FRIDAY

Sometimes the best weekends are packed with good times – I was coming straight from a fantastic wedding celebration, which meant I arrived at Mount Ephraim just as Voodoo Lake were closing out their set with a cover of ZZ Top’s ‘Tush’.

The Sacred Geometry Band came on in the glorious mid-afternoon sunshine and, had I been stoned, this set would have elevated me, with its swirling synths and dazzlingly colourful backdrop, plus ‘Angel’ adding exotic dancing with her flying wings. In the sunshine, however, the colours weren’t as effective and, frankly, each of their three lengthy pieces sounded identical, though ‘I’m flying through space’ was recited at some point.

By complete contrast, Tytan were up next, performing on the appropriately named Kev Riddles stage, named after their fallen bandmate, who very sadly lost his battle against cancer earlier in the year. They sounded ‘up’ for it and, as the crowd came back down from wherever the previous band had just taken them, they performed a storming set. Opening with ‘Fight’, the pace rarely dropped with pumped up rockers like ‘Cold Bitch’, ‘Forever Gone’ and ‘Far Side of Destiny’, dedicated to Kev, and closing with ‘Money For Love’.

Sons of Liberty followed. They’d played the nearby Maid of Stone event in 2023 and, today, they sounded so much tighter and played far more confidently, giving the mid-afternoon crowd a splendid injection of good ol’ southern rock, with numbers like ‘Time To Fly’, ‘Light the Fuse’, ‘Turn This Tide’ and ‘What’s a Man Supposed To Do’ from their 2024 Detail is in the Devil album. They rocked hard and got the first real major burst of applause from an appreciative crowd.

Kent’s very own three-piece, Zac Schultze Gang (from just up the road in the Medway), gave the crowd their version of what they call fast bluesy rock. There may well be blues in there, but it’s buried under a layer of ultra-fast rock guitar, as Zac is the son Alvin Lee should have had as he plays lightning fast runs in most songs. They sound like Dr Feelgood on speed with songs like ‘Hole in My Pocket’, ‘High Roller’ and the good Dr’s ‘She Does It Right’, played much faster. They slowed things down with a surprising, though stunning, performance of Pink Floyd’s ‘Breathe’, and a version of Robert Johnson’s ‘Hellhound on my Trail’, which Johnson would never recognise as one of his, before ending with Ian Dury’s ‘Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’ and Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’. They went down very well indeed in the afternoon sun.

However, the David Cross Band, through no fault of their own, struggled to establish themselves as sound problems meant they started the same song a few times before things finally got going. Their very complex and intense music couldn’t be more different to the previous set as Cross is ex-King Crimson, who don’t exactly play dance music. They performed Crimson’s ‘Red’ and ‘Larks Tongue in Aspic, pt2’, alongside a couple of their own tunes, ‘The World Waits For You’ and ‘Calamity’ and, while the playing was top class, Zac Schultze had given them a hard act to follow.

Then came what was, for many, the day’s surprise package, Lightnin’ Willie, a US blues/boogie band, who got the crowd going with their southern fried boogie shuffle. ‘Can’t Get No More Of That Stuff’ and ‘Eyes In The Back of My Head’ were a superb one-two intro, with blues harpman Giles King playing some glorious licks. The slow, beautiful ‘Tears Falling Down’ and a gorgeous version of Hendrix’s ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ followed, with Willie regaling everyone with stories of when he saw Hendrix performing it as a 15-year-old, before closing a rousing set with ‘Shake My Snake’. I knew the name but hardly anything by him, so this was a lovely intro to his work.

XTC were always one of the more intelligent pop bands of the late seventies and eighties, producing some very memorable tunes, and their offshoot, EXTC, consisting of ex-members of the band like Terry Chambers, are keeping these songs alive in fine style. From the opening notes of ‘This Is Pop’, they performed hits like ‘Sgt Rock’ and ‘Senses Working Overtime’, a couple of deep cuts, ‘King For a Day’ and ‘Jason & the Argonauts’, closing with ‘Cuba’ and the wonderful ‘Making Plans For Nigel’, with good audience participation. I’d initially wondered whether they should’ve been lower down on the bill, but I’d underestimated XTC’s popularity, so it was lovely seeing their legacy being kept alive.

For quite a few in the crowd, including this writer, the closing pairing of Soft Machine followed by Caravan, a dream ‘Canterbury Scene legends’ bill, evoked memories of the late 60s, when both bands played around the Canterbury area and, considering neither band had played too much of late, both turned in excellent sets.

