One Band Down, More Time For Everyone Else
After a barnstorming first day of progressive rock at Prog for Peart, Northcourt, we were ready for another round. Another gloriously sunny day; thankfully the bands were inside away from the big round thing in the sky (I am Scottish and just burn).
Early doors we had been told that due to health issues one band weren’t going to be able to play. As it was just a little late to find another artist again, the festival organisers, along with the stage crew, the streaming crew (the event was also screened for folks that couldn’t make it through health or emergencies), made alternative plans. All the bands up to the headliners would get another 15 minutes to play. Now that meant the first couple of bands were able to play an hour rather than 45 minutes (and the hour sets became an hour 15), so it meant everyone got the same amount of music they paid for. Being prog, of course, some of the bands could do an extra song😆 (or 2).
One of the things I noticed throughout was even for the early bands the room was busy. It wasn’t a case of folks wanting to see just for the headliner; the fans were up for all the bands. No wonder as the quality throughout had been excellent, and I expected that to remain the same today. We started at midday with the first band of the day… (Oh and please feel free to point out any errors I might have made in my review underneath, thanks)
Forgotten Gods (Making Memories)
The band was local to the area, it seems based in the Oxford area (although some had obviously moved there from elsewhere). The 5-piece
comprised Mark Cunningham (taking off his organiser hat and into his performer hat) on vocals, Steve Harris on guitar, Michael Kentish on bass, Ian Edwards keys, and Matthew Mohangee on drums.
From the very start I noted the phrase “neo-prog” and in at least 2 or 3 places the band Pallas, Floyd and to confuse the reader, Suede. 2 of them partly due to some of the vocal stylings. As I like all those, I was more than happy. The band said they were more or less running through their only album, Memories,with a couple of tracks switched around.
Mark explained the background of the songs, had a good way with engaging with crowd comments and heckles (it is that kind of event, no egos and everyone having fun together), and he was also able to raise some more serious issues such as cancer and getting regular health checks having had a scare himself in recent times.
An Emotional Statement
They opened with an epic called “Pillars Of Petra” which started with keys, synths, effects which hinted at the Middle East. There are a couple of places called Petra (Corinthia and Jordan) so the music captured those area. Lyrics about philosophers and knowledge seem to fit the piece too. I think the Pallas connection is that Mark has a similar vibe and inflections to Paul Mackie who sang for them a few years ago. Apparently a lot of the songs are inspired on long bike rides like “Alive” where the guitar is hard rock and the keys (including the solo) tip the track into “prog”.
Bouncing
Steve was bouncing around the stage during this as well rocking out having fun. “Everybody’s Hero” has a hint of 90s alternative or indie, in that I heard a hint of Brett Anderson from Suede. I could see why they do this one live. It has that big chorus thing going on. I laughed when there was an odd sound going on, and it was traced to the keys. Now they had said how well Ian was doing previously on his first gig with the band, and when Mark reminded us, someone shouted from the crowd, “and the last” only to be asked from the stage “who made you a band member?” causing laughter.
The most beautiful moment of the set was “Vigil,” a song about his mum who passed away when he was very young and dedicated to his brother in the crowd. With “Amazing Grace” as an intro on guitar, some military drum beats, the song was a powerful and truly emotional statement. Utterly gorgeous. The whole set was superb, and a great introduction to day 2!
Setlist: Pillars Of Petra// Alive// Everybody’s Hero// Vigil// Alone// Rose And Pink
Purchase Album Bandcamp // Official Website // Official Facebook
Hamasaari (Prog From France)
Hamasaari came from France to play their very modern-sounding progressive rock, which merged into metal at points. Definitely the youngest band on the bill but more than worthy of their positioning upon it. I have the second album and love it. They were a band I was really wanting to see and had high hopes for. I wanted them not only to be as good as I felt they are but to hopefully go down well with the audience.
