Few bands are as closely associated with the Night Of The Prog Festival history as LAZULI. In a way, the band has grown with the festival. First they were newcomers or an insider tip. Recently they played as co-headliners. It was only logical to book Lazuli for the final Night Of The Prog Festival 2024.
LAZULI are a French prog rock band who released their new studio album “11” in 2023 and played concerts in Europe in May. They wrap their words in poetry and express them with music – interpreted by atypical instruments. This is what makes the band special – and it is a uniqueness that characterises these 5 musicians. LAZULI are probably the most famous and recognised French progressive pop/rock band and have become increasingly popular outside France in recent years.
LAZULI will perform on Saturday, 20 July.
Tickets for the Final Night Of The Prog Festival 2024 are available in the WiV Ticket Shop.
Band Line-Up:
Dominique LEONETTI: Vocals, guitars 12 and 6 strings Arnaud BEYNEY: Guitar Claude LEONETTI: Léode Romain THOREL: Keyboards & French horn Vincent BARNAVOL: Drums, perc & marimba
In addition to our website and our social media pages (Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram), you can now also keep up with the latest news via our new NOTP WhatsApp Community Channel. You can easily join the NOTP Community Channel via this link.
In this community, only admins will post news and information about the 2024 festival. These are usually band announcements and later also information about the festival logistics. Members of the community cannot post anything. It is purely an information channel and as such an additional service for you. Your mobile phone number is invisible to other users in this community. You can also send the link to friends so they can join the community. All postings usually link to our website – as usual with links to the English and German pages.
The first band announcement will be made later this weekend.
yes, it’s true. The 17th Night Of The Prog Festival (19-21 July 2024) will also be our last. There is certainly no perfect time for such news and so we have decided to inform you directly and include the news in our new header image. We know that the festival on the Loreley means a lot to you – it’s special for us as well. But we wanted to let you know early on that next year is definitely the last chance to visit the festival on the Loreley again. We will do everything we can to make it a worthy and glorious farewell to the Loreley. And for all those who may still be busy planning their holidays etc., perhaps we can convince you to include the festival in your plans once again.
Many of you wonder and ask why. We understand that, of course. Well, it was not an easy decision. On the one hand, we are all not getting any younger and all things must end some day. But there were also a number of other factors that gradually made it more and more difficult for us to organize such a festival. In recent years, there have been a whole series of bad news with Brexit, the pandemic and then the Russian war against the Ukraine and the resulting economic consequences (especially inflation). Costs are rising in all areas, the Brexit made it considerably more difficult to book many bands, and the staff situation in the business is also far from returning to previous levels after two years of work ban. In addition, there are logistical challenges on the Loreley festival site and the whole area, which had caused further difficulties over the years and forced us to find quick and individual solutions more often. The Night Of The Prog is and remains a niche festival, but it also has to work according to economic principles. And this became more difficult from year to year.
We know you are saddened by the news. Next year it will be 20 years since we first discussed the idea of such a festival. Then in 2006 the first Night Of The Prog took place and since then it became a trademark in the business. Eventually, a 3-day festival established itself on one of the most beautiful festival grounds in the world. We think back to memorable performances, to the many up-and-coming bands for whom the festival was a huge step forward in their career, and we think ahead and look forward to a terrific last festival in 2024. We look forward to an enthusiastic audience and to saying goodbye, together with you, to this wonderful place. It’s not over yet, but we want to thank you all for the great support over the last 17 years!
We will do everything we can to put together an attractive and varied line-up for what is sure to be a very special festival. We will start with the announcements shortly.
Three wonderful festival days are behind us and the WiV team would like to thank everyone who came to the festival.
We tried to take your suggestions into account beforehand after the experiences of previous festivals. This time we have organized the camping ourselves and decided to keep it as simple as possible for you while maintaining a higher standard of handling. We also stayed in contact with you during the festival and are happy that our efforts were appreciated.
We were able to separate the merchandise stand and the signing tent (where our graphic artist Frank exhibits his paintings every year) a bit, so that both had enough space. We were also very pleased about the great motivation of the bands to participate in the signing and of course your interest in it.
