RoSfest 2015 Review

[Magic Mountain]

2015 RoSfest is now over and it was a blast. The festival ran like a well oiled machine. The sound in the Majestic Theater was near perfect from where I sat. It was a very enjoyable weekend even though my musical tastes are starting to drift away from Neo and symphonic prog. The bands:

Friday Night

Heliopolis - They kicked off the festival. While I really enjoyed their instrumental breaks, I was not a fan of the vocal melodies. Grade C

Spock's Beard - This was the show of the weekend. For some reason I have had other plans when they have come around before, so this is the first time I have seen them. I've always heard that they are a great live band, but WOW! Ted Leonard did a great job fronting the band. He had a guitar duel early on with Alan Morse and it was phenomenal. Alan Morse looked a little like Angus Young from AC/DC, and ran around like a maniac. He had a nasty tone (good thing) and played memorable solos. Jimmy Keegan, the drummer (I hope I got his name right), came out and sang Carrie and did a fantastic job. There may have been a tear in the corner of my eye, but you'll never get me to admit it. It was a great set list mixing both new with old. It was a bucket list band for me and they delivered. One of the best shows I've seen in quite some time. Grade A++

Saturday

Strattman - They had some technical problems that took away from their set. They are pretty much sound a lot like Porcupine Tree so I enjoyed their set. I should mention that their cover of Pink Floyd's Echoes was very good. Grade B-

Sonus Umbra - Great show. They took me by surprise and didn't disappoint. All the musicians were stellar. They had a flautist, which was a nice change of pace from the other bands. They had two great singers but the female singer (didn't catch her name) was unbelievable. When the show was over I turned to my friend and said that I wish she had sung "Great Gig In the Sky." Apparently she did at the after party that night which I missed. Grade A

Abel Ganz - This band was just okay. I was expecting more as I genuinely like their albums. What probably turned me against them is that they had the gall to play a country tune at a prog festival Grade C+

Haken - If Spock's Beard was 1A, then Haken were 1B. These 2 bands were heads and shoulders above the other bands, except maybe for Sonus Umbra. I listen to their cds all the time, but live they are so much better. Their music just hit an emotional chord with me. The sound was awesome, every instrument was crystal clear. All the musicians in the band are top notch. My fingers hurt watching the bass player. Another great show on par with Spock's Beard! Grade A++

Sunday

Lo-Fi Resistance - This was the only band that I did not have a cd to listen to before the Festival. Well I came out with both their albums when it was over. I was pleasantly surprised and was a nice band for a Sunday morning. Randy MacStine, the leader, did a lot of name dropping but mentioned that he will be releasing a trio album later in the year featuring him, Nick D'Virgilio, and Jonas Reingold under the moniker The Fringe. I'm pretty excited. Grade B+

Synesthesia - Surprise band again. I liked their debut cd, but man were they good. They were very young but were excellent musicians, which made it more impressive. They did the twin guitar attack very well. Really had a lot of energy and loved the reception from the crowd. One of the reasons that make these festivals worthwhile is the reaction of the band when they get an audience of true music lovers. Grade A-

Glass Hammer - Everybody loves this band. I buy their albums thinking there must be something wrong with me, but the albums leave me cold, pretty much like their set. Now in their defense, by the 9th band things start to get a little samey. I enjoyed the keyboard player, but the singer not so much. On PE you will find different opinions. I guess you can't like everyone. A professional performance. Grade C-

Enchant - Ted Leonard from Spock's Beard pulled double duty and fronted this band also. Again, was not really feeling it, but this band had some stiff competition with the Friday and Saturday headliners. A decent set, but not memorable. Grade C+

The only bummer for the weekend is that my friend who had a ticket fell off his roof the weekend before and snapped his femur. He was really looking forward to going. He has gone to the last 6 with me, so he was sorely missed. My wife is a trooper, she slept through almost every show but she came and had fun tailgating between acts. Can't wait until next year.

Karl

 

[lasercd]

Nice report. How is your friend doing? Sounds awful.

 

[Magic Mountain]

Thanks Ken. He is doing as well as can be expected. He is a dry wall finisher so any time out of work is lost income for him, which has him a little depressed. However, physically he has begun the healing process. What is amazing is that he has no cast. It was a complete break and he had metal rods inserted, but they want him to start putting weight on the leg right away. I tell him how lucky he is. He had a series of ladders set up on his roof to get to different parts. He rigged something that leveled the ladder, and had no trouble with the set-up. However, the part of the roof he was working on doesn't get the full sun so may have been moist. Well the ladder slipped out from under him as he was descending, he hit the roof on the deck and the force of the landing somersaulted him off and he landed on his feet on the ground, snapping the femur. If he landed on his head it obviously would have been much worse.