"This album provides a welcoming return for the band to wake up by taking a chance to climb aboard and seeing our lives change across the ocean’s floor. The genesis of the story came about when Ryche was recording with Nektar in 1978 to record a few tracks in Derek’s basement in Chatham, New Jersey. However the music was put on hold. And now in the year of our lord 2020, they brought three of those tracks to life.

The Other Side is like opening up the doors to a beautiful art-deco-esque hallway with an eye-opening experience. They know that Roye will always be watching them up in heaven. It’s almost as if his spirit is telling them to keep the Nektar ship flying into outer space to see where the future will be for the next generation of musicians to discover this incredible band. And to be allowed to have original Nektar’s original artwork designer Helmut Wenske who had done the album cover on The Other Side, it shows that he is not only as a collaborator for the band, but also a good friendship between them as well." ZN-e&d



Essential Track: "The centerpiece of the album undoubtedly is the 18-minute title track which takes up one full side of vinyl and is an homage to those who have passed from the Nektar Family. The song is somewhat of a medley between "Love Is" and "The Other Side", cleverly blending together. The former walks the line of nearly being a bit sappy, while the latter contains more engaged vocal sections. Regardless, it's the instrumental breaks which really make this song shine, beginning in earnest around the 9 minute mark. And then we truly witness the wizardry of Chlanda on guitar and Scott on keyboards. These two are a wonder to behold, and the continued success of Nektar owes much to their contributions throughout this recording. The solid drumming and bass work underneath perfectly compliments the arrangements and solos on top, giving the conviction of a well-chosen band who are playing skillfully together." SM-SP



Read the full review on echoes and dust.

Listen to samples and buy the CD directly from the band at nektarsmusic.com or wherever fine prog music is sold.

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2020-04-09
District 97 Screening Tour with The Tea Club and Rise Twain at Zorba Music Hall - Lowell, MA at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Tea Club
$25 adv, $30 day of show

Click on the following link for a complete list of bands that have played for the NewEARS Art Rock Series

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New England Events

2020-02-27
Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour: Empire and Rage For Order in their Entirety at Stage One - Fairfield Theater Company, CT at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Till Death Do Us Part
$35 - $45

2020-02-29
Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour: Empire and Rage For Order in their Entirety at Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Till Death Do Us Part
$25 adv, $30 day of show

2020-03-01
Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour: Empire and Rage For Order in their Entirety at Tupelo Music Hall - Derry, NH at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Till Death Do Us Part
$45 - $60

2020-03-01
Devin Townsend: Empath Vol. 1 North American Tour, The Contortionist, Haken at Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Haken
SOLD OUT

2020-03-02
Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour: Empire and Rage For Order in their Entirety at Tupelo Music Hall - Derry, NH at 08:00 PM
With Special Guests Till Death Do Us Part
$45 - $60

2020-03-03
Geoff Tate Empire 30th Anniversary Tour: Empire and Rage For Order in their Entirety at The Vault - New Bedford, MA at 07:30 PM
With Special Guests Till Death Do Us Part
$30 - $40

2020-03-04
John Lodge & the 10,000 Light Years Band at Infinity Music Hall - Hartford, CT at 08:00 PM
$59 - $79

2020-03-08
John Lodge & the 10,000 Light Years Band at Carry Memorial Hall - Lexington, MA at 07:00 PM
$39 - $69

2020-03-10
Dweezil Zappa “Hot Rats Live! + Other Hot Stuff 1969" at Tupelo Music Hall - Derry, NH at 08:00 PM
$45 - $60

2020-03-11
Steve Hackett – Genesis Revisited at Academy of Music - Northampton, MA at 08:00 PM
$38.50 - 78.50

2020-03-11
Brit Floyd - Echoes 2020: The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and more… at Hanover Theater - Worcester, MA at 08:00 PM
$38.00 - $158.00

2020-03-14
Brit Floyd - Echoes 2020: The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and more… at Toyota Oakdale Theatre - Wallingford, CT at 08:00 PM
$40.50 - $150.50 (VIP)

2020-03-14
Lotus Land-American RUSH Tribute at Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center - Old Saybrook, CT at 08:00 PM
$42

2020-03-18
The Musical Box - A Genesis Extravaganza Volume 2 at The Wilbur - Boston, MA at 08:00 PM
$35 - $50

2020-03-18
Brand X at Iron Horse Music Hall - Northampton, MA at 07:00 PM
With Special Guests Randy McStine
$32.50 - $38

2020-03-19
The Musical Box - A Genesis Extravaganza Volume 2 at Tupelo Music Hall - Derry, NH at 08:00 PM
$40 - $59

All Events ...>>

District 97 - Screening Tour with The Tea Club and Rise Twain April 9th - Zorba Music Hall, Lowell MA

District 97 is undoubtedly the most musically-adventurous rock band in the world to feature an American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist. Since 2008, this quintet from Chicago has melded an adventurous, uncompromising instrumental prowess with the look, sound, and stage presence of vocalist Leslie Hunt. Through world tours and a stream of studio and live releases, the band has garnered a worldwide fanbase; collaborating with iconic singer/bassist John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia, UK) and drawing praise from Bill Bruford (drummer of Yes/King Crimson/Genesis), Mike Portnoy (drummer of Dream Theater/Transatlantic) and other rock luminaries along the way. District 97 rehearses doggedly to refine their compositions, ensemble-playing, and stage presentation; their standards for excellence have only grown more rigorous with the passage of time. Their new fourth studio album Screens and its accompanying live show are their most ambitious efforts to date.

