August 20, 2007
GOLD TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!
Thank you to all the gold tickets holders for their kind support!
July 8, 2007
The FMPM pre-show on Friday, September 14!
The FMPM pre-show will take place on Friday, September 14th at l'Alizé, located at 900 rue Ontario Est (at the corner of St-André, five blocks away from Salle Pierre-Mercure). Doors open at 7 PM and the show will begin at 8:00 PM.
There will be three bands performing, Quartik, Capharnaüm and Karcius. Tickets are $10, available right now through the ProgMontreal website and also at the Alizé boxoffice at 514-523-0622.
Karcius is one of the leading bands of the current Montreal prog scene. Karcius is an instrumental group that plays a mix of hard progressive rock and jazz fusion. They have released two albums on Unicorn Digital, Sphère and Kaléidoscope, and have performed at the FMPM 2006 as well as Prog in the Park in Rochester. They are also making festival appearances this year in France and the USA (in Milwaukee). A group bursting with youthful energy, respectful of the past but with their own musical goals, Karcius is at the forefront of renewal within the progressive music world.
Capharnaüm is a guitar-driven, modern and melodic instrumental rock band that was formed way back in 1991 in Quebec City. The title of their album, Le Soleil Est Une Bombe Atomique (which literally means The Sun Is An Atomic Bomb) reflects at the same time the foreboding and hope that they are trying to communicate whenever they play together, compose or perform live. It's slightly demented heavy music with a touch of prog and a lot of rhythm.
Quartik is an instrumental prog-fusion quartet from Quebec city featuring guitar, bass, vibraphone, and drums. They have one release to date, 2004's Hecho a Mano on the Ipso Facto label. In addition to periodic live performances, Quartik's highly proficient musicians are all in high demand to work with other Quebec artists. They have performed twice at the Terra Incognita festival in Quebec City, in 2005 and 2006.
There are now eleven bands that are part of the FMPM weekend from September 14 to 16, 2007!
June 29, 2007
FMPM's lineup is complete: Introducing Jelly Fiche!
Montreal band Jelly Fiche will be the eighth and final band in FMPM's lineup this year. They will be opening things up on Saturday. Their booking demonstrates FMPM's continued commitment to supporting local progressive artists in the Montreal area.
A trio, Jelly Fiche features Syd on bass and vocals, Eric Plante on keyboards and saxophone, and Jean-François Arsenault on guitar. All of these musicians come from very different backgrounds. Syd has a background in poetry and aspires to integrate it into rock the way classic artists did. Plante comes from a jazz background and has composed for Cirque du Soleil, while Arsenault is a trained jazz guitarist and fan of 70s progressive rock. Their "live" formation also includes Sylvain Auclair on bass and vocals, as well as Mathieu Bergeron on drums.
The music they form together could be described as song-oriented progressive rock, but free of too many preconceived ideas and cliches about what that should mean. Influences of the group include Pink Floyd, King Crimson, the Beatles, Gentle Giant, David Bowie, Queen, Chick Corea, Led Zeppelin, Sam Roberts, Feist, Zero 7, Erik Truffaz, and Coldplay. They have been performing in the Montreal area. Their first album will be released on Unicorn Digital later this year.
Because we expect many of you have not yet had the opportunity to hear Jelly Fiche, you can check out some of their tracks on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/jellyfiche.
April 18, 2007
Maneige Members at FMPM for Album Launch
FMPM 2007 will be the place to be for fans of the great Montreal progressive rock band Maneige. The festival will coincide with the reissue of two highly anticipated albums on the ProgQuebec label. These consist of the first two Maneige albums from 1975, the self-titled debut Maneige and Les Porches.
For this occasion we will be joined by original Maneige members Alain Bergeron, Jérôme Langlois, Yves Léonard, Gilles Schetagne, and Paul Picard. They will be around to talk with festival attendees, sign some CDs, and help us celebrate Quebec progressive music past and present. The two Maneige CDs are the studio-recorded legacy of the early formation of the band, weaving several themes into long instrumental chamber-rock pieces. The reissues of Maneige and Les Porches have been highly anticipated, and ProgQuebec is proud to have licensed these from EMI Canada, as announced earlier this year.
ProgQuebec also plans on releasing a new album by Jérôme Langlois, Live au FMPM, containing his acclaimed performance at last year’s FMPM 2006, which includes dynamic arrangements of several tracks from the studio album Molignak as well as material from Maneige and predecessor band Lasting Weep. A second “bonus” CD will feature the reissue of Langlois’ 1984 solo piano album Thèmes, which will be augmented by several other unreleased compositions from the 1970s. It is worth noting that Langlois, Schetagne, and Picard performed together last year and are featured on Live au FMPM.
