Summer’s End 2010 Day 1
Summer’s End Festival is a progressive rock festival taking place in the small town of Lydney, Gloucestershire. This year’s festival kicked off on Friday 8 October with performances from The Resonance Association, Tinyfish and The Defence of the Realm.
First up I would like to give kudos to Lambsie, Huw and the rest of the SE team for putting on a fantastic festival.
Originally Huw and his new band, Unto Us, was to open the first day, but due to the keyboardist unavailability, the honor fell to The Resonance Association.
The Resonance Association call themselves a post-ambient electronic rock band. I like what I hear but feel it become a bit repetitive as the set goes on. The band consists of Daniel Vincent and Dominic Hemy both on guitar. The rest of the sound-scape consisted of triggered loops and the sound coming from what can only be described as a magic wand 
Both performers are accomplished guitarists but the overall performance is a little flat. Next on stage is the magnificent Tinyfish.
I am a huge Tinyfish fan and along with with several other members of Tinyfish’s forum, The Fishtank, we greet the band by chanting “Bangin’ Metal” … it’s a long story.
The broken chords of “The Loose Ends” fills the air and accompanies Robert Ramsay as he walks on stage for his first spoken word recital of the set.
Spoken word is a lost art form in progressive rock. Yes, there are bands who play pre-recorded speeches etc as part of their act, but it is not the same. Robert Ramsay’s performances are right up there with the best guitar solos. They add another dimension to Tinyfish and once you have experienced the word magickian you will never be quite the same again.
The audience is ripped out of their enthrallment as the thumping of Leon Camfield’s drums and Paul Worwood’s bass introduce what has to be one of the band’s best guitar riffs, courtesy of Jim Sanders, in “Rainland”.
The band is clearly on form and are feeding off the audience’s admiration. Even the normally sedate in manner Jim goes into rock god mode.
Singer/Frontman Simon Godfrey has a sticker saying keyboard on the headstock of his guitar, and using his guitar-synth Simon makes the audience forget that Tinyfish does not have a keyboardist. Let us face the facts, not all progressive rock is about 10 minute-keyboard-solos anymore. Tinyfish builds on the best of past and drags prog kicking and shouting into the 21th Century.
Tinyfish is famous for the on-stage banter and when a slight technical problem threatens to ruin their set, the band reacts by … telling a joke.
I could go on for hours saying how good this band’s performance was but the best way of communicating their merit is to advice you to go to their website and buy “The Big Red Spark”. I am sure you will come to the same conclusion as I. They are the new gods of Progressive Rock.
Next it was time for us to play our part in the Defence of the Realm. We were transported back to the blitz courtesy of Jem Godfrey (Frost), John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost) and Pete Trewavas (Marillion, Transatlantic) and new boy Craig Blundell.
After the technician finally hits the right button, the Defence of the Realm enters the stage to the sound of air raid sirens and searchlights. And what a stage it is. There is camouflage covering Jem’s keyboard and sandbags dotted across the floor in strategic places.
Motivational posters reminds us that “Careless prog costs lives” and to “Keep Calm and Mellotron”. The band has put a lot of effort into the theme for tonight’s gig and there even is suitable merchandise available from two rather spiffing female officers.
After a humorous intro the band gets the crowd going with the excellent track “The Dividing Line”. These professionals have the audience in the palm of their hands from the start. Especially John Mitchell with some blinding solos.
John and Pete seem like they play together every day, they are like a house on fire, creating a magical atmosphere. Craig Blundell is a revelation behind the drums, where has he been hiding, and Jem is overseeing it all as a general behind his keyboard.
As with Tinyfish, the Defence of the Realm set also has a lot of banter, but I feel this worked better during the recent “An Esoteric Evening with …” shows.
Overall a very good gig from some of the best progressive rockers around. My only wish was that I was more familiar with the material, I think I would have enjoyed it even more. Time to call my bank manager to arrange a bank loan so I can buy the back-catalogue of the bands these musicians have played in.
In summary the opening day of Summer’s End 2010 was brilliant. What more could a prog fan ask for? The only thing that springs to mind is … Killer Pigs!
[video:http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhtagn/sets/72157625143639640/show/]