Thank you so much, John Collinge and Progression Magazine for the three-page feature on ProgStock2017!
King Crimson Donates Tickets to ProgStock 2017
Thank you so much to everyone in the King Crimson organization who helped to make the ticket donations for ProgStock 2017! If you’re at ProgStock 2017, you might get picked for some free tickets for the upcoming concert on October 31st at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center!
This Halloween night, fall under the musical spell of King Crimson, one of the greatest progressive rock bands of all time, when the group makes its NJPAC debut.
Led by group founder, guitar hero and Mellotron virtuoso Robert Fripp, King Crimson has been a leading force in prog rock since the release of its groundbreaking 1969 debut, In the Court of the Crimson King. In the decades since, this pioneering unit has continued to embody the progressive rock movement with a series of some of that music’s most enduring albums: Islands, Red, Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair, and more. Classic Crimson tracks like “I Talk to the Wind,” “Heartbeat,” “Sleepless,” and “21st Century Schizoid Man” continue to reach generation after generation of rock enthusiasts.
The current eight-piece lineup of King Crimson includes group founder Robert Fripp (guitar), Tony Levin (bass), Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, vocals), and Mel Collins (flute, saxophones) alongside drummers and multi-instrumentalists Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Bill Rieflin.
“King Crimson’s sinuous, intricate music encompasses innumerable styles – free-form jazz, muscular rock, funky grooves, psychedelic and more – but it is nearly always hypnotic,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote after one recent concert. “Anchoring it all is Fripp, employing his frequently distorted guitars with such stylistic divergence that it was hard to believe there was only one of him ….”
ProgStock Festival: Resistor
Resistor is a four-piece prog band from Rhode Island, led by Steve Unruh on lead vocals, guitar, violin, and flute. Prog Archives has them classified in the “Crossover Prog” category. This rock quartet also contains Fran Turner (guitar), Barry Farrands (drums, backing vocals), and Rob Winslow (bass). The band’s sound is characterized by merging modern progressive and rock song structures with an organic classic rock sound. Their classic rock sound is probably due to their preferred recording technique of having everyone play the basic tracks in the same room at the same time, like bands did the “old days.” This allows RESISTOR’s recorded music to “breathe,” as you can hear the band members adjust to each others’ energy, tempo, and feel in real-time. Catch Resistor on Day Two of ProgStock 2017 – Saturday at 1:00 pm!
ProgStock Festival: The Tea Club
“Challenging, modern, and frequently scintillating …an incredible future” are the words Prog Magazine used to describe The Tea Club.
Formed in the mid 2000s by brothers Patrick and Dan McGowan, The Tea Club have been grappling with the confines of rock music over the span of four critically acclaimed albums. Their signature lush harmonies, alternate guitar tunings, and emotive lyricism serves as a core to their wild experimentation with style and instrumentation. Their live performances are visually dramatic: backdrops accompanying a raw and explosive stage presence. Their sound is dynamic, vibrant, and eclectic, with comparisons to anywhere from early Genesis, to Oceansize or Radiohead.
Since 2008, acclaimed Producer/Engineer Tim Gilles (Anthrax, Taking Back Sunday, Jeff Buckley, Thursday), discovered the band and recorded, produced, and mixed their four studio albums. In support of their most recent album Grappling, The Tea Club performed with Haken, Toby Driver (John Zorn, Kayo Dot, Maudlin the Well), and Bent Knee, and embarked on an extensive tour with Thank You Scientist and Moon Tooth.
The Tea Club consists of Patrick McGowan (Guitar, Vocals), Daniel McGowan (Guitar, Vocals), Jamie Wolff (Bass), Joseph Dorsey (Keyboards), and Daniel Monda (Drums)
ProgStock Single Day Tickets Now Available!
SINGLE DAY tickets now available! If you’ve been wanting to come see your favorite band, but haven’t been able to make the whole weekend, now is your chance! Tickets start at just $30 for Friday night, and the top tier is only $80 for an entire day of awesome progressive rock, at the newest international festival in the United States! 3 day passes are no longer available.
This SINGLE-DAY ticket entitles you to see all of the performances taking place on the main theater stage for one single day of the festival (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). Access to our Late Night events at Patria Latin Bistro and Lounge, which begin at 12:00 midnight on Friday and Saturday nights, can be purchased separately at the festival from any of our staff members.
