PROG FOR PEART 2026 – Abingdon, Day 1 – ( Festival Review)

                                                                         About The Festival

Prog For Peart festival was founded in 2020 after the awful news of the death of drummer Neil Peart from a form of brain cancer. Mark Cunningham (from Northcourt, the venue where the festival is held) thought it would be good to create an event in honour of him whilst making money for research into the particular cancer which sadly took his life. The first was held in 2021.

The festival has around 14 original progressive rock bands playing over 2 days inside the venue. The venue is part of Abingdon Football Club, so the campers are pitched up on the grass sections that go around the actual football pitch itself. The showers are in the 2 changing rooms for the teams (gents use the home team’s and the ladies the away dressing room). Now this was my first time visiting the festival and I was lucky enough to be allowed to review the event, hence this article! I also want to point out that of the 14 original named acts (there were a couple of alterations due to health issues) I had only seen 2 and many I knew very little about, so I came into this fresh and curious.

Word of caution. I came pretty much into the festival not knowing many bands or their music. Some kindly gave me setlists (if they had them) and I have tried to match my scribbled notes to those. Being prog, sometimes 2 or 3 songs are actually only one which is a longer. This can throw things off. So if any artist or fan reads something and I have it wrong, please do post a note underneath. I try to do my best but am aware I don’t always get things 100%. Thank you!

Pre-Festival Entertainment

I arrived with my mate by car (he kindly picked me up en route) and got set up on the Thursday evening. Now a new addition it seems to the event is some acoustic music in the back bar on the Thursday night just for those camping for the event. I sadly missed the first act but did catch a section of the second which was Guy Manning (Damanek and The Tangent) and Simon Rogers (who played with Also Eden later in the festival). I entered the room as they started the song “Margaret Montgomery” which immediately had me engaged listening. Storytelling about a historical character with humour and pathos.

“Songs Of Faith” (a correction, not “Night Voices” as previously mentioned here) was an excellent, epic-sounding track based on a very strange concept about a spaceman stuck in space with no way to get home and someone on earth who hears voices and somehow they connect. It had a great lilting chorus, mellow, sweet. They ended with a fun song “Just Like Bob Dylan” which is a plea not to have sing like Bob Dylan which incorporated a section of “Lay Lady Lay” adding to the quirky humour of the song.  Relaxed, chilled fun that entertained very nicely indeed.

Guy Manning Official Bandcamp  //  Damanek Official Bandcamp

Friday: The Main Event Starts

                                                                                          The Book Of Revelations: (Humour Belongs In Prog)

Kicking things of were a 5-piece outfit from London (for some originally Sheffield) The Book Of Revelations with Gerard Freeman (vocals), Mark Worledge (guitar), Paul Blackwell (bass), Chris Glover (drums) and Rob Emmins (keys). On first listen they reminded me heavily of 70s Genesis but there was more to them that that.

They opened with “The Hypocratic Oaf” (their titles are very playful if not silly, which is perfectly fine by me), which is definitely 70s-style prog, lots of changes, bombast, with wacky stylings and lyrics. The band look to be have fun with Mark in particular almost doing a mix of waltzing and ballet at one point. Gerard apologised for struggling a little as he had a horrible sore throat but he coped really well. I did notice that some of the songs (which I don’t really know) he performed almost as spoken word which, with their storytelling style, worked perfectly well, and from what he said some of the songs may well have been in lower key as well.

I was given a setlist (thanks guys) but with some of the songs stopping and starting, shifting and changing I am not really sure where some of my notes fall in accordance to titles. One song (might have been “Early Years“) went very reggae for a bit, very bouncy and happy sounding. They played about 3 brand new songs including one called “Not Even A Bus, I’m A Tram” which if my notes are correct had some more lilting and quieter sections. One thing that was lovely was that Paul took to his mic to talk a little about what Neil Peart meant to him, and you could feel the emotion as he did so. Lovely tribute. As for the band they sounded great, they are old school prog with humour. Excellent start to the day getting the crowd engaged and enjoying themselves.

Setlist as given to me: Hypocratic Oaf// Survival (Of The Wittest)// Revenge (is sweet, so Slayeth The Lord)// Early Years// Louie And Josie *(not a song)//  Prophecy// Dced Baga* (not a song)// Not Even A Bus// * Taken from the setlist but these were notes rather than song titles. Silly me!

