SUNDAY
Knight Area- a solid Dutch band began day two of Nearfest. Though the band was very competent, this was probably my least favorite band (and I liked them LOL). Mark Smit's vocals were good, but his clothes changes and attitude IMHO contradicted the symphonic band thrusting them into the stardom/metal territory. Though I was really looking forward to Riverside, Knight Area filled in admirably but left a small lasting impression- maybe because I was so unfamiliar with their music? Maybe. Still, they were a nice ease into the amazing sounds that would some later in the day.
The Muffins- brought their eclectic mixture of instrumental rock and jazzy solos to Bethlehem. They were solid, making great use of saxophone and keys. To keep it in the family, 3 youngsters (I assume some of the band's children) added brass and saxes on the easier songs/parts of songs- a cute gesture to have their children on stage with them. The band didn't hold back when it came to solos and pushing the envelope of their instruments.
Mathew Parmeter- was the second soloist. Originally from the prog band-
Discipline, Matthew in familiar face paint started with a few songs on the keys and moved
to the guitar in his 45 min. set. What amazed me was the wide range he had in his
voice. His songs were interesting, based a lot on emotions.
A lot of people have compared him to VDGG's Peter Hammill,
but Matthews voice is way less gruff and his lyrics, though poetic, it lacked the over-the-top
intellectualism than Hammill sometimes evokes. Matthew was not only an amazing
songwriter and performer but bantered with the crowd almost like he was playing at a
fireside cafe. He was witty, intelligent and utterly entertaining. I spoke with him briefly
after the set and he was warm and charming (and he likes the beer too LOL). Thanks
Matt- a great performance, I'll love to see Discipline at NF 2006!.
Kenso- Simply was THE band at Nearfest. The group played with so much heart, soul- not to mention technical brilliance, that it mind-boggled the crowd after the set (people were feeling sorry for Le Orme who had to follow the band). Guitarist- Yoshihisa Shimizu was humbled by their experience and simply gave his all. He was also quite humorous adding a Nearfest sing along and gave slew of thank yous longer than most Oscar speeches. Keyboardists Kenichi Oguchi and Kenichi Mitsuda blistered the keys with piano, synth and organ explosions. Mitsuda even added Billy Joel's `Allentown' during a wonderful piano/key solo (Allentown is very close to Bethlehem). Standing ovations abounded. The band even filmed the concert for an upcoming DVD which included a ELP cover.
Le Orme- had a tough act to follow but played admirably with brilliance and passion. Aldo Tagliapietra played double neck guitar, sitar and sang in Italian that blanketed the concert hall with power and poetry. Though the songs from the more recent albums were very good- "Elementi" and "L'Infinito," as Aldo said- you are here to listen to the 70's music and the band did not disappoint, playing the entire "Felona e Sorona" which IMHO is one of the best prog albums ever made. The sound was dead on- bringing the emotion of the evening to a higher level. The crowd was exuberant and the band clearly was happy to be performing. As I was walking out with my wife, I told her that though I have liked other headliners more (Camel and , Hackett), Le Orme was easily justified to headline the festival (A few years ago, there was a problem with this issue), an amazing set, which topped off an amazing and most consistent festival- every band gave it their all and the quality showed.