ProgStock will be three days of fun, food, merriment, photos, recalling stories, hanging out with old pals, making new friends, and sharing in our mutual love of the musical genre we call PROG. ProgStock’s main stage will feature music that most radio hosts would find to be too long and too complex to play on-the-air. Dancing in 7/8, indeed, is left to fans who are accustomed to calculating high math in their heads. Even if you haven’t heard of some of these bands before, it doesn’t matter, because we assure you, they are all excellent. You’ve probably heard of the headliners, and the other acts are just as powerful and entertaining, in their own unique way.
Get your single day tickets here:
Click here for single-day ProgStock tickets at UCPAC
Dave Kerzner Band & Special Guests to Headline ProgStock 2017
We are very pleased to announce a new Saturday night headliner for ProgStock 2017! The Dave Kerzner Band performing with some very special guests!
Dave Kerzner is known as both a progressive rock solo artist and co-founder of the award-winning band Sound of Contact with Simon Collins, Matt Dorsey and Kelly Nordstrom. He has played with such artists as Kevin Gilbert, Steve Hackett and more. Dave will be releasing his new solo album, “Static” on the day of his performance at ProgStock, Saturday evening on October 14th, and to celebrate that he and his band will be debuting the entire new album live along with tracks from his album “New World”, SOC’s “Dimensionaut” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”!
Watch the Dave Kerzner Band perform Dave’s song “Into The Sun” live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAqLBrudiDE
The Dave Kerzner Band, a favorite return performer on Yes’s Cruise To The Edge, includes some incredible musicians. Derek Cintron on drums, Andy Robbins on bass and the always fascinating to watch Fernando Perdomo on guitar. Joining Dave on this spectacular event are special guests Durga McBroom, long time singer with Pink Floyd, and more!
Listen and watch Durga McBroom sing the song “Stranded” with the Dave Kerzner Band live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfvsxN1KXP8
ProgStock Kevin Gilbert Tribute Expands with A Tribute To Genesis!
We are also pleased to announce that the ProgStock 2017 Festival’s special Kevin Gilbert Tribute has been reborn with a new line up and will now also include select songs from Genesis’ Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in addition to songs from Thud, Toy Matinee and more!
“Dave Kerzner and Friends” will be leading a new expanded Kevin Gilbert & Genesis tribute performance, with special guests including Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Durga McBroom (Pink Floyd) and more.
In the mid-90’s Dave Kerzner performed in Kevin Gilbert’s band as part of Thud, as well as with Giraffe on a Kevin Gilbert-led live performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. You can watch Dave performing songs from Giraffe’s 1994 performance of “The Lamb” here: https://youtu.be/s4Ml1QDdNZ0
Francis Dunnery sang on “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight” on Steve Hackett’s “Genesis Revisited 2” album and has been working on a new tribute album for the entire “Lamb” done with Dave Kerzner, Nick D’Virgilio and guests from various well known progressive rock bands. Here’s a clip to get you excited about their upcoming Lamb tribute! https://soundcloud.com/sonicelements/in-the-cage-sonic-elements
Durga McBroom, long time singer with the band Pink Floyd, worked with Kevin in the early 90s as well. Kevin produced her first demos. Fernando Perdomo and the rest of the Dave Kerzner Band are all fans of Kevin’s songs and they are excited to perform them for the first time exclusively at ProgStock 2017.
Special note about last minute changes to the show roster. With Echolyn being forced to bow out of the ProgStock Festival for medical reasons and Randy McStine having to send regrets with his group, both the Saturday night headlining spot and the Sunday Kevin Gilbert Tribute show were left vacant. The ProgStock Festival team thanks Dave, his band and guests, for stepping up and stepping in on such short notice to help us with our goal to make this festival an unforgettable weekend of progressive rock! Don’t miss the Dave Kerzner Band with special guests at ProgStock 2017!
Get your tickets now through the Union County Performing Arts Center box office:
http://www.ucpac.org/event/6bfb302bf0976eed226c8013a675eb1a
For more festival information:
ProgStock Change in Lineup and Major Announcement Forthcoming
We regret to inform our patrons that Randy McStine has encountered fall tour-related scheduling issues. Unfortunately, these obstacles make it impossible for Randy and the band he selected to join us at ProgStock this year.
