Table of contents for Issue 166 in Prog

The Neal Morse Band are to release their fifth studio album L.I.F.T. on February 27 via InsideOutMusic. Billed as a record that “stands toe to toe” with the group’s rated 2016 LP The Similitude Of A Dream, it’s another virtuosic concept album that continues the NMB’s tradition of spiritually-themed storytelling. “There’s an arc to it but I suppose it’s really about belonging,” Morse tells Prog of NMB’s first LP since 2021’s Innocence & Danger. “You start out feeling like you belong with your parents, then you break from them and you might not feel like you really belong in the world. It talks about reaching for God or a higher power or however you want to put it, and God bringing us back to wholeness.” “It’s too good a record…

Be Prog! My Friend has confirmed the first names for its 2026 edition, revealing a diverse bill for the festival’s return to Barcelona. The event, which is hosted in association with Prog, will once again take place at La Carpa, the impressive covered performance space inside the city’s open-air architectural museum Poble Espanyol, on September 25-26. The 1,200-capacity festival has developed a loyal following thanks to its carefully curated line-ups, high production values and relaxed atmosphere, attracting fans from across Europe and beyond. This year, Swedish prog metallers Soen return as headliners alongside Germany’s The Ocean, with both bringing full-length shows to the stage and playing material from across their catalogues. They’re joined by a strong, international supporting cast. The Dear Hunter return to Barcelona, while Norway’s Green Carnation add…

The Blackheart Orchestra have confirmed that their long-awaited new album has been recorded. The LP – their first since 2022’s Hotel Utopia – will be released in late spring via Ceandar Records and is titled Arctic Deep Sea Diving. The duo describe it as their most adventurous and unconventional work to date. “Sound-wise it feels quite different,” says vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Chrissy Mostyn. “It’s obviously still us, but there’s more electronica, alongside beautiful strings from Big Big Train’s Claire Lindley and her partner Brian Mullen. There are even industrial beats in places.” Bandmate Rick Pilkington adds, “We’ve gone slightly weirder, but in an interesting, creative way. I’m proud of it.” While the pair still write songs in the traditional sense, they say the difference lies in the instrumentation, concepts and…

WIIM SOUND Foolish, perhaps, to take on Apple, Sonos, Amazon and Google at their own game, but top marks for having a go. Wiim’s newest launch is Sound, a 100W smart speaker with a focus on audio quality – automated room correction, four-inch woofer and dual tweeters, the option of doubling up to a pair for room-filling stereo, and a personalised “sweet spot”, which adapts to where you’re sitting and retunes itself if you move. It incorporates a dinky touch screen – great for those who resent fiddling with their phone unnecessarily – and voice control via Google Assistant or Alexa. www.wiimhome.com TUNESHINE Those who love their vinyl listening sessions may be in the habit of placing record sleeves on a special “now playing” stand (and I know this because…

From their earliest days, Ayrshire’s Biffy Clyro always had an endearing edge of oddness that set them apart from their peers on the early-00s UK rock scene. But while their debut, Blackened Sky was stuffed with post-hardcore anthems and its follow-up, The Vertigo Of Bliss combined musical innovation with punk rage (they recorded it in a single day, in an outpouring of wild creativity), it was Infinity Land that truly allowed them to spread their wings and fully embrace their prog side. Brilliantly ambitious yet in keeping with their upward trajectory, it’s the sound of a band pushing their own boundaries, testing the limits of imagination and daring their audience to follow them into stranger territories. Conceptually, it comes from a place of darkness. The Infinity Land of the title…

