THIS YEAR’S PROGRESSIVE NATION TOUR NOT AS ROCKIN’ AS THE LAST
Friday, February 13th, 2009 at 2:57pm by Vince Neilstein
When Mike Portnoy announced that there would be a 2009 edition of last year’s bonerrific Progressive Nation Tour — which featured Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and Three in support of Dream Theater (read our show review) — one would naturally assume the lineup would be pretty fuckin’ killer just like its predecessor, no? While our heads swirled with the possibilities of what might be in the cards (Protest the Hero? Muse? Porcupine Tree? Gojira??), today our expectations hit the floor with a mighty thud. Zappa Plays Zappa. Pain of Salvation. Beardfish. Um… who?
This year’s lineup is decidedly less metal and more retro prog-rock than last year’s. Admittedly, I’m barely familiar with any of these bands. Zappa Plays Zappa is the Dweezil-led project devoted to playing the music of his legendary father Frank. Pain of Salvation and Beardfish are both prog bands from Sweden. Pain of Salvation are probably the most interesting of the bunch; on first listen they sound like a slightly more metallic Porcupine Tree. Beardfish are straight-up Yes / King Crimson inspired ’70s PROG with a capital P. Not that any of these bands are bad…. it’s just… meh. Especially compared to last year’s lineup.
I’ll just go ahead and say it: this lineup blows. There’s no reason I should pay $50 or whatever it’s going to cost to see Dream Theater and a bunch of band’s I’ve never heard of. What the hell is Mike Portnoy thinking? None of these bands have much of a following in the States (to my knowledge), and none of them are even as heavy as Dream Theater, who themselves aren’t exactly the eiptome of /m. Whereas last year’s show had kids lined up outside to make sure they’d catch all 4 bands, this year’s is likely to attract a bunch of old farts who drink beer at the bar in the back until DT goes on. Then again, maybe Portnoy knows what he’s doing; the older crowd won’t think twice about the higher ticket price and will gladly fork over cash for an overpriced t-shirt.
Oh well… Prog Nation was fun while it lasted. Guess I’ll just go see Dream Theater when they come back around on their own. Or if Mike Portnoy finally agrees to do the “Jew on Jew” interview we’ve been pitching him on for months. Or if I’m offered a free ticket; that’d be rad, too.
-VN
Yeah, the lineup is kind of a letdown but Pain of Salvation should be interesting. Of course last years lineup was infinitely better though.
Unfortunately they came nowhere close to here, bastards.
ZPZ absolutely destroys every other act on that bill, and should be the headliner.
Fat dudes who used to work at the Sam Ash on Queens Blvd are stoked!
1) “…with some bands I’ve never heard of..” ~ which describes 90% of the bands on these pages, and doesn’t necessarily make them uninteresting. C’mon Vinnie, 99.5% of the music-listening community would scratch their collective heads at the mention of Protest the Who? and Gojir-whata.
2) “Progressive Nation” does not imply “metal”.
3) Yes, if these tickets are indeed $50, I would agree that no matter who the no-name supporting acts are – the ones you like or dislike – it’s too much.
maybe not that popular, but Pain of Salvation is one of the best prog METAL bands nowadays..
Check “perfect element part 1″ and “remedy lane” and realize what a mammoth of a band you have been missing guys! Believe me, just PoS should worth the prize…
I agree with Sam. The internet has certainly thrown around the word “Progressive” but I think if you look back at bands like Pink Floyd, Marillion, and the aforementioned Yes you will see where Portnoy is coming from. I’m sure there a lot of band that you guys know that he has never heard.
Can you blame him? These guys come from progressive rock, not metal. Tell me that Surrounded is a shred metal jam. Or Under a Glass Moon. Stuff like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Scenes From a Memory, or Images and Words is what I think of when I hear Dream Theater.
This bill fits with their title of “Progressive Nation,” which although unpopular (except to Inside Out mailorder subscribers) certainly hasn’t been debased by teenagers who rip off bands like Dream Theater wholesale but incorporate shitty breakdowns and call it “prog.”