The line-up this year was a challenge in terms of composition, but in the end we were able to offer a very good mix of styles. Thank you very much for all the positive comments!
There were many highlights – Nick Mason (79 now!) and his band celebrated a real party full of early Pink Floyd classics and deep cuts, CYAN made themselves the secret festival stars with a splendid Pete Jones, Franck Carducci brought the rock to a boil with his Fantastic Squads and also had the most impressive signing session. The Musical Box managed to keep away the rain until almost the end and celebrated the story of The Lamb on Broadway one last time. Wishbone Ash celebrated a proud 50 years of their classic ARGUS, Abel Ganz virtually came out of the woodwork and on Sunday we had prog metal greats Soen and Leprous who played impressive sets. Anneke van Giersbergen had to improvise a bit after her keyboard player had to go to hospital at short notice. But even with the programme changed at short notice, Anneke took the audience by storm.
But it was also the new upcoming bands that made 2023 special. The festival opener on Friday, Time Shift Accident, raised the bar quite a bit. Agusa came with a brand new album, which was appropriately released on the Friday of the festival, and thrilled the fans. On Saturday, it was Aedon who kicked things off as newcomers and got the rock in the mood. FUCHS are not so new anymore, but still an insider tip and they also came with a new album. They have even released a digital Night Of The Prog EP before the festival. At noon on Sunday, the Ukrainians Karfagen played straight into the hearts of the fans. Mad Fellaz also managed to do the same and Oak once again showed why they were so well received in 2019. Panzerballett‘s cracking mix of styles with drumming legend Virgil Donati was certainly a challenge for many, but in the end it blended in excellently. Esthesis from France should now enjoy greater attention beyond their national borders.
Unfortunately, Alex Henry Foster could not perform due to health reasons – some fans took this as an opportunity to send him a video message and photos, which touched Alex very much. Here you can see a photo of this:
Your feedback on the 2023 Festival, which you have posted especially on social media, makes us mighty proud and is a great motivation to make it even better next year. Of course we can’t influence everything, but we always try to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Looking ahead to next year, we will remain in contact with the operators in order to achieve further improvements in catering, for example. We are particularly pleased that the camping situation is now much better. In addition, there was good cooperation with the security and the regulations regarding the chairs on the grounds also worked well and there were no incidents.
The Early Bird Sale is running this week and after the summer we will also start announcing the first bands.
We look forward to 2024 and of course any suggestions you may have. Feel free to send us an email!
Thanks again and best regards Win Völklein and the WiV team!
Positive news: On Sunday the car ferry will also be run after the last act (Leprous). After the show, please proceed quickly to the ferry terminal, you will all get to the other side safely.
This has also become a tradition. We are once again offering organised signing sessions during the changeover breaks. You can then get autographs from the bands next to the merchandise in the signing tent (where Frank Grabowski also exhibits his prog art). Our staff will make sure everything runs smoothly.
Most of the bands have also confirmed their participation in 2023. Changes are possible, please keep an eye on the notices.
Notes: Nick Mason sells pre-signed merchandise on site and will therefore not take part in the signing session. Anneke van Giersbergen has no merchandise with her and will therefore not take part in the signing session. On the second day Wishbone Ash will be at the signing session, but they don’t have any merchandise with them, so you’ll have to bring that with you. On the third day, Soen can’t take part in the signing due to logistical reasons, Leprous haven’t made a statement yet.
FRIDAY
16:00 AGUSA 17:15 TIME SHIFT ACCIDENT 18:45 CYAN 20:30 ABEL GANZ
It’s already becoming a tradition that our graphic artist Frank Grabowski exhibits his art works in the Signing Tent.
This time Frank has many paintings and art prints with a focus on The Lamb lies down on Broadway, matching the worldwide final Lamb show of The Musical Box.
With Progery Tyme by Frank’s partner CLAN-ART, limited direct prints on brushed aluminium are are offered on the Loreley for the first time. Motifs that make the heart of every prog fan beat faster.