Soft Machine, being much more jazz inclined, are now far removed from the days of Ayres, Ratledge, Hopper, Allen and Wyatt (Wyatt is now last man standing) though they began with Hugh Hopper’s ‘Facelift’, from the third album, before a couple of their own tunes, ‘Burden of Proof’ and ‘Open Road’. Like David Cross, this music is also quite complex though somehow it feels more accessible. They performed ‘Tales of Taliesin’ from the Softs album and ‘Joy Of A Toy’, by Ayres/Ratledge, before a short intense drum solo, and then the closing number, ‘Hazard Profile’. As musicians, every player is supremely talented and, musically, they were the band of the day.

New Day favourites Caravan headlined and, right from the outset, they looked and sounded like they were having fun. Due to an unfortunate accident which has temporarily sidelined regular bassist Lee Pomeroy, standing in was Jeavon Beaumont, from Arthur Brown’s band and, despite only a very short time to rehearse, he slotted in seamlessly. The bulk of their set was drawn from their classic In The Land Of Grey & Pink album, with the band performing ‘Golf Girl’ and ‘Land of Grey & Pink’. They gave us a new song, ‘Smoking Gun’, before they performed their magnum opus, the twenty-three minute ‘Nine Feet Underground’, which rounded off the opening day’s festivities with some panache.

SATURDAY

Kindred Spirit kicked the afternoon off in some style, playing a few songs from their latest release and showing just how well their new direction, and their own playing, is progressing. They were followed by EBB, now largely a full-on prog band who certainly had the crowd’s attention with songs like ‘Take To The Stars’ and ‘The Mirror’.

Soulweaver showed exactly why they’re beginning to make a name for themselves in rock circles, with a set laced with power and energy, despite it still being early afternoon. They can certainly rock and, with songs like ‘At The End Of The Day’ and ‘Civilisation’, and their new single, ‘Red’, plus ‘Liberty’ from their new album, this augurs well for their future.

If you know The Emerald Dawn, you’ll be aware they don’t play short songs, and their forty-minute set comprised only three pieces of music. They’re a multi-instrumentalist, symphonic prog band whose music is beautifully eclectic, and they absolutely merit the kudos they’ve been getting in the prog world. They performed two pieces from their forthcoming album, ‘Dancing With The Spirits’ and the superb ‘Under Changing Skies’, before they performed one whole side from their last album, In Time, called ‘Out Of Time’. Right the way through their set, the quality of their musicianship was quite outstanding. It’s easy to see why some people don’t ‘get’ what it is they do but, for prog aficionados, they’re some band and they deserve to be bigger.

Up next, hardy perennials The Soho Dukes. They’ve played here before and are easily a festival favourite. Due to a ticketing hassle, however, I could hear them but not intently, but I liked what I heard and the crowd certainly did.

The Fierce & the Dead followed on. They were a four-piece mainly instrumental band last time I saw them perform, but they’ve now added an extra member and include vocals in their set. They’re still very eclectic and hard to categorise, with their music a mix of stoner rock and psychedelia, and their influences ranging far and wide. They’re tight and powerful onstage and they performed sterling renditions of ‘Golden Thread’, ‘Everything Is Wonderful’, ‘1991’ and ‘What A Time To Be Alive’. A fine set indeed.

Penguin Café, featuring Caravan man Geoffrey Richardson on violin – happily not on spoons – couldn’t be more different. After an early-mid-afternoon of prog rock, the Penguins were a much more smooth operation with their well-played, soft sounding instrumentation to the fore. Tracks like ‘Song Of The Colonies’, ‘Greenfields’ and ‘Dirt’ were well received and the crowd took to them.

Troy Redfern pretty much exploded onto the stage and demonstrated exactly why he’s feted as a blues-based rock guitar man, with a blistering opening of ‘Shake It Up Baby’ and ‘Native’. Like Zac Schultze, he also covered an old blues classic in a way unrecognisable from the original, as he performed Son House’s ‘John the Revelator’, though it’s still a fine version, before rounding off a lively set with ‘Come On’, ‘Sweet Carolina’ and an extended ‘Sanctify’, where he went off into guitar hero mode.

The contrast continued. Lifesigns have always been one of prog rock’s more cerebral pleasures. They’re a class act and their set was sheer delight – for this reviewer one of the best performances of the whole three days. They began with ‘N’ from their debut album and continued with tracks like ‘Impossible’, ‘At The End Of The World’, ‘Shoreline’ and ‘Fortitude’, before concluding with John Young’s ‘Last One Home’. The playing of each musician is exemplary, particularly Dave Bainbridge’s guitar work, and they played a gorgeous set.

