ROSfest Day One

Time for yet another Rites of Spring Festival. This is the third year in a row Mark and I have made the trip. The trip did not get off to a good start as both of us were delayed flying out of our respective cities. Air traffic control in Philly was holding up flights from all over. Mark didn't arrive until nearly 9pm from Manchester, NH! We were supposed to be on the road, headed to Phoenixville by 5pm or so. Bummer.

One good thing about arriving this late is that we did not have to fight any of the usual traffic getting out of the city. Oh well. We were here and luckily we were not missing any bands that we had been anxious to see. Arriving to the theater at about 10:30 or so, we decided to forego Starcastle and enjoy some Knight Area and Darwin's Radio from the comfort of our Mazda 5. A few Coronas later we decided to check out the last bit of the concert. Starcastle was the third band of the night and were supposed to come on stage at 9:30pm. Lo and behold, we walked into the theater and the 2nd band was still playing at about 11pm!! The festival was almost as delayed as our flights!

The second band (still on stage) was Puppet Show, a heavy progressive band from California. I like this band's music to some degree but the lead singer's voice has always been the down side for me. Nonetheless, they sounded good and were performing a decent set when they announced that this would be their final song. The song was a cover of "Cogs in Cogs" by Gentle Giant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I nearly flipped as they went into a near flawless rendition of a great track off The Power & The Glory album. My immediate thought was that Dave ought to be here!! The audience was as euphoric as me and gave them a standing ovation when it was over.

After this performance, I was hopeful that Starcastle would exceed my expectations. Starcastle is a band with origins in the 1970s and they had a couple albums that were very Yes-like. I always thought they sounded like the B- or C-sides of the Yes stuff. Oh well. Keep an open mind, right?

They came on stage just after MIDNIGHT, and Mark and I were already weary from the travel fiascoes. Unfortunately, for the most part, my expectations were spot on. It was Yes music without substance and depth. They played with great energy though and really seemed to be having fun on stage. Their performance almost made up for the sounds they were creating and the audience rewarded them, song after song, with big ovations. Clearly, much of this crowd had grown up with their music and it meant a lot to them. That was good to see. It was not a bad show but it just didn't hit me or Mark at all. That said, there were a few hints of good music here and there, especially one song with a rousing bass solo leading into an Oliver Wakeman keyboard solo (yes, that's Rick's son, Adam's brother!!). These guys were the youngest members of the band (and obviously not part of the original band) but they were the highlight of the whole performance playing with great skill.

It was bizarre to see a Wakeman playing with a Yes-like band and yet the music pales in comparison to the real thing. Nonetheless, you gotta hand it to Starcastle for their performance and still trying to put out new music (they have a recent album called "Song of Times"). It wasn't our cup of tea but it was for hundreds of others at the show.

Just before the encore (about 2pm!!), Mark and I bolted for the exit and drove directly to the hotel for some much needed sleep.