The Best Of... 2 Days Prog (2010)

The Best Of... 2 Days Prog (2010)
2xDVD-5: PAL 4:3 (720x576) VBR | Dolby AC3, 2/0ch
VER1 Music Production | Covers Included | ~ 3.62 + 2.34 Gb
Progressive Rock

Veruno, September 10 & 11, 2010
Proteo, Moongarden, Gazpacho, Pendragon, Il Castello Di Atlante, La Leggenda New Trolls, Delirium

I think people
who own the CD/DVD-box Prog Exhibition - 40 Anni Di Musica Immaginifica
ill agree that this release is a must have for people who love
progressive rock in general and Italian progressive rock in particular.
Lately I received another DVD from Italy that, to some extent, can be
compared with this box. However, this time it contains only two DVDs and
unfortunately no CDs have been included. The Best Of 2Days Prog
contains footage of the 2Days ProgVeruno, a progressive rock festival
held in Italy. It took place on September 10th and 11th 2010 in the city
of Veruno. Apparently this festival has become an annual event, because
in 2011 three days of progressive rock music were held at the same
venue.

This DVD provides two hours of professionally shot and edited footage
from the 2010-edition. Originally this double-DVD was a private release
made to reward the people who were members of a collective that made it
possible to organize this festival. On the Prog Exhibition release I
could only enjoy Italian bands except for some members of foreign bands
like the Dutch band Focus and the British bands JethroTull and Van Der
Graaf Generator who participated as guest musicians. This time the
organization also invited foreign progressive rock acts to perform on
this festival beside a couple of Italian acts. Unfortunately only parts
of these performances have been included on this release.

The first disc starts with the Italian band Proteo with only nine
minutes of music. As a result only Echoes Mankind taken from their debut
album Under A Red Polar Light (2009) can be enjoyed. Next are two
tracks from Moongarden. They got seventeen minutes for this DVD
performing two tracks from their album A Vulgar Display Of Prog (2009).
What struck me most while watching them perform Aesthetic Surgery and
MDMA, was Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (MangalaVallis) playing the drums with
Moongarden. However, it's not that strange because Cristiano Roversi,
Moongarden's keyboard player, is currently a member of Mangala Vallis.
The performance of Moongarden is excellent, but I would have preferred
some older material. Never mind, you can't always get what you want, can
you? The Norwegian band Gazpacho is next. Either you love this band or
you hate them. There seems to be nothing in between. Gazpacho are
exposed for almost half an hour. Although they sometimes create
excellent music, in general I find their compositions really boring.
This time I managed to stay awake to notice that they included some fine
Mellotron-parts, an excellent violin solo and an interesting climax in
the final song. The last band on the first disc are Pendragon who also
got almost half an hour for two epic pieces. What can I say about them?
They always succeed in getting my attention and this time it wasn't
different.

The second disc starts with a track of the Italian band Il Castello Di
Atlante. This song performed on the acoustic piano and accompanied by a
violin contains a fine synthesizer solo that made me think about the
solo Keith Emerson played on Lucky Man. La Leggenda New Trolls, also
known as The New Trolls, are represented with two songs lasting for
about half an hour. The first piece contains a nice organ intro followed
by some outstanding playing on the flute. From time to time their music
reminded me of bands like The Nice, JethroTull and Focus. This piece
also contains a strong guitar and drum solo. The second piece could be
described as 'Vivaldi meets Jethro Tull'. Delirium is the third and last
band on the second disc. They also perform two songs and again
JethroTull crossed my mind due to the flute playing.

~ Henri Strik

Tracklist DVD1:

1- Proteo - Echoes Mankind - (8:56)
2- Moongarden - Aesthetic Surgery - (10:02)
3- Moongarden - MDMA - (7:18)
4- Gazpacho - Desert Flight - (10:02)
5- Gazpacho - Dream Of Ston - (17:25)
6- Pendragon - Comatose - (9:10)
7- Pendragon - Not Of This World - (16:39)



Tracklist DVD2:

1- Il Castello Di Atlante - La ForestaDietro Il Mulino Di Johan - (9:18)
2- La Leggenda New Trolls - Improvvisazione Nella Sela Vuot - (18:00)
3- La Leggenda New Trolls - Concerto Grosso n.1 (Allegro-Adagio) - (9:11)
4- Delirium - La Favola O Storia Del Lago Di Kriss - (6:49)
5- Delirium - Gioia, Disordine, Risentimento - (6:03)




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