JUNE 23RD 2018
OPENLUCHTTHEATER VALKENBURG
22:00 – 23:30
20:00 – 21:30
18:00 – 19:20
15:45 – 17:00
14:00 – 15:00
FESTIVAL OPENS AT 13:00
2018 FESTIVAL ARTISTS
Riverside is a band that doesn’t need a long introduction. Year after year they climbed higher up the ladder to reach a strong headlining status. The band has just finished recording a new album. Mariusz Duda checked in with the following words: ”Well, we’re back in the game! We’re happy to tell you that our seventh album will be called “Wasteland” and will be released at the end of September this year. The recordings took place as traditionally, in Serakos Studio in Warsaw. It will be our first album recorded as a trio. Because “our world ended” two years ago with the sudden death of the guitar player Piotr Grudzinski, we’ve decided that the new release will be “post apocalyptic” in nature. We’ve been toying with such an idea for quite some time but now the story has gained a much deeper meaning. And because of the “post-apo” nature of the album, the music will be much heavier and darker, but still atmospheric, full of soundscapes and with a lot of live instruments. What will our music without Grudzień be like? It will still be Riverside music. The new album will be different but it would have been different even if Grudzień was still with us. You know that we don’t like recording two similar albums and so we are not intending to imitate the sound of one of our past releases. Our music has become more serious and more mature, so get ready for a manly and emotional album.
Being around since 1989 and having released many successful albums, and done a lot of great tours, they went into hibernation over 4 years ago. But now the Gathering is back on stage!
With original member Hugo Prinsen Geerligs on bass guitar, singer Silje Wergeland, keyboard player Frank Boeijen and the brothers René Rutten (guitar) and Hans Rutten (drums), the Gathering will perform a special setlist at the Midsummer Prog Festival 2018, featuring fan favourites and perhaps a hint of what is to come in the future!
We are happy to welcome them back!!
Amplifier are an English rock band originating from Manchester. The band released six albums and four EPs since its inception in 1999. Their music has been described as “Soundgarden, Tool, Black Sabbath, Oceansize and Pink Floyd taking copious amounts of mind-altering substances and venturing on a trip through time and space (to another dimension), and back again. ‘aiNt liFe sOme WeiRd CraZy ArseD shIt?’ as the band states on their website, might be the best way to sum up their discography.
Lazuli, a band from the south of France, formed in 1998. Somewhere between rock, progressive rock and world music, poetry and travel, the remarkable music of Lazuli visits new territories with a rather unusual instrumentation: marimba, French Horn, drums, percussions, guitars, vocals and a especially a unique instrument created by Claude Leonetti called the Léode. After paralysing his left hand in a traffic accident, Claude, designed an instrument to still be able to make music. For Lazuli’s musicians, songs are canvases on which they mix colours to paint their own world. The floating voice, playing with words, sings out ‘man’ in all of his facets. Lazuli brings atypical notes of originality to France’s musical scene and carries them across it’s borders.
Lesoir is no longer a stranger to the Dutch progressive rock landscape and has even been successful in China. The art rock band is influenced by Anathema, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson and The Gathering. Lesoir features two fabulous front ladies. At Midsummer Prog the band will perform with the XL version for the last time, featuring the Spethsonian Orchestra and some special guests. Their latest album Latitude is produced by John Cornfield (Muse) and Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief) and released on the German quality label Gentle Art Of Music.
PARKING AT MIDSUMMER PROG
LOCATION
Valkenburg aan de Geul is located in the south-eastern Dutch province of Limburg. Sieges and conquests have been the recurrent theme in the history of Valkenburg, especially in connection with Valkenburg castle, seat of the counts of Valkenburg (or Falkenburg). Valkenburg is no longer a fortified town but it has largely retained its historical charm. These days Valkenburg is especially known for its many tourist attractions, its chalk houses (locally called mergel or marl) and the attractive hilly countryside.