The band are comprised of Jordan Jupin (vocals/guitar), his brother Jonathan Jupin (bass), Axel Vaumoron (guitars) and Élie Chéron (drums). 2 of the band are in their bare feet, perhaps to quote from Ronnie Van Zant of Skynyrd they like to feel the stage “burn“? Certainly helps, I imagine, when it comes to their pedals and dials in front of them. One thing you notice right away from song one, “Different Time,” is how active they are, throwing themselves around, spinning, twirling, and kicking, especially Jordan, who was a great focal point for the audience.
Modern Sounding Prog With Great Pacing
Musically, there are strong elements of Leprous; his high range is very like Einar Solberg, Riverside or Soen in the pacing and dramatics, and some of the power and riffage of Meshuggah. There are classic elements too; pay attention, and you can hear Floyd in there.
“The Wild Ones” had a lovely breakdown to just one guitar only before they all booted back in for a rifftastic ending. Talk about blowing any cobwebs away from camping overnight! “Lost In Nights” was lush; their choices at times when it comes to guitar lines and melodies are delightful and very pleasing on the ear.
“Frames” was explained as a song about “not knowing what is real and fake these days,” which I think we could all understand. Even whilst Jordan was speaking, his brother Jonathan was playing funky bass lines in tuning up. The entertainment/music hardly ever stopped with them. “White Pinnacles” introduced not only the first growls of the weekend but the festival ever. No one ran away! Heaviest of their tracks, the switches between brutal and melodic were tight and showed off their musical chops, only to follow up with “Bleak,” the most mellow and atmospheric track. Great pacing all round.
Not Living In The Past
One final point is the interaction between the band and audience. It was so good. The audience really warmed to the band, and you could see how much it meant to the guys to be playing to such a receptive crowd. They even graciously accepted some folks’ attempts to speak French not taking offence but seeing the good nature it was being done in. The reception at the end was heartwarming. I felt it and was really happy for them. I can only imagine how their father felt watching on. Good to see Prog For Peart attendees are not just wanting to live in the past but up for embracing new sounds and artists. What a moment in time!
Setlist: Different Time// The Wild Ones// Lost In Nights// Frames// White Pinnacles// Bleak// Our Heads Spinning// Prognosis
Purchase Music Via Bandcamp // Official Website // Official Facebook
Long Earth (A Mix Of Folk And Symphonic)
Once again I felt a feeling of “how does the next band follow THAT?” Simply by being different to the previous band and on this occasion by
playing a great set of old school style progressive music with sometimes a jaunty upbeat folk-rock sound mixed with the ethereal.
The band from Glasgow (and a singer from the Netherlands) are comprised of Mike Baxter (keys), Kenny McCabe (drums, b vocals), Renaldo McKim (guitars, b vocals), David McLachlan (bass) and Maaike Siegerist (lead vocals) focussed on their brand new album Towards The Sky playing all of it (I believe) and throwing in extra from a previous album due to having more time to play!
The opening song “Seahorses” made me imagine what Big Country might have sounded like if they had turned prog rock. Only for a few moments, though. The piece had a number of sections which went from heavier to very airy.
“Breathless” made me think a bit of Nightwish with its mix of folk and symphonic, and Maaike sounded lovely on it. “Artificial Child” was another song this weekend to touch on AI and modern technology. From what I made of the words, it sounded like they were asking what will happen should this technology fully take hold? (A question I ask regularly, if loads of jobs are going to be done by AI what are humans going to do for work? If no one has work, where does the tax money come from to pay for folks who can’t find work? Yes I do worry about the future with this.)
A First In Style This Weekend
With “Colours” I again spotted a touch of Big Country heading into 80s Marillion. It opens all delicate and pretty then changed half way through. There are plenty of keys and synth sounds (there are plenty throughout) sometimes taking the lead (some Mark Kelly mixed with say the keys from Eloy) and at other points adding flavours or textures rounding out the sound nicely. There were plenty drum fills on this, and it was quite bouncy and rocking in parts.
My favourite piece was “First Casualty” which David (the bassist tended to do the talking) explained was about war correspondents, a very dangerous job at the best of time but as he said now in places they are directly being targeted for reporting what is happening. This took some diversion from the rest of the material, turning into jazz and funk; no one had come close to doing that this weekend. I noticed Maaike making crying notes, perhaps to hint at the cries of those who are being killed or their families that have lost them to the war. Really interesting and thoughtful. A highlight of the weekend for me.
