Symforce

Pendragon (England) – Flower Kings (Sweden) – Riverside (Poland) – Focus (Holland) – Lazuli (France) – The Aurora Project (Holland) – Isopoda (Belgium) – The Pineapple Thief (England) – Beardfish (Sweden) – Bootcut (Sweden) - Lady Lake (Holland)

Saturday 15th september sees the start of what promises to become Europe’s largest indoor prog festival. Spread over three different stages, each with a different capacity, the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland, plays host to ten of the best bands from the current progressive rock scene. Known as one of the best venues what sound, lights and service is concerned the 013 will offer a unique opportunity for progbands and proglovers alike to witness both well known names as well as discover quality upcoming bands all in one day. Prog past, present and future if you like.

We all know how difficult it is for upcoming bands to get a chance to perform in front of a decent audience in a professional venue. Although their albums get rave reviews it isn’t a guarantee to pull large crowds. After Crying in front of 47 people is a true disgrace and bad vibes for band, promoter and audience. The only possibility is to link new talent with famous names and have them perform during the same festival. So similar to the famous Roadburn festival which focuses on stonerrock, spacerock and psychedelica also at the 013 venue, SYMFORCE is there for symphonic, progressive rock. The idea is to make it an unforgettable day for artists, fans and organization alike, an event which will become a yearly highlight, kind of a European version of NEARfest or BajaProg if you like !

Let’s shine a light on the bands that will perform during the first edition of Symforce on Saturday 15th September 2007 at the 013 in Tilburg, Holland :

LADY LAKE : the Dutch city of Deventer in the year 1973 marks the birth of the wonderful melodic instrumental band Lady Lake named after an album by Scottish band Gnidrolog. Huge fans of Gentle Giant the Lady Lake music nevertheless became a cross between early Camel, Focus and Finch. It was the CD-reissue of the band’s album “No pictures” which started a worldwide interest in this band which outside of Holland was virtually unknown. The band went on to record a brandnew album in 2005 called “Supercleandreammachine” followed recently by some old recordings under the moniker of “Unearthed”. A concert by Lady Lake always is a feast and SYMFORCE will be no exception !

ISOPODA : in the seventies this band was referred to as “the Belgian Genesis”. They ended on a high note having performed with a full philharmonic orchestra in their hometown of Aalst. Bassplayer and founder Arnold De Schepper tried a solo career but that’s as far as it went. A couple of year’s ago Musea re-issued both albums “Acrostichon” and “Taking root” on CD which made the name Isopoda known throughout the world. The band has reformed especially for SYMFORCE and performs for the very first time outside Belgium. Expect material from both their seventies albums as well as one or two surprises !

The PINEAPPLE THIEF : after the underground success of Vulgar Unicorn, Bruce Soord started his new project Pineapple Thief. Their blend of Radiohead and proggy approaches soon gave them international recognition and a breath of fresh air entered the prog community. With a string of albums under their belt The Pineapple Thief plays it’s Benelux debut and will surely surprise all of you

BEARDFISH : offering a cross between Flower Kings and Zappa, Beardfish is one of those new bands which puts a lot of humor in both it’s lyrics as well as it’s music. Their brand new album “Sleeping in traffic part one” has just been released by Inside Out which should give them some well deserved exposure all around the world. Their presence at SYMFORCE is also their debut in the Benelux

BOOTCUT : take Beardfish’s keyboardplayer and add another drummer and you have Bootcut. Hammond and drums is all you need in order to get this progressive Booker T & MG’s. Bootcut will be kind of SYMFORCE’s afterparty

LAZULI : if you know this band has been asked to perform at the legendary Baja Prog festival in Mexicali for the third consecutive time in 2008 you know they are incredible as no other band before them has ever had the pleasure to perform at Baja Prog three times in a row. The only band in the world to play the léode, a cross between a stick and Jordan Rudess’s continuum, they also throw in a warr-guitar and marimba to make it extra special. This is absolute world class and certainly not to be missed !

The AURORA PROJECT : a home match for this up and coming band from Holland which delivers it’s original compositions and arrangements with a slightly harder edge live. For sure a band to watch

FOCUS : legendary and without any doubt one of the ten most important progacts of all time. Next to original members Thijs Van Leer and Pierre van der Linden they also have Bobby Jacobs on bass and newcomer Niels van der Steenhoven on guitar

RIVERSIDE : their third album “Rapid eye movement” will just be released when they visit SYMFORCE. For sure they will perform lots of new material pulled from the final part of their ambitious trilogy. Fans of Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater already love this band to bits so it’s high time you get the Riverside virus as well !

FLOWER KINGS : around 15th September the band’s brand new studio album will be recorded and mastered waiting for a release later this year. SYMFORCE will be the very first time some of the new material will be played live. Expect new stuff, classics and some surprises

PENDRAGON : the first edition of SYMFORCE closes with one of the bands that has delivered quality for as long as you can think of. Barret & C° will pull a greatest hits selection from their bag of goodies closing SYMFORCE with a well deserved bang !
As you can see the first edition of SYMFORCE promises to be one hell of an experience. We expect all of you on Saturday 15th September at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland. Spread the word as SYMFORCE street force and make prog famous again. See you there !

Time schedule
Main Stage:
16.00-17.15 Focus
17.45-19.00 Riverside
19.40-21.10 Pendragon
21.50-23.20 Flower Kings

Kleine Zaal:
16.30-17.45 Lazuli
18.30-19.45 Pineapple Thief
20.30-21.45 The Aurora Project

Bat Cave:
17.00-18.00 Lady Lake
19.00-20.00 Isopoda
20.50-22.00 Beardfish
23.00-23.45 Bootcut