March 7, 2008
REGULAR TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
THE OFFICIAL FMPM SCHEDULE
Regular tickets for FMPM 2008 are now on sale through the ProgQuebec online store, as well as trough www.admission.com. Visit our Tickets page for details. Visit our Schedule page for all the information concerning band order and concert showtimes on the FMPM weekend next September.
February 23, 2008
PREMIER CIEL TO PRESENT HARMONIUM AT FMPM 2008
Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal (FMPM) is pleased to announce that Harmonium tribute band Premier Ciel will perform on Friday September 12th, 2008 at the Centre Pierre Peladeau as the pre-show of this year’s festival. Formed in 2002, Premier Ciel has gained increased renown for its authentic live renditions of the Harmonium repertoire, and is the only ensemble authorized by Serge Fiori to publicly perform this legendary group’s works. Premier Ciel’s current line-up includes seven world-class musicians, with the same configuration as the L'Heptade live tour. The group will perform material from all the Harmonium albums including L’Heptade, in two distinct sets. Please visit www.premierciel.com for more information. This unique performance is a co-production between Premier Ciel and Musique ProgresSon. Tickets to the Premier Ciel show will be sold separately as described further below.
INTERFERENCE SARDINES TO REPLACE UNEXPECT
Quebec City's Interference Sardines will be replacing UnexpecT who have received an opportunity to tour the Southern US during September. This has given FMPM the chance to invite one of Quebec's finest experimental groups instead. With a style combining rock, musique actuelle, improv, folk, jazz, and everything else, most progressive rock fans would most easily classify them as avant-progressive. The band has just released their third album, Spot de Rue, and their entire catalog is available on Wayside Music.
THE COMPLETE 2008 LINEUP
Musique ProgresSon (ProgQuebec) and Unicorn Digital are now pleased to present the complete lineup for FMPM 2008 which includes four international groups: Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (Italy), Univers Zero (Belgium), Riverside (Poland), and Knight Area (Holland), and three groups from Quebec: Charles Kaczynski, Spaced Out, and Interference Sardines, all performing on Saturday September 13 and Sunday September 14, and also Premier Ciel who are performing on Friday September 12, as part of the FMPM pre-show.
TICKET SALES
Gold Tickets for FMPM 2008 are currently on sale exclusively at www.progquebec.com at a price of $175 (plus fees and taxes) and entitle holders to reserved seating of their choice. Regular Tickets will go on sale Friday March 7th at 10am at www.progquebec.com, www.admission.com and at the Pierre Peladeau Center (514-987-6919) at a price of $110 (plus fees and taxes). Gold and Regular tickets allow holders to attend all 7 performances on September 13 and 14. Tickets to the Premier Ciel show on September 12 will also go on sale Friday March 7th at 10am at a price of $25 (plus fees and taxes), however Gold Ticket holders can currently purchase Premier Ciel tickets with the same reserved seats as for the rest of the festival by ordering online prior to March 7th at www.progquebec.com. For details, visit our Tickets page.
January 28, 2008
KNIGHT AREA REPLACES MAGENTA
Some bad news and good news with the FMPM line-up. Rob Reed of Magenta is going to be a father in September, which unfortunately means no gigging for the group at that time. Although we had already signed the contract with the group, we did not feel it was reasonable to ask them to perform in a situation where they would not want to be here. We wish Rob all the best with the new album and his family, and hope to work with Magenta in 2009.
Luckily for us, Dutch modern symphonic rock group Knight Area has agreed to join the FMPM line-up for 2008. This was a group we had hoped to work with this year and were having trouble finding a way to make it work, which now becomes possible with Magenta's withdrawal. Knight Area released their first album, The Sun Also Rises, in 2004. This album featured old and new material from the band members, some dating back to the 1980s, and quickly made a splash in the progressive rock community leading to an appearance at NEARfest 2005. As promising as the first album was, 2007's Under a New Sign takes the group to the next level, with an approach and quality very comparable to British group (and past FMPM headliners) IQ. These days with many modern/neo progressive groups changing to heavier or poppier styles, Knight Area unapologetically shows a mastery of the conventions of symphonic rock, and will delight their growing fanbase in Montreal this coming September.