Frank is also a treasure hunter, he brings the last 25 posters of a “Lamb” painting (1979) by our loyal fan Gottfried Dittrich to the Loreley.
In this article we will give you a brief overview of the exact times and the schedule for the third day of our festival.
Tickets for the festival are available at the box office!
Parking on the grounds is free for all festival visitors. The box office is located at the entrance.
On Sunday the box office will open at 10:00 am. Please note that for technical reasons it is NOT possible to pay by card – cash only.
The beer garden behind the stage as well as the beer garden at the visitor centre are located outside the festival area and will be open from 11 am.
The times of the schedule are without guarantee and subject to change. There will be 15-30 minute breaks between performances. The exact schedule of the day:
11:45 Doors 12:15 Karfagen 13:30 Mad Fellaz 14:45 Oak 16:00 Panzerballett 17:45 Esthesis 19:30 Soen 21:30 Leprous 23:00 End
The shuttle buses will take you back down to the village after the concert. You can find out more about the shuttle service in this news item.
You can also find more information here on our website in the Festival section and in this news item.
To help you find your way around this year, we have put together some information for you.
Tickets
The WiV ticket shop will be sending out tickets until Monday 10 July. After that, you still have the possibility to buy tickets in advance via Eventim with the print-at-home function. On all three festival days there will be enough tickets at the box office. You can also upgrade your tickets there (for example, if you only have a Friday ticket but want to be there for two or three days). IMPORTANT: For technical reasons, only cash payment is possible at the box office on the festival grounds.
Camping
Caravan camping will finally take place on the flatter meadow again and is therefore also closer to the festival site. You can also do your camping check-in closer to the festival site! There will be enough toilets and showers with up-to-date technical equipment on the camping site and the use of these is already included in the camping tickets. Further information can be found in the Camping FAQ on the website.
Chairs on the festival grounds
Chairs with legs are only allowed in the upper part on the lawn (to the right of the entrance). In the area of the amphitheater (auditorium), seat cushions and seat aids WITHOUT legs may be used. It is mandatory that all escape routes (e.g. the stairs in the auditorium) are kept clear at all times. If you have questions, you can also ask the security there.
Merchandise
The merchandise stand and the area for the signing sessions will be located near the “old” entrance this year. You will get more information about the signing sessions during the weekend!
Bus / Shuttle
There is a standard bus line (535) operated by the local public transport company and there is the Loreley Shuttle Service. They offer a bundle for all three days plus single day fares. You can then drive up and down as many times as you want. Buy tickets here or on site. Please note: Shuttle buses operate until 30 min after the last show each day!
Ferry
As already announced in the detailed procedures for Friday and Saturday, the car ferry will bring all cars back across the Rhine on these days after the end of the last show. For operational reasons, only the passenger ferry can run on Sunday after the end of the show. This means: You leave your cars on the other side of the Rhine in St. Goar on Sunday and take the shuttle bus up to the festival grounds and then down again. As the ferry is only operated by one person, we have to charge the fare in advance. We therefore ask everyone who uses the ferry to St. Goar on Sunday evening (after 10pm) to pick up their ticket at the box office for €3 per person. The ferry will bring you to the other side after the final show (Leprous).
Update:
Positive news: On Sunday the car ferry will also be run after the last act (Leprous). After the show, please proceed quickly to the ferry terminal, you will all get to the other side safely.
Hotel / Shuttle Service
For all those who have booked a hotel & shuttle service: There will be a fixed pickup place for the transfer this year.
In this article we give you a short overview about the schedule on the second day of our festival and box office times.
Tickets for the festival are available at the WiV ticket shop.
Parking is free for all festival visitors. You can also buy tickets at the box office. You will find the box office at the entrance. You can also upgrade existing tickets there, for example if you only have a ticket for Saturday but decide at short notice to attend the Sunday shows as well.
On Friday, the box office opens at 11:30 am. Please note that for technical reasons NO payments via card are possible – cash only!