March 19, 2007
The official schedule for the 2007 edition of FMPM is now posted! Visit our Schedule page for all the details!
March 18, 2007
FMPM is now on MySpace! Visit our new page at http://www.myspace.com/fmpm_festival to add us to your friends list, subscribe to our blog, or just to say hello! You'll find links, music excerpts and some fine pics from last year's event!
March 9, 2007
MIRIODOR TO PERFORM AT FMPM 2007
...by Popular Demand...
The FMPM is proud to announce the return of MIRIODOR for the 2007 edition.
It is difficult to describe in words the impact of MIRIODOR's music. Progressive rock fans like them because of the tightness and virtuosity that comes from their intensive rehearsal practices. Out music fans like them because of their comfort with dissonance, and complex harmonic structures. All music lovers can appreciate their gift for captivating and innovative melodies and the joy and passion that comes forth from their compositions.
With a variety of configurations under their belt, the modern nucleus of MIRIODOR dates to about the mid-90s album Jongleries Élastiques (Elastic Juggling), and subsequent albums (Mekano, Parade) have earned increasing acclaim and popular support. When MIRIODOR has played a show at a place like NEARfest, there is usually a lot of buzz afterwards from people who had no idea they would like it so much, who had no idea they even liked "avant-prog". In a nutshell, MIRIODOR makes it easy to enjoy difficult music.
Last year they were one of the most anticipated bands and sure enough, after the fact in review after review, people talked about how much they had enjoyed the concert. We thought, is it too soon to have them back? Shows what we know! FMPM 2006 attendees have been letting us know that for sufficiently good music, there is no such thing as too soon.
With continually evolving new material and old friend Lars Hollmer in town, who knows what might be in store for this year's performance? What is certain is last year has set a high standard and high expectations, and it would be hard to meet them again without... MIRIODOR.
March 9, 2007
TICKETS ON SALE TODAY!
Tickets for the FMPM go on sale today at noon. Gold and regular tickets will be on sale at the same time. Gold tickets are available exclusively at www.progquebec.com (which also has the lowest fees). Regular tickets are also available through ProgQuébec, Pierre Peladeau and Admission.com.
Stay tuned for further announcements in the coming weeks including pre-show information.
March 5, 2007
FMPM 2007 UPDATED LINE-UP
THE STRAWBS, IQ, SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA,
NATHAN MAHL, VILLE EMARD BLUES BAND, and HAMADRYAD
Saturday September 15 and Sunday September 16, 2007 • Pierre Peladeau Center, Montreal
One of the most storied bands of the second wave of British progressive rock of the early 80s, IQ was one of a small number of British bands including Marillion, Pendragon, Twelfth Night, and Pallas, that carried the torch of progressive rock when many of the original proponents were no longer active. In their career spanning twenty-five years, they have released over a dozen studio and live albums and three DVDs, and are one of the most popular and best-selling independent progressive rock bands in the world. IQ has headlined progressive rock festivals around the world, and are a two-time headliner of the North East Art Rock Festival in the United States. Their elaborate symphonic rock, featuring extensive guitar and keyboard leads and the dramatic vocals of Peter Nicholls, has gained a legion of fans worldwide and their return to Montreal has been greatly anticipated. Their only North American date of 2007 will feature the world premiere of some of the material from their next album, due for release in October, with a full multimedia presentation.
Montreal's HAMADRYAD has gained worldwide recognition since their 2001 debut release Conservation of Mass. This album led to the band's invitation to the prestigious Baja Prog festival in Mexico in 2002. An experienced live outfit, their hard-edged sound influenced by the classic prog bands has been refined over the intervening years. After 2004's Safe in Conformity, they performed at the Rites of Spring Festival in early 2006. One of Montreal's most popular progressive rock bands, we are pleased to have them join our line-up.
This year's FMPM will be held at the Pierre Peladeau Center, in the Salle Pierre Mercure. A beautiful and intimate auditorium seating just under 800, the Pierre Peladeau Center has fantastic acoustics and sightlines. This venue is also very conveniently located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, right next to the Berri-UQAM subway station, and only four street blocks away from Highway 20. It also features an indoor parking as well as easy access to people with limited mobility. While we have a great appreciation for the high quality of the Gesù, we feel now is the right time to move to a venue that can accommodate everyone interested in seeing this line-up perform, rather than see a lot of people get shut out.