Official Website  

                                                                                           The Kindred Spirit Band: (A Mix Of Folk And Jazz)

One of the early things I noticed about PFP festival is they allow all sorts of progressive music to be a part of the weekend. We opened with some bombast, long epic 70s-style and then switch directly to a mix of folk prog mixed at times with jazz fusion. 2 bands and both completely different yet in the same grouping. The joy of prog!

KSB are made up of Elaine Samuels (vocals/guitar), Piers Hogg (lead guitar), Stevie Mitchell (flute, saxophone, b vocals), Keith Buckman (bass, b vocals) and Paul Austin (drums). They played 6 tracks and 5 were from the latest album, “The Journey Within“. The first song, “The Machine” touched on a subject matter that reappeared a few times in the festival, that being modern technology. One of the first lines I spotted was “your information’s ours” which is very true. We have kind of given all our info away. The whole song seemed to be a critique of modern first-world attacking issues of the day as well the isolation felt as we are attached to machines.

Mirrors

“House Of Mirrors” was a mix of jazzy moments with some interspersed riffage and a heavier section in the middle. I really liked the sort of dual thing going on between sax and guitar, now I know what Priest would sound like if they became folk rock😂!  “Lost” had a lovely flute opening and turned into a fun folk workout meets some carnival-type music. Quite theatrical stuff. Loved the whole set and the use of instruments like the sax and flute were used to great effect. They also had folks dancing and swaying along with a couple of clap-alongs which started naturally.

Setlist: The Machine// House Of Mirrors// Into The Woods// Lost// Rise Again// The Lake

 Purchase Albums Website // Bandcamp

Official Website

                                                                    Malcolm Galloway (A Late Addition)

Sadly one of the bands that were due to play (King Of Sweden) had a member who was told in no uncertain terms he was not allowed to fly due to a health issue so had to pull out. 2 of the guys from the band did come over just to chat and meet folks and enjoy the weekend regardless. From all at CGCM, we wish him well!

This meant a very quick change of plans and Malcolm (Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate) stood in having jumped a train to get here. He played a set of personal numbers, some of his band’s songs and some covers and finished the set joined by 2 other musicians who hadn’t previously played together (Buzz Elliott and Chris Taylor from The Gift). What a set it was. He started on piano, shifted to acoustic guitar and regaled us with some stories with a gentle self-deprecating sense of humour proving to be utterly engaging throughout. He spoke of his health issues and mental health issues and explained his songs about them. Malcolm joked often about “unhappy songs” yet his set was uplifting and fun.

He took quite a few song requests so the set was made up on the spot. On one occasion he said the song shouted out (“Broken But Still Standing“) hadn’t been played for a long time so he sang solo until he could get a handle on the guitar work then let that slide in when he had it. At one point he was so far back from the mike belting out notes that went on and on. He reminded me greatly of Devin Townsend at that point, as well as others. Great range and power. He also went quite punk. I noted down Billy Bragg‘s name at one point as on one song “Just Another Thing” he spat the words out a hell of a rate of knots. His cover of “Creep” was haunting and individual. I could write a second paragraph about the set (I loved it that much), but as I want to make sure every band gets a good mention, I will stop here!

Setlist (roughly): In the flesh pt 2// Another Brick In The Wall pt 1, 3, 2// Century Rain// Parallel Lives// imtiredandeverythinghurts// Creep//  My Clockwork Heart// Just Another Thing// Broken But Still Standing// Going Down// (band jam) Wish You Were Here// Stairway To Heaven

Purchase Malcolm’s Music Via Bandcamp //    Hats Off Music Bandcamp

                                                                      The Gift: (Great Choruses, Yes It’s Prog Still!)

Another new band for me. A 5-piece from London who played a large section of their latest album which singer Mike Morton explained was a concept about life from birth through teens, mid life crisis, end of life and death. They opened with a musical piece (Overture“) where they showed off their chops. This was pretty hard-rocking, almost crossing into prog metal (brief hints of Dream Theater) material. Well constructed, with both the keys of Eliot Minn and the guitar of Cristiano Tortoioli allowed to shine with solos.