Compiled by December 2025 1 TAME IMPALA Deadbeat (COLUMBIA) 2 SLEEP TOKEN Even In Arcadia (RCA) 3 SLEEP TOKEN Take Me Back To Eden (SPINEFARM) 4 KATE BUSH Best Of The Other Sides (FISH PEOPLE) 5 DAVID GILMOUR The Luck And Strange Concerts (SONY) 6 PINK FLOYD Animals (PINK FLOYD RECORDS/RHINO) 7 LUNATIC SOUL The World Under Unsun (INSIDEOUTMUSIC) 8 SPOCK’S BEARD The Archaeoptimist (MADFISH) 9 GENESIS The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (50th Anniversary) (RHINO) 10 GAZPACHO Magic 8-Ball (KSCOPE) 11 SUPERTRAMP Crime Of The Century (POLYDOR) 12 RUSH Rush 50 (MERCURY) 13 RICK WAKEMAN Melancholia (MADFISH) 14 ORB Buddhist Hipsters (COOKING VINYL) 15 MIKE OLDFIELD Amarok (VIRGIN) 16 DREAM THEATER Parasomnia (INSIDEOUTMUSIC) 17 JETHRO TULL Curious Ruminant (INSIDEOUTMUSIC) 18 MOGWAI The Bad Fire (ROCK ACTION) 19 ROXY MUSIC Avalon (VIRGIN) 20 MATT BERRY Heard Noises (ACID JAZZ) 21 AIR The Virgin Suicides Redux (RHINO) 22 ROXY MUSIC Flesh…

MEXICAN PSYCH DUO Lorelle Meets The Obsolete are on their seventh album, but their latest, Corporal, feels like a new beginning. Lorena Quintanilla (Lorelle) and Alberto González (The Obsolete) have upped the electronic quota in a bid to rock the body and shake off the perpetual bad news cycle. “We’d kind of decided to stop the band,” admits Quintanilla. “We were in a crisis and then we started jamming just to forget about that. We were looking for some pleasure that electronic music was giving us, because it’s hypnotic and it goes to the body, hence the name Corporal.” “In Spanish, the context of the word for body – cuerpo – is really wide,” explains González. “The body means freedom, sovereignty, resistance, protection, shelter, joy.” “In Mexico, the meaning of…

“More activity from Porcupine Tree? Yeah, that’s possible. These days we get together a few times a year to develop ideas.” Steven Wilson doesn’t like to repeat himself, so perhaps it’s no surprise that he should follow up The Harmony Codex’s electronic puzzle with the two-part prog epic, The Overview. His eighth studio album set the idea of the overview effect – the psychological shift of viewing Earth from space – to an elegant and expansive soundtrack with a little lyrical help from XTC’s Andy Partridge. Many fans and critics have hailed it as his finest work to date, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that The Overview should receive the highest number of votes in this year’s Critics’ Choice. In our review, we described it as “21st-century progressive music and more…

Led by guitarist and self-described “purveyor of tritonal wankery” Matt Deacon, The Bob Lazar Story come from Christchurch, New Zealand, and latest EP From Mouth To Ear (the boblazar story. bandcamp.com) packs more oblique, gonzofun goodness into seven songs than most muster over a triple album. The Story’s instrumentals scratch the Crimson/Zappa itch on pieces such as Park Up And See The Manager, Total Kaikoura Not Cheggers Plays Pop and You Pigeon Fucks. Brown rice for the musical diet. London’s inventive avant-garde quintet PsychoYogi follow last year’s Astro Therapy Brain Repair with World Of Danger (psychoyogi.bandcamp.com), another dollop of punk-spirited, Canterburyhued weird. Guitarist/vocalist Chris Ramsing’s gently livid lyrics are a strength: Blue In Rap City is a dry, fun takedown of modern music’s stagnance; Mutual Agenda is his take on…

VENUE ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH, LONDON DATE 06/11/2025 You couldn’t pick a prettier place for a comeback. Almost 18 months after their last show, Liverpool prog-pop youngsters Exploring Birdsong are returning to one of England’s oldest churches. So anticipated was the occasion that, back in July, when this particular event was announced, it sold out instantly, forcing a second date to be added. The eagerness is tangible as Prog walks into the venue, with the pews already full half-an-hour before stage time. Vocalist/keyboardist Lynsey Ward and bassist/co-keyboardist Jonny Knight are met with ecstatic applause as they walk onstage, though the crowd is silenced as they start the night with Cartography. The first as-yet-unreleased song of many tonight, it’s an atmospheric opener that highlights Ward’s quasioperatic voice, her croons bouncing off…

