NEARFEST X

Bear with me. This is my brief review of the eight-act NEARFest (Northeast Art Rock Festival ) X (10th one) held last weekend in Bethlehem, PA, on the campus of Lehigh University. I have family connections to the place, as my father taught math here many years ago, met my mom through a mutual friend, the rest being history, etc. There was a two-act Friday night show, but we find that eight acts over two days is enough music for one weekend, thank you.

OK, NF X was kicked off with an odd little band from Japan named Koenji Hyakkei. Lineup was keys, bass, drums, tenor sax, and a very impressive vocalist. Music is hard to describe. Odds are the term, Zeuhl, does not mean much to the casual reader. Anyhow, this was not straight up 4/4 rock and roll.
Second act was much more familiar to me; I had seen them once in a dive in Hamtramck. They are the band, Discipline, hailing from Royal Oak, Michigan. They have evolved into specializing in long, 20 minute plus epics. I like the voice and keys of music writer Matthew Parmenter, and John Preston Bouda has a great style of playing on his Les Paul guitar.
Third up was Living Legend (to some of us) Peter Hammill, a solo artist who also plays/sings/writes for a band called Van der Graaf Generator that has been around since the 1970's. Hammill's playing is relatively simple but incredibly heartfelt, and he does a lot around the topic of the foibles of relationships, among other things. He is one of those people I am glad to get the opportunity to hear/see. The concert grand piano he got to play had a gorgeous sound.
Saturday's headliner was Liquid Tension Experiment, consisting of the guitarist, keyboardist, and drummer from the "prog metal" band Dream Theater, plus journeyman bass and "stick" player Tony Levin. These guys are tight, fast, and bursting with chops. Some find them so technically proficient as to be lacking in "heart"; I'm not so sure. I enjoy the rapid-fire delivery and the quality of the tunes they put out there; including a rather amazing rendition of "Rhapsody in Blue".
Day Two began with an amazing French fusion trio (guitar, bass, drums) named Morglbl (don't attempt to pronounce it) headed by surprise shredder guitarist Christophe Godin, who also won the award for stage presence with his easy and humorous patter about the audience, the lovely palm tree provided for his set, and how they needed to shortly catch a train for Paris. They took the place by surprise and happily provided two encores.
Radio Massacre International presented an interesting mix of "real instruments" (with a guitarist, drums, some keys, and a bass) with dial-twirling electronics, a theremin, and a Tangerine Dream sort of sound. They brought out a violinist and reeds/sax player to round out the sound.
One of my old faves, echolyn, from close by in the PA/NJ area, played next, and I thought they did a gorgeous job with a good survey of their work. Their mix was especially good, which is a good thing as they rely on quite a bit of harmonizing.
The fest closed with a return from Italy of the band, Banco. These guys (or at least three of them; they have some young dudes in the current incarnation) have been around since the 1970's. The singer is one of those incredible Italian tenors that seem to grow on trees over there, and he sings it in Italian. But, music being an international language and all, the audience really doesn't care. Banco served up some wonderful music, lead mainly by keyboards.
All in all, the best overall lineup I have witnessed among the eight Nearfests I have attended. It was a lot of fun for someone who does not tire of music easily. My home-town buddy and I were joined this year by my brother in law and nephew from Maryland who know good guitar chops when they hear it, and they heard some over the course of the fest. We got away to a local Italian restaurant for dinner, and my friend and I took a hike aorund the campus, which is on a rather formidable hillside, and came upon this campus infiltrator:

I'm already looking forward to NF XI, although I have doubts they will be able to top this year's roster.