This has been my second Midwinter Prog Festival and I loved it! First of all, the venue is fantastic. The Tivoli Vreedenburg in Utrecht offers a variety of food stands, there's lots of personnel (everybody very friendly) and the sound is good. Now to the bands, none of whom I knew very well:
1. Lesoir
They're a Dutch band, all very skilled musicians and I loved the guitar player whose style was just to my taste and who brims with good ideas. I was impressed by frontwoman Maartje Meessen who plays keyboards, flute and guitar and is the principal singer. Best part was a duet between the guitar with a wah wah effect and the flute. 😀
2. Avkrvst
Norwegian prog metalers Avkrvst were the band I liked less but in our group they had steadfast fans. I thought the song structure was too similar from song to song, they lacked interesting ideas and melodies and the singer sang out of tune most of the time. For the first time in my life I wished for someone to growl more, not because I enjoy it but because he was better at it.
3. Rendezvous Point
Another prog metal band, but this one I liked a lot. Their front man Geirmund Hansen is very charismatic and his boundless energy just pulls you in. He is an absolutely amazing singer. Leprous drummer Baard Kolstad is fantastic and keyboarder Nicolay Tangen Svennæs is great, too, always adding a special something to the music. In my opinion prog metal can be pretty dull but here, the band is very versatile. Second favorite gig of the show for me.
4. The Flower Kings
The Swedish band has been around since 1994 and have changed their line-up multiple times. I have never been a fan and they did not get to me at all (other than Spock's Beard last year, another seasoned band who played fantastically). In the end I left the hall and got some nachos, much more to my taste. My friends (who used to like them a lot) agreed that the performance was pretty bloodless.
5. Riverside
The headliner from Poland, Riverside, were absolutely magical. Of course, I knew them before but never quite got into them. Here, I was quite with them from the start and after two or three songs I was totally enchanted. I always experienced Mariusz Duda's singing as too emotionless for my taste but his voice is very versatile and he owns the stage. So does their great keyboarder Michał Łapaj, but the whole band is stunning. I hope the latest addition to the band, Maciej Meller, will get to be more influential in time, but he has a heavy burden, having to replace a dead band member. Soon I was absolutely entranced and so were my friends. My husband has seen them live a few times and said that they had never been this good. I could have listened for hours more.

#progrock #utrecht #music #riverside #rendezvouzpoint