Regular and Gold tickets will go on sale this Friday, at www.progquebec.com. Gold tickets will cost $160 this year (about $135 US), while regular tickets are priced at $95 (about $80 US). Gold tickets offer preferred seating, our eternal gratitude, and maybe some other neat stuff along the way.
March 4, 2007
There is a small change in the schedule of the festival , which will be now held on Saturday, September 15, 2007 and Sunday September 16, 2007* instead of the Friday/Saturday slot previously announced. This is due to the Genesis concert being held at the Olympic Stadium on Friday September 14, 2007.
February 16, 2007
FMPM announces partial line-up for its 2007 edition Featuring STRAWBS, SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA, NATHAN MAHL, VEBB and others to be announced very soon!
ProgresSon Music (ProgQuébec), in association with Unicorn Digital, announces that the 2007 edition of the Montreal Progressive Music Festival will be held on Saturday, September 15th and Sunday, September 16th, 2007*. This year’s line-up will include the world famous STRAWBS in their electric formation, Swedish legends SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA, as well as native Quebec groups NATHAN MAHL and VILLE EMARD BLUES BAND (VEBB). Two other groups will be announced within the next few weeks, as well as the name of the venue where FMPM07 will be held.
The STRAWBS are one of the most renowned British progressive bands of their era. Their highly successful 1970s albums, Hero and Heroine and Ghosts, were rightfully acclaimed by music fans selling over 250,000 copies each, and their mixture of emotional progressive rock and folk have won them legions of fans around the world. Other notable albums include Grave New World, Bursting At The Seams, Burning For You, and Deep Cuts. In recent years the acoustic STRAWBS have played across North America, and in 2004, the electric band headlined NEARFest, playing a few other sold-out concerts as well. Rock fans in Quebec have been patiently waiting over 25 years for a chance to see the electric STRAWBS in concert, and will finally have the opportunity to see the complete original electric formation of David Cousins, Dave Lambert, Chas Cronk, John Hawken, and Rod Coombes.
SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA is one of the great progressive bands from Sweden, and one of the founding members of Rock in Opposition. Since their first album in 1970, they have combined instrumental virtuosity, tight group interplay, sophisticated compositions, and a sense of fun and infectious energy that cannot help but bring a smile to anyone who sees them play. Albums such as Måltid and Klossa Knapitatet are stone-cold classics, and their 1999 release Kaka was hailed as a brilliant return to form. The current line-up of the band includes original members Lars Hollmer, Coste Apetrea, and Lars Krantz, and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei, and Korekyojin fame. SAMLA headlined the ProgDay festival in 2003, but appearances in Quebec have proven elusive until now.
Outaouais valley-based NATHAN MAHL, led by keyboardist and composer Guy LeBlanc, has been at the forefront of the modern symphonic progressive rock sound. After releasing the obscure gem Parallel Eccentricities in 1983, the band went underground for 15 years before emerging with the prog-fusion powerhouse The Clever Use of Shadows, since re-interpreted as Shadows Unbound. After blowing away the audience at NEARfest 1999, NATHAN MAHL embarked on a symphonic album trilogy called Heretik which saw its sound approaching that of the legendary group CAMEL while retaining its uniqueness. LeBlanc then joined CAMEL, where he participated on A Nod and a Wink , embarking on a world tour. With a new album entitled Exodus coming out in 2007, it is time for NATHAN MAHL to make another high-profile festival appearance. The line-up today includes Guy LeBlanc, Marc Spenard, Guy Dagenais, and Alain Bergeron.
Montreal’s home-grown VILLE EMARD BLUES BAND comprised the largest stage in prog music history, consisting of up to 24 musicians, and combining rock, jazz, funk, and folk. VEBB headlined the Montreal Forum and was nominated for best new group at the 1975 Canadian Juno awards, a category won by RUSH that year. The complete works of VEBB were reissued on CD by ProgQuebec in 2004. Former band leader Bill Gagnon’s son, Chris Gagnon, now heads-up the core group of 12, along with veterans Serge Vallières, Michel Dion, and Richard Perotte. FMPM 2007 will showcase this unique ensemble performing a special set of its most progressive and energetic jazz-rock, featuring tracks by related groups CONTRACTION and TOUBABOU, proving that Quebec was a bastion of creativity during the 1970s.
