ProgStock Presents Virtual Series Announces Virtual ProgStock 2020

ProgStock Festival, the American Northeast’s Only International Progressive Rock Festival, is proud to bring you the ProgStock Presents Virtual Series.

The pandemic has closed music venues and brought in-person live music performances to a screeching halt. Accordingly, we have had to cancel ProgStock 2020. We don’t know how long we will have to wait before it will be truly safe to stage a festival, but we will be back! Meanwhile, we will be bringing music right to you with some great shows from artists performing live in their homes or home studios. The series is being presented every Saturday night, 5PM – 10PM US Eastern and started on August 1, 2020.

The individual performances on StageIt are separate shows. Audience members will purchase a ticket to each performance individually, not the whole night as a block. Some shows will be 45 minutes and others will be 90 (or longer), so we may have as few as three shows or as many as six each night, with some nights starting at 4PM US Eastern to accommodate artists streaming from Europe.

Direct Ticket Link for ProgStock Presents: https://www.stageit.com/ProgStock 
ProgStock Festival on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ProgStock

Shows in October feature District 97, Pinnacle, OVRFWRD, Marco Machera (Echotest), Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Katie Pachnos, Alan Hewitt and One Nation, and more!

On October 10th and 11th, 2020, ProgStock is taking its Virtual Series to the next level by bringing you Virtual ProgStock 2020. ProgStock, the American Northeast’s only international progressive rock festival, will come to you virtually with full-production, full-band performances streamed live from the Hamilton Stage Theatre of the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey on October 10th, and from the Temple Stage at Tellus360 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on October 11th and will feature Total Mass Retain YES Tribute Band, Solar Federation – A Rush Tribute, Mile Marker Zero, Cell15, Gnarbot, and Crack the Sky!

Show times (all times are in US Eastern): 
Saturday, October 10:
1PM: Total Mass Retain – A Yes Tribute
4:30PM: Mile Marker Zero
8PM: Gnarbot

Sunday, October 11:
1PM: Solar Federation – A Rush Tribute
4:30PM: Cell15
8PM: Crack The Sky

StageIt is all about experiencing music in the moment, duplicating the live music experience as closely as possible. You have to be there to see it, just like you would in a venue, so shows are only available on their site during the performance window.

Media Contact: Ann Rinaldi, [email protected]ProgStock.com, (252) 402-5395

ProgStock Virtual Series Continues This Weekend

ProgStock Festival, the American Northeast’s Only International Progressive Rock Festival, is proud to bring you the ProgStock Presents Virtual Series.

The pandemic has closed music venues and brought in-person live music performances to a screeching halt. We don’t know how long we will have to wait before it will be truly safe to stage a festival, but we will be back! Meanwhile, we will be bringing music right to you with some great shows from artists performing live in their homes or home studios. The series will be presented every Saturday night, 5PM – 10PM US Eastern, starting on August 1, 2020, followed by Gagliarchives Radio Philadelphia on the HOUSE of PROG – Music Page. Some Saturdays we will start one hour early at 4PM to accommodate artists live streaming from Europe.

September Shows:
Saturday, September 12:
4PM: Dave Bainbridge of Iona, Lifesigns, Celestial Fire and Strawbs (90 minutes)
6PM: Frogbelly and Symphony (45 minutes)
7PM: Dark Beauty (45 minutes)
8PM: Joe Deninzon and Stratospheerius (90 minutes)

Saturday, September 19:
5PM: Manticore – ELP Tribute (45 minutes)
6PM: Tribe of Names (45 minutes)
7PM: Aaron Clift of The Aaron Clift Experiment (45 minutes)
8PM: Discipline and Friends (90 minutes)

The individual performances on StageIt are separate shows. Audience members will purchase a ticket to each performance individually, not the whole night as a block. Some shows will be 45 minutes and others will be 90, so we may have as few as 3 shows or as many as 6 on each Saturday night.

StageIt is all about experiencing music in the moment, duplicating the live music experience as closely as possible. You have to be there to see it, just like you would in a venue, so shows are only available on their site during the performance window. Some of our artists may choose to capture their shows and make them available later on some other service (YouTube, Facebook) and we (ProgStock) may even capture some of the shows, with artist permission, of course, but the shows will not be available on StageIt outside the show window.