The beer garden behind the stage as well as the beer garden at the visitor centre are outside the festival area and open from 11am.
The stated schedule may be subject to change. There will be 15 – 30 minute changeover breaks between performances. The exact schedule of the day:
14:15 Doors 15:00 Aedon 16:15 FUCHS 17:45 Venus Principle 19:15 Franck Carducci 21:00 Wishbone Ash 23:00 The Musical Box plays Genesis (final Lamb-Show) 01:00 End
The shuttle buses will take you down to the town after the concert and there will also be ferries to take you to the other side of the Rhine if necessary.
You can find more information here on our website in the festival section.
FUCHS will perform at this year’s Night Of The Prog Festival on Saturday. For this occasion there is now a The Night Of The Prog Festival EP!
This EP contains two tracks from the new and soon to be released studio album. This EP also contains two more live tracks. All four songs are also part of the live programme and will be played at the Loreley.
The 4th studio album Too Much Too Many will be released on 14 July 2023 on CD and digital formats. One day later, on Saturday 15 July 2023, the band will perform at the NIGHT OF THE PROG Festival. The album opener Don’t Get Me Wrong (5:49) shows immediately what is to be expected, Prog with a good hookline. The second track, also from the new album, is called Challenge of Lifelong Learning (7:49) and first points to a more introverted picture of the new studio album before the song then presents the whole prog and rock range of the band.
The EP is complemented by two tracks from 2020’s live album One Lively Decade.Here in My Void (Live) (13:37) is an early version, which also appears on the new CD Too Much Too Many in a revised studio version. Very nice how the complete band is also introduced in the final part. Except for the bass player, the line-up presented acoustically corresponds to the line-up on the Loreley. The bass is played by guest Henrik Mumm (known from Adaro and the Anne Wylie Band).
After the somewhat experimental Here in my Void, The Invisible Man (Live) (11:49) is again a real prog song with guitars, intricate structures and keyboard solos galore.
The EP is released digitally and can be found in the usual portals (Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music or iTunes).
The upcoming studio album will be available at the festival. It is also already available for pre-order at JustForKicks.
In this article we give you a short overview about the schedule on the first day of our festival and box office times.
Tickets for the festival are available at the WiV ticket shop.
Parking is free for all festival visitors. You can also buy tickets at the box office. You will find the box office at the entrance. You can also upgrade existing tickets there, for example if you only have a ticket for Friday but decide at short notice to visit Saturday or Sunday as well.
Owners of 3-day tickets will be approached by staff in front of the ticket booth or before admission and will receive their access wristband, so that admission can proceed as quickly as possible.
On Friday, the box office opens at 11:30 am. Please note that for technical reasons NO payments via card are possible – cash only!
The beer garden behind the stage as well as the beer garden at the visitor centre are outside the festival area and open from 11am.
The stated schedule may be subject to change. There will be 15 – 30 minute changeover breaks between performances. The exact schedule of the day:
14:15 Doors 15:00 Time Shift Accident 16:15 Abel Ganz 17:30 Agusa 19:00 Anneke van Giersbergen 21:00 Cyan 23:00 Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets 01:00 End
The shuttle buses will take you down to the town after the concert and there will also be ferries to take you to the other side of the Rhine if necessary.
You can find more information here on our website in the festival section.
Info about Saturday and Sunday will follow shortly!
The story begins with the song Miracles Out Of Nowhere by the band Kansas. The two musicians Melanie Mau (vocals) and Martin Schnella (guitar, vocals) discovered their common passion for music and this song was an occasion to deepen it even more. Melanie and Martin play music in an acoustic outfit. Primarily they dedicate themselves to cover songs, which they rearrange in their own style. Since both are also talented composers, they are constantly working on their own songs as well. Their music comes from the heart, because every song is a real affair of the heart. In December 2015, the two released their first CD Gray Matters. They perform live in different line-ups as a duo, trio, quartet or even a quintet. The band includes Simon Schröder (percussion), Lars Lehmann (bass) and Mathias Ruck (vocals).
