Thank you to all who attended ProgStock 2021 in person and on the livestream through StageIt. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
Plan ahead! ProgStock 2022 will be October 7-9, 2022! #progstock2022
We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love on social media and the great reviews from our friend Thomas Hatton at Proglodytes.com.
It is with deepest concern for our dear friend John Goodsall of Brand X that we announce that he is not well enough to perform at ProgStock 2021. We received a call yesterday letting us know that Goods had been admitted to hospital with pneumonia and will be unable to travel or perform for some time. You can see announcements by Official Brand X for more information regarding other tour dates.
Of course, we have spent the past 24 hours figuring out what to do, and we have hatched something we think you will really like…
On Saturday, October 2 at 8:00 PM, we will now have a special set by Rachel Flowers, followed at 9:00 PM by Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius.
In our Late-night event on Saturday, we now have Percy Jones MJ12 coming to blow your minds…with special guest, Alex Skolnick!
Outside the theatre, our friends from Il Forno a Legna will be bringing their wood oven pizza truck for late night munchies (like the café, pizza is not included in the price of festival passes)!
On Sunday morning, October 3 at 10:00 AM, Rachel Flowers will host a breakfast listening party for her new album, “Bigger on the Inside,” at Portuguese Cuisine Bar and Wine, 1519 Main Street in Rahway. We will reserve a table for our 5-year Patrons, but otherwise this is first-come-first-serve. The restaurant will offer a nice selection of breakfast foods and beverages for purchase, including mimosas from their new bar, while you enjoy listening to Rachel’s new album. Of course, Rachel’s album will be available for purchase at our merch table in the lobby, but it will also be available for purchase and autographing at this special breakfast event.
We have also added a performance by Rachel Flowers on Sunday, October 3 at 8:00 PM before Alan Hewitt & One Nation take the stage.
See you next week!
Can’t make it to the festival this year, but want to join in the fun from the comfort of your own home? Join us on StageIt.
Each day of the festival will be broadcast as a single event on the StageIt livestreaming platform. There are two ways to participate. You can purchase passes for individual days, or you can purchase a three-day pass that gives you access to all three days of the festival.
Pricing:
Friday, single-day pass: $30 (300 StageIt Notes)
Saturday, single-day pass: $45 (450 StageIt Notes)
Sunday, single-day pass: $45 (450 StageIt Notes)
Three-day pass: $95 (950 StageIt Notes) – save $30!
Three-day passes must be purchased no later than Wednesday, September 29 at 3:00pm ET. After that, only single-day passes will be available.
Please visit the Schedule page on the ProgStock website to see the current festival schedule.
Information about on-demand viewing of ProgStock 2021 performances after the festival ends will be provided later this fall.
A statement from Total Mass Retain…
“We hope everyone is very excited for the amazing weekend planned! However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we are unable to perform this year. TMR has been part of ProgStock for the past several years and appreciate all the love and support from the organizers, friends, and fans, alike. Special thanks to Tom Palmieri and Ann Rinaldi for the hard work, great lineup, and strong protocols to keep everyone safe. We will see you soon!”
— Your friends at Total Mass Retain YES Tribute Band
Of course, we always have something up our sleeve at ProgStock, so…
“Stratospheerius is honored and humbled to be performing at the ProgStock Festival! After a year of many challenges, we are excited to playing in front of a live audience again. We understand the hard choices that our friends and colleagues had to make to cancel their appearance. We appreciate the passion and love of music shared by all the audience members and the volunteers who make ProgStock possible. The Union County Performing Arts Center is a beautiful venue, and we look forward to performing on that magical stage again!”
— Joe Deninzon, Paul Ranieri, Jason Gianni, Michelangelo Quirinale
To make this change possible, we will be moving House of Prog’s Progressive Coffeehouse featuring Beledo, Rachel Flowers and Melanie Mau & Martin Schnella (who will be appearing through a livestream from Germany) to our Friday late night.
Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, who will be joined by special guest Rachel Flowers, will be our Saturday late night performers.
As you may have heard, the remnants of Hurricane Ida barreled through the northeast US and did a great deal of damage with torrential rain, wind, tornados, and overwhelming floods. The City of Rahway and, more specifically, the Hamilton Stage Building, were among its many victims. The flooding has rendered our beautiful venue uninhabitable, and it will be closed for reconstruction for several months. Fortunately, the City of Rahway, Union County and UCPAC have come together and offered us the UCPAC Mainstage Theater, the regular home of ProgStock. So, we’re back in the big house!
Please stay tuned for upcoming announcements about fundraising efforts we will be launching for the rebuilding efforts for the Hamilton Stage Building, as well as for the people of the City of Rahway who are struggling through the after-effects of the flooding. Many homes and businesses were damaged or lost to the flood waters and we want to help this great community that supports us and our festival every year.
The night before ProgStock, on Thursday, September 30, a show by McNally Waters and Bob Malone is also being moved into the UCPAC Mainstage Theater. We look to a song that Bob Malone wrote in 2016 for the flood victims in West Virginia for inspiration at this time. We present “The River Gives,” by Bob Malone.