Details for StageIt:
Shows will be presented on StageIt. To participate, you must have a StageIt account. If you don’t yet have an account, here’s what to do:

  1. Go to stageit.com (on a laptop or desktop, the site is not mobile-friendly for opening accounts, purchasing Notes/tickets, but works on mobile for viewing)
  2. Click Sign Up (upper right corner)
  3. Create a username and password
  4. Click “Buy Notes” (10 notes = $1) – The StageIt system sells Notes in minimum intervals of $5 (50 Notes).
  5. After choosing how many Notes you want to purchase, choose your payment type – it’ll be credit card or PayPal (with PayPal, you do not need to have an account, you can use a credit/debit card as a guest).
  6. Go to the direct ticket link for ProgStock Presents and purchase tickets to the shows you want to watch.
  7. You will also be able to tip the artists before, during and after the shows with Notes. Consider loading up your account now, so you can have some fun with tipping while supporting your favorite artists. Tips show up on the screen as colored bars and many artists view them as the alternative to applause!

Pricing: Starting in September, 45-minute shows will have a minimum ticket price of $4.00 (40 Notes) and 90-minutes shows will have a minimum ticket price of $8.00 (80 Notes), with prices in US Dollars. You can pay more, if you have the means, and you will also be able to tip during the show with your StageIt Notes. We encourage you to support the artists at this difficult time.

We want to thank Ed Unitsky Official for our beautiful artwork, Austin Kokel for providing us with awesome radio spots and Marty Dorfman and Rob Rutz of The Waiting Room with The Prog Doctor on The House of Prog, Rick Henry, Mary Pat Henry, Steve Swayne of House of Prog Radio, Phil Merkel of Captain Phil’s Planet on WUSB, Tom Gagliardi of Gagliarchives Radio Philadelphia, Mark Monforti of Progrock.com, Alan Baillargeon of NewEARS Prog Show, Alex Cruzeta of Deep Nuggets Radio, Rick Dashiell of Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio, Peter Jones and Cliff Pearson of Progzilla Radio, Nick Katona and Melodic Revolution Records and Melodic Revolution Radio and the fabulous Anne Leighton for your continued support and promotion of ProgStock Festival! THANK YOU!

Show Archive:
Saturday, August 1:
5PM: Peter Jones of Tiger Moth Tales (45 minutes)
6PM: Julie Slick – Bassfest (90 minutes)
8PM: Rachel Flowers (90 minutes)

Saturday, August 8:
4PM: Markus Reuter of Stick Men (45 minutes)
5PM: Jean Pageau of Mystery (45 minutes)
6PM: Jimmy Keegan of Pattern-Seeking Animals (45 minutes)
7PM: Paul Bielatowicz of Carl Palmer Band (45 minutes)
8PM: Dennis Atlas of Initiator and Arch Allies (90 minutes)

Frogbelly and Symphony has been postponed to September 12 at 6PM
6PM: Gabriel Agudo (45 minutes)
7PM: André Cholmondeley of Project/Object (45 minutes)
8PM: Bob Richardson of Cell15 (90 minutes)

Saturday, August 22:
4PM: IO Earth Acoustic (45 minutes) – NEW!
5PM: The Holzman/Getter Collective (45 minutes)
6PM: Beledo (45 minutes)
7PM: Mile Marker Zero (45 minutes)
8PM: McNally Waters (90 minutes)

VIRTUAL ProgDay…
Saturday, September 5:
11AM: Stop Motion Orchestra (60 minutes)
1:30PM: Vespero (75 minutes)
4PM: VAK (75 minutes)
6:30PM: Les Évadés (90 minutes)

Sunday, September 6:
11AM: Hooffoot (75 minutes)
1:30PM: MAD FELLAZ (120 minutes)
4PM: Ghost Rhythms (75 minutes)
6:30PM: Gnarbot (90 minutes)

ProgDay 2020 Goes Virtual

ProgDay is happy to announce that we are currently pulling together a virtual event for this year. The idea is to present streaming performances from 4 artists a day over the Saturday and Sunday of the originally scheduled ProgDay weekend (September 5 and 6). Once the lineup and scheduling are worked out, details and instructions will be posted on the ProgDay website.

