I got into the band Frost* about ten years ago after hearing them on a prog rock podcast. Since then I have bought a load of music and last week I saw them live for the third time.
I am pretty sure this is my first time at this venue. I have been to a couple of gigs at the Hope and Anchor pub up the road with my friend @hockney. I caught the train and Tube to get there and it only took about an hour. I had some chips on the way to keep me going before I went in. It is a nice size old theatre with plenty of room to stand downstairs. I popped to the loos in the basement first where they had quaint old big wooden seats on the toilets.
I got an expensive beer from the bar whilst I waited for the music. There was nobody there I knew, but then I do not hang out on their fan forum.
The support band were Quantum Pig who I had not heard of. They had some thoughtful songs about life and science. They are a duo and for practical reasons they used backing tracks on some songs with one of them playing guitar and drums. There was some nice banter and I enjoyed their set.
Here is one of their songs.
At 9pm the main band came on to big cheers. This gig was postponed from April, so we had waited a long time. It was the last of five dates around the country and it seems some people had been to more than one. One lady went to all five. In case you do not know they are a British band consisting of Jem Godfrey on keyboards (has written for Atomic Kitten and performed with Joe Satriani), John Mitchell on guitar (Kino and It Bites), Nathan King on bass (brother of Mark and guitarist in Level 42) and Craig Blundell on drums (played with Steven Wilson). For the original date they were going to have another drummer, but there were scheduling issues and so we got Craig who I had seen with them before. For some reason most of them had shirts with their names and dates of birth. That was never explained, but I noticed they are all a little younger than me. I may have been somewhere around the average age of the audience, but there were a few younger folk there and even some ladies. Prog does have a certain image, but I think more people would enjoy it if they ever heard it.
Their music is fairly complex, but melodic and I find it fun. They are all great musicians. Jem is just a wizard on the keyboards. I notice John tends not to play fancy guitars. He has used Cort before and had some Squier Stratocasters this time, which are not stupidly expensive. He still gets a great sound. A lot of the solos are pre-arranged and sometimes in harmony with the keyboards.
There were some songs from the new album as well as some earlier fan favourites. The sound was not quite right at the start with too much bass and drums, but it seemed to improve as they went on. They had some good lighting and there were even projections onto the auditorium ceiling.
I took a few photos, but they were not great and I did not bother doing video. I want to enjoy the gig rather than holding my phone up. The video below is one I found from the Leeds gig.
There was plenty of chat with the audience and amongst the band. Jem likes to mess around and have a few laughs. After an hour or so he announced it was time for the last song (ahhh), but it was a long song (hooray!). As expected it was their 25 minute epic Milliontown, which was the song that got me hooked on them originally. It is an amazing piece of music. In the photo you can see Jem playing a Casio VL-1 during that song. I think he has quite a collection of instruments. This was silly, but fun.
We had a couple more songs in the encore and then we were done by 10:40pm. I did a brisk walk back to the Tube in hope of getting a train at Finsbury Park. I thought I had just missed one, but it was running late and so I only had to wait a few minutes. It was not too late really when I got home and I even got a lift from the station from my better half.
I had a great evening.
Sounds great, not heard of them before but I am into prog myself. I saw IQ there back in June this year. You're right it is a good size venu, but drinks are expensive.
You also briefly mentioned Steven Wilson. I am a big fan of him and his band Porcupine Tree. I have tickets to see them in Manchester next summer. Looking forward to that.
It's good to find a prog fan on hive.
!BEER
I've seen Mr Wilson live a couple of times and saw Porcupine Tree before they split up. I enjoy both, but Frost* are slightly less earnest.
I expect there are more prog fans around, but as the guy from Quantum Pig said, it's like a sort of secret club. You may just see someone in a shirt from a band you like and realise you are not alone. I know @slobberchops likes a bit of prog and is a fellow SW fan.
!BEER
I'm not hooked, but they ain't bad!
They rock! Of course I've posted about them before.
It’s indeed better to snap some photos during the concert but doing blogs or videos makes you miss way to much. I didn’t knew them but loved the clip. I am only listening to the Christmas music on the radio since I was in your country the last few days hahaha
I can rely on others taking photos at shows and I can always find some online. I think we can worry too much about what we will post later instead of enjoying the moment.
There are some good Xmas songs, but you just hear them too much at this time of year.
!BEER
I’ll have to check them out!
Sounds like an awesome time! It's always great to catch one of your favourite bands live. We actually used to have a venue call the assembly here in Cape town as well, used to frequent it quite often in my younger days. Following bands around! Lots of fun! Gives me a great idea for a date night! Let me see if I can get a baby sitter!
!PIZZA
I have not heard about Frost* so far, nor about Quantum Pig. They sounds like good progressive rock bands. There are many good artists in this genre. Currently my favorite progressive rock artists are Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Jordan Rudess, Serj Tankian.
I like some of the old acts, but there is some great new music out there. You just don't hear it on the radio. I used to listen to shows from The Dividing Line where I first heard Frost*, but they are not doing those any more. I do hunt around Spotify for interesting stuff.
I can recommend Steve Wilson and Big Big Train as well.
!BEER
I have not used Spotify so far, but I often discover new music bands on YouTube. And the SoundCloud is also good for this. For example a few years ago I discovered Dangerkids. This is not a progressive rock band, but a metalcore band. Many of their songs are somewhat similar to the Linkin Park.
Bandcamp is another good source of new music. I've bought lots on there.
Quite an alternative sound, but doesn't sound bad at all...
I can recommend checking out more of their music if you like the sound. There's plenty of Spotify and Youtube.
!BEER
It is interesting but it wouldn't be one of my favourites to look out for I'm afraid... Will anyway take another look on youtube....
Musical taste is a very personal thing, but I think we should all be open to new things. Much as I love some musicians I need variety.
That's right, and I'm absolutely open to listen to work in all kinds of music styles! !PIZZA
Not bad at all!
Yes, it was definitely unforgettable! 20 minutes of one song? That reminds me of Pink Floyd. 😜 !LOLZ
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Long songs are a tradition in prog. Most of theirs are a lot shorter than that.
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They remind me quite a bit of Phish. A proper jam band if they are putting out a song that is 25 minutes long! It's always cool to see the communities that rally around bands like that and travel all over to see them play multiple times. I can understand why you like this band.
I don't know Phish too well, but Frost* tunes tend to be composed rather than just jamming for ages. Either way can be good with great musicians.
Phish actually has a ton of studio albums. Then they just build on those singles when they are live in concert. They also do a thing each Halloween or New Years (I can't remember) where they cover a full album from some other band at their live show. It is pretty cool.
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