This was followed by The Oblivion Tales, the first CD release with exclusively original compositions. Stylistically, the songs are in the realm of folk rock with progressive influences. Two more cover albums, Pieces To Remember (2018) and Through The Decades (2020) received positive responses worldwide. In 2019, singer Mathias Ruck from Rostock joined the band, bringing complex harmony vocals to the fore.
The music of Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella is timeless, tells stories and fits on stages of all kinds. From the living room in the culture cellar to concerts for music lovers and festivals.
Melanie and Martin say about their own songs:
“The Oblivion Tales are the untold, passed down and true stories that move our hearts. Together we wrote these very special songs. Some of them remind us of precious people who have enriched our lives and are a part of them. Our home is the Harz Mountains and its mystical fables from long ago inspired us to write four pieces of music.”
Tickets cost 30 EUR. For those who bought an Early Bird ticket at WiV, the ticket price is 25 EUR. Reservations can be made directly via Email to WiV (info@wiventertainment.de). The reserved tickets will then be available at the box office and will also be paid for there.
Last year, the Austrian band Blank Manuskript were one of the bands performing at the Night Of The Prog Festival and pleased the festival crowd on Friday. Now the band has released a live album consisting partly of recordings of this performance (alongside ARGEKultur Festival Salzburg and Woodstock Forever).
At almost 80 minutes, A Live Document offers a concert-like cross-section of the band’s previous concept albums. The recordings are from the aforementioned festivals and these were the three biggest performances in 2022 for the band. A lively journey through the versatile oevre of Blank Manuskript – ear candy is guaranteed!
Tracklist: Foetus Public Enemy The Cult of Birdman Twilight Peak After the War Part I After the War Part II The Last Journey Silent Departure Shared Isolation Alone at the Institution
The Band Peter Baxrainer: Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Recorder, Vocals Jakob Sigl: Drums, Percussion, Tape, Vocals Jakob Widerin: Saxophone, Flute, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Vocals Dominik Wallner: Electric Organ, Electric Piano, Synthesizers, Vocals Alfons Wohlmuth: Electric Bass, Electric Upright Bass, Flute, Vocals
The album is also a tribute to Jakob Sigl, who was part of the band for ten years and decided to leave. Simon Strasshofer will be on drums in the future.
The history of CYAN goes back to the Eighties, when Robert “ROB” Reed composed the first tracks that would eventually become CYAN tracks a couple of years later. CYAN were officially founded in the early Nineties by Rob Reed, prior to his involvement with Magenta. Reed released three albums with CYAN back then and the group was more or less laid to rest until Reed decided to resurrect the band with Pete Jones, Luke Machin and Dan Nelson a few years ago. Today, CYAN can be described as a progressive rock supergroup.
In 2021, CYAN released For King And Country, which consists of the above mentioned material written in the early days of the band and was rewritten and rearranged and recorded with the new line-up. Reed remembers: “Little did I know in 1983, sitting at the school piano writing these songs, that almost 40 years later those same songs would sound like they do on this album. I remember the original Cyan, made up of school mates, pooling our money, £35 to record them at a local 4 track studio with basic equipment. It’s been amazing to finally hear the songs at their full potential, with modern recording techniques and an amazing line up of players.”
The album was received well among fans and critics and many wondered why Reed held back that material for so long. He explains: “I’d held off releasing this album because I couldn’t find a vocalist to do it justice. Meeting Pete ticked that box, as soon as I heard him sing the first track. His voice just blends so good against Angharad Brinn, who I’d worked with on the Sanctuary solo albums. Having Luke play the guitar parts was just the icing on the cake. He is such a great player, with technique and feel. What a line up!” Pete Jones is also a common name, having played for both, Camel and Tiger Moth Tales, which are also big names in the progressive rock scene. Pete Jones says about his involvement: “I had known about the reworking of For King And Country for a while, so it was a great thrill to be asked by Rob to work with him on the project, alongside the other amazing musicians such as Luke and Angharad. The songs are fantastic. They have a youthful and yet vintage quality to them, as well they might, given that they were first done in the early 90s. But with the benefit of Rob’s experience, they have been reworked into an album which I feel is right up there with the classics.” With Luke Machin (The Tangent / Maschine) on guitar and Dan Nelson (Godsticks / Magenta) on bass, the new line-up was complete. Tim Robinson played drums on the record and Jiffy Griffith drums during their live shows. Today, CYAN are finishing a new album, which will be released in time for the festival season.
