Wokingham Festival consisted of three days over the August bank holiday, although the third day, Bank Holiday Monday, was the one of interest for Progressive Rock fans. With a number of acts showcasing the depth of talent in the current U.K. Progressive rock scene, there was something for everyone from the pastoral Amanda Lehman through to the psychedelic space rock of headliners Ozric Tentacles, taking in all manner of diverse progginess in between. There was a wonderfully eclectic mix of acts on show that showed the widely varied nature of the Progressive genre.
Words and Photography: Adrian Stonley
Amanda Lehmann
The show was started by Amanda Lehmann, right-hand woman and guitar player supreme in Steve Hackett’s band. It’s never easy being the opening act at a festival, particularly with an early lunchtime start, yet Amanda knew what the audience wanted and provided the perfect introductory set. Playing solo on an acoustic guitar, her songs were stripped back, allowing the actual nuances of the songwriting and her playing to show through.
Opening with Tinkerbell from her recent Innocence and Illusion album, she set out her intent for the show’s pace. Shadow from the E.P. of the same name followed, and you could feel the receptive reaction and captivation from the audience growing.
One Last Spin was a tune dealing with gambling addiction which had been written specifically for a T.V. programme and enabled her to show off the full range of her vocal ability. But the emotional piece de resistance was the very personal Memory Lane dealing with her mother’s descent into and battle with dementia. This completely moving and atmospheric piece constantly pulls at the heartstrings.
Yet despite the intense emotional rollercoaster of the songs, there is still another side to Amanda, and this was clearly and evidently on show as she sassily whipped through a medley of two older songs, Count For Something and Mother Earth which both had an ecological connection running between the two.
Despite the warm and dry weather, the wonderful Only Happy When It Rains was well received, and a few audience members danced and sang along with her.
The set closed out with The Watcher, also from the latest album, which, as Amanda explained, is completely open to interpretation but was a well-thought-out and structured piece that was beautifully nuanced and intricate yet musically balanced. It’s a fitting end to the perfect first slot.
Hoopy Frood
Okay, let’s start with the name of this band because it’s quite wonderful. Yet what does it mean, and is there any hidden meaning behind it? Well, it probably helps to be a fan of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. This is where the name comes from, with a ‘Frood’ being Douglas Adams’s literative slang that means someone who is ‘really amazingly together’ and is an intensified version of ‘hoopy’. Does that make sense? When considered as such, it is the perfect name for this band, who musically is really amazingly together.
For the purpose of this review, I am not even going to attempt to slot them into a subgenre. They are themselves, and their influences are numerous. There appears to be an unwritten ethos that if something works musically and creatively, then let it be and put it in, and this is a really good way to approach their music. It is thoughtful, asks questions, and makes you dance all at the same time. I suppose that statement-wise, they were the perfect introduction to Ozric Tentacles, the headliners who would come later and give a good idea of what they are about.
They have made no secret of their love for the Ozrics, for they were responsible for giving Hoopy Frood their first live opportunities. Yet even that seems a tad biased as there are so many underlying musical ideas within the songs and the musical structuring of this band that even this categorization seems unfair.
There is an organic flair to the music of Hoopy Froods. Certainly, there is a spacy and psychedelic feel and soundscape that underlies many of their songs. Yet, there is also an ethereal wonder in the creativity of the pieces and the wide-ranging influences contained within.
Musically, they are a strongly self-contained unit yet are happy to step outside of that and expand their musical direction as the moment calls for it. As a band, there are currently six members, with two percussionists and singer Michelle Higgins also taking turns on tribal drums and tom-toms. They introduced two new songs, The River and Dream Your Life. Both pieces show promise for their forthcoming album and certainly had a percentage of the audience swaying and dancing.
Yet they are also capable of springing surprises to keep the audience on their toes, and a wonderfully heavy blues version of Led Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks was a complete change from the rest of their set that created quite a stir (in a positive manner) as they stripped the song back to its base blues components.
Sadly, like so many sets on the day (as I was to discover), this was all over far too quickly, yet it was the perfect introduction to the band for any first-timers.
Spriggan Mist
Spriggan Mist are a band that I had been waiting to see live for a long time, and I personally held high hopes for them. They did not disappoint. In fact, it would be quite easy to sum up their set in two words: bloody brilliant.
On home turf, they were clearly one of the acts that a large number of the audience had come to see, and this homecoming show was everything that was expected and more. This is a band that were completely on fire from the moment they hit the stage. Their folky proggy rock went down an absolute storm with the assembled punters.
They are a band that I could consider as a ‘kitchen sink ‘band. In as much as throw everything musically in including the kitchen sink. There was so much going on on stage, from Singer Fay Brotherhood’s headgear through to Bassist Baz Cilia’s Sunday best. Throw in two sabre dancers, and you have a fantastic afternoon’s entertainment.
Yet, of course, we should not forget about the music. After all that is what this is all about. It is easy to classify Spriggan Mist as folk prog, and those elements of musicianship are clear for all to hear. Yet, there is so much more to this, and they have a wonderful knack for taking these elements, placing them into a rock format and creating one helluva party.
The songs drip in theatricality, folklore, paganism and legend. From the opener, Isambard The Mechanical Dragon (What a title!), there is also a hint of steampunk in there. The song drips with guitar hooks and melodies aplenty and is a real singalong from the start.
The title song from 2017’s album The Portal follows before two new songs are played, the current single When Stars Collide and then Ianatores Teresteres. Both these songs link well and enable the band to show off their full musical range and ability, with lead guitarist Maxine Cilia hopping between guitar, keytar, recorder and saxophone, as well as a guitar dual between Maxine and fellow guitarist Neil Wighton.
The Kintbury Witch sees them calling on local lore when telling the tale of a Witch who destroyed the church at Kintbury before the band is joined on stage by Sebastian the Spriggan, the band mascot who menacingly prowls the stage as the band tears into the uplifting Spriggan Dance, which sees Maxine go full out on the sax before crowd favourite Faery Queen, which sees a considerable upturn in audience jigging and dancing.
I’m not sure if terms like dancing really would apply to the traditionalists at a prog show, but who cares? Everyone there was having a great time, and ….hey, why not? Enjoy the real ancient traditions, let your hair down, rock out and dance.
This was a completely joyous performance, and for those who had not seen the band before, it was a perfect introduction to them. Certainly, listening to comments from the audience post show the feedback afterwards was immense, with many considering this a band that they need to dive further into. My opinion….. Dive deep.
