Flamborough Head
ProgFarm 2001

ProgFarm 2001

Saturday November 3
De Harmsdobbe, Bakkeveen, Holland

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– I’m now a regular at this annual festival in Holland, now into it’s fifth year, having been for the last three years in succession. Organised by Dutch band Flamborough Head, it takes place on a converted farm in the north of the Netherlands, owned by the band’s drummer Koen. The festival is always a success due to the careful choice of bands, making sure that there is a good mixture of different styles, with something for everyone. This year Mike couldn’t make it, unfortunately, so I teamed up with Steve instead, who drove the 350 miles or so from the eurotunnel exit at Calais. There are now a growing number of people who make stupidly long journeys to attend this gig, not only from various places in the UK (hi to Kevin and Connie!) and from southern Germany (Hi Marcus!) but even all the way from Canada (Hi Bryan!), so we no longer feel quite so odd. I’d been a little unsure about the line-up this year, since there were three UK bands who I could probably have seen closer to home, and on arriving quite late in the evening I discovered that Primitive Instinct in fact come from near to where I live – the drummer lives in Canterbury and the guitarist in Maidstone! Still, I’d heard good things about Karnataka and the atmosphere is always good at progfarm. In the end it was a great gig, so no regrets. Like last year the weather was excellent, if a little on the cold side, so no problems with the rain………………………………So, at the end of the day I had a great time, and I think the line-up was well chosen. Even though I didn’t find much in Karnataka it’s clear that the majority of the audience really enjoyed them, so the balance was obviously right. The other four bands all played sets which I found interesting and entertaining, particularly Primitive Instinct and Parallel or 90 Degrees, so overall this was probably the most consistently good festivals I’ve been to. As always with progfarm the sound system was superb, and the volume levels just right, not too loud, which is importnat in such a small venue. Kudos must go to the sound engineers. As usual I bought far too many cheap CDs (the pound-euro exchange rate is still excellent, and besides I had to use up all my guilders before the currency change in the New Year!). My thanks again to Edo Spanninga and Flamborough Head for organising the whole event, and I’m looking forward to next year! Edo’s still looking for ideas for the line-up, so let him know if you have any ideas. (Keith Marshall. Please visit Keith’s Eleusis Music Pages for a full review on ProgFarm 2001!!)

– It was great ! (As usual !) (G.A., Belgium)

– Many many thanks for inviting us to Progfarm. We all had a wonderful time and have made a lot of new friends and hopefully fans. Thanks to you and the rest of your band/family for all your hard work and making us feel so welcome. Hopefully we can keep in touch and maybe we’ll meet up again. Good luck with the new album. All the best wishes from all of Primitive Instinct (and roadies.) (Nick Sheridan, Primitive Instinct.)

– The ProgFarm Festival last weekend was a great success and definitely worth the 1200 mile round trip ! Thanks to the organisers, all the bands involved and especially those of you who ventured over, for making it a very memorable event (Karnataka mailinglist).

– Ik wil je nogmaals bedanken voor dit fantastisch weekend. Toen ik thuiskwam heb ik de cd Storm van Karnataka even opgezet en bij het nummer I Should Have Known (lekker rustig en relaxt) sprongen mij de tranen spontaan in de ogen want heel Progfarm ging weer aan mij voorbij. (G.K. Holland)

– We arrived home safely late last night. We had a good journey back. The band had a great time at ProgFarm – thank you so much for inviting us and for looking after us all so well. Please pass on our thanks to the other organisers. Bakkeveen is a beautiful part of Holland – a lovely setting for your festival. It was a pleasure to play to such an appreciative and supportive audience and also to meet up with other bands. The quality of music from all the bands was excellent. (Ian Jones, Karnataka)

– Just a note to thank you for inviting us to Progfarm – we had a great time – we were a little worried that we would not be ‘Prog’ enough for the audience – but we gave it our best shot and the audience response was great.  I really enjoyed the gig – thanks again for a wonderful experience.   Jonathan (KARNATAKA)

Koffielikeur

“Koffie Likeur” – Homemade liquor bottled by Frans Bost

– N. and I have been back home for a couple of days now – just about enough to settle in so thought I’d send you a note. We really enjoyed our holiday in the Netherlands and we particularly enjoyed Progfarm. As I said just before we left, it was worth the trip to meet you, the band, the helpers, and lots of the other visitors. You took such good care of us we felt truly at home there.  It was also worth the trip to hear all of the bands – it’s not often one gets such a concenntrated bunch of entertainment in such a great atmosphere………………………We then went back to Amsterdam and eventually back to Canada. Thanks again and say hi to Eddie, Marcel, Koen, Margarite, and anyone else we met. (B.&N. H. Canada)

– M. D. en ik hebben weer zeer genoten. Misschien was de line-up op voorhand wat minder spectaculair dan vorig jaar, de optredens verrasten misschien daardoor juist in positieve zin!………………..   Kortom, het was weer top! En erg gezellig! En zonder regen bovendien! (Mooi hersftzonnetje boven de hei!) En alles bleef heel! Graag tot volgend jaar! (D.J. v W Holland)

– We have arrived safely back in Yorkshire, ……….. Thank you for having us at your wonderful event. The most friendly concert I’ve ever played at in 25 years……     It has been our pleasure. (Parallel or 90 Degrees).