I like Pain of Salvation, I would pay $50 to see this.
Shows in Boise have been getting better as of late, Enslaved/Opeth, Cannibal Corpse tour, Mayhem. Maybe it will come near.
I was completely expecting Porcupine Tree to be on this years line-up. Bummer
Uhhhh Muse would be a little too big to be on that tour I would say…
This package tour has taken a turn to progressive rock and away from progressive metal is all. Or perhaps it’s simply a little more balanced. I think it’s a great idea if folks (on both sides of the prog aisle) will keep their minds open. The common denominator of all these bands is the level of talent contained within each of them. There are opportunities for people on the prog metal side of things (Dream Theater and PoS fans) to gain a little exposure to some bands on the prog rock side of things (ZpZ and Beardfish) and vice versa.
Beardfish are criminally unknown, but extremely talented and prolific (particularly leader Rikard Sjoblom who is also involved in a multitude of other quality projects)…but if you NEED metal in order to like them you will be disappointed.
I’ve seen Zappa Plays Zappa twice and they never fail to impress. With all due respect to Dream Theater, I think they are the most accomplished and capable band on the bill. But if you don’t like Zappa’s music, I can’t help ya. FWIW, Dream Theater do a tune that is a direct nod to Zappa on Scenes From A Memory.
Pain of Salvation is another great band headed by Daniel Gildenlow…an extremely talented musician, songwriter, and singer (he has a ridiculous vocal range). This should please any fan of prog metal. I’d say they are more truly “progressive” and…unique (?) than Dream Theater, actually.
Personally, I’m familiar with all of these bands and have great respect for all of them (and I say “well done, Mike Portnoy!”).
I’m 43 years old (old, beer-drinking fart in the back?) and my 21 year old son is also a big fan of all four bands…so this bill can cut across generational lines. There’s lots of great music out there, why ignore huge swathes of potential enjoyment.
And to that end, check out this site: http://www.progarchives.com
Cheers!
P.S. $50 too much?!!! Considering the talent to price ratio of some ridiculously expensive mainstream acts, $50 is so low it should be illegal…in fact, I was expecting the tickets would be more.
Pretty funny. Pain of Salvation has the top 2 prog metal albums, according to users of the site linked by Plasma above and y’all don’t know who they are? LOL!
http://tinyurl.com/apgtws
Aw, Three was on that tour? Those guys are just fantastic, I could care less about the rest, makes me wish that fucking tour had come anywhere near me, I’d of gone just to catch them.
Awesome bill. Definitely worth seeing PoS. In the next few go arounds of PN, I think they should include some more experimental or maybe even instrumental bands such as God Is An Astronaut, Tetrafusion, Scale The Summit, or maybe do a few LTE songs. If they take the metal route next go-around, maybe some Blotted Science.
Porcupine Tree would’ve still been killer.
rofl.. it’s funny how all you noobs think last years was better.. now of course you had dream theater opeth and between the buried and me..those were the top bands of last years..three was still good.. but you cant compare it to this years.. it’s absolutely out of this world… and your not even aware of the great bands presented,noobitches. first of all.. this site is shit, second you guys are all fags and dont know shit, this years setlist shits on last years.easy.LOL
lol setlist?youre a real bright guy!!!
Pain of Salvation are just amazing. Vince, a first listen alone will tell you very little about the band, given the depth and diversity of their music. They pretty much stand apart in metal as one of the few bands whose music emphasizes the emotional aspect above the melodic; but they do the latter brilliantly as well.
Frank Zappa, and by extension Zappa Plays Zappa, are also fantastic. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that a less heavy lineup automatically means it’s worse.
Admittedly my impression of Beardfish is something in the vein of Spock’s Beard, who to me sound EXACTLY like Peter Gabriel-era Genesis… though Portnoy does love them.
