LoreleiProgFestival2009-3

THE LORELEI PROG FESTIVAL, ST GOARSHAUSEN, GERMANY, JULY 2009

[3]

My brief comments (for what it's worth) - FRIDAY:

RIVERSIDE - [This is where the smoke got thicker and the lighting darker, to fit the mood of this band's music - a photographers nightmare. Angst-ridden prog-metal band from Poland, they sounded a lot better than when I had seen them at a small claustrophobic venue in Camden in London. Though not a fan of death-metal vocal style which they adopt at times, I do like some of the harder stuff. The addition of some really nice keyboard sounds gives their music a dreamy sort of quality that sounds really good. Great musicians, I have to say. Line-up consists of Mariusz Duda - vocals, bass guitar, acoustic guitar; Piotr Grudzinski - guitars; Piotr Kozieradzki - drums and Michal Lapaj - keyboards]

GAZPACHO - [This Norwegian band appeared at last year's Lorelei but played a later slot this time around - definitely a much more polished act. Great clean sound, a fine sense of melody, their new release "Tick-Tock" is phenomenal, though I am waiting for it to be released as a cd! Vocalist has a great voice reminiscent of Jim Kerr/Jeff Buckley and a-Ha but some of his banter between songs can be a bit annoying. They played a fairly lengthy set and so I found their music a bit samey after a while, particularly the tempo on some of their earlier stuff. Lineup comprising Jan Henrik Ohme (Vocals); Jon-Arne Vilbo (Guitars); Thomas Andersen (Keys & Programming); Robert Johansen (Drums); Mikael Krømer (Violin, Mandolin, Rhythm guitar) and Kristian Torp (Bass)]