Great Crowd Interaction
Like all the bands they were able to chat with the audience, bantering back and forth whether putting themselves down, “only second time playing the new album, we will get better” or saying that his wife liked the CD and when he said to her “but you have seen us live” she remarked “I prefer the album” leading David to remark ” if you want to hear this better, buy a CD” whilst laughing. Totally engaging.
Setlist: Seahorses// Breathless// Artificial Child// Wanderlust// Colours// Monochrome// First Casualty// Moon & Mars// The Astronomer// Moscow (not played although on list)
Purchase Album Via Bandcamp // Official Website // Official Facebook
Jump (Showmanship)
Starting the evening session were Jump, a band that have been around for over 30 years making music with thought-provoking lyrics. I admit to already being a big fan of the band (in fact I reviewed their last album on this site when it came out) and expected a good show.
As always, singer John Dexter Jones had things to say about the state of the world and explained a little about the songs and ethos of the band. The music is supplied by Steve “Ronnie“ Rundle on lead guitars, Steve Hayes on guitar, Mo on keys (a lady of mystery) and Andy Faulkner on bass is a mix of rock and prog.
Even they joke about whether they are “prog” or not. Luckily the audience don’t care about how prog it is, it is beautifully played thoughtful music. John always cuts a figure onstage as he is over 6 foot and wears shades and is fairly animated. Right from the start, we are told “this is a song about the world today” to which they went into “Don’t Be Sad“. John pretends he is wiping tears away; Ronnie is throwing shapes with his guitar. Plenty of visual stimulation to enjoy too.
“The Heroes” a song about those who never give up on their dreams had a wonderful solo from Ronnie on it and John‘s delivery of the lyric “this is what we planned” is spat out with venom. The ending with John standing still and tall to the bow to the crowd at the end just testified to the showmanship.
Wonderful Storytelling
The 10 song set stretched through a number of albums from 1995’s The Myth Of Independence to their latest “Breaking Point” which came out in 2020. Before “The King” from the latest album John explained where the idea came from and it was from the expenses claim scandal in the UK when some MP tried to claim taxpayer money for the upkeep of his moat! Really! As he said, Jump songs have had a theme about them, and that is the poor being shat upon by the rich and powerful. I liked the sort of sped-up hoedown music at the end which had the crowd moving.
“Whistle At The Ghost” was originally, he said, called “The Baker Of Baghdad” and hadn’t been played in a few years. The lyrics include (if I caught them correctly) “soon I’ll be rich and you’ll all be dead” only for the guy to realise that there is no one to sell to and he ends up with nothing but sitting in the middle of ruins. “The Sniper” had an urgency about it and a longer solo than I remember from the album. I could talk about every song, but I won’t as this would be too long. What I will mention, though, is “Down 3 Times,” which he explained was about a great uncle who was sunk 3 times whilst in the navy! I love the line “shook the Devil’s hand” only to come back up. Wonderful storytelling.
Audience Interaction
Final point is the level of banter and laughter. I loved how when John was heckled with a putdown he repeated the comment for folks watching on the stream as he thought it funny enough for everyone to hear. Not all artists/singers have that attitude. It was a result of him requesting the sound engineer to lower the guitars in his monitor and he quipped he was moaning like a “big girl’s blouse” and someone shouted “you are wearing one” which caused plenty of laughter. He used that as a point to mention the merchandise, ” buy some so we can buy a yacht and live in the Cayman Islands,” he quipped. Great entertainment whilst supplying sharp intelligent lyrics about the world!
Setlist: Don’t Be Sad// The Heroes// The King// Whistle At The Ghost// The Sniper// Pressed Man// The City// Down 3 Times// Keep The Blues// Free At Last
Purchase Albums Via Bandcamp // Official Website // Official Facebook
Also Eden (Dramatic Tension)
Another band that I had seen around but never actually fully checked out (I know, but there is a lot of music out there) so I was excited to see
what they would be like. They are a 5-piece with Huw Lloyd-Jones on vocals, Ian Hodson keys and b vocals, Simon Rogers guitars (as far as I can tell they are all original members, if wrong hopefully someone will post underneath the article), Graham Lane bass and finally Guy Monk on drums.