“Coming Down To Land” started beautifully, shimmering keys, with Chris Taylor on drums playing with brushes, sweeping across his kit. With a gentle vocal like the music itself, it built up slowly. “Baby Blue Eyes” I loved. What a chorus. Opening like a Faith No More track (for a tiny moment) this was a heavy rocking track with that chorus I mentioned. Very memorable. The keys very much played a large part of the intensity in the verses. Pop, rock, prog merged in one song. “Sweet Bird Of Youth” borrowed the opening of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” before it headed in a completely different direct. Again there was a pop element to this, infectious, playful and reminding me of “Davy’s On The Road Again” by Manfred Mann at one point. I even noted both Ricky Warwick (acoustic)  and Ginger Widheart at his most easy-going. Who says prog can’t be fun?

Laughter

I laughed when Mike told a story about trying to get people to move forward into the space that folks tend to leave at the front. He said one time he said the first person to move he would buy them a pint. 7 folks moved right up immediately. He said that was an “expensive mistake” so he didn’t do the same deal here! “Evensong”  a song about losing your memory and possibly dementia was beautiful and haunting with just piano, vocal and flute as supplied by Stevie from Kindred Spirit. You could have heard a pin drop. They finished with a section of the first album “Awake And Dreaming” (parts 9-12), which was quite heavy and about the futility of war so as meaningful today as when they wrote it. Wonderful storytelling mixing prog and pop with hints of jazz.

Setlist: Overture// Coming Down To Land// Baby Blue Eyes// Sweet Bird Of Youth// Tours Sincerely// Evensong// Love Is Where We’re From// Awake & Dreaming 9-12

Purchase Music Via Bandcamp  // Band’s Facebook Page

                                                                      Karmamoi: (Beating The Odds In Triumph)

Sadly this Italian band were hit by gremlins. My word, as one thing seemed sorted another played up. Nobody’s fault just equipment issues. A connection that wasn’t right followed by keys problems and effects issues. It looked like for a while they would end up having a far too short set, but the crew and the next band organized things for a hopeful VERY quick change over and the band got longer than expected. Perhaps not the full allowance of an hour but still close to 45 minutes.

Thankfully things did come together for them as they had travelled a distance. There was a little nerves at the start but when they heard the reception at the end of the first song they settled beautifully. They had projections as well so the set was a visual as well as aural one. Their sound is more modern, with synths, voiceovers, and heading into electronica.

Vibe

I didn’t catch all the song titles here but part of the joy of the set was the vibe, they created another world in atmosphere (hints of Tangerine Dream or say Eloy without a doubt). I found myself immersed in the soundscapes they created. Some of the music was heavy by prog standards with lots of intensity and some very strong vocals. The band has great pacing building up mood and atmosphere in songs like “Eternal Mistake” and “Zealous Man” which featured female vocals pre-recorded and some mighty fine guitar soloing.

There was a fun moment near the end as the crew were telling the band they had 15 minutes added and the band talked about 1 song and they kept saying “not 5 minutes, 15 minutes” for the band to say “yes that is one song“. Prog eh? The band literally turned what looked like a disaster with all the issues into triumph as they pulled in and held the audience fully in their hands by their musical performance. What a result!

Setlist (as best as picked up) Your Name// Not On Your Side// Eternal Mistake// We Are Going Home// ??//  Zealous Man

Purchase Music Via Bandcamp  //  Official Website  // Official Facebook

Red Bazar: (Hard Rocking Fun With Prog Musicians)

Now this took me by surprise. I had a little listen before the festival and thought this band sounded pretty damned good, hard rocking, prog-tinged, kick-ass music. On the day I heard Peter Jones from Tiger Moth Tales was with them, I thought as a guest. I hadn’t realised what I heard vocally WAS Peter Jones. I had no idea he could do harsher rockier vocals. Is there anything he can’t do I wonder. They sound-checked with “Ace Of Spades” with Peter channelling his inner Lemmy leaving me floored.

His opening gambit to the crowd was “Prepare to bow your heads” as they started with “Temple“. His delivery even included a slight growl. Peter informed us he had sprained his ankle so would stay seated for the performance on the keys, he was still rocking out though. The second track was very bluesy, not sure of it’s title (it might be a new one?) but think it might have been “Dance A While In Fire“.