VENUE SIGNATURE BREW HAGGERSTON, LONDON DATE 08/11/2025 Over the last few years, a few European prog festivals have fallen by the wayside – notably Prognosis and Night Of The Prog – so it’s heartwarming to see smaller local events pop up out of seemingly nowhere to facilitate the next generation of prog artists. This one, held in a brewery, even includes the very established Soft Machine! Herne Bay’s Pandamoanium, an instrumental trio including a doublenecked guitar for the prog factor, get this all-dayer underway before Glasgow’s be-robed Sloth Metropolis sway things in the direction of psych with bass-heavy stoner riffs and some rather flamboyant stagewear. “If you want to survive, you’re going to have to follow the words of the great sloth,” they announce while channelling 1970s Peter Gabriel. Southampton’s…

VENUE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON DATE 04/11/2025 If there’s any band capable of undertaking two entirely separate tours simultaneously, it’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Just two days after a rave residency at Electric Brixton, the eclectic Australians cross the river to the Royal Albert Hall for an orchestral show. The band, typically accustomed to reinventing their setlists nightly, are reined in by Chad Kelly and the Covent Garden Sinfonia, who first accompany a run-through of their 27th album, Phantom Island. It’s an impressive record, but seeing them confined by their rigidity is slightly disconcerting – their usual slacker attitude is stilted by intense focus and the occasional nervous glance as they ensure their classically trained contemporaries can keep up. But this muted energy doesn’t impact them musically. Deadstick…

VENUE THE CARLISLE, HASTINGS DATE 31/10/2025 Ever since the concept of the Hawklords was revived back in 2008, the band have thrived upon constant change and reinvention. With Jerry Richards (a member of Hawkwind from 1996–2001) manning the tiller in a similar manner to Dave Brock’s own piloting of the mothership, members have come and gone, accompanied by a steady diet of new music and touring. The Carlisle is only the second stop of an 18-show trek to promote Faith, a new album that heralds a two-man vocal approach; newcomer Kriss Gordelier acting as both a foil and an alternative to the delivery of Richards. With former Hawkwind man Mr Dibs having ended his four-year-stint, Graham Manson takes over on bass. Flying by the seat of one’s pants can certainly…

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of Prog. It is, in fact, quite a unique one for us: our first ever Review-Of-The-Year issue! This year we felt the achievements of the prog world in 2025 needed celebrating properly, so that’s what we’ve done. Aside from grabbing chats with Steven Wilson, Yes, Marillion’s Steve Rothery, Genesis, EBB, Steeleye Span and more, we also shine a light on the work of the Progrock.com’s Essentials label and the Solent Area Prog gigs held at the 1865 in Southampton; pay our respects to those who left us in 2025; and Prog’s own newshound Julian dons his best Mystic Meg outfit and looks ahead to what’s coming your way in 2026. Oh, and even though it hasn’t happened yet, it’s been all over the…

“Growing up, I’d obviously heard of Phil Collins but I wasn’t really into him to start with. Then a friend of mine, who was a massive Genesis and Phil Collins fan, introduced me to them and we’d go to this club where they’d play that music all the time. I was, like, ‘Actually, this is really amazing!’ Listening to it, you realised that this wasn’t straight music – it’d go all over the place. There were so many elements to it. And the skill that Genesis had, I think that they were phenomenal. I didn’t realise just how prog Genesis were until I started to properly delve into their back catalogue. I was really pleased that I got to see them play on their last tour. I really like all…

In the early 70s, Jenny Sorrenti’s band Saint Just carved out a niche in Italy’s progressive rock landscape with an ethereal fusion of folk, psychedelia and mysticism that made their two albums – Saint Just (1973) and 1974’s La Casa Del Lago – valued artefacts among collectors and fans alike. Half a century on, Sorrenti has reawakened that spirit with Néos Saint Just, an album that looks forward rather than back. “Those first albums gave me so much,” she reflects. “Néos Saint Just doesn’t revoke them; it takes me in another direction, with another language.” The title itself comes from the Greek for“new,” and fittingly the music embraces experimentation and introspection in equal measure. Working closely with producer and sonic alchemist Tullio Angelini, here Sorrenti explores innovative textures, her voice as…

Welcome to Prog’s ultimate review of the year. The best albums, the coolest reissues, the musicians who progged your world in 2025. Featuring Marillion, Yes, Genesis, Rush, Steven Wilson, David Gilmour and loads more. Between them they’ve given us brilliant albums, awesome songs and amazing shows. We also bid farewell to the icons (from onstage and off) who have sadly moved on to the great gig in the sky, and we look ahead to what’s coming your way in 2026. So please join us as we celebrate the musical year in the company of some of those who made it such a good one. 2025: it came, it saw, it progged hard!…

