Complicated Time signatures, quick on the dime twist and turns, the dinosaur is not dead? Are we in Dreamland? Prog Rock is back according to the band Dreamland. For people who love Yes and Genesis and Rush, this is very good news.
Lately, I have been noticing a shift in the music scene where young bands are testing their musical chops and pushing boundaries again. They are tired of hearing algorithm music. It is those songs that are all created with a certain pattern that the masses eat up like a bag of potato chips. It is predictable and can be boring. Prog Rock loves to push the limits of the imagination and the three bands I saw last night are on that journey.
Maya Blue
This was the first band on and they were representing the vintage sound of the 1970’s. What made them stand out is they may have had and old sound, but I could not compare them to any other band from that era.
I tried to see if they had hints of Led Zeppelin or Steely Dan or maybe even Bad Company. I had nothing. Their grooves were slow and grounded. They weren’t trying for anything fancy, but they were not a meat and potatoes band either. That means their songs did not sound the same, like a band like AC/DC.
They are a band that finds a really good groove and nestles it the pocket. Then they just let it seep inside your chilled and melodic state of mind.
One of the songs I loved had an opening that sounded like a movie soundtrack for a great space movie. This song was simply called, “Hey”. They took it a little further with an explanation, saying their next song was about a fish swimming in Burlington Bay and getting high. Hahaha…
They even did a song so new they didn’t even have a name for it yet. Maybe they should hold a contest were the audience gets to name the song. Now that would be original.
So, that was round one of band searching out a truly original sound.
Here is Maya Blue:
Aster Nox
Aster Nox have dubbed themselves a Mystic rock band. Well when your opening tune reminds you of Frank Zappa, I think you can dub yourself anything you want.
The second song was a solid cover of “Feelin’ Alright”. Yeah…Hell yeah.we were feeling alright after that. It got even better when you could hear a harmonica playing and you realize it is the drummer doing double duty. Hell yeah, again.
They knew how to hit us emotionally, because they singing songs about getting naughty when the lights go down. The fun continued when they sang a song with only one line. The song was called, Doing the dope”. Not only was it dope but it was funky. This band has a great presence of creating strange funk from the trunk. It ain’t no jive or junk, they just go for the slam dunk and they rarely flunk.
This is a band that is young and carefree and when the keyboardist plays, it has that Stevie Wonder vibe with a wah wah pedal not too far behind. This is a true 70’s joyful sound. As an older fan, this is some pretty cool shit. In fact, talking with the sax player, he was explaining to me that this generation really loves vintage rock. They are tired of hearing that same rehashed sound on the radio today.
Speaking of the Sax player, this dude really adds a whole new dimension to the entire sound and style of the band. As you listen to each of their songs, you can quickly comprehend that these guys have plenty of room to grow. Just writing this now, I can understand the loyalty of an audience. If they still see potential in your growth as an artist, they want to stick around and want to watch what you are going to do next.
Aster Nox finished their set off with a tune called, “Five days til Friday”, and before you know it you are face to face with the saxophone player who left the stage and is blowing his wind in your face.
This is a band worth watching because I do want to see what they are going to do next.
Here is Aster Nox:
Dreamland
What is this feeling? They open up with that pondering statement and get all philosophical on us. This is one of the reasons I love Prog rock. The philosophy behind their music keeps the mind alive.
This is a band that can even get your Mojo back. You know the feeling, like really driving your car or playing great riff on a guitar. They even snuck in some doom and gloom moments, because this journey is about opening up all your feelings.
Dreamland is on a mission, and that is to bring Prog Rock back into the spotlight. If you go to their shows, you really can buy that T-Shirt. See my photos below.
Just when you were feeling pretty high from their excellent musicianship, they brought on the keyboardist and friend, Nick Hearst to add that extra dimension to the evening.
As I was enthralled in hearing quality music, I realized Dreamland is really striving to look for new spaces and sounds. This is a young band that is taking moment from their musical heroes and wants to build on that momentum. They are trying out different structures and want to find new way to compose their material.
They did please the Yes fan in me by playing the ending of Starship Trooper. I saw Yes do this back in 1984 and it was one of the most memorable moments in my musical live. So Thank you Dreamland for that snapshot into my past.
I also loved their new song called, “Wasted Time”, that had that Led Zeppelin sound dripping down leg like a well squeezed lemon.
The final tune of the night was a mental mess of sounds that boggled my mind, and that is how I like it. So my advice to Dreamland is to keep having those wild dreams and then present them to the world with your music.
Here is Dreamland:
If you want to follow them on Instagram here are their links.
www.instagram.com/therealmayablue/
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