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Post by blondeambassador on Jul 1, 2008 17:35:13 GMT
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should join any bandwagon...but personally, I'd like to see them going away from the prog one really, they've been associated with it way too long when it doesn't fit.
But yes, it doesn't have to be in a box at all, but playing festivals with names such as 'progpower' is going to place them in amongst one. Meh, I've made my point, not that it'll change anything about the way they book their gigs.
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Post by Lawrie on Jul 1, 2008 17:51:09 GMT
Having read the last few posts, I've been won over to seeing things the same way as BA. Even on The Dark Third, PRR never struck me as a band that were pure prog (like The Mars Volta or something like that). They have a certain 'catchiness' to their sound that gives them potential to crossover to a more mainstream audience (which I consider myself a part of really - even though I like the odd prog band here and there), and this 'catchy' sound dates back to their earliest songs as PRR like Apprentice and Nimos. What I'm trying to say is that although PRR have their proggy moments (Bright Ambassadors is the best example), they've never really been a prog band per se, or even a band that you could really pigeonhole into one genre or another, whatever you wanted to call it. Therefore, I'd probably agree with the general point that they might not be maximising their potential fanbase by tending to play gigs/festivals aimed squarely at prog fans only.
What I will say is that at the moment, I guess we have to have a little bit of faith that PRR/Jonathan/Superball know what they are doing. Only the European dates have been announced so far, so we don't know the type of gigs that they'll be playing in the UK (as well as maybe America and/or other territories later if that can be arranged). I don't know any stats or figures (even annecdotal ones) about where the band are most popular, but common sense tells me that as they're a British band, trying to enlarge their fanbase in the UK (as a starting point) would be the most sensible thing to do at the moment. But that's just my gut instinct, it might be completely out of line with the reality of the situation for all I know. I think some well chosen gigs (and just as importantly, as much media promotion as the band can do and Superball can afford!) in Britain would do them a power of good and really give them the platform they deserve to get their music across to a much larger audience in the future.
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Post by ryan on Jul 1, 2008 18:07:32 GMT
what strikes me odd is they seem to have, in the past, tried to stay away from the 'prog' kinda tag, but still do interviews about it and play gigs like this. strikes me as weird anywoo.
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Post by timpenumbra on Jul 1, 2008 20:00:22 GMT
I'm just thinking about the last UK tour they did - March 2007, about 7 dates. Dunno about London, but other dates had attendances around the 100 mark I reckon. That's not thru lack of promotion (I should know as I co-promoted the Leeds gig!)
On the PT tour (and Blackfield support), they were playing to sell out crowds probably around 1000 (more in some places/less in others?) - and always were appreciated. Listen to any of the gigs.............
Ideally we'd all love them do more in the UK - in better venues - I dunno the solution to this one. I guess every city always has a few bands on every night - there's so much more choice for everyone - but harder for PRR!
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Post by ryan on Jul 1, 2008 21:32:39 GMT
I remember the Brighton one just before the album came out, no more than 20 people in there. Sucked.
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Post by isador21 on Jul 1, 2008 22:21:57 GMT
Come play in Montreal or something!  Not sure how many people would attend, but I surely would ... Actually, I was planning on buying myself a trip to europe to see PRR, but that might be out of question with my current 80$ paychecks (Minus 50$ per month for my bus pass, minus the... 800'ish$ I have to save up for studies...) |
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Post by aleksi on Jul 1, 2008 23:27:05 GMT
Does anyone know if PRR are going to tour in august/september? I'm travelling somewhere in Europe then and it might be the only chance for me to hear these guys live.
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Post by the dark fourth on Jul 8, 2008 16:52:46 GMT
I'm travelling in Europe during August too. In fact I'm there now! Would love to adapt my itinery around a PRR gig (or two)....
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Post by ancientmariner on Jul 31, 2008 13:06:26 GMT
Well I consider myself a devout but open-minded proghead and I love everything I've heard so far.
Can't really say how much I will enjoy the new album as obviously only hear bits and pieces and a few songs live, but based on that I'm definitely looking forward to it. Deus Ex Machina is absolutely awesome!
I agree that even on The Dark Third they weren't your typical twiddly-widdly prog band, although the obvious Pink Floyd influence can't be denied and it seemed to appeal to the general prog crowd. That might change with the new album but I think they'll keep drawing a fairly mixed bunch of fans.
Touring with Porcupine Tree I think is still great for them. They don't like to be pigeon-holed as prog themselves and playing with them definitely brings exposure to a lot of people open to interesting modern rock. Something like ProgPower is different though, I'm not sure it's a great match either.
I just hope the new album will enable them to play better venues as they really deserve to be heard with a great live sound.
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