Last year the first edition of the Northern Prog Festival (NPF) was held, a new and cosy festival in the northern part of our country. I think it's the best prog rock event in the Netherlands since the legendary Progfarm Festival came to an end in 2011. In 2013 NPF kind of adopted that festival; it took place at venue De Uthof in Siegerswoude. The first Saturday of November the second edition was organized by the band members of the Dutch prog band Leap Day and again with five acts on the bill: Day Six, Marathon and Leap Day from the Netherlands, Morphelia from Germany and Osada Vida from Poland.  

Morphelia

Kurt Stwrtetschka

Morphelia opened the festival. In 2005 they had already performed at the Progfarm Festival, but unfortunately I couldn't attend that gig due to illness. So, I was glad that after all these years, I could finally witness a concert of Morphelia, because I liked their second album Waken The Nightmare (2009, see review) a lot. At the time it got the highest rating of five stars on our website, so my expectations ran high. I hoped they would play some songs of that album. Well, after the strong opening tune Midnight Sun from their debut Prognocircus (2003), they blew me away with a great version of Hunt In The Hall from their second CD. Wow, this was what I had come for! During this track I could enjoy prog at the highest level with fine solos by guitarist Günter Grünebast and keyboardist Guido Fröhlich. Lead singer Kurt Stwrtetschka acted like a younger version of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull); he thanked the audience in Dutch when the band got a well-deserved applause after the song was finished.

Elmar de Groot

Before I could listen to more songs from Waken The Nightmare, I first had to go through three new pieces that will probably appear on their third studio album. I didn't care at all because The Nomadness, Bitter Suite and Dave's Daydream featured excellent neo-prog rock, amazing music which could be compared to the music of Arena and early Marillion, but I could also recognize some hints of Saga during the latter song. During On The Roof (A Taste Of Freedom), the second song from Waken The Nightmare, I noticed that Stwrtetschka had some problems hearing himself sing, but that didn't have any effect on his performance. I enjoyed a strong version of On The Roof, which also applied to In The Hall Of Stormy Oceans, the final track of that great album. This track made sure the people in the audience stopped talking. It's amazing how well they succeeded in playing all these songs so well if you realize that this was only the first concert of 2014! So hats off to our German friends for playing an awesome live set!
 

Day Six

Robbie van Stiphout

The Dutch band Day Six can be regarded as a prog metal band. They are fronted by guitarist and lead singer Robbie van Stiphout. It seems as if he suffers from ADHD because he can't stand still for just one single second! Well, being a frontman I rather see him walking around the stage than standing still like a living statue. So I had no problems at all with his active role. As for the music, they performed songs from their two studio albums Eternal Dignity (2003) and The Grand Design (2010). From their debut I enjoyed a rather strong version of The Crypt.

From the second album they performed more tunes like the opening song Massive Glacial Wall.

Daan Liebregts

It contained some radio messages about the UFO-sightings in New Mexico. Day Six also played two rather new songs that are still in progress, so only working titles were available like Piet Piraat and Baron. The first one I already heard last year when they supported Moon Safari (see review). This was probably the reason why it sounded familiar to me. The new pieces certainly had some fine technical breaks and from time to time they moved in the direction of a band like Rush. Especially drummer Daan Liebregts seems to be influenced by Neil Peart. Although they played rather loud − many people protected their ears by leaving the venue − it has to be said that Day Six managed to perform a strong set. Their uncompromising way of making music is sometimes too much for prog heads, but that doesn't mean their music is bad. No way! I think most people have to be more open-minded! Anyway, whether you liked it or not, this four-piece band performed an entertaining gig.
 

Leap Day

Jos Harteveld

Next was Leap Day, the second Dutch band. Last year's performance at the festival was rather mediocre due to the fact that they had a lot on their minds concerning the organization of the first edition of NPF. They were focussed on organizing rather than performing. Well, this time it was different. In a way their set could be compared with the one they did at 't Blok in September this year (see review) during the 'Friske Prog Middei'. This was also a good performance during which they had no other things on their minds. Also the set list was similar, although some songs were played in a different order.