And then, similar to Friday, a surprise package, Will Wilde. He and his band played raucous bluesy jazzy rock, with Will blowing a mean blues harp. The track ‘Wild Man’ summed Will up as he prowled the stage playing his harp. They played ‘The Blues Is Still Alive’ and a blistering version of Muddy Waters’ ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ – one of the best versions I’ve heard – before ‘I Believe I’m In Love With You’, where they rocked out like Status Quo. They concluded with a driving version of Canned Heat’s ‘On The Road Again’, though the drum solo was unnecessary.

Headline act IQ are a prog colossus, one of the best working prog bands on the scene with their powerhouse sound and intense songs. In my perfect world, they’d be up there with Marillion and Porcupine Tree. Their set was drawn from across their 40-year career, and the opening film backdrop and recorded comments about Hiroshima told us they were starting with ‘Frequency’. They performed the title tracks from three other albums ‘Subterranea’ and ‘The Wake’, as well as a powerful rendition of ‘Road Of Bones’. They concluded a great set with ‘Never Land’ and ‘Ten Million Demons’. Same as Lifesigns, IQ are also a class act and, for me, they’re one of the best bands ever to top a bill at New Day.

SUNDAY

Caught up in heavy traffic heading to the coast, I arrived as openers Z Machine were concluding their set and, from what little I heard, they sounded like Van der Graaf Generator.

Splink played ‘no rules’ music, claiming to play ‘whatever feels good.’ They began with an instrumental, ‘Cosmosis’, and continued with the impressive ‘Sea of Iniquities’ and ‘Wandering Jews at Midnight’, before the neo-cowboy waltz, ‘Jeremy’s Been Shot’, concluding with ‘The Key’, which was lengthy and very proggy. They played a fine set indeed.

Doris Brendel followed. She’s been on the scene some time, but never seems to have made the breakthrough. But there’s no denying she has a powerful rock voice and she knows her way around. Tracks like ‘Latest Fantasy’ and ‘Why Are You Still Here’ were well received, as was her mid-set game of ‘Truth or Bollocks’ – she tells the crowd something and, when finished, the crowd have to shout out if it was true or bollocks. What she’d told us was true. She wound up her set with a pumping version of ‘The One’.

Having had to cancel her appearance last summer, this time around The KT Bush Band were here but KT herself was delayed, caught up in traffic (it wasn’t just me!). The band started without her, playing ‘Moving’, before KT (Sally Anne Hurst) finally arrived, and started with the gorgeous ‘Wow’. KT has really got Kate’s vocal style down tight and she gave us ‘Hounds of Love’, ‘Babooshka’ and ‘Strange Phenomena’ before concluding with THAT song.

Coming onstage looking like a gang from out of Peaky Blinders, Albion initially sounded like Jethro Tull, until I remembered Tull’s former guitarist Joe Parrish-James, and current guitarist Jack Clarke are both in the line-up. They’re a formidable mix of traditional folk and powerful hard rock. Their performance of a Sabbath medley, which included ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ and ‘War Pigs’, with Ozzy represented by the flute, was excellent, as were tracks like ‘Tahitian Xmas’ and ‘Pagan Spirit’. They concluded with a medley from Irish folk band Planxty, with the ‘Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O’ quite prominent.

Following Albion would have posed problems for many bands but The Members tried valiantly, offering us reminders of the punk days of the late 70s, and they concluded their set with the obligatory ‘Sound of The Suburbs’.

Then it was time to go ‘Down to The Doctors.’ Dr Feelgood may have no original members, but they have the Feelgood’s swagger down to a T and, from ‘She Does It Right’, they gave us some of the Doctor’s best known tunes – ‘Down By The Jetty’, ‘I Can Tell’, ‘Going Back Home’, ‘Back in The Night’ and ‘Roxette’, and they played them well. A fine top heavy rhythm and blues set.

What a delight it was to see Man play ‘live’ again. They were at one time Britain’s answer to The Grateful Dead as they played lengthy, often stoned, sets. The only original member now is bassist Martin Ace, who led the band through a series of classic Man tunes, like ‘Spunk Rock’, ‘C’mon’, ‘Manillo’, ‘Many Are Called (but few get up)’ before winding up with ‘Bananas’. They’ve caught the spirit of seventies Man in some style and, if you closed your eyes, it could’ve been Mickey Jones and Deke Leonard playing onstage. The opening line to ‘Many Are Called’ – ‘look at this green fly, crawling ‘cross my page’ – is based on a true story!

