VDGG - The Last Tickets For Festival Hall

You lucky beggar Ninian. I am suprised it's sold out so quick; to my knowledge it hasn't even been advertised as yet.Just goes to show how much this band are greatly appreciated.Hammil looking like Spike!!!!! your'e having a laugh But since he owns one of the greatest voices in music I could let him away with that.Enjoy, perhaps, there will be other dates

'Spike' Hamill with PFM last year...

Keep an eye out for returns to the Box Office - there are ALWAYS some - especially when people book holidays in January.  Just a question of getting lucky by phoning on the right day, although they may have a waiting list. 

The demand has astonished me I have to say.  I friend of mine who was "cryptically tipped off" by the Peter Hammill website booked her tickets online TWO HOURS after booking opened, and still couldn't get a seat near the stage.  

Apparently VDGG are releasing a double album in 2005, and so I would imagine further dates will be forthcoming - especially in light of the demand for Festival Hall tickets. 

I'm so exited about this concert - I got some Balcony seats.

Apparently they'll be performing songs both "ancient and modern" -

what tracks are you hoping for Ninian -

me presonally I just hope its the whole of lighthouse - I know they only attempted it a few times in the early 70s but with todays technology and what not - didnt' know about the double LP tho - is that gonna be a new studio LP?

I'd imagine they'll do killer and man-erg - another good one for me would br childlike faith in childhood's end - or ARROW!!!!!

yeah I have got that DVD - and your right it is a great performance - I have read though that lighthouse was edited togetherfrom two performances on that show - seamlessly done though - but i don't think it will cause them problems nowadays.

I saw Magma at this venue a few years back - I was actually on the front row for that - outstanding it was too!! To be honest - I'm just so glad that a) VDGG are gigging and b) I have a ticket - that they can do any set they want - its bound to be great!!!!

I believe there is a GODBLUFF LIVE DVD out as well and it has this 72 footage on also - is this the one you have - mine just has the 30 minutes of 72 material - is it from Belgian Tv I think - something like that?

Hey what were PFM like - did they do much early stuff - please tell me they did THE MOUNTAIN off The World Became the World LP - ???????

Magma were pretty amazing live - being at the front I had chance to study closely Vander and boy did he go for it!!!! - the only other drummer I've seen live that equalled Vander was Jon Hiseman from Colloseum. I'm a bassist myself. Dont' know whether you've heard of a band called AREA from Italy - they have an LP called Crac from 74 and the drumming on that is absolutely outrageous.

Anyway back to the topic in hand Bands On Tour - I see Styx are set to tour the UK - I was saying to a friend the other night - if I could be sure that they were doing a good chunk of material from the first two Lp's then I'd go. But for me I'm not a big fan of STYX after the first two Lps. Saying that 1st two are great!

I must have flipped past that Variations LP hundreds of times in record fairs, shops etc and about 6 months ago a friend played me it and I was very impressed.

I saw that PFM were playing in London a while back. Unfortunately for me, I live in the north, near Liverpool, so a trip to London for a gig has to be a really special event nowadays..simply down to money really. Obviously if bands play Manchester I often attend. Anyway...despite really liking PFM it wasn't enough to warrant a trip to London at the time. Bands I've made the journey down for include Magma, Tangerine Dream (a mistake), When I saw the VDGG thing I knew I had to go, even if it meant selling my soul!!!

No material off Chocolate Kings surprises me though! I take it they did Alta Lo Mate (Mr Fill Till Nine) - this must be my favourite track by PFM overall with The Montain a close second. What a build-up!!!

Styx to me, barring the first two Lps, are a waste of time. Very MOR-type sort of thing. but Colloseum are worth checking out - the early line up including Tony Reeves from Greenslade (another big favourite of mine) - two good lp's I could suggest are The Valentyne Suite and the live double.

Julian plays the Cello on it, but Andrew wrote it.

Mandrake - PFM did an amazing rendition of Alta Loma, complete with band introductions - upon the announcement of the violinist Fabbri's name, the whole band exploded into a rollicking hoedown, turning the first 10 rows of the crowd into a mosh-pit!  Brilliant stuff.  They rarely played the Mountain (or its Italian equivalent) live, and only one VERY rare bootleg recording exists - so rare in fact, that I dont have it, but if anyone does....  I was really disappointed with the lack of Chocolate Kings stuff, especially knowing that they played it elsewhere - indeed so disappointed was I, that I wrote to them asking them to come back and do ANY of the tracks in the near future.  They actually wrote back and said they would - though they clearly haven't thought about the UK since!  I know what you mean about travelling - I actually flew from Northern Ireland (where I was based at the time) for the gig, knowing it would be one of only a few opportunities I'd get to see them.  They were so good live, that I'm planning to go to Canada this year to catch them in Montreal...and if they dont play Out Of The Roundabout, there'll be a scene!

Yip, the double live CD is named after their most popular (and consequently one of my least favourite) songs 'Celebration' - its actually a compilation from a larger bootleg series spanning 10 years of live performances - some great, some not so great...  The Crimson covers were from 1971-2 when they first started out.  It was actually Greg Lake who signed them in 1973 to ELP's label Manticore, thus exposing them to large North American and British audiences for the first time.  Sadly, most ELP fans dont seem to share their beloved Lakes's passion for PFM, and its rare enough you get a decent conversation about them on this site!! 

I was also too young to know them first time around (I was born in 1972, the year of their first album release), but the music had a strange familiarity to me when I first heard it.  PFM's music, like no-one else's, really captured what I can remember of being a child in 1970s rural Scotland - even though I KNOW I didn't hear them til much later.  It just reminded me of a calmer, more tranquil time, when nothing really mattered - I suppose it reminds me of being a kid again, with a big forest to play in! 

You may or may not have noticed that I've had a few skirmishes with some Genesis fans in other threads, about my abject dislike for the majority of their material.  Well, recently I chose to go back over the Genesis trail again, steering well clear of any Collins-led material, and I've been pleasantly surprised with the results.  I wouldn't say I was bowled over by Foxtrot, Nursery Crime or Selling England, but I have to admit that the Lamb Lies Down has been on repeated play for sometime now, especially disc II.  Perhaps in time, I will get over my Genesophobia, but  in the meantime maybe you could recommend a worthwhile live recording from this period that may further impress.