FMPM, Montreal Canada add Three Friends to line up

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MONTREAL, May 8 2009 -- The FMPM team is proud to announce the exclusive North American premiere of Three Friends to fill the slot opened up by the cancellation of Thieves' Kitchen. Formed by Kerry Minnear (keyboards), Gary Green (guitar), and Malcolm Mortimore (drums) of Gentle Giant, they are augmented by Roger Carey (bass, vocals), John Donaldson (keys), Andy Williams (guitar), and Mick Wilson of 10cc (vocals). Three Friends has started performing the repertoire of Gentle Giant in Europe, with three successful gigs already under their belts. Their performances include material from classic Giant albums Three Friends, Acquiring the Taste, Octopus, Free Hand, In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory,
and the self-titled debut, and they are rehearsing more of their old
material that they have not yet had a chance to play live. Dual
keyboards are used to replace instruments such as violin and cello. 

Gentle Giant
occupies a special place in the hearts of Quebec progressive rock fans,
touring there as headliners as early as 1972 and coming back frequently
over the decade. Several of the best Quebec progressive rock bands,
such as Maneige, Pollen, and Et Cetera had the privilege of opening for the band, while Contraction did a radio broadcast early in 1974 on the same night which is being released on CD by ProgQuebec on May 26. Many Quebec groups were greatly influenced by the sophisticated compositions of Gentle Giant. When Gary Green
was a special guest of the first FMPM in 2006, he was given the
celebrity treatment by many of those in attendance, and the obvious
questions about performing again came up repeatedly. 

Three Friends
has been formed not simply to perform the classic Giant repertoire, but
they also expect to produce new music in time. There has never been a
group like Gentle Giant since they ceased to be almost thirty
years ago, and the hopes for a reunion over the years have until now
proven futile. This year, at last, the remaining willing members of Gentle Giant
will once again give life to their music, and this is as close as fans
will get to seeing the full original formation. FMPM is pleased to have
the honor of being the first to present it to the North American
audience. 

In recognition of the magnitude of this event, Three Friends is being treated as a co-headliner of Sunday's festivities alongside Magenta,
and will perform a full-length set. Due to the increased cost involved
in making this happen, we must announce effective immediately that
regular ticket prices will be increasing from $129 to $139 CDN (approx.
US $120). Gold ticket prices remain unchanged at $189 CDN (US $160),
and a small quantity of these are still available for anyone who wants
a premium seat for this historic event. This remains an incredible deal
relative to most multi-day festival passes, and with the presence of Three Friends
on an already strong bill we expect demand to increase significantly.
The Gesu has a capacity of 400 seats and we expect the remaining
tickets to go quickly. 

Three Friends performs "Just the Same": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw2fMo8K2YQ 
Excerpt of "Prologue": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ9bHY6tCa8&feature=related 
(note: other clips are available on Youtube) 

April 16th setlist: 

 * Prologue 
 * Playing The Game 
 * The Advent Of Panurge 
 * Pantagruel's Nativity 
 * Just The Same 
 * Think Of Me With Kindness 
 * The House, The Street, The Room 
 * The Boys In The Band 
 * (Band Introductions) 
 * His Last Voyage 
 * In A Glass House 
 * Mister Class And Quality 
 * Three Friends 
 * Free Hand 
 * Giant 
 * Peel The Paint 

FMPM 2009 takes place September 11, 12 and 13, 2009 at the Gesu in Montreal. The full weekend line-up consists of LE ORME (Italy), THREE FRIENDS (England), MAGENTA (England), DFA (Italy), MIRIODOR (Quebec), EXCUBUS (Quebec), and ROUGE CIEL (Quebec). The Friday night pre-show, for which a separate ticket is sold, includes SAGA (Ontario) and MYSTERY (Quebec). Tickets are now on sale, and more information is available at http://www.fmpm.net 