After a wonderful first edition of Progcity Festival (you can read my review of the first edition here) it was only a matter of time when the second edition would be held. Organizer Gert-Jan van Middelkoop had two bands lined up I’ve never seen perform live before; the Dutch band Profuna Ocean and German band Ashby. I know Profuna Ocean’s music (I reviewed their latest album In Vacuum, you can read the review here), but I never heard any music from Ashby. While Profuna Ocean had played a couple of times before at Musicon, Ashby was playing their first ever gig in The Netherlands.
Profuna Ocean:
The band did a wonderful performance that evening. It’s a band that does well on both a small or big stage during a festival. They make solid progressive rock music, with some metal like riffs here and there. Fred den Hartog used an extra snare (or at least, I thought it was a snare drum) from time to time during his performance. Raoul Potters dares to do a lot more of his voice on stage than on the album, which gets a big plus from me. The track Clean Slate ended with a solo keyboard piece by René Visser. When René was finished Raoul thanked the audience for being so silent during that keyboard moment. The band became more loose and active on stage later on, but only really showed their energy and enthusiasm during the last track. I’m sure the band will be more energetic and loose when they have a longer set to play. The crowd itself was actually very loose during their whole performance, dancing on the music, and some even sang along.
Ashby:
The band had a bit of a slow start due to some technical problems, but those were solved soon. A real progressive rock/metal band with a lot of surprising musical elements. They’re leaning towards Haken and Dream Theater. The band contains young members, but they are far from inexperienced! They are very talented, play very tight and show that they really enjoy to be performing on stage. Sabina Moser is not afraid to use her complete voice range when it comes to soft and hard moments in the music. Sometimes she shouts a bit too enthusiastic outside her vocal range, making her voice sounds too harsh, but most of the time she was singing great. She was also very energetic and dancing/head banging on stage. The members were interactive with the audience in between tracks, and people in the audience were dancing along with the music. A band I would really love to see perform again!
I had a fantastic evening, and I I’m sure the rest of the audience really enjoyed it too. I can’t wait for Progcity edition number three! A well-organized festival on a great location that shows us new, upcoming talent. I really recommend to go see this festival when you have the chance!
Profuna Ocean are:
Raoul Potters – Lead Vocals & Guitar
René Visser – Keyboards & Vocals
Arjan Visser – Bass Guitar
Fred den Hartog – Drums
Setlist:
Awakening
Lost Inside (The Landscape)
Hanging In The Balance
Losing Ground
Beautiful Sunrise
In Vacuum
Clean Slate
Waiting For The Fall
Ashby are:
Sabina Moser – Vocals
Jan Göpelt – Guitar
Joel von der Heiden – Keyboards
Christopher Streidt – Bass Guitar
Rik Schindler – Drums
Setlist:
Holy Water
Aether – A Lunar Year
Ashes Decay
Pax
The Colossal Empire
The Faceless And The Shore
A Question Never Heard
You can also read my review on Background Magazine:
http://backgroundmagazine.nl/Gigreviews/20160528Progcity2.html
All photos by me.
Bonus picture! Gert-Jan selling tickets at the door! A big thank you to Gert-Jan for making this all possible and also Ron (the guy with the camera) for the ride back!
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Ahhhh sigh….. wish we had things like that here but sadly we do not. So jealous Lady Ier! Glad you had an awesome time!
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Thanks dear Duke! You don’t have prog festivals out there? :O 😦 That’s too bad.
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Nope, not really, not here, Canada’s Prog community is very small and/or hidden from the rest of the country sadly. I know they have a few in the US but nothing close enough I would travel to.
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That’s a big bummer… Maybe start a festival yourself? 😀
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That’s gonna take more than I have resources wise otherwise I would have by now! Sad state of affairs in the Canadian music scene
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Such a shame… 😦
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yep one of many reasons why I would move to Nederland in a heartbeat if given the chance to!
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That would be awesome! 😀 But it’s no paradise either, but at least the Prog scene is good!
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Riiiiiiiggggghhhhhtttt!!?!?!?!!??!?!
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