Mostly Autumn followed. They’re a band who release consistently good albums but who never seem to get the acclaim they deserve, though not being signed to a major label probably doesn’t help. But, they’re a damn good ‘live’ band and, in Olivia Sparnenn, they possess one of prog’s finest female vocal talents, a lady with a golden voice and very easy on the eye. They’ve performed at New Day before and, from the reception they got, they’re clearly amongst friends. They played several well received pieces, including ‘Into The Stars’, ‘Western Skies’ and ‘Night Sky’ and finished with ‘When Tomorrow Dies’ and ‘Heroes Never Die’.

One of the original, and finest, purveyors of Jazz rock, Colosseum has had a chequered existence. Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith are sadly no longer with us, and Dave Greenslade has stepped back but, with Clempson, Farlowe and Clarke from the original band, they’re still a force onstage possessing some outstanding musicianship, which they demonstrated on lengthy pieces like ‘Lost Angeles’.

An extremely enjoyable weekend was concluded by the sonic assassins, Hawkwind. Their set was a mix of newer songs – ‘Changes (Burning suns and frozen waste)’, ‘Arrival in Utopia’, ‘There is Still Danger Here’ and ‘Underwater City’ – and much older songs – ‘Paradox’, ‘Assault and Battery’ and ‘Days of The Underground’, concluding with the follow up single to ‘Silver Machine’, ‘Urban Guerilla’, banned by the BBC in 1973 due to the ongoing terrorist situation of the time. Their set was accompanied by a dazzling array of colourful backdrops and a light show which illuminated the night sky wonderfully.

And then the festival ended. It’s the sheer diversity of music on offer which is what makes New Day such an amazing and special event – long may it continue.

The post New Day Festival Review: Prog, Blues and Rock Perfection in Kent appeared first on RAMzine.

The lustrous 6 combines thick grooves, infectious melodies, and muscular hooks superbly and is surprisingly heavy and hard-hitting in places. The opening riff of ‘Oh My Cod’ immediately recalls the fabulous ‘Hazard Profile, Part 1’ by Soft Machine, and the subtly dark ‘Country Doom’ possesses an emotive resonance that makes it one of the disc’s highlights. Then there is ‘The Ballade’, which is akin to a warped reverie of sorts. No other act could have delivered these tunes this way. Sometimes hypnotic, other times manic, but never boring or predictable, these playful and pulsating tracks capture the passion and vigor of the band’s unique sound, and all the characteristics and trademarks of their previous outputs are firmly embedded in this new material despite a significant change in the line-up. Although one is tempted to name-drop the legendary King Crimson and the aforementioned Soft Machine as points of reference in certain respects, the fact is that Krokofant are unlike any other group out there and that the act of comparing them to others becomes a somewhat futile exercise.  

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes this outfit stand out in an otherwise inspired and interesting Norwegian scene, but the soulful nature of their compositions may hold the answer to that. 6 sounds intuitively inventive and is simply a warm and consistently exhilarating set of compositions harbouring charisma. Moving seamlessly from one part to the next and making it all sound effortless pretty much sums up what these musically gifted gentlemen are all about, and their upcoming record stands tall and proud as a true labour of love that rewards repeated listens. This is utterly gripping stuff if you let go.

6 will be released by Is It Jazz? Records on 10 January 2025.

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That’s not necessarily a surprise, that’s what the band are known for. But at the same time, it’s something else too. As Andy Tillison joked, playing on the classic Jaws film strapline, “Well this time it’s actually no personnel”, so, more aptly it’s The Tangent (For One).

In a year when members of The Tangent could be seen onstage all over the world with Steve Hackett, Soft Machine, Karnataka, David Cross, It Bites, Cyan and others, plus on recordings by those artists and The Anchoret, The Michael Dunn Project, Argos and Retreat From Moscow, it became clear that there was not going to be time to get together for anything more than one gig in April 2023.

To that end, the band agreed that The Tangent’s leader/main writer Andy Tillison would keep the material coming and would make an album by The Tangent entirely alone. It would still be The Tangent. Just for one.

“Besides Which” Tillison said, “I’ve always wanted to do this, use what I have learned from Luke, Jonas, Steve, Theo and many other alumni and take it to final production. Now was the time!”

What transpired over the following year is in one sense an “absolutist” solo album and is entirely the work of one person in all aspects including artwork, layout, design, lyrics, composition, performance, recording, production, mixing, mastering and authoring. But in another sense, it’s totally Tangent. “I could not have begun to make this record without having had the experiences of working with the band. So, although the different instruments are not attempted to be played in the actual style of the normal lineup, they are inspired by the kind of things these guys do.”

Tillison continued: “Making To Follow Polaris alone has been one of life’s greatest adventures. However alone it may have been though, a lot of people believed in it enough to make it happen: everyone at my record company InsideOut and their publicity departments, everyone in the full line-up of the band who supported me doing it this way and the fans who helped me finance this thing before it was even signed.  