A limited number of Gold tickets, entitling holders to the best seating, will go on advance sale at www.progquebec.com sometime in March, while Regular tickets will go on sale at a later date to be announced. For more information, please consult this website on a regular basis and direct any inquiries to info@fmpm.net. We thank everyone for their interest in our event and expect that this year’s festival will be an even greater success than the last.
Local media contact: stephen@progressonmusic.com • International: sean@progressonmusic.com.
February 3, 2007
Visit the FMPM 2006 Picture Book where you'll find great pictures of all the bands that participated at the inaugural edition of FMPM, including the preshow, you'll also find a detailed review of the three-day event!
Sunday, October 29, 2006
The FMPM 2006 Picture Book is now online! You'll find pictures of all the bands, including the preshow, as well as a detailed review of the event!
Monday, September 18, 2006
The festival ended on this note... "See you next year!" ...and so begins the preparation for the second edition of FMPM. We wish to thank all of the people who made this festival a success, from the artists, sponsors and merchants, to everybody who bought tickets. Look for a full review of this festival very soon on the FMPM website!
Saturday, September 9, 2006
It is with great pleasure that we just learned that famed Maneige percussionnist Paul Picard will join Jérôme Langlois and friends onstage for Friday's performance of Jérôme's De Maneige à Molignak. With three of the original members of Maneige on the same stage, this is sure to become a historical show to be remembered!
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
LINEUP CHANGE FOR THE PRE-SHOW: Talisma's bass player, Donald Fleurent, broke his arm badly a few days ago, so the trio won't be able to perform at the FMPM pre-show on Thursday, September 14 2006 at La Place à Côté (4571 Papineau Street, near Mont-Royal).
This is unfortunately something totally out of our control and the bandmembers of Talisma are deeply disappointed not to be able to participate. They were very much looking forward to their performance with Hamadryad.
But we found a great band from Quebec City that volunteered to fill in at the last minute, a future Unicorn Digital recording artist, Signs of One.
You'll find their website at www.signsofone.com . Check out their stuff, it's classy, edgy progressive music, loosely inspired by the likes of Rush, Marillion, Arena, Radiohead and Jethro Tull... captivating original compositions from a group of talented musicians!
Signs of One will open the evening, followed by Hamadryad's performance.
Again, we apologize for this unfortunate change in the pre-show's lineup, but we can guarantee a fabulous evening with these two great bands. Tickets are $15, and are available from the Unicorn Digital website at www.unicornrecords.com/concerts.html , from www.progmontreal.com and will also be available at the door on the day of the show.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
It is with great sadness that we learned of the sudden death of Pip Pyle, the drummer of Hatfield & The North, last Sunday. The band members are heavyhearted at the loss of their dear friend and long-time band member, but stated that the show must go on and they will be in Montreal on September 15 for a very special, very emotional performance, with Mark Fletcher behind the drums. The 2006 edition of FMPM is dedicated to the memory of Philip (Pip) Pyle.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Stéphane Desbiens, guitarist for the Quebec band Sense, will be among our guest musicians at FMPM 2006, in support for his latest solo effort, The D Project's Shimmering Light. Come and say hello to Stéphane at the Ipso Facto table in the vendors area, where you can pick-up a copy of Shimmering Light, reviewed on ProgMontreal. Your chance also to see his stunning custom-made guitar, the ASL 304, which gives Stéphane his unique signature sound.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Great news! Gary Green, Gentle Giant's legendary guitarist, has been invited as our guest of honor at FMPM 2006. It will be our pleasure for us to have Gary in Montreal for the duration of the festival and he will participate actively in the celebrations!
Friday, July 7, 2006
It is with great pleasure that we will have the group Nathan Mahl among our exhibitors and vendors at FMPM 2006. The famous Ottawa band features keyboardist Guy Leblanc (who played with Camel in 2000 and in 2001). Guy and drummer Daniel Lacasse will be happy to answer your questions about the group, and it will be your opportunity to get the latest Nathan Mahl releases, including Shadows Unbound, the excellent Heretik Vol. 1, 2 & 3 series, and Guy's books. Visit their website at http://www.nathanmahl.com/
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Great news! The FMPM preshow is getting to be quite an event! Another great Montreal band will join Hamadryad on the stage of La Place à Côté on Thursday, September 14 2006, the group Talisma will open the FMPM celebrations. Tickets for that event are now available from the Unicorn Digital website at www.unicornrecords.com/concerts.html and from www.progmontreal.com. The cost is $15 since there are two great bands performing instead of one!
