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NEARfest 2000
With: Transatlantic, Happy the Man, Par Lindh Project, Anekdoten, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Iluvatar, Thinking Plague, DFA, Nexus & North Star
June 17th & 18th 2000 at the
Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
By Jack Luminous - Night Vision
As far as I was concerned, this one topped last year on every
count; a much better venue, the schedule was more conducive to getting bands
on and off stage in a timely manner, the sound was WAY superior, and I liked
the selection of bands a bit more. The vendor areas seemed a little more
cramped, but that was probably due more to the mad rush of CD buyers than not
having enough table space. The thing I disliked was the fact the the
Bethlehem Brew Works was no longer walking distance from the 'Fest! Here's
my brief review of the acts at N2K...
Day One
North Star - A good choice for openers. Local, talented enough to keep
people's attention, but not so much as to take any thunder away from what was
to come later. It was cool to see the "musical chairs" routine of band
members swapping instruments during the set. Singer Joe Newnam's stage
presence, to me at least, had all the redeeming qualities of a car wreck!
Seeing a big sasquatch going tippytoes in workboots is not how I get
entertained..... The guy doing lights was snoozing on the job, pretty much
the story for most every band. That should improve for next year, I
suspect...
D.F.A. - I liked them more than Jason appeared to. A really tight fusion
outfit with spacey keys. The guitar player was the weak link in the band,
but it was the rhythm section that really impressed me. Some flashy fills
but not a real lot of overplaying. The bass player stayed right in pocket
the whole time, never lost the groove. Outstanding... They brought Gianni
Leone from Il Balletto Di Bronzo to sing for one tune, and it was then that I
thought, "Oh dear, this can't be good". Light in the loafers is a good way
to describe him, but the dude can sing! That gypsy outfit of his has gotta
go....
Illuvatar - Underwhelmed to say the least. They had good lights, though! It
helps when your own guy is doing it and is familiar with your music. The
sound was way too loud, as if to make up for the fact that what was happening
on stage was too dull for words. I can't say that they were the
disappointment of the weekend, because honestly, I wasn't expecting much.
Rush goes neo, but with less talent. I know the band has a lot of fans, and
they showed up in force and were pleased with their set. But some had said
that they've heard Illuvatar do better.
Anekdoten - Marrone Mia! Time to turn into fanboy for the first time this
weekend! Out-friggin-standing the entire set. The sound guy knew what he
was doing, because each band member was mixed perfectly. Even the lights
weren't horribly done. If you've never heard them, describing them doesn't
quite do them justice. Suffice it to say they were dark and loud, and if I
may be a pig, cellist/keyboardist Anna Dahlberg was a striking bit of eye
candy! The mood and atmospheres were a nice change of pace from the fusion
and neo prog that had been going on, but by this time I was getting close to
sensory overload. A dinner break was in order...
Dinner - Bethlehem Brew Works - Even though it was a 25 minute wait to get a
table, it was worth it to quaff a frosty IPA or two with one of their
burgers. Talked NEARfest stuff with a couple of guys from Baltimore at the
next booth over, and it was a consensus; we were all glad to be there! The
vendors were making us poor and the bands were raising the anticipation
level.
Happy The Man - My favorite of the whole weekend. I hadn't heard much from
them and knew even less about them before they played. The curtain went up,
and they got a standing O before they even played their first note!
Obviously, somebody knew who they were and had been sorely missed. When they
launched into their opening number, I immediately knew why! I went to school
that night! I can't say enough good things about HTM, and it was apparent
they had been rehearsing ever since January for this gig. Flawless
performances, and just killer guitar tone from Stan Whitaker. Finally,
someone who can use vibrato tastefully! (That had been my one bugaboo about
every band that day, except for Anekdoten. That was only because Nicklas
Berg doesn't use vibrato in his playing!) Stan switched guitars for every
song, which got kind of annoying, because he only had two of them. Sweet
sounding PRS's though... New kid David Rosenthal did get a bit showy, but
his playing has got so much taste. His piano solo was fun, and with Stan
doing pirouettes across the stage it just added to it. The band as a whole
was having fun up there, which should be the main reason to make music
anyway. Drummer Ron Riddle was just a fireball, and at first I couldn't be
sure if it wasn't Terry Bozzio. An incredible show and a perfect way to end
Day One.