As it was a festival to Neil Peart, they threw in a cover of “Tom Sawyer” which went down very well. “Smokescreen” was more a hard rock, leaning into metal song with some prog leanings. There was screams and howls vocally as well and I appreciated the guitar solo on this one by Andy Wilson.

Crowd

It was time for the crowd to join in vocally to a one word song, that being “Liar” (not the Queen song). Peter pointed out we could think of who we wanted whilst shouting it out, saying there are “plenty of choices to think off” which caused laughter and a lot of agreement. It had a commercial edge (could easily be a single) and some soulful vocals. “City And The Stars” was more what I expect of the singer, more progressive sounding, classical vibes, a storytelling piece. Hints of Genesis et al. Beautiful music with echo on the guitar at points.

“High Velocity” was our chance to “headbang” and some did. There was even hints of industrial metal, but only slightly. The whole set was a joy, I would call most of it hard rock played by prog musicians with the odd prog track. It didn’t matter watching great players having fun rocking out and working a crowd is what festivals should be about. They even chucked in a riotous version of “Burn” by Purple where Peter did his very best Glenn Hughes! I noticed that bassist (one of the more colourful band members of the day with his multicoloured hair) Roman Dudovskij also did vocals through the set too and they matched beautifully. They came, they saw, they booted our arses leaving a “follow that” to the headliners. How would they cope???

Setlist: Temple// Dance?// Tom Sawyer// Smokescreen// Liar// City In The Stars// High Velocity// When The World Burns// The Parting// Burn 

Purchase Music Via Bandcamp  //  Official Website  //  Official Facebook

                                                                     Magenta: (How Wrong Could One Man Be?)

This is a band that I have known about but never quite got around to checking out. For some reason I thought they were AOR-style prog, not something I am a massive fan of. The five piece are fronted by a barefoot singer in Christina Booth who dances and prances and smiles constantly. Chris Fry (I believe) the guitarist shows he can also dance and have fun by also getting in amongst the audience on a number of occasions. The whole band seem to be up for a party. That dear readers is what we got. A folky, rocking party.

Chris regularly floats between acoustic and electric guitar on various tracks. There is definitely a folk vibe running through much of the material but there is enough beef and power to make sure it ROCKS as well. The musicianship on “Gluttony” was glorious with plenty of interplay between guitar and keys and it had some decent riffage as well. At one point we had Chris on his knees rocking out. Within the first 2 songs I had realised the error of my ways.

Pearl

This band are bloody great (live). “Pearl” was sumptuous full of heartfelt emotion as a song about watching a love one slowly die should be. With guitar solos that capture the heart and soul and match all the sensitivity of the lyrics. “Demons” had a great guitar tone for me, slightly evil sounding. Reminded me of something from the 70s but buggered if I can work it out! During the song Christina ends up in the crowd, pinching someone’s seat having a laugh with the person and later Chris is out there high fiving everyone and putting his guitar over someone seated almost going “come on, you play this” causing loads of laughs and cheers. All the while Dan(?) is bashing his bass against his knees.

Did I mention my regrets yet about not paying attention to these folks? Once again there is so much I could type about this band. I am aware however of length. There was plenty of interaction too with heckles responded too. For instance some of the crowd being called “clones” of the keyboardist Rob Reed due to his grey hair. Other highlights were the “White Witch” sections where Chris was hammering down a great riff and Rob was doing something different underneath which sounded glorious. “Man And Machine” had both the band and audience dancing. The band are so active and visual. They used every inch of the stage as far as I could tell. They finished with a singalong “I Will Find You” which had most folks joining in. An absolute fabulous ending to more or less the perfect day of a festival.

Setlist: The Lovers// Gluttony// Pearl// The Empress// Demons// The White Witch 1 – 5// Man And Machine// The Warning// Pride// The Lizard King// I Will Find You

Purchase Music ViaBandcamp  // Official Website  //  Official Facebook

Great variety, amazing musicianship (seriously, some of it was jaw-dropping), a crowd receptive and eager to support the bands and bands who wanted to raise the bar at every level made this one hell of a terrific day. With excellent organization too, the whole event was laid out nicely. Room to chill between bands, and a food stall that served good food and gave reasonable portions for the price. My first full day at Prog For Peart was superb, and I could hardly wait for day 2!

Stay tuned!

Check out my other reviews and articles here. TheNewWorldMan