January 25, 2008
GET SPACED OUT AT FMPM 2008
World-class fusion trio Spaced Out will hit the stage this September at FMPM 2008. Formed by bassist Antoine Fafard and originally having the name Cortex, several different line-ups came and went before the group were signed to Unicorn Digital to release their first (self-titled) album in 2000. They were the first band on Unicorn Digital, apart from label founder Michel St-Père's own Mystery, and are to this day one of its most popular and best-selling groups. Drummer Martin Maheux has been there since 1998, while guitarist Mark Tremblay has been with the group since the live dates following their second album, entitled Eponymus II. Two studio albums have followed in recent years, 2003's Slow Gin and 2006's Unstable Matter, which was the heaviest to date, allowing touches of metal to fuse with the jazz and rock influences already present. During this time the group has stayed active in a live setting, performing at NEARFest, as well as the Crescendo Festival in France. Two live DVDs are available to demonstrate their prowess. The music of the group is a heavy instrumental fusion that is compared to everything from Return to Forever to Planet X, with Fafard's own bass style reminiscent at times of Jaco Pastorius.
January 20, 2008
CHARLES KACZYNSKI TO PERFORM AT FMPM
Charles Kaczynski was a violinist with the pioneering musique actuelle group Conventum in the late 1970s. After leaving the group, he released his solo masterpiece Lumière de la Nuit on which he played more than a dozen instruments. An obscurity long treasured by collectors, it was finally reissued on CD by ProgQuebec in 2005. Featuring a heavy string presence, with piano, guitar, woodwinds, and percussion, this mostly instrumental suite has elements of folk and chamber music and is reminiscent of Mike Oldfield, l'Engoulevent, Flarick, and others. Charles has stayed active in music performing in a variety of settings and styles, and has worked as the musical director and performer with the Cirque Éloize. This September Charles will give an hour-long performance of the suite, which will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness one of the highlights of the 1970s progressive music scene in Quebec.
January 18, 2008
UNIVERS ZÉRO TO HEADLINE FMPM
Belgian chamber rock group and original Rock in Opposition member Univers Zero will headline the Sunday portion of FMPM 2008. Formed in the mid-1970s by drummer and leader Daniel Denis, Univers Zero has undergone several transformations during its existence, from dark acoustic chamber music inspired by Béla Bartók and H.P. Lovecraft, to a more electronic sound with use of synthesizers in the 1980s, and finally a more melodic, refined chamber-rock for the new Millennium. The ten CD releases that catalogue these three periods are acclaimed by followers of new music and Univers Zero have influenced countless other groups being practically the blueprint for chamber-rock. After avoiding live performance for decades, the modern incarnation of Univers Zero embraced it, with powerful appearances at festivals in Europe and a headlining performance at NEARFest 2004. Their first ever live album was released on Cuneiform Records in 2006, and their first album 1313 is to be reissued by Cuneiform in mid-2008. The current line-up of Univers Zero features Daniel Denis (drums), Michel Berckmans (woodwinds), Andy Kirk (keyboards and guitar), Martin Lauwers (violin), Eric Plantain (bass), and Kurt Budé (clarinet, sax). Univers Zero is currently working on a new studio album.
December 27, 2007
FMPM GOLD TICKET RESERVATIONS
Well, we're almost at last year's gold ticket count already and we haven't announced half the line-up yet. There are many great seats left and the gold ticket sales not only greatly help our event overall, but provide us with cash flow for the operating costs in the months leading up to the event. So a huge thanks to everyone who has reserved so far and we hope to hear from a few more of you, especially once we announce the next couple of groups!
For those who wish to book their hotel accomodations early, please visit the hotel information page.
December 18, 2007
FMPM 2008 TICKET PURCHASE ANNOUNCEMENT
We have been getting lots of requests regarding ticket sales with our recent announcements that Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Riverside, Magenta and UnexpecT will be performing at FMPM 2008. Due to anticipated strong demand, the Gold Ticket seating area at the Pierre Peladeau Center will be expanded, and we are now officially accepting reservations for Gold Tickets only. Gold Tickets entitle the holders to reserve the best seats, and provide essential funding for festival operations, including our world-class line-up. FMPM 2008 tickets will be offered as follows:
1) Gold Ticket holders from 2007 can reserve the same seats they had by contacting us at info@fmpm.net with the purchaser’s name and the number of tickets desired. Previous Gold Ticket holders can reserve a larger number of Gold Tickets than they purchased in 2007, and so in some cases seats may not be identical to last year’s, but will be very close to last year’s seats.