We know that international touring artists have complex lives. The band didn’t take the decision to bow out lightly and we will certainly miss seeing Randy perform on our stage this year. We are, however, lining up something very special that we think our ProgStockers are going to like… a lot. Stay tuned, and thank you for your continued support! We expect to make a major announcement shortly.
Your ProgStock Production Team
echolyn Suffers Injury, Forced to Withdraw from ProgStock 2017
echolyn and the organizers of ProgStock are disappointed to announce that echolyn will not be able to make their return to the live-stage this fall – headlining night at the ProgStock 2017 festival in Rahway, NJ – due to a recent medical diagnosis in the band. While preparing for their upcoming performance, Chris Buzby (keyboards/vocals) had been experiencing severe pain in his left wrist/hand, which has now been diagnosed as tendonitis. He has been put on a 6-8 week recovery plan of limited mobility to halt more damage and maximize recovery. The band members are deeply sorry to share such disappointing news (especially at this time), but Chris’s recovery is paramount and takes priority. ProgStock and echolyn worked together to find a viable and appropriate way for the band to press on, but that has proved impossible for this year’s festival. As always, the members of echolyn appreciate your support and understanding. The ProgStock Family unequivocally stands behind Chris and fully supports the decision that echolyn has made at this difficult time.
Meanwhile, we at ProgStock are hard-at-work on another great headline performance for Saturday night. We can never truly replace echolyn, but we will do our very best to bring you the most unique, exciting, and unforgettably Prog-tastic performance we can muster. Stay tuned here for more announcements…we think we’ve got a real treat in store for you!
Once again, we at ProgStock wish Chris and the rest of our dear friends in echolyn the very best, and we look forward to working with them again in the future. Get well soon, Chris!
PledgeMusic Wraps Up; Public Onsale Starts 08/23
As PledgeMusic Boarding Group 3 select their seats this week, we want to give a special shout-out and THANK YOU to everyone who supported ProgStock with their advance ticket purchases through the different Boarding Group options. Everyone here on the ProgStock Festival team thanks you so much for helping us to get the festival off the ground in this inaugural year! As you know, you will be receiving your “Gift Package” as part of your advanced Pledge support. 🙂
Now that the PledgeMusic “launch phase” of ProgStock 2017 is over, the tickets for the general public will go on sale through the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) box office. Beginning Wednesday, August 23 at 11:00am US Eastern time, you will be able to purchase 3-day passes to the entire ProgStock festival directly from the Union County Performing Arts Center online box office.
NOTE: For those who cannot join us for the entire weekend, we will make single-day tickets available starting Friday, September 22 at 3:00pm US Eastern time.
In addition, even though you might have seen the PledgeMusic campaign reach past 100%, there are some extra-super-special things that we have planned for this year’s ProgStock festival, depending on the budget! Maybe you just can’t attend the festival, but want to help us make it a bigger and better experience for everyone. Perhaps you really want to support live music and hard-working musicians, and aren’t sure what more you can do as a supporter or fan. Or maybe you’re coming to ProgStock anyway, but just want to lend us a helping hand. Well…donations are still welcome! Here’s the scoop…Tax-deductible donations are still being accepted through Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of ProgStock must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Click here to donate to ProgStock:
For any further details, please visit this page:
http://www.progstock.com/2017/tickets-donations/
What You Need to Know, since ProgStock is a GO!!
ProgStock Festival is a GO!! If you’ve already purchased your Boarding Passes or donated through our tax-deductible charity option, we sincerely thank you.
Buying a “Boarding Pass” (tickets + special gift package) via PledgeMusic is the best way for you to get the best possible seats in the theater! In addition to getting the first option to choose your seats for the entire weekend, you’ll also receive our undying thanks, and as a token of our appreciation – you’ll also be receiving a special gift package when you arrive at the Festival!
If you haven’t yet gotten your “Boarding Passes” (tickets + special gift package), you can do so via the PledgeMusic website: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/progstock
Boarding Group passes via PledgeMusic are only available for a limited time through August 14th.