Leap Day

Again they played four songs from their forthcoming album From The Days Of Deucalion, chapter 2, namely Gods Of War, Homo Ignoramus (Amathia), Death & Destruction and Phaeton. Beside these tracks the same classic Leap Day tunes could be enjoyed being What Would You Do, Secret Gardener and When Leaves Fall. In my opinion the only difference with earlier gigs was the strong vocal performance of singer Jos Harteveld. Some people regard him to be the weakest link in the band, but certainly not this time because he dared to give all he got and by doing so he just made the difference compared to some of his earlier performances. But also his fellow-musicians deserved a big compliment. They just sounded like a real professional prog rock band of international appeal!
 

Marathon

Eric ten Bos

The third Dutch band on stage was introduced as a Marathon tribute band. Well, in a way this is correct because the musicians who performed the music of this legendary Dutch prog band are currently all members of the band ENorm. In the nineties three of them made two studio albums and a live record with Marathon: guitarist Ronald ten Bos, his brother and lead singer Eric ten Bos and drummer Ferry Bult. They are now the driving forces behind the resurrection of the band. But I guess they would be less professional without the help of keyboardist Martin Platenkamp and bassist Liejondo Nijhuis. When I heard that they would perform as Marathon on the second edition of NPF, I expected to hear only songs from the two studio albums The First Run (1994) and Norm (1996), but that wasn't the case.

Ronald ten Bos

At first I regretted that they played only four old Marathon tunes, but I guess that playing more old songs wouldn't have done justice to the musical activities the musicians are currently working on. All of the songs from their ENorm back catalogue have something to say even for a diehard prog head like me. But frankly speaking it's the old stuff I was looking forward to the most. So, I was glad that they performed Patters Of The Landscape, Medicine Man, Casanovas and Beyond The Veil: these tracks are still progressive rock beauties. Unfortunately they had to skip Beauty Of Silence from the set list because there was yet another band waiting to perform after them. But also without this track it was still an outstanding gig. Not only because of the strong Marathon songs and the fine ENorm tracks, but also because of the way the band presented themselves. Especially lead singer Eric ten Bos is a real entertainer. He not only sings perfectly, but he also knows how play to an audience. He let them come forward to the front of the stage before playing the last song Beyond The Veil and then they sprayed water from their mouths to the audience. Or he let them sing along with one of the old Marathon songs. All in all it was a good performance with a well-balanced combination of old and new material.
 

Osada Vida

Marek Majewski

The Polish musicians of Osada Vida had the difficult task to give the audience a good feeling while heading home. Well, I think they succeeded in that mission. With The After-Effect, a new album to be released only a couple of days after NPF it was obvious that some new songs were supposed to be performed. However, I didn't expect that they would play the entire album except two tracks. In fact this is a risky thing to do because you know that almost nobody in the audience is familiar with the album perhaps with the exception of the two fanatical Polish fans travelling along with the band. Furthermore Osada Vida included quite a number of songs from Particles (2013, see review). On this album you can hear the band's current lead singer Marek Majewski for the first time.

Osada Vida

On the new album again some new musicians participate like guitarist Janek Mitoraj and drummer Marek Romanowski. They made the band rock like hell. Having a new singer it was obvious that no songs recorded with the band's former singer were performed and also current bass player Lukasz Lisiak wasn't on the set list that often. So from the old days of the band only Bone was performed. To be honest I didn't miss the old ones since the new material sounds more melodic than the old stuff. Especially Hard-Boiled Wonderland and Those Days are fine prog rock tunes and they were enjoyed by the people who were still present. Just like Marathon's lead singer, Majewski appeared to be a real entertainer who could play to an audience. The fatigue of the ten-hour drive from Poland to the Netherlands could not be noticed during their performance. Therefore I give my compliments to Osada Vida for staying so lively until the final hour of the festival. They gave a wonderful performance which included a well-deserved encore!


I would like to thank all the people who were involved for the second time in organizing the Northern Prog Festival with only great bands on stage! I wish that next year more devotees of progressive rock will find their way to this village in the north of the Netherlands to be present at one of the best progressive rock festivals held in our country. Those who stayed at home have certainly missed something special!

Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)