I bought two sets of gig tickets today - for Yes in Cambridge in November, and for Thomas Dolby in Leamington Spa the day after. At first sight, two acts could barely be more different, right?
But think about it - there's plenty of links between 80s Electronic pioneers like Dolby and prog rock through the decades. As a direct link, Thomas played the schoolmaster in Roger Water's Berlin concert of "The Wall" some years ago, that's pretty prog. And then there's the recently re-established Yes-Buggles partnership, plus the fact that Trevor Horn's other band (or should that be other other band?) The Art of Noise got together as the studio engineers/arrangers/session musos working on 90125 (and subsequently named one of the electronic masterpieces "Close (to the Edit)" in honour of the band.
More evidence? Well, the presence in Porcupine Tree of ex-Japan keyboard player Richard Barbieri is another strong connection, wouldn't you say?
Looking back, the real electronic pioneers in the 80s were doing what the 70s proggers had done before, in pushing at the boundaries and trying to do something beyond the norm - the best of them were doing something more than just pop, something with depth. Thomas Dolby's willingness and ability to move around musical genres and make interesting fusions between different styles and sounds makes him a genuinely progressive performer, and with a new album coming out soon with connecting themes and subdivided into sections makes him seem even proggier! I'm really looking forward to both gigs.
Now wish me luck getting tickets for Kasabian tomorrow morning - it's not prog but by crikey they rule the live stage! In fact, despite being a serious hard core prog fan, most of my favourite gigs are not strictly prog at all - Kasabian, David Bowie, Electric Six and Depeche Mode leaves room for just one Marillion gig in my all time top five (so far). Maybe it's because prog bands are so proficient musically that you get to hear faithful recreations of their albums, which is very nice but not necessarily adrenalin fuelling! Marillion's Garden Party gets in due to nostalgia as my first big gig, the others were all energetic, sweaty and noisy, and you don't really get that with prog that often! Maybe I'll be surprised in Cambridge, I have got standing tickets after all...
