NEARFest!

Last weekend, I attended NEARFest, the North East Art Rock Festival, with my friend Joe M. He and I last attended NEARFest in 2003, where the French band Magma was the headliner on the first day. This year, Magma was the headliner for the 2nd day, so Joe asked if I wanted to go again. Being a glutton for punishment, why not, I figured?

Joe arrived here in Jersey City from Rhode Island last Friday afternoon, and we then headed out to Allentown, PA, where we were staying, as the festival was on Lehigh University's campus, at the Zoellner Arts Center. However, as soon as we arrived, after checking into the hotel, we headed off to Reading, PA, to meet our friend Jen, who we attended Boston College with, back in the day.

Amazingly, we found the restaurant, getting there at 8pm, and Jen arrived a few minutes later. Joe had stayed in contact with her more, I actually hadn't seen her since 1994. It was a fun dinner, with a lot of catching up and recalling the lazy crazy days of undergraduate life. A good time was had by all.

Fast forwarding to Saturday, Joe and I arrived at Zoellner at about 9:30am, for a 11am start time for the first band. It's good to get there early to get good parking, and to figure out the lay of the land. Also, there are vendors with plenty of "prog" CDs, who are willing to give them to you in exchange for your hard earned money. Joe and I were happy to partake in the feeding frenzy...


Here's Joe, outside of the Zoellner Arts Center, with a photo of Michael McDonald looking over his shoulder...



Joe, up on a ledge, being seen through the bushes....



Mike, up on the same ledge, almost doing a Hulk Hogan impression. But Hogan's not as buff as I...



Joe, inside at our seats, before the first band...

Now, my quick review of each band. Overall, I really enjoyed the festival, with only one band not really doing anything at all for me (I'm looking at you, Magenta!). The others, we start with....

• Izz: This was the first band of the Festival, and was a great kickoff to the day. Two drummers, a guitarist, a keyboardist/singer, a bassist/singer, and two female vocalists, they were quite good! A good hour long set, and I really enjoyed their music. The lyrics may have been a bit light here and there, some predictible rhymes, but I can live with that.
After Izz, we had lunch at the lunch tent outside... Note the public art off to the left. Don't ask me what it's supposed to symbolize...
After lunch, we had...


• NebelNest: A French instrumental band, the drummer for this band was a monster! Great player, and all the other members of the band (two guitarists, keys, bass) were good also. A fun live experience, but I get the feeling that on CD, the material might begin to sound all the same.
Then, we have...


• Bob Drake: A semi-avant-garde performer, he did about 30 minutes of some "odd" songs with another guitarist and a drummer. Not bad stuff, but nothing that really knocked my socks off.

After Mr. Drake, Joe and I wandered around Lehigh's campus for a bit. Some photos...

Do you really want to live in "Drinker Hall?"

Don't jump, Joe!!!

Then, after walking around, we have...


• Magenta: The one band of this Festival that really did next to nothing for me. At one point, there was some music where I thought they were doing a cover of Steve Hackett's "The Steppes," but nope, it was their own song, that sounded *exactly* like that Hackett one. That happened a few times during the set that we stayed for. Joe and I made the executive decision to go out to dinner during this band. I don't feel we missed much.


• Hawkwind: Hawkwind is a "space rock" band, that has had about 90 members over the lifetime of the band. Their performances are backed up by a slide show, that alternates between photos/drawings of the Earth from space, "Grey" style aliens, and the planet Saturn. If Spinal Tap were real, they'd be Hawkwind. I didn't "dislike" Hawkwind, but they didn't do much for me. But, if you're into taking heavy amounts of mushrooms, they're probably *just* the right band for you.

The Hawkwind banner....

Earth from space! Lookie!

Aliens! Hawkwind will protect us from the Alien Overlords!

After the first day, Joe and I went back to the hotel, had a drink at a local pub right nextdoor, watched a bit of SNL, and went to bed... In order to prepare for...

Second Day -

• Indukti: An instrumental band from Poland, again, with a monster drummer. Also two guitarits, bass, and violin! Great combo, a good kick in the pants opener for Sunday morning.


• La Maschera Di Cera: Italian prog band, with keys, flute, bass, drums, and singer. Not bad stuff, the singer had the best stage presence of anyone all weekend long. But it didn't really do much for me. We stayed for the full set, but I think that the band could have cut one song out of their set, and it would have kept it much tighter for me over the course of the performance, and I may have come out liking their band better.


• Robert Rich: Ambient music, with some animations displayed on the big screen. I liked it, but it isn't the type of music I need to run out and buy. I closed my eyes and almost dozed off during part of it, which isn't a criticism, like it would be with other bands.


• Pure Reason Revolution: Another good band, kind of Radioheadish, a good sound to them. Joe and I did leave during their set, not because we didn't like them, but again, because food was calling to us.


Joe, waiting for Magma like a good boy!
Mike and Joe, in the theater before the onset of MAGMA!!

• Magma: Ah, the band that Joe and I really came to see, and they did not disappoint. They played two "songs" during their main set, Kohntarkoz, and Ementeht-Re. I *may* be misspelling those names, as, for those of you who don't know, Magma sings in their own created language, called Kobian. The two "encore" songs were Kobia, and Linhs. The band is made up of drums (Christian Vander, who writes the music), 4 vocalists (3 female, 1 male), guitar, bass, keys, and a vibes player. With the second song of their main set, it was about 40 minutes long, and I knew it was coming to the end of it, as it was just too intense musically, and there was nowhere else for them to go but to end the music!

Sorry for the blur in the photos, but you can deal, can't you?

Magma taking bows!

All in all, a great weekend! It was fun to spend time with Joe, and see some great music. I got my Festival program signed by a lot of the artists, they all hung out for the length of the weekend. In fact, the Polish band Indukti sat next to us for a segment of Magma's show.

Another aspect of going to these shows, like attending a Star Trek convention, is that you get to see nerds in their natural habitat. It's good times. Joe and I also have an idea to make our own documentary about the NearFest experience. This little interview can be our calling card for investors!

Mike Yakking at NearFest

NP: Gershwin - An American in Paris