– Progfarm 2001 is helaas weer ten einde. Zoals gewoonlijk hebben jullie weer uitstekend werk verricht, waarvoor mijn complimenten. Hoewel ik de line-up dit jaar niet zo sterk vond, heb ik me toch prima vermaakt. (A.D., Holland)

– The guys from ‘Parallel Or 90 Degrees’…………. played a great gig last night. I enjoyed them very much. Hosting band Flamborough Head also played a very enjoyable show with their new line up!(Thanks Edo!) I can’t say much about the other bands, because I arrived too late for the first 2 acts and was too drunk and tired for the last band…(F.R. Holland)

– Onze concerten van 1 en 3 november waren voor ons leerzaam en memorabel. Vooral het sfeervolle Progfarm op 3 november met uitstekende organisatie en publiek was voor ons een geweldige ervaring! (Salmon)

– De jaarlijkse progreünie!! Tenminste, dat is een beetje het sfeertje dat dit oergezellige festival typeert. Vandaar ook dat dit verslag meer het karakter heeft van een sfeerimpressie in plaats van een recensie. Na een bijna 2 uur durende rit door deels het Drentse land en een klein beetje Friesland was het bij aankomst al gelijk handen schudden geblazen met de nodige bekenden. Voor diegene die er nog nooit geweest zijn is het misschien niet goed voor te stellen maar het is denk het enige festival in Nederland wat zich afspeelt in een veredelde schuur. Naast deze schuur heeft men d.m.v. een soort halve boogtent over de volle lengte een “foyer” gecreëerd waar naast de nodige picknicktafels zich ook de stands van de bands en de gebruikelijke progdealers Marc (Brassé) en Rob (Hanemaayer) bevinden. Het is met name zijn stand die vaak het middelpunt (of mikpunt?) is van “heftige” discussies tussen progfanatiekelingen maar waar de beginneling ook altijd terecht kan voor vragen dan wel tips……………………………………..Eindoordeel: wederom een geslaagde dag die mij nu al weer doet uitkijken naar de 2002 editie van ProgFarm. (Chris Bekhuis. Please visit the Progwereld website for a full review on progFarm 2001)

– Then Progfarm… Bakkeveen N. Holland. 200+ audience crushed to the front of the stage in a lovely small barn. Wild dancing, singing along with the songs (even the new ones), punching the air, air guitars, great whooping cheers. One of the best Po90 gigs ever. We’d slept. We could hear everything. We could see. We only played 4 songs from the older albums, and unleashed nearly the whole of “Exotic Ways” onto this audience, who proceeded to memorise the riffs and sing them to us after the songs….. Dan and I were jumping up and down like pogo-freaks, the glasses went whizzing somewhere during “Afterlifecycle”, and 75 minutes passed in a blink. Wish we could do it like that every day……One day, perhaps we will. We spent a long time chatting with people (including Rob and Coen from the Po90 Forum… we sold boatloads of CDs, Videos and T shirts and hopefully made a few new friends….We followed “Salmon”, “Primitive Instinct” and “Flamborough Head” onto the stage, and were followed by Karnataka. We got on very well with all these people and look forward to working with them again in the near future. A great festival overall, thanks to the organisers.. especially Edo Spanninga and his band Flamborough Head. (Parallel or 90 Degrees Website)

– Bij deze wil ik jou, Koen, Marcel, Eddie en Margriet nogmaals bedanken voor de geweldige organisatie van Progfarm 2001. Het ‘gezelligste festival van Nederland en omstreken’ was weer af zowel wat betreft de programmering, de catering en de gemoedelijkheid. Een knaak voor een pilsje of een wijntje! Een piek voor koffie of thee! Kom daar nog maar eens om tegenwoordig. Geweldig. Al zouden jullie vijf groepen uitnodigen die me geen van alle aanspreken, dan nog zou ik komen al was het maar voor de gezelligheid. Ook het weer zat dit jaar erg mee; dat is ook wel eens anders geweest. (P.W. Holland)

– On behalf of myself, T…, J… and P… I would like to say a big “thank you” for a fantastic gig on Saturday.  Every band performed the best I’ve seen them and the festival itself was very well organised.  We had a good trip back (even though the sea was a bit choppy!) and I’m sure we’ll be over in Holland again next year. (J.A. England)

– Wij hebben enorm genoten van het afgelopen lustrum Progfarm! Organisatie (jullie, dus!), geluid, licht en “last but not least” het enthousiaste luisterpubliek waren onvergetelijk voor ons! Uniek jaarlijks feest, waar we altijd weer naar uitkijken, of de deelname nou actief of passief is! Ga nog vele jaren zo door! Nogmaals mijn welgemeende complimenten voor jullie (nieuwe) Flamborough Head muziek! In één woord: GEWELDIG! (Sven de Haan, Salmon)

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