CYAN Line-Up: Rob Reed: Guitars, Keyboards Dan Nelson: Bass Peter Jones: Vocals Luke Machin: Guitars “Jiffy” Griffith: Drums
Karfagen are an Ukrainian art rock / progressive rock band, formed in 2006 by Antony Kalugin. Their music is mostly instrumental and combines elements of progressive rock, art rock and symphonic rock. Music and band concepts are mostly created by Antony Kalugin himself. The band has already released more than 10 albums and participated in several European progressive rock festivals. Karfagan do not have a standard line-up and they often have guests musicians from the Uraine and beyond. Their music shows an imaginative use of keyboards, guitars, classical and ethnic instruments. There are also connections and references to the music of the other Antony Kalugin projects — like Hoggwash and Sunchild. According to Antony, the music of Karfagen is created under the influence of Camel, Genesis, UK, Pink Floyd and The Flower Kings among other art rock bands.
Probably since 2016, the band became an interesting act to follow for prog music fans. They toured in Europe and also played several festivals and released highly acclaimed album such as Messages From Afar: First Contact (interesting side-note: the second part of this album was released by Antony’s other project Sunchild a little later) and in 2019 they released Echoes From Within Dragon Island. Since then, they have released albums every year: Birds Of Passage in 2020, Principles And Theory Of Spektra in 2021, Land Of Green And Gold in 2022 and Passage To The Forest Of Mysterious (2023). The albums are available via Bandcamp.
Their current line-up is: Anton Kalugin: keyboards, vocals Mariya Panasenko: vocals Olga Rostovska: backing vocal Anton Barsukov: guitar Kostiantyn Shepelenko: drums Vladyslav Karbovskyi: bass guitar
Alex Henry Foster has cancelled all planned concerts for 2023 due to ongoing health issues. Foster had to undergo a complicated surgery and has also reported about it on his Facebook page. Foster hoped to make a full recovery during spring and be able to do the summer festival shows. Unfortunately, this hope was not fulfilled.
Foster says: “It’s with profound sadness that I have to announce that, due to my still too fragile health condition and my specialists’ persistent disapproval, I had to take the dreadful decision to not only cancel my presence with the Long Shadows at festivals this summer — and along with it the joyful expectation I had of meeting you once again — but also to cancel the massive autumn European tour I was supposed to announce next week. I don’t need to tell you that it came out as a massive reality check for me, but even more so for my bandmates, crew members, numerous collaborators (…) who all had dedicatedly worked so hard to organize and set everything up for me to be back on the road in the coming months. The sole idea of having to make that cancellation/rescheduling call bore terrible sensations and left me emotionally stranded for quite a while. Letting people down is the worst of all feelings for me, especially as everyone has been so earnestly supportive and faithfully benevolent toward me. But regardless of my heartrending feelings, it’s nonetheless the best and most sensible decision I could make for the sake of my recovery at this point. Again, I want to thank you all for your kindness and understanding. It might be a much longer and more challenging journey than I initially expected and hoped for, but being uplifted by your indefectible support feeds the determination I need to envision and welcome every day as the precious gift it is for me to be alive and renewed.”
Alex Henry Foster was due to perform on Friday 14 July. We are of course also saddened by this development, but also we (of course) understand this decision and wish Alex a full and speedy recovery.
We will check whether Alex Henry Foster is an option again for the festival in 2024 and see if we can welcome him then with his fantastic band on the Loreley. However, a decision on this will be made in autumn at the earliest.
We have been busy recently and have filled the now vacant slot in the 2023 line-up, and a corresponding announcement will be made later this week.