Day Two
Nexus - Major, major disappointment. I had only heard one song from them
before, and was suitably impressed and was looking forward to their set.
They did have a great stage presence and lots of energy to go around, I can
say that about them. But as someone said, life is too short to have to put
up with keyboard solos like that! There was simply way too much wanking
going on. Maybe because the last band I saw blew me away, and the
expectation of another Nathan Mahl had my sights set a little higher, but I
didn't get from Nexus what they were selling up there. Not to say they
didn't try, but they need more substance and less fluff. That's all I got
from them, I'm sad to say....
Thinking Plague - I walked out on them during their first song. What's the
appeal of a tone-deaf singer anyway?
Il Balletto Di Bronzo - Cross Freddy Mercury with Billy Corgan and give an
even more effeminate Rudy Gallindo flair, and you've got Gianni Leone (even
down to the skater's outfit). Goofiness aside, his musical chops were
absolutely killer. Brilliant keyboard playing and a voice with a range
almost unheard of in a guy approaching 50. I know about as much about their
music as I did HTM, which was one of the reasons I attended this NEARfest. I
like discovering new bands, and this was another pleasant surprise. The bass
player, Alessandro Corsi is only 21 and a complete monster. This kid can
play! Really, the whole band is a complete package. Good stuff...
Par Lindh Project - Knowing that NEARfest president Rob LaDuca is also PLP's
manager, the only surprise to me was that they didn't play last year. If
Par's schedule would have permitted it, they would have! I was looking
forward to seeing them (and Magdalena, but I won't go into that) for a while.
New additions to the touring band, Joe and Bill Kopecky, gave PLP a bit more
feel IMO. The band has always flirted with the type of sound that could
quickly be bogged down with heaviness if it weren't for having just the right
touch to bring it back. It's not such a precarious thing for them now,
because the Kopecky's bring more taste to their playing. Anyone can shred,
if you know what I mean. The only downfall for me was Magdalena Hagberg's
violin playing seemed stiff and unmusical. Her voice is kind of frail, but
she uses what she's got very well. And Par Lindh was sublime. Technically
superb without being a show off. Drummer Nisse Nielfeld gets the award for
hardest hitter of the 'Fest! Every time he hit his china cymbal, I thought
he was gonna knock the thing over... Al Lewis (of Alaska) donated his kit
for the weekend, and he must have been crapping his drawers watching his
drums take a beating like that!
Dinner - Wawa's Pizza/Steak Stromboli - Want pizza and steak filling to go
with your onions? Just the thing you DON'T want to eat if you have to be in
an enclosed vehicle for a long ride home. A barge full of Altoids couldn't
even begin to cut that stuff.... Sincere Mea Culpas to all the people in Row
H, Grand Tier. And possibly Row I, J, and K....
Transatlantic - OK, so they didn't open the doors when planned. What else
would you expect? It was only about, what 20 minutes or something late?
Again, like HTM the night before, curtain goes up, and an immediate standing
O. The energy level was red-lining! No spoilers, but I will say that the
band looked to be having a blast (when things went right). Mike Portnoy gave
N2K a Father's Day twist by having his kids come out during a couple songs
which shall remain nameless to prevent spoilage. His oldest, and I don't
know his age, but he can't be more than 3, is one well behaved kid! He's
been right next to Dad's drums before, methinks... My heart goes out to
Neal, he really got the crap end of the stick that night. Granted, it was
their first gig and the sound check was hurried, but still some things you
don't expect to have happen. Feedback from your headset mike is one of those
things you don't want to deal with. There's no pulling it back from your
face when it acts up, and this thing was a real gremlin. It eventually died
halfway through one song, and a roadie had to get a couple of mikes set up in
front of him. He only did one. And Neal had to contort at one point just to
get to it. Neal was visibly frustrated by the whole thing and the headset
did a nice bounce on the stage! His voice held up extremely well, and all of
the guys were in top form. Their encore was a fitting closer to N2K, and an
excellent way to end off an excellent weekend. Kudos to Chad and Rob (I had
to put Chad's name first, because he was always getting shafted in the
thank-you's!) and Jim Pitulski for an outstanding festival! You guys are the
man!
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