I personally think this line up is amazing
Pain of Salvation is an amazing band with amazing musicians and Daniel’s vocals are fucking amazing
Beardfish is also an amazing band with great musician ship too
I love them both
Beardfish is actually really sick, Pain of Salvation is brilliant, and Zappa is just Zappa (is Vai in on that?). Still, I think this lineup was chosen in response to the last lineup which was very heavy. My guess is that DT’s new album will be more prog focused and less metal, meaning that they want to make this a prog fest, not a progressive death metal thing like last year (which was the best show I’ve ever seen btw). Still, I have very high hopes for this.
That tour was awesome last year. I don’t know enough about this year’s acts to comment one way or another on the talent (this could be a friggin awesome show for all I know), but I sure don’t think this year’s bunch will have the drawing power of Dream Theater and Opeth. Unless Zappa Plays Zappa and Pain of Salvation are incredibly HUGE in some prog circle that I am completely not a part of, I don’t think this year’s tour will do as well financially (which is why I wonder why the promoters didn’t put a bigger name band on the bill).
On a side note, some bands that I think would have made for an excellent prog-type tour:
Symphony X
Porcupine Tree
Into Eternity
Agalloch
Aletheian
Baroness
Cult of Luna
The Human Abstract
Giant Squid
obviously my tastes fall on the metal side of “progressive” ….I get confused by the whole “progressive” moniker sometimes anyway. I would even think bands like Mono, Mogwai, Mouth of the Architect, Russian Circles, would fit the bill, but most would consider them “post” whatever the hell and not progressive. So it goes.
Hey! You went to far you fucker! Its not like I owed you any money man, this is different. You claim to like metal, but not Pain of Salvation? Fucking communist. They should remove you from writing anything having to do with music. This lineup is the tour of the century. Go eat mayonnase out of moms buttcrack.
if Steve Vai is with ZPZ consider me there
“Or if I’m offered a free ticket; that’d be rad, too.”
Way to make sure that you will not be offered said free ticket by anyone on the tour:
“I’ll just go ahead and say it: this lineup blows.”
Don’t let your ignorance get you down, Vince. ZPZ and DT will draw all by themselves, guaranteed. Maybe you should buy a ticket and inform yourself by checking out the show. What a novel idea!
how can you not know PoS?? The only band on that list that I think is not great is Beardfish.
Dream Theater will sound like a bunch of amateurs, when you hear ZPZ play stuff like Echidna’s Arf (Of You), Inca Roads and the Black Page #2.
Not that DT are bad musicians, but compared to ZPZ? Not a chance. And Portnoy knows it!
As it’s been said, it’s called PROG Nation, not Metal Nation. If Prog is not your thing, then don’t do an article about a Prog tour. Sure the other bands are not as popular as DT are and that’s exactly the point, Portnoy wants to make good bands known.
This post is pretty fucking funny. With the exception of Beardfish, how have you never heard of ZPZ and PoS? You would rather Muse play, hahahahah.
SonOF: ZPZ and PoS are HUGE in every “prog circle” or proggy fan I’ve ever encountered. I wouldn’t worry about the draw – many people will pay over $50 for ZPZ alone, not to mention PoS hasn’t been to the states for many years. Anyone else wondering if they’re playing much off Scarsick, with the lyrics and all… I guess it would actually be a blessing if they didn’t, since that album IMO left much to be desired. I can’t really keep a straight face watching youtube vids of a short-haired Daniel fronting a disco song.
I’ve seen ZPZ 4 times, and no to those who asked – Vai, I’m pretty sure, will not be there. The first few shows I saw Vai, Bozzio, and Nappoleon Murphy Brock were there, but now I think it’s Ray White and the core band members (who are relatively unknown but absolutely amazing!). I can guarantee you are missing much more from Napi and Bozzio than from Vai’s disappearance from the line-up. Napi is one hell of a front man.
I’m only sorry I can’t go – wouldn’t you know the one time PoS leaves Sweden for the U.S., I’ll have just left the U.S. for neighbor Norway…
Even if the other acts are not as solid as last year’s tour. The cost to see ZPZ, Dream Theater, and the one off performance of Queensryche at the DC area show makes it totally worth it.