This year’s Night Of The Prog Festival will take place from 14-16 July 2023 at the Loreley open-air amphitheatre near Sankt Goarshausen. Information about the line-up can be found here and tickets are available at this link.
Mad Fellaz is an eclectic band, formed in 2011 by Paolo Busatto, guitarist and primary composer of the band in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. Initially inspired by the great artists of classic progressive-rock, the band has been able to renew itself with extreme versatility and creativity, both in instrumental and vocal music. The writing of Mad Fellaz is inspired by the great prog bands (King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Yes), and more recently winking at the new great artists of the music industry, without any genre limitation (Opeth, Snarky Puppy, Screaming Headless Torsos, Vulfpeck).
The band consists of 8 musicians, and includes members who have studied, worked and recorded with such names as Chick Corea Elektric Band, Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, Gary Meek, John Etheridge (Soft Machine), Zucchero, Stan Sargeant, Andrea Innesto (Vasco Rossi), Fabio Trentini (Guano Apes, Le Orme), William Dotto (Le Orme, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso), Tolo Marton (Ian Paice), Michele Bon (Le Orme), Marco Iacampo, Erica Boschiero.
In over 10 years of activity, they have built a great reputation in the international progressive-rock environment and have released 4 studio albums so far. They have participated in some the most important Prog/Jazz Festivals in Italy and Europe, including ArtRock Festival (Reichenbach, DE), Ascona Jazz Festival (Ascona, CH), Porto Antico Prog Festival (Genoa, IT), 2Days Prog + 1 Festival (Veruno, IT), Progressivamente Free Fest (Rome, IT), sharing stages with the likes of Motorpsycho, RPWL, Procol Harum, The Watch, Lesoir. The stylistic evolution of the sound is evident, especially in the latest album Road to Planet Circus (February 2022, produced by Fabio Trentini), which marks a turning point for the band’s genre where elements of Jazz-rock, Fusion, Funk and Afrobeat now predominate, in compositions where each instrument is enhanced in its own timbral identity. The music of Mad Fellaz is a PROGression, a constantly evolving quest of new sounds that melts the boundaries between different musical styles and languages… and confuses Spotify’s categories!
Band Line-Up Paolo Busatto – guitar Ruggero Burigo – guitar Carlo Passuello – bass Enrico Brunelli – keyboards Rudy Zilio – flute/synth Luca Brighi – vocals Andrea Cecchetto – drums Filippo Zonta – percussion
OAK are a progressive rock band from Oslo, Norway. The band was founded ten years ago in 2013. The four members of Oak have a diverse background ranging from classical piano to electronica, prog- and hard-rock, with references to the alternative scene – a combination which makes the distinctive and unique Oak sound. The band’s debut album Lighthouse was released in 2013 on their own label, and was later reissued on Apollon Records in 2016.
In 2018 their second album False Memory Archive was released on Karisma Records, to much praise from both the prog and alternative rock communities. Oak has since played concerts in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Germany. Of their performance at the prestigious Night Of The Prog Festival in Germany in July 2019, leading Norwegian publication Blezt commented, “Oak played with fervor, power and conviction, and seemed like they had never done anything other than play for thousands of people.”
Their third album, The Quiet Rebellion of Compromise was released on Karisma Records in November 2022. With three critically acclaimed albums, live performances at Night of the Prog Festival, support for Marillion and gigs across the world, Oak is now in the final stages of recording their fourth album.
Band Line-Up: Simen Valldal Johannessen: Vocals, keys Øystein Sootholtet: Bass, keys Sigbjørn Reiakvam: Drums, programming Stephan Hvinden: Guitars
French prog band Esthesis have released their acclaimed new album Watching Worlds Collide last year. The band has now announced a limited edition 2LP, pressed on 180g vinyl, to be released later this year in August. Only 200 copies are available.
The standard versions of the album are available on the Bandcamp site of the band, where you can also pre-order the limited edition Vinyl.
Esthesis will perform at this year’s Night Of The Prog Festival on Sunday, 16 July 2023 and will of course play tracks from their new album live. Tickets for the festival are available here.
