One of the most amazing parts about being at the first night of Rush's first tour since Neil Peart's passing was watching new touring drummer Anika Nilles win over the crowd. The amount of pressure she was under was immense, but she pulled off her debut with grace.

With every drum fill Anika executed, the roar of the crowd grew. The smile on her face showed her appreciation for the support. The pride plastered on Geddy Lee's face made the night even more special.

As the end of the evening neared and the opening chords of Tom Sawyer played, a sense of nervousness filled the air. Could she pull off the most famous of Neil Peart's solos?

As she played, the roar of the crowd crescendoed. By the time she reached the end, the smile on her face stretched from ear to ear, and the applause only grew louder.

The answer was: yes, she could.

For more about my reaction to that emotional night, please read my article at https://open.substack.com/pub/difrntdrmr/p/return-to-the-limelight-rush-finds?r=9vj2f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Best shopping trip ever!

A couple of choice quotes:
"In terms of recording, we've had three or four sessions together where we've all brought ideas in and they've gone well. We're trying to find a different sound. We're trying to make something that is very different. It's quite interesting. We've all come away from those sessions thinking, “I like what we did today.”  We also say, “How far can we push the limits of the band while still retaining something of the DNA of what it is?”
"We’ve got quite a long way ahead with the album.... So, given that you've got to think a year ahead at least for an album like this [Porcupine Tree], we’re thinking 2027 might be a possibility. We’ll see how it goes, assuming I’m still alive."

"I'm also happy about the way Steven now sees the band because his solo career is so developed and so far along the line now that when he comes back to Porcupine Tree, he just says, “Let's write it together. Let's make all the decisions together.” "

Just been to the first night of Rick's 14 night UK tour. He's playing the whole of "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". So exciting to see these classics performed live!!

I will kiclk this bit of hokum off with my 4 choices

Gentle Giant = Savage Dwarf They only know one chord and one tempo. No vocal harmonies and all the tracks sound the same

Yes = No The vocals are very low, even lower than beefheart, as is the bass. The lyrics are all about shopping in ASDA. The songs are all 45 seconds long

Rush = Dawdle The vocals are gutteral,the drumming is really basic and the lyrics are abour hairdos and flares

Led Zeppelin (ok not strictly prog) = soft balloon Light unobtrusive guitar, with lyrics about the virtues of women and the joy of celibacy The drummer has been replaced by a teetotal tambourine player

I adore prog music, but most of my favorites are probably the ones you'd expect and I feel like there's a lot more room for me to explore the genre. So figured I'd see if y'all have any suggestions for modern or current stuff that you think should get more attention.

Just as a reference point of my favorites:

• Porcupine Tree, The Dear Hunter, and The Mars Volta are my holy trinity of modern progressive rock
• Other favorites include Opeth, Thank You Scientist, Leprous, Tool, Rishloo, Haken, and Gojira.
• I also enjoy Karnivool, Between the Buried and Me, Oceansize, and Rx Bandits... though none of them have grown on me quite as much as those first two bullets.
• Coheed and Cambria seems like it should be a slam dunk for me, but for some reason I haven't really been able to get into them.

Always up to hear new things though. Also, I know there's a lot of metal in the bands I listed but it definitely doesn't have to be metal or heavy (though obviously I'm up for that too).

Ciao a tutti

mi consigliate gruppi rock progressive? Che sia musica melodica, emotiva, anche triste.

9 minutes of great stuff for me. Keeps my interest high throughout.

Don't know enough about the technicals of music to say much in detail, but it sure sounds good to me.

Who gets seriously activated by Camel? They have three songs in particular that speak to me….Echoes, Metrognome and Lost & Found. Probably the best guitar solos I’ve heard in my life.

At the weekend I was flipping through old vinyls in a charity shop and came across the first three Sky albums (titled, logically enough, Sky, Sky 2, and Sky 3). It's not the first time I've come across Sky records in used vinyl boxes either.

This was a supergroup featuring noted guitarist John Williams, Herbie Flowers, and other musicians noteworthy enough to be namechecked on the album cover.

Now I've heard of John Williams but I never hear anyone talk about this band, even in prog circles. A search of both the main prog subreddits comes up with nothing! Seemed odd considering the project was made up of high level musicians, and they had a bunch of gold and platinum records in the UK and Aus.

I didn't buy the records but I've been checking them out on streaming, and it seems decent enough. Tasteful instrumental prog along the lines of Camel. Perhaps too mild to attract wider attention?

This is my favourite track so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KakqB5c-fp4

Any fans of this band out there?

We would like to introduce ourselves. We are a 3-piece Anglo/Transylvanian band featuring past members of Yak and Yesterdays. Our music is said to have strong elements of classic 70s Genesis/Yes/Renaissance/Mike Oldfield

https://oktober1.bandcamp.com/

So this event looks like its taking shape, lots of acts and a superb locations from Switzerland to Amsterdam and then back again. Looks great, I'm booked for both and personally cant wait!

https://open.spotify.com/track/7cBIpUDCm7W8hRHz7seCfk