Virtual ProgDay 2020 is being greatly facilitated by Tom Palmieri and Ann Rinaldi of ProgStock (http://www.progstock.com/2020/). On Saturday, August 1, ProgStock kicked off the ProgStock Presents Virtual Series, a series of weekly shows streamed online through StageIt.com. After reading of ProgDay’s cancellation, Tom and Ann reached out to ProgDay and invited us to partner with them for our virtual event. The result is that Virtual ProgDay 2020 will be presented on Labor Day weekend as part of the ProgStock Presents Virtual Series

Please note that ProgStock is not getting anything for this. All funds that are raised will go to ProgDay and the artists that perform.

Thank you Tom and Ann!

We are also excited to announce that ProgDay is now a tax-exempt non-profit event.

In 2017, Musical Arts Progressive Society, Inc. (MAPS), was formed. MAPS is a non-profit organization that advocates for, educates about, and promotes national and international musical artists creating progressive and innovative music. MAPS recently received its confirmation as a 501(c)(3) company. Donations to MAPS / ProgDay are now tax-deductible.

ProgDay Bands
Virtual ProgDay 2020 Performances

Once it was decided that the physical ProgDay event would not happen, the decision to try to have a virtual event was born from the desire to have ProgDay continue in some form this year and to provide our regular audience with an experience that would be fun, entertaining and worth their while. So we set out to present a series of performances that would be streamed live, as they were happening. The challenge we faced in doing this was the combination of the short time frame in which to contact bands and for them to arrange a concert, as well as the really tough job of each band not only finding a viable performance space, but also having the ability for all of the band members to gather and play at the particular time they were to perform over ProgDay weekend.

Ultimately, between the various situations created by the pandemic in various countries, the technical requirements of ensured streaming and the lack of time for producing the event, it was just not possible for many of the bands to pull off a live-in-the-moment broadcast.

The result is that Virtual ProgDay 2020 will offer truly live performances combined with pre-recorded shows done especially for ProgDay. In the case of pre-recorded shows, the concert you will see will be a performance that has been played and recorded especially for the ProgDay audience and has never been seen anywhere before. The prerecorded shows represent a huge amount of effort on the part of the participating bands to get their music in front of you. During prerecorded shows, we will speak live with band members that will be present during the broadcast.

Once again ProgDay has assembled a group of bands that we think are worthy of your attention. While we know that many of you are already familiar with some of these bands, we also know that few of you will know all of the bands. To encourage our audience to check out all of the performers over the weekend, we have set ticket prices at $6 for all shows. We hope this economical price will allow everyone that is interested to experience all of the music. We also hope that those who are in a position to contribute more will show their appreciation to the artists by tipping additional money during the performances.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The start times shown for each performance are Eastern Daylight Time, the current time zone for the east coast of the US.

Stay tuned… There are three more confirmed bands to be announced.

Stop Motion Orchestra band photo

Saturday 11am • Stop Motion Orchestra (US)

Seasoned musicians from Austin’s progressive and experimental music scenes mixing influences ranging from Henry Cow, Cardiacs, Haniwa-Chan and Picchio Dal Pozzo, to traditional music from Eastern Europe and South Asia.

This concert has been performed live and recorded especially for ProgDay.

To purchase a ticket for this show, use this link:
Stop Motion Orchestra ticket

Vespero band photo

Saturday 1:30pm • Vespero (Russia)

Elements of Space Rock, Psychedelia, Kosmisches Musik, Symphonic Rock and ethnic influences are morphed, mutated and blended into music that varies from one album to the next, but is always singularly Vespero.

This concert has been performed live and recorded especially for ProgDay.

To purchase a ticket for this show, use this link:
Vespero ticket

VAK band photo

Saturday 4:00pm • VAK (France)

Zeuhl is alive and well! VAK defines the state of the art, delivering complex, dramatic, emotional, grooving and melodic compositions. 

This concert has been performed live and recorded especially for ProgDay.

To purchase a ticket for this show, use this link:
VAK ticket

Hooffoot band photo

Sunday 11am • Hooffoot (Sweden)

As the band says, “Santana loved Miles. Magma loved Coltrane. Soft Machine loved pop. Pink Floyd loved Soft Machine. Weather Report loved African grooves. The Italian progressive bands loved classical music. Return to Forever loved Brazilian stuff. Frank Zappa loved Black Sabbath. Hooffoot love them all. Forget about labels like rock, jazz, progressive and kraut…”

This concert has been performed live and recorded especially for ProgDay.

To purchase a ticket for this show, use this link:
Hooffoot ticket

Mad Fellaz band photo

Sunday 1:30pm • Mad Fellaz (Italy)

A cross-genre combination of Symphonic Rock, Fusion, RPI and more, cohesively combined into music that has evolved over the years into an eclectic mix that is uniquely MAD FELLAZ.

