Comments on: Are There Too Many Prog Festivals Now?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:41:10 +0000

I agree, Tim. But I think the problem is getting the bands/music into situations where they have the opportunity to play to audiences beyond their natural constituency, to find out if they have wider appeal or not.
I do feel that once a band is labelled, be it ‘prog’, ‘folk’ or whatever – there’s a large percentage of the audience who dismiss it as ‘not their thing’ without ever giving themselves the chance to hear it. Bands need the opportunity to put themselves in front of such an audience, to have to the chance to make new converts.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:24:00 +0000

I’d go further and suggest that any band that has very limited appeal beyond the hardcore prog fanbase is probably playing derivative and clichÃ©d music that doesn’t really deserve a wider audience.

The same is true of any genre, not just prog.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:11:47 +0000

Sorry to hear about your loses Tim (
I would probably go further and say I’d love to see more small festivals really mix it up – have folk bands, prog bands, rock bands, world music, singer-songwriter, acoustic and electric all on the same bill. I think most prog bands (in fact most bands period) would welcome the chance to play in front of a new audience. One of the biggest problems I see with the prog scene is that though the audience is very loyal, it does tend to be the same people turning up time and time again at gigs – and certainly they’ve been the ones keeping the scene alive over recent years. I’d like to think there are enough open-minded people out there who aren’t wedded to one or two genres and therefore prepared to take the chance to discover something new. It would be great if even a few went to see their favourite folk band and came away humming something by Panic Room (for example). For prog to prosper and develop, it HAS to find ways to widen its audience.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:55:57 +0000

I decided to pass on HRH prog because there were just too many bands, and I assumed they’d both be playing very short sets and suffer from multiple clashes between stages, and go for Y-Prog instead. Then Y-Prog collapsed (probably due to being too close to HRH prog), leaving me considerably out of pocket with non-refundable hotel bookings.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:43:25 +0000

I would agree with Jamie in that I also prefer to see a mix of bands that all offer something a bit different to each other when I go to a festival. Especially when there is more than one stage available. Rock music covers so many different styles. And its certainly the way forward in terms of numbers attending and bands reaching out to a new audience.

Just been looking at the line up for HRH Prog which has been posted on the MA forum. Have to say that the Saturday is very impressive. The Reasoning in the afternoon, then MA/ Hawkwind/ Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash all back too back in the evening. And a clash of bands with The Strawbs and Karnataka both playing on the other stage during the evening. A good mix of prog and classic rock to choose from, new and old. Unfortunately, its too far north for me though.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:23:41 +0000

“Should we instead be encouraging more prog bands with crossover appeal to play more â€œmainstreamâ€ rock, indie or folk festivals, and also encourage some of those festivals to add …. progressively-inclined bands to their lineup?”

I think this is essential if prog is to prosper, though if it happens, it’ll more likely be by evolution than revolution. There is way too much emphasis on ‘genre’ . What we could really do with are more ‘Music’ Festivals where the emphasis is on the quality and variety of the music/bands rather than these ghettoised, genre-specific affairs.