So where the hell was Chris last night? You know, Jemmett, the videographer, currently here in top. I should be for a lifetime grateful to him. It was about half past four on a Saturday afternoon, October 4th, '08, when he too came to attend the Nuance prog mini-fest of that day in Toronto. And he told me he came there to hear Half Past Four. I thought he was telling me what time it was. And the band wasn't even listed in that day's Nuance prog mini-fest's programme. Well, it was in last night's one, instead. And Chris was not there!

There were three acts last night. I've seen the opening one many times before, and the third one only at the previous Nuance prog mini-fest. Half Past Four were the second act last night and I couldn't listen to the third one anymore after they played. So blown away by Half Past Four I was, that, I even forgot to at least say "See you next time" to those I already knew onstage, or in the audience, or met there. See? I can't even sleep now after that, I'm blogging instead.

I didn't feel, again, like blogging for another couple of months or so since the last time, after an unexpected, unwanted change rendered useless the changes I was planning to make as mentioned in the past entry. So now, instead, I'm pouring too much out of myself.

I think it would have been the same for me if Half Past Four had played without any other acts. Lucky opening act, and I wouldn't have wanted to be in the shoes of the third one after the second one. If I had been supposed to play after them, I would have cancelled my performance on the spot, out of dignity and common sense. Half Past Four seem to be the best prog act we've got in the Greater Toronto Area. You can check them on MySpace, or on leadvocalist Kyree Vibrant's YouTube account.

Guess what? They sent a demo to Tony Levin, hoping he could pick them to open for him some time. "His booking agent didn't like it (Sverdlovsk-born Dmitry Lesov - bass, vocals). Or "He didn't even listen to it" (Kyree). Then why in the world is Tony Levin still in their top friends? They'll give him a second chance, though :D . "Nobody knows [of] us" (Dmitry). Well, that, with the few ideas I already have on getting them known, might change a bit, though. I also see they need a band manager but I don't think I'm up to it (yet?).

I got their CD, now already signed by all. Dmitry's wife does its graphic artwork. I understand she's from St. Petersburg. I also got their very own brand of Half Past Four tree free cigarette paper. Now, for a couple of years or so, I've been on "Benson and Hedges" (the black package). But, I must confess, my guilty pleasure was to roll "Drum" tobacco (with nothing else in - I never did, don't do, or plan/want to do drugs). Well, there also used to be more prog-like cigarettes, like "Camel", or "Winston" ("...Churchill dressed in drag, he used to be a British flag" and inow is a boulevard between Mississauga and Oakville where I live; "So it goes" ;) ).

So I might switch back to that "Drum" tobacco after this. See? "Drum" even sounds more prog-like than "Benson and Hedges" (Is there a brand of cigarettes named, e.g., "Hatfield and the North"?). Speaking of which, I think last night I also met for the first time a prog rock female drummer. I sure know other rock female drummers (about three years ago I even took a start up drumming lesson with Dena Tauriello here in top) but, again, I think Israel-born Ann Brody is the first prog rock female drummer I met. Sure there once was also Ruth Underwood, but she was rather doing choreographic percussion for Frank Zappa rather than playing behind a drum kit. And yet, at least when I saw ten years ago in Montreal, there was also Juanita Parra, sitting in for her late dad Gabriel on drums in Los Jaivas. So Ann may be actually the second one.

And she also seems to be the only one in the band with a MySpace personal page and her headline clearly says PROG. And she also says Bill Bruford is her influence. Now, Bruf is my all time favo(u)rite drummer, so I'm lending her his AutoBio when I'm done reading it (more on it maybe in another blog).

Last night they played for one hour and only their opener and another song had no vocals. In the second one, I recognized immediately Balkanic harmonies and mixed time-signatures that are also used by other bands so dear to my music soul (Transsylvania-Phoenix, for instance). Which made me curious about their origins.

Tiraspol-born Constantin Necrasov (guitar, vocals) even speaks, among others, my very mother tongue. Counting Igor Kurtzman (keyboards, vocals) as well, it sounds like I and three fifths of the band have basically the same accent (I was born and raised somewhere between St. Petersburg and Tiraspol). If there were four of them of five with basically the same accent as mine, you would almost get the title of a classic Genesis tune.

Now what? I think it's already well past half past four when I'm finally finishing this blog, right? Well, I think I should yet get some sleep now, though.