This performance will be streamed live from a venue in Italy.

To purchase a ticket for this show, use this link:
Mad Fellaz ticket

UCPAC Hosts Virtual Stage for UnCancelled Music Festival

Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC.org) will be participating in the UnCancelled Music Festival (uncancelledmusicfestival.com). This is the venue in Rahway, New Jersey, that brings you the ProgStock Festival (ProgStock.com) every October.

Now UCPAC is bringing music right into your home, during this crazy time of isolation, by way of the UnCancelled Music Festival. UCPAC is hosting a virtual stage for the festival and bringing you some great shows from artists performing live in their homes or home studios. Ann Rinaldi (ACR Management) from ProgStock Festival is curating the talent for the stage.

The artists and venues will receive a portion of the proceeds to help keep them going during this unprecedented crisis. And a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Recording Academy’s emergency financial assistance program, MusiCares – which provides critical funds to music people struggling with financial, medical or personal crises. Any affected music professional who has lost work during this crisis can apply to receive emergency funding. It is important to all of us during this challenging time that no musician or music venue goes bankrupt.  

The first night of shows on the UCPAC virtual stage is this Saturday, April 4 starting at 5 PM Eastern US time, which will be topped off at 8 PM Eastern US time by Harry Waters, son of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/650268175538242/

Steve Hackett of Genesis has sent a video promotion. View it here or on the ACR Management Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/acrmanagement/posts/1358295437707079

Midsummer Prog Festival Postponed Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

Dear visitors of Midsummer Prog Festival. 

We have bad news to share with you. Due to the Coronavirus situation, we have been forced to postpone the 4th edition of Midsummer Prog Festival to June 26th, 2021.

Although the Dutch government currently forbids all events up until the 1st of June, we fear that this ban will be extended. The situation for the rest of the summer is looking highly unstable. Bands and fans have been asking us what to do, especially regarding travel plans. At least 60% of our fans travel from abroad and we have no idea how different countries will react to the virus threat in the near future.

As music lovers, we organize Midsummer Prog because we love music and we love creating something beautiful together with you. We feel truly sorry that the 2020 edition cannot happen. But of course, health always comes first.

We spoke with all the bands about trying to get 2020’s lineup also in 2021. It seems very likely that we can keep the same lineup but we will know this for sure in a couple of months and we will keep you posted. Of course, we will hold the festival in the same beautiful setting – Openluchttheater Valkenburg, The Netherlands!

Tickets purchased will stay valid for the 2021 event, so please hang on to them, but if you want a refund; our ticketing service (Eventix) will send you a separate email with a refund button.

We’ve made costs (apart from the many hours of work) and although these costs won’t kill us, we do really appreciate if you would like to support us a little. We made a donation button on www.midsummerprog.com for this.

Thank you in advance,

Rob & Ingo
GlassVille MusicMuziekgieterijOpenluchttheater Valkenburg

Stay healthy, stay safe & take care of each other.

US Prog Rock Festival “RoSfest” Forced To Cancel Due To Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Unfortunately, the show will not go on…

As we navigate the best course of action for the safety and well-being of our patrons, associates, and artists, regarding the current Coronavirus situation, sadly, RoSfest will not go on this year as planned due to a Force Majeure. This devastating and difficult decision is based on the guidelines of the CDC and following the guidance of the City of Sarasota and state health officials as the recommendation that for the next 8 weeks organizers cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 10 people or more throughout the US.

All tickets purchased (minus processing fees) will be refunded, but allow us time to do so as a percentage of the funds have been used to cover pre-production costs, deposits, and advertising. Kindly consider donating part or all of your ticket expense as a tax-deductible contribution to help RoSfest recoup from this tragedy as we are now a not-for-profit (501)c3 corporation. While we don’t know exactly what the future may hold, we feel confident that RoSfest will emerge next year in the Spring. Please keep an eye on our Facebook RoSfest group page for any new updates.

In addition, please call and cancel your hotel reservations at the Aloft, Embassy & Indigo Hotels as soon as possible. The hotels are not responsible to do this for you. On behalf of everyone at RoSfest, our hearts go out to all those impacted by Covid-19 and hope that all of our RoSfest family stays healthy and safe.

Thank you for your continued support!
George Roldan