Nearfest   stands for the North East Art Rock Festival.  It was a great 2 days of creative music.  The concert shots  were  took with NO FLASH  (help me!),  with my digital camera.  More shots will be added later with explainations.

Inspired by seeing Steve Hackett at NEARFest 2002,

I created this image of  him which can be found on my

Illustration site. Click the above image  see larger picture.  and then please check out the site.

La Torre dell`Alchimista was the first band to perform at Nearfest 2002. Their roots in 70's Italian progressive music is evident. They have  a  great  sense of composition  that  keep the structure of the songs that can be quite dynamic,  as well as strong and  fluid. I loved their  great set that set the tone (and standard), for the rest of the festival.  The band was nice to chat with and were quite accessible.

Echolyn played a neat set of  songs from their past albums and closed with a  40 minute plus song  from their latest album `Mei,'   this included timpani, strings, etc.  It was quite  different than the bands previous work. The above picture was one of my rare digital photos that came out acceptable.  They were very nice to talk to after their show.

Isildurs Bane played a tight, sharp performance  emphasizing their trademark percussive fusion sound.  They were very nice to talk to after their set. I bought therir double live album which is quite good. Best wishes, you are a class act!

Caravan I kind of caught Pye Hastings off-guard and as there was a huge line for autographs, I didn't want to take a roll-full of shots.  Caravan's performance was fantastic. It was nice to see Geoff Richardson back playing strings. Great choice of songs, but I missed hearing `Golf Girl.'  The members seemed very nice and  it was great finally meeting them. More Caravan pictures will be posted later.

Roger Dean   was selling poster and pictures  of his work.  He is a very nice and kind person. His hand must have fallen off after the two-day event.

Spaced Out These guys can play!  This all-instrunental band from Canada dazzled the Nearfest crowd with their unique musicality and talent.  After the set they were very nice to talk to.  This is not the entire band... where's the drummer? Martin?  Thanks Antoine for returning my correspondence.

Steve Hackett   Steve, armed  with a reed player, played a  killer set of Genesis, Darktown and classic Hackett pieces. Sorry about the blurry photo- no flash.

Nektar   These are all Nektar fans?  Yes!

Nektar   Played a lightly energetic and heavy set. Here's another blurry photo. This is their  reunion concert as they have not been together fir decades!  The show  is being filmed for a DVD. I hope it is okay as their famed  visuals were muddled  and bland- unlike Mr. Hackett's. Still the music was great!