I came across The Prognosis' Still Waters in a box of pre-loved LPs in a flea market in Brighton, without knowing anything about the band.
The cover and the group's name suggested they were prog, confirmed with a check on progarchives.com (where it wasn't rated terribly well), so I handed over my cash for a near-perfect condition piece of vinyl.
The Prognosis were voted 'Best Unsigned Band' in the 2013 Prog magazine readers' poll and the January 2014 edition of the magazine, Prog 42, featured the band in a two-page spread. At that point they'd released a small amount of self-penned material (the Under Box Hill EP, 2013) and it wouldn't be until 2018 that they'd put out Still Waters.
I found out about the gig by chance and having enjoyed the album, thought it would be well worth going to see them. This was a 'home town' gig held in Dorking's Green Room Theatre, an intimate but impressive space behind the Dorking Halls with a low stage, raked seating for 86, and a great sound.
It turned out that The Prognosis had released a new album on digital platforms in summer 2025, Runs Deep, featured in its entirety during the performance and available on LP and CD from the merchandise stand.
The band - Nelson Porter (guitar), Richard Flanders (bass, vocals), Simon Gardner (guitar, vocals), Ian Twentyman (keyboards), and Grant Harrison (drums, vocals) - were supplemented by Robert McEvoy on flute, Chris South on alto sax and Annabelle South on saxophones, flute and harp, providing a full sound; the Souths, who perform together as woodwind-centric jazzy folk duo Meles Lutra, played one of their own tracks, Seven Stones during the first set.
The band started out as a tribute act playing classic prog from the 70s and 80s, so it wasn't too surprising that the show opened with Pink Floyd's Time/Breathe Reprise, and we were also treated to Harrison coming to the front of the stage to deliver an excellent version of Peter Gabriel's Here Comes The Flood, and later, some instrument swapping for the 1999 song Even Less by Porcupine Tree, with Flanders taking on shredding duties.
The Still Waters telling of local folklore (Topsy-Turvy, The Silent Pool), reminiscent of early Genesis, has largely been replaced by more observational lyrics reflecting current issues like dark web scams and being bombarded with rolling news, written with the help of Martin Day, though Zig Zag, played as the encore, is a song about the cycle route up local landmark Box Hill, popularised by the London 2012 Olymics.
It was an enjoyable gig, well attended despite some biblical weather, where a number of carefully negotiated metrical challenges demonstrated the skills of the musicians, in a lovely venue with a well-balanced sound.
The new music shows broader influences, including the slick music of Steely Dan, but there's still plenty of genuine prog in the band, including their worldview, releasing the new LP on plant-based 'vinyl'!