Simon switched regularly between acoustic and electric giving us a nice selection of moods. The band played all of their new EP Holy Books And Credit Cards Pt 1: Promises and in fact opened with the title track. It kicked in with drums and a great deal of energy, but being progressive music it went through phases, dropping down at points. There was (in my view) hints of Simple Minds in the pounding drums and anthemic style vocal phrasing.
They went from the latest to apparently the first song they ever wrote together “Between The Lines” from 2006 I believe. This was full of dramatic tension, keys, synths, and effects from the start. There were some lovely piano melodies and a very lovely soaring guitar solo.
New Songs Impress Greatly
They then played 2 tracks that made up one piece. “Countless Millions” pts 1 and 2. Huw explained the story was written after watching the news where there was a story being told by the broadcaster whilst a separate story rolled underneath. It is interesting to see where writers get their ideas from. The news was telling of an astronaut up in space looking down at the earth; underneath it was war and slaughter. He wondered if the astronaut could see all the horrors below would he really want to come home?
Pt 1 was mellow, very reflective and retrained with Guy playing his drums like bongos with his hands, not walloping them, just making gentle noise, Ian was playing some little piano runs, adding colour and texture, the whole thing was beautiful and elegant. Pt 2 was still starting on acoustic with folks finding the rhythm to clap along. The bass came in and the percussion was on maracas. Then it turned, drum fills and heavy riffs. The tension of the start being released. My notes simply called it “superb”. It was.
One of the more moving parts of the set was the song all about and dedicated to Huw‘s wife, who is a painter. He explained how jealous he is of her skill and talked about how she can make something out of nothing so well. “A Painter’s Hands” was a love song and a song of praise for a talent. It was genteel, acoustic for the most part, only turning when we were hit with a mighty fine guitar solo.
Not Doing That Again
Again it was such an excellent set and performance that I am just scratching the surface of (not for the first time over these reviews). Huw in particular was up for chat and banter with the audience. There were plenty of laughs, impressive for a band that claimed “we are not known for happy lyrics“. Whether it was slagging Graham for being last onstage, his mistake he told us about of singing the first line of “Suppers Ready” at a gig between songs in Holland and being forced to do the whole thing as the audience joined in and didn’t stop or calling someone a “drunken bum” heckling, they entertained and kept the audience enthralled. Top-notch stuff!
Setlist: Promises// Between The Lines// Countless Millions pt 1// Countless Millions pt 2// Scented Candle Corridor// A Painter’s Hand// Skimming Stones// Photographs
Purchase Albums Via Bandcamp // Official Website // Official Facebook
Final Comments
I have to confess that I got caught up chatting with old friends I hadn’t seen for ages so missed the headliner for the night. Plus, I was actually happy to sit down and not have to think either. I take notes throughout and am always trying to make sure I catch things correctly so I do find I get pretty knackered by the end of writing up a festival. My apologies to Mostly Autumn.
I can honestly say I had an absolutely brilliant time at Prog For Peart 2026. Every band impressed me, some I was kicking myself over having not checked out before. There was plenty variety in the bands, yet they all fall under “prog” by varying degrees and the standard of musicianship and songwriting was exceptional. There were plenty of laughs, and the festival itself was incredibly friendly with folks happy to have a natter with each other and as a first-timer I was made very welcome.
A huge thank you to Mark Cunningham and his team who organize this event but also was very kind to me as a reviewer. Thanks also to the stage crew who never gave me a hard time even whilst pinching their seats or getting in their way (sure I did some points by accident).
The event will take place again next year in the same venue July 16 and 17 next year.
Purchase Tickets For 2027 HERE // Prog For Peart Website // Facebook
Check out my other articles and reviews here. TheNewWorldMan