Formed in 2003, The Tea Club has independently recorded and released four EP's and five full length records. They’ve worked with acclaimed hardcore producer Tim Gilles (Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, Agnostic Front), supported influential progressive rock band Haken, and have toured the U.S. with Thank You Scientist, Bent Knee, Moon Tooth, and Beardfish. In May of 2020 they will play alongside Big Big Train at the Rites of Spring Festival in Sarasota, Florida.

Rise Twain is a Philadelphia-based duo offering material ranging from anthemic to plaintive, grand to intimate, fertile to destructive. They are the union of Brett William Kull (producer, audio engineer, and member of Echolyn, Grey Eye Glances, and Francis Dunnery’s New Progressives) and J.D. Beck (Beck-Fields, The Scenic Route, author & playwright), forward-thinking songwriters that have cast their debut album with eloquent structures fit for both the heart-wrenching and star-clenching. They bring with them many collective years of direct and varied experience in writing, performing, and recording music.

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2020-02-23: The Return by Deep Energy Orchestra featuring Trey Gunn
Available today! The Return -- the highly anticipated second recording by the eclectic ensemble Deep Energy Orchestra on the 7D Media record label. Deep Energy Orchestra blends sounds and rhythms from Prog Rock, Classical, fu

2020-02-22: IO EARTH TEASER - NEW ALBUM 'AURA'
Available to pre order at www.ioearth.com! In a departure from their usual writing style, IO Earth's Dave Cureton and Adam Gough have created a new album that is still progressive, still genre defying, but is more focused on

2020-02-22: Gong: Cruise to the Edge 2020 Artist Feature
Gong is one of the longest running prog outfits, formed in Paris in 1967 by Australian musician Daevid Allen and English vocalist Gilli Smyth. They released their debut album in 1970 and would release their best known work, t

2020-02-22: Neal Morse Band release live clip of Fighting With Destiny
The Neal Morse Band have released a live clip of Fighting With Destiny. It's taken from the band's forthcoming live album, The Great Adventour – Live in BRNO 2019, which will be released through InsideOut Music on March 6. Yo

2020-02-22: Big Big Train announce Japan-only compilation
Big Big Train will release a new career-spanning compilation album for Japan. Summer's Lease features material that traces the story of Big Big Train from some of their earliest tracks through to the music of the contemporary

2020-02-21: PENDRAGON's Guitarist NICK BARRETT Reflects On New Album: “I'm Still In a Bit of a State of Shock About It. It's Kind Of Nothing Like I've Ever Done Before.
With over 40 years of Pendragon under his belt, Nick Barrett has guided the band as its principle songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. Often considered part of progressive rock’s second wave that built a following through the

2020-02-21: Steve Hackett interview with Mike Tiano: Reprises & Recapitulations Revelations
In the Something Else! article “The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ and Prog Rock: Reprises & Recapitulations,” I discussed how those were the hallmarks of progressive rock, only briefly touching on how Genesis and its one-time member

2020-02-21: THE FOLSOM PROJECT Releases Their Debut Cinematic Concept Album THE WOLF & THE SKULL
From the mind of composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Romsam Malpica, a new way of presenting cinematic atmospheres through an audiovisual experience has been born under his moniker THE FOLSOM PROJECT. A mix of Orche

2020-02-20: MSN Poll: Are you going to miss WAAF?
Following in the sad footsteps of WBCN and WFNX, Boston-area mainstay WAAF has been sold and is dropping its rock format. The Worcester-based station is flipping to Christian programming Saturday after decades of breaking ban

2020-02-20: WATCH JOE SATRIANI’S NEW ‘NINETEEN EIGHTY’ VIDEO
Joe Satriani has unveiled a video for "Nineteen Eighty," the first single from his upcoming album Shapeshifting. You can watch the clip below. The clip was directed by his son, ZZ Satriani, who directed the 2018 documentary B

2020-02-20: The Pineapple Thief announce new album and biggest ever tour
The Pineapple Thief have announced what they're calling their "biggest ever European" tour for September, October and November, as well as Turkish dates for January 2021. The band also announced that they would be releasing a

2020-02-19: Gentle Giant to reissue first four albums on vinyl
Gentle Giant are to rerelease their first four albums – Gentle Giant, Acquiring Taste, Three Friends and Octopus – on vinyl in April. These will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl and feature their original gatefold sleeves and art

2020-02-19: Adam Holzman: Cruise to the Edge 2020 Artist Feature
Another brilliant addition to the Cruise this year is Adam Holzman, long known as a great Jazz musician and most recently Steven Wilson’s keyboard player on his successful solo albums and tours. He released a solo album title

2020-02-18: Opeth cancels/postpones early North American Tour dates
"I regret to inform you that we have to cancel the following shows on the North American run: Worcester, Toronto and Montreal. The reason being ”acute laryngitis” according to the doc. It all started with voice problems in Ro

2020-02-18: Les Claypool on Primus’ Rush Covers Tour: ‘It’s About Admiration for These Amazing Musicians’
On November 16th, 1978, Rush came through the Bay Area on their Hemispheres tour. In the audience at the band’s Cow Palace show that night was a young Les Claypool, and 40-some years later, the Primus bassist still seems awed

2020-02-18: PSYCHOTIC WALTZ : "THE GOD-SHAPED VOID" ALBUM OUT TODAY; - LAUNCH VIDEO FOR "WHILE THE SPIDERS SPIN"!
US Progressive Metal pioneers and innovators PSYCHOTIC WALTZ are releasing their 5th studio album, “The God-Shaped Void”, worldwide today via InsideOutMusic. PSYCHOTIC WALTZ checked in with the following comment: “Today is a

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