McNally Waters and Bob Malone will also be holding a fundraiser for the Ida flood victims. We encourage you to come to town on Thursday to join us for this show.
First a statement from McStine & Minnemann & Keneally & D’Virgilio…
“After much deliberation, we’ve realized that we are unable to assemble for a performance at ProgStock this year. We want to thank Ann Rinaldi, Tom Palmieri and the entire ProgStock team for the opportunity to be a part of their wonderful festival. We feel badly that we’re unable to play, but we hope that all attendees continue to look forward to an inspiring weekend of music. Be well and we will see you soon.”
– Randy McStine, Marco Minnemann, Mike Keneally, Nick D’Virgilio
And, while we are sad to not have MMKD in our lineup for ProgStock 2021, we are happy to announce the addition of MMZ…
“Mile Marker Zero is thrilled to be a part of Progstock 2021! We had so much fun performing for Virtual ProgStock 2020 and our ProgStock Virtual Series show, which we recorded for our latest album, Live & Confined. We are even more pumped to perform again for the ProgStock Festival with a live audience alongside so many great progressive acts! We are humbled to be asked to step in for those who couldn’t make it and are very excited to meet and perform for everyone in Rahway on October 2. This is going to RAWK!”
– Dave Alley, Doug Alley, Mark Focarile, Jaco Lindito, and John Tuohy
As the producers of the ProgStock Festival, we take the health and safety of our artists, staff and audience very seriously and are therefore putting in place the following COVID mitigation policy for ProgStock 2021. In addition to following the guidance of local, state and federal health agencies, we have also been closely watching the evolving policies of other festivals and music venues in our region as the Delta variant continues to spread. We are personally aware of several breakthrough cases of COVID (vaccinated people who have tested positive and gotten ill), and do not want this to happen to any of our artists, staff or audience.
All artists, crew and staff are required to be fully vaccinated and may be rapid tested daily as an extra precaution upon first entering the theater, to allow for the close proximity and eating, drinking and show preparations that occur backstage. We will confirm the vaccination status of all band and crew members and any backstage guests prior to allowing anyone in the backstage area either prior to or upon arrival. Provisions will be made in the schedule to allow time for rapid tests to be administered, if deemed necessary.
All audience members are required to be fully vaccinated. We will confirm the vaccination status of all audience members prior to allowing anyone in the theater. Proof of vaccination and matching ID will be required at the door to claim your passes and confirm vaccination status. In addition, audience members will be temperature checked at each entry to the theatre. Provisions will be made in the schedule to allow time for temperature checking in the line.
Masking is strongly suggested in the lobby and the theatre. With eating/drinking of concessions, a mask mandate would be hard to maintain and enforce, making the vaccination status and daily temperature checks so much more important. Masking will be required in the meet and greet area and Paul Whitehead’s gallery.
We have been purposefully careful with our schedule this year to put plenty of space in between shows to provide time for rest and meals. Please be even more vigilant than normal about the state of your wellness. If you don’t feel well, please don’t come to the theater. Contact us and we will set you up with livestreaming for the day, so you don’t miss the show.
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we bring you the festival we all love while trying to keep us all safe and healthy!
ProgStock Festival, the American Northeast’s Only International Progressive Rock Festival, will triumphantly return to the stage for its fifth year in 2021. As the world is still emerging from the pandemic, ProgStock 2021 has been designed as a hybrid event, allowing fans to experience the festival in a manner which suits their personal choice. In-person attendance passes include a seat in the theater, access to artist meet-and-greets, and participation in after-parties. For those who wish to (or must) participate virtually from afar, we will offer live streaming and the ability to view performances for a limited time after the festival concludes.
The festival will take place on the weekend of October 1-3, 2021, in the Hamilton Stage building of the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), located at 360 Hamilton Street, Rahway, New Jersey 07065 (a short walk away from the Main Stage theater on Irving Street). The Hamilton Stage theater is of much smaller capacity than the Main Stage theater, so please act quickly once passes are placed on sale! Details of the festival lineup, event timeline, ticket pricing and partner hotels will be announced over the next few weeks. Passes for 3-day in-person attendance will go on sale in June. Details of how to participate in other viewing options will also be provided this summer.
ProgStock Festival was founded to give artists and fans in the genre of progressive rock a place to play and experience their favorite music in a great environment. 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. However, the festival presents a variety of rock that can be enjoyed by any music lover.
ProgStock Festival provides the artists, attendees and their families with a great place to share their talents and love for music in a family-friendly environment. Artists mingle with the fans and share experiences as well as music and art. The venue provides everyone with a comfortable place to listen to the music with phenomenal sound. The City of Rahway provides everyone with a hub where they can enjoy the festival, enjoy great food and beverages, shop, relax and recover in a beautiful hotel room, and easily hop on a train from and to Newark International Airport or New York City.