The preshow will be held at La Place à Côté, (4571 Papineau Street, near Mont-Royal).
Friday, April 7, 2006
It's official! We are proud to announce that Gold Tickets are sold out! Get your regular tickets quickly!
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Thanks to all who purchased their tickets yesterday, the response was great! There are only a few Gold tickets left, and regular tickets are selling quickly!
For those festival attendees who will be making hotel reservations in the next few days, please visit our "Hotels" page for suggestions, recommendations and special rates.
Saturday, April 1st, 2006
Tickets for the first edition of FMPM will be available as of 10 AM today!
To get Gold Tickets and Regular tickets, visit www.progquebec.com and click on the round "Tickets" button to access the ProgQuébec webstore. Visa and Mastercard accepted.
Tickets for the preshow on Thursday, September 14 will be available on Saturday, April 15 from the Unicorn Digital website at www.unicornrecords.com/concerts.html and from www.progmontreal.com.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
For the inaugural edition of our festival, it will be our pleasure and honor to present from England, Hatfield and the North, from the United States, Echolyn, and from Québec, Jérôme Langlois, Miriodor, Kaos Moon and Karcius.
The festival will be held Friday September 15 and Saturday, September 16 2006 at the
Le Gesù - Centre de Créativité (1200 De Bleury Street, in downtown Montreal).
Tickets will be put on sale on Saturday, April 1st, 2006. More information on our Ticket Info page.
It is with great pleasure that we present Quebec artists Jérôme Langlois, Miriodor, Kaos Moon and Karcius.
Jérôme Langlois, one of the pioneers of progressive music and the founding member of legendary Quebec prog band Maneige, reunites some of his old pals from Maneige, Conventum, Octobre and L'Orchestre Sympathique to play that brilliant music that was part of the musical landscape of the seventies in Montreal. A veritable who's who of Quebec prog musicians onstage! Jérôme will play music from early Maneige, as well as tracks of his latest solo album, Molignak.
Miriodor is a world reknown ambassador of RIO (rock in opposition) or "musiques inclassifiables" as they refer to their musical style, celebrating its 26th anniversary this year!
Kaos Moon is one of the best representatives of symphonic neo-progressive rock. Great melodies and harmonies, with a hard edge. Their sound will remind you of Queensrÿche and Saga.
Karcius is a great young band of passionate, talented musicians that has been on the forefront of Montreal's music scene. Their amazing style of hard prog fusion will simply blow you away! Their performance at Prog In The Park last year was outstanding, and caught the attention of the international music community.
And on the international side, we are honored to present two of the greatest names of progressive music, Hatfield and the North and Echolyn.
Hatfield and the North, this fabled british band, celebrates its 33th anniversary and is among the great names of classic progressive music. Their style of jazzy, off-beat progressive rock is among the best representatives of this subgenre called Canterbury. The presence in Montreal of beloved musicians, Phil Miller, Richard Sinclair, Pip Pyle and Alex Maguire will be an event in itself.
Finally, one of the United States' best contemporary progressive bands, Echolyn, will close the festival. With a history dating back 15 years, Echolyn continues to develop and redefine a compositional style best described as melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and dynamic – music that is progressive in the truest sense of the word. Defying categorization, while achieving critical acclaim from all around the globe, Echolyn continues to bend the ears of the world's listeners.
The FMPM has found its home in the heart of downtown Montreal; The Gesù is a beautiful auditorium with theater seating that can accomodate over 400 patrons, built under a Jesuit Church. Visit our page on this historic 140 year-old concert hall, or their website at www.gesu.net.
And we can proudly announce other great events during the festival, including a pre-show, a symposium with Quebec progressive music pioneers like Yves Laferrière (Contraction) Alain Bergeron (Maneige) and André Duchesne (Conventum), a great selection of vendors and exhibitors to get your fill on prog CDs, and special appearances by famous guest musicians and much more!
A pre-show will be held on Thursday, September 14 at La Place à Côté, (4571 Papineau Street, near Mont-Royal) with Montreal bands Hamadryad and Talisma. Tickets for this event are $15 and are sold separately, available from our Ticket Info page, from the Unicorn Digital Concerts website, or at the door of La place à Côté, on the day of the show. A Unicorn Digital presentation.
FMPM merchandise will be available soon! T-shirts, posters and the FMPM program will be described on the merchandise page and will be available for purchase in the ProgQuebec webstore.
More news to come soon!
©2006 Robert Dansereau - ProgresSon Music Inc. All Rights Reserved.