2) Everyone else interested in purchasing Gold Tickets for FMPM 2008 can also reserve Gold Tickets by contacting us at info@fmpm.net with the purchaser’s name and the number of tickets desired. For these reservations, the exact seats will not be known until purchased, however you can let us know your preferences (i.e. seats nearer to the stage or further back in the center) and we will reserve you seats as close as we can to your preferred location.
3) Gold Ticket reservations will be accepted between now and January 31st, 2008, following which Gold Tickets will officially go on sale the next day on Friday February 1, 2008 at 8 am at www.progquebec.com. All those who reserved Gold Tickets must pay for them by Friday February 15, 2008, after which time reservations will no longer be guaranteed and all seats will be assigned. The price per Gold Ticket for FMPM 2008 will be $175.
4) Regular Tickets will go on sale in March 2008, once Gold tickets sales are finalized.
We would like to ackowledge all those who helped launch Le Festival des Musiques Progressives by purchasing tickets for the first two editions, and extend our advanced thanks to all those who plan on continuing to support FMPM by attending in 2008.
The FMPM Team
December 10, 2007
RIVERSIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN CANADA
Poland’s Riverside has made a name for themselves over the past five years with the “Reality Dream” trilogy of releases. From 2003’s Out of Myself (on the Laser’s Edge label), 2005’s Second Life Syndrome and 2007’s Rapid Eye Movement (both on the InsideOut label), they have developed a growing following with a melodically attractive, sometimes heavy, sometimes psychedelic sound. Crunchy guitars, atmospheric keyboard passages and Mariusz Duda’s powerful vocals have combined to make Riverside one of the most popular groups straddling the line between progressive rock and progressive metal. The music on these albums has been compared to groups as diverse as Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Pink Floyd and Pain of Salvation, but one also hears similarities to the Polish neo-progressive school of Collage, Satellite, Quidam, and others. Riverside performed for the first time in North America at NEARFest 2006, and they have played a number of art rock festivals in Europe. After supporting Dream Theater on European dates earlier this year, they are now touring in support of Rapid Eye Movement. FMPM 2008 will be Riverside’s first ever performance in Canada.
November 25, 2007
BANCO HEADLINES FMPM 2008
Performing for the first time in Canada, Italian symphonic rock group Il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso will be a headlining act at the 2008 edition of the FMPM. Existing since 1969, Banco has released some of the undisputed classics of the progressive rock era, including Darwin!, Io Sono Nato Libero, and ...di Terra. With beautiful classically oriented compositions and the powerful vocals of Francesco di Giacomo, Banco is considered by many to be the greatest Italian progressive group. Renowned for their live performances, Banco has been to North America only a handful of times, and the FMPM will feature a different set of classic prog than what they have played on the continent until now.
November 21, 2007
FMPM 2008 ANNOUNCEMENT!
The 2008 edition of the FMPM will take place September 13th and 14th of next year at the Salle Pierre-Mercure of the Pierre Peladeau Centre, in Montreal.
We would like to thank everyone who has shown enthusiasm for this event to date and look forward to delivering a third edition up to the standard of the first two.
More to come.
October 8, 2007
The 2007 picture book is now online! It features great photos by Claude Dufresne, Michel Parent and Hugues Bergevin of all 8 bands of the weekend as well as great pictures of the festival atmosphere! If you have photos you want to share with us, please don't hesitate and contact us at info@fmpm.net!
September 23, 2007
FMPM 2007 - A RESOUNDING SUCCESS!
Just coming back from the intensity of the FMPM 2007 weekend, it will take its organizers at least a week to catch their collective breath! It has been a wonderful experience this year in a new setting, with new challenges and a world-class lineup!
I will be writing, with the help of many friends, a detailed review of the event with many glorious pictures to accompany it, like the one above featuring David Cousins of the Strawbs taken by Michel Parent. So look forward in the next few days a detailed account – in front and behind the scenes – of FMPM 2007. (Robert Dansereau)
For older news entries, please visit our NEWS ARCHIVE page where you'll find all the historical FMPM news and tidbits dating back to March 2006!
©2008 Robert Dansereau - ProgresSon Music Inc. All Rights Reserved.