“It has been a massive learning experience. I hope to have created here an album that belongs in this strange and fraught period of time but with a positive eye on the future. Part of making the future better will always be knowing what must be overcome. That’s what this record is about.”

To Follow Polaris is available as a limited deluxe collector’s edition CD media-book (including bonus track and extensive 24-page booklet, gatefold 180g 2LP vinyl (also including bonus track), & as digital album. It will feature the tracks: ‘The North Sky’, ‘ A ‘Like’ In The Darkness’, ‘The Fine Line’, ‘The Anachronism’, ‘The Single (From A Re-Opened Time Capsule)’, ‘The North Sky (Radio Edit)’ with ‘Tea At Bettys’ as bonus track,

Produced between January and November 2023, the album features Tillison using his multiple keyboards system as normal, but adds to the mix his first ever released performance on bass Guitar and his second on stick driven (electronic) drums. Add electric and acoustic guitars and electronic wind controller and this is a full band recording in every sense of the word. A recording demonstrating Tillison’s lifelong influences for the likes of Yes, Van Der Graaf Generator, Porcupine Tree, Groove Armada, Earth Wind & Fire, Roger Waters and his bands, Return To Forever, Deep Purple, Gentle Giant, Steely Dan and any band featuring the keyboard player Dave Stewart.

Conceptually Tillison claims the album is, “highly optimistic” but regular listeners to his work will anticipate correctly that this optimism will not be ill founded or over-easy and will be highly critical of obstacles to that optimism and the album will look as much into the dark as it does into the light. 

The album is intended to be thought of as a regular Tangent album – but not as the future of the band. It’s everyone’s intention to make the fourteenth album as The Tangent will be as a five-piece. 

To Follow Polaris can be ordered here) and you can check out the videos for both ‘The Fine Line’ and ‘The North Sky’ right here at RAMzine.

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The Yardbirds eventually mutated into The New Yardbirds which then in turn became Led Zeppelin, and I would be amiss if I did not point out that The Yardbirds have boasted some of the finest guitarists to ever walk the face of the earth, namely Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and the aforementioned Page. According to Page’s official website, The Yardbirds played the Middle Earth Club on January 19, 1968. Can you imagine what it must have been like to enter the club that night and watch Jimmy tear it up on stage with his talented cohorts in such an intimate setting?! It must have been glorious. Just a week later, singer Robert Plant and hard-hitting drummer John Bonham (who would famously join forces with Page in The New Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin later that same year) graced the stage of the club with Plant’s Band of Joy on January 26, 1968 (Birmingham Music Archives). So, if you are a sucker for Led Zeppelin, the Middle Earth Club ought to be of interest.

As I mentioned before, the inimitable prog rockers Soft Machine also paid the club a visit and did so quite often, and the cool thing is that there are some wonderfully atmospheric and truly lo-fi live recordings from a gig on November 10, 1967 in that very club in circulation out there. I prefer the 2CD set entitled Turns On, which was released by the label Floating World in 2014, so make a note of that one (but keep in mind that it is mostly for fans and collectors of the band’s early material). Speaking of prog bands, the monstrously huge Pink Floyd also paid the Middle Earth Club a visit back in March 1968. As it says on their website, “Pink Floyd played London’s hippest nightspot, Middle Earth in Covent Garden. Syd Barrett was among the audience”.

Sadly, the Middle Earth Club in 43 King Street closed down in mid-1968, but the building that once housed the venue is just one of several music-related locations in or around Covent Garden that you ought to pay a visit sometime in the future. After all, it is a place of rock music history, and as author Paul Talling states, “The building has changed much through the years inside, but the exterior has survived intact” (52).

Works cited:

Talling, Paul. London’s Lost Music Venues. Damaged Goods Books, 2020.

Jimmy Page Official Website, https://www.jimmypage.com/live/1968/01/19, accessed November 10, 2020.

Birmingham Music Archive, https://www.birminghammusicarchive.com/the-band-of-joy/, accessed November 10, 2020.

Pink Floyd The Official Website, https://www.pinkfloyd.com/history/timeline_1968.php, accessed November 15, 2020.

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Soft Machine hailing from Canterbury, started life in the 60’s, and are said to have helped pioneer the progressive rock genre.

Joining Soft machine, will be the legendary talents of the Edgar Broughton band, who remain fiercely embedded in the Psychedelic and Progressive Rock vaults.

With only 24 rooms left and an incredible line up already announced it would be wise to snap one up quickly. You can book online at www.hrhprog.com/tickets or ring Neil on 0207 097 8872.

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