Mexicali calls to prog-rock fans (you know who you are)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20060305-9999-1a...
By George Varga
March 5, 2006
Mexicali may be best known as the capital of Baja California, and as the home of Cerro Prieto, Mexico's largest geothermal power plant. But for four
days this week, the 103-year-old city will be party central for fans of progressive-rock, art-rock, math-rock and similar musical permutations at the
10th annual Baja Prog.
The festival has hosted some of the top names in prog, from Holland's Focus and Italy's PFM to England's Caravan and ex-ELP/Asia drummer Carl Palmer.
This year's edition will be held Wednesday through Saturday, with four daytime concerts taking place at Mexicali's Hotel Ariaza and four evening shows
at the Teatro del Estado.
This year's lineup includes the quintessential English cult band Hatfield & The North, which was formed in 1972, and the acoustic trio version of
Marillion, the veteran English quintet that was once regarded as the heir apparent to Genesis (back before Genesis became a Top 40 favorite led by
Phil Collins). Also on the bill is Argentina's Sergio Alvarez, Denmark's Flower Kings, England's Nektar, Italy's Odessa, Mexico's Toccata, Poland's
SBB (which now features former Pat Metheny Group drummer Paul Wertico), Sweden's Trettioriga Kriget and the Japanese bands Interpose and
Kinzoku-Ebisu.
?We've had six marriages take place at our festival,? said Mexicali audio engineer and keyboardist Alfonso Vidales, whose 28-year-old band, Cast,
launched Baja Prog in 1993.
The four-day festival draws an average of 1,500 fans each year, according to Vidales, with about 400 attendees coming from the Mexicali area and the
rest traveling from around the globe.
?I was just contacted about buying tickets by some people from Peru, and we also have fans coming from Thailand, Hungary, Spain, Chile, Indonesia and
Japan,? said Vidales, who will perform with an expanded version of Cast at the festival's Wednesday afternoon opening concert.
?This is the most important international event our city has. We have a lot of support from official government agencies here in Mexicali, people give
us donations, and we have a lot of volunteers.?
The audience that attends Baja Prog is not only enthusiastic but unusually well-informed. During the 1998 and 1999 festivals, Ten Ginn guitarist
Stanley Whitaker was virtually surrounded by autograph seekers, journalists and concert promoters after fans realized he was a founding member of
Happy the Man, a highly regarded American prog group that had disbanded in 1979. When the Los Angeles-based Ten Ginn played a few songs by Happy the
Man during its Baja Prog performances, the audience responded with extended ovations.
?It was amazing,? said Whitaker, who is now based in Baltimore. ?People kept coming up to me. They were so excited that I'd been in Happy the Man,
even though we'd been defunct for 20 years. They just went went nuts.?
So nuts, in fact, that Whitaker was inspired to reunite Happy the Man soon thereafter. The band released a new album last year, ?The Muse Awakens,?
and he credits his group's rebirth specifically to the fan response at Baja Prog.
?I don't know why Mexicali has become a center for prog-rock, but it has and the festival has grown each year,? Vidales said. ?Some people have even
told us their cholesterol has gone down while they've attended the festival, although I can't personally vouch for that.?
Tickets for Baja Prog cost $25 for each of the eight concerts, or $125 for a festival package ticket. Information:
http://www.bajaprog.org
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