite each other in the same room, there was no need to move between bands and it meant there was a great vibe the whole time as people seemed happy to hang around near the stages between bands.

Surprisingly, the crowd was solid for the entire time. Obviously it fluctuated between bands as people took certain bands as dinner or socializing opportunities, but it never felt empty. It never felt as though the earlier bands were getting the short end of the stick.

With only 20 minutes between bands, there was a consistent flow of music however the two stages meant that most bands actually had 40 minutes to set up, so there was no sacrifice in sound quality.

I wasn’t originally planning to review this event, but I just can’t recommend it enough. On top of the great selection of bands and perfect venue layout, it ran as smoothly as possible.

There was no trouble at any stage and the whole event ran on time (which is a rare thing, even at usual 3-band gigs). The amount of effort, time and organisation that must have gone into putting an event like this on and then having it run so smoothly is mindblowing and I’d like to congratulate and thank all those that were involved in putting it.

For those that missed it, I pity you. HOWEVER, do not stress too much as  a Brisbane Progfest is already underway. With Alchemist, Toehider, ‘neath, Arcane, Dead Letter Opener, The Surrogate, Conversations With The Sun and After Earth already announced, I’m hoping to be there with bells on. If you get an opportunity to head along to this, or any other future Progfest events, just do it.

Make sure to keep an eye on Ozprog.com for all Progfest updates.

Reviewed by Mitch Booth (Mean Machine)