Can you believe this is the first time we’ve printed the Readers’ Poll vote page in the magazine in five years? Largely it’s all done online these days (isn’t everything?), but we’ve had requests from people who prefer the process of filling out the form on this page and posting it in. And you know what? In this day and age of immediacy and shrinking attention spans, we’re glad they do! So it’s time for you to decide who progged your world in 2025. You can see what the Prog magazine writers thought were the best new releases of the year on p28 and the best reissues on p50. Now it’s your turn. Let’s rightly celebrate some great prog talent. By the time you read this, those who prefer to…

Not to be outdone by his Animal Collective bandmates, all of whom have released solo albums, Geologist – aka Brian Weitz – enters the fray with Can I Get A Pack Of Camel Lights? (Drag City). The premise is reliably odd: what if hurdy-gurdy master Ethan James had recorded for hardcore label SST back in the 80s? Weitz answers the question with a beguiling set of instrumentals that place hurdygurdy drones on top of analogue synths, bass and urgent beats, alternating between minimal (Shelley Duvall), avant-punk (RV Envy) and weird exotica (Government Job). Sticking with noms de plume, Portland’s Emil Amos makes fabulously woolly DIY music as Holy Sons. Puritan Themes (Thrill Jockey) refracts 70s West Coast vibes through a shifting collage of Mellotron, lap steel, samples and drum machines,…

Engaging, if brief, autobiography of the former Jethro Tull guitar legend. Rock memoirs come in many shapes and sizes, but those hoping for gossip, detailed musical analysis or extensive personal soul-searching in this autobiography of Martin Barre, the Birmingham-born guitarist of Jethro Tull for more than 50 years, may be a touch disappointed. But what we do have here is a nicely written and beautifully illustrated sprint through a 65-year career as a musician. “A nicely written and illustrated sprint through his career.” The book is split into three parts, tackling in turn Barre’s early years as a jobbing musician, his time as a member of Tull, and a short section on his under-appreciated career as a solo artist. While many will want to skip straight to the Tull years,…

VENUE CADOGAN HALL, LONDON DATE 31/10/2025 SUPPORT MIKE DAWES The opening of the heavens and a sudden downpour over London do nothing to deter the fans who fill the sold-out Cadogan Hall. While some have brought their kids or grandchildren along for the occasion, the great majority of the audience are of sufficient vintage to have seen The Moody Blues during their late-60s and 70s pomp. It feels poignant that Justin Hayward is keeping the torch burning for the band’s legacy as the last surviving member of the classic line-up, John Lodge having passed away in October. But first, the remarkably nimble-fingered Mike Dawes warms up the room with a display of fretboard mastery on acoustic guitar. Dawes has long been a fixture of Hayward’s live band, and he plays…

VENUE THE BARBICAN HALL, LONDON DATE 01/11/2025 The mid-century brutalism of London’s Barbican Centre was made for Public Service Broadcasting. Its concrete 70s modernism, which seemed so painfully dated a couple of decades ago, now feels relevant and contemporary – a celebration of yesterday’s future that now seems rather quaint. And celebrating the past in a retro-futuristic manner is something that Public Service Broadcasting do exceptionally well. With a string of UK Top 10 albums, and, lest we forget, two Top 30 singles behind them, they seem to forever be on the cusp of getting much bigger. And today’s show – seen here in matinee performance – will undoubtedly be looked on as one of the highlights of the group’s career. Working with a 20-piece string section from the London…

VENUE THE PIPER, ST. LEONARDS-ON-SEA DATE 16/11/2025 “You’re probably the youngest two people in here,” a gentleman behind Prog explains to his son and girlfriend accompanying him, not, you’d have thought, unreasonably. And sure enough, there are the numerous greyhaired and balding heads on display that one might expect to see supporting a band who first began taking fans on their particular cosmic voyage over 50 years ago. However, that only tells half the story. On closer inspection, the age span is broader than one might have guessed, and the gender split closer, something that we’re seeing at more (although by no means all) gigs of a progressive hue, the country wide. “So, this is where the Hastings freaks hang out?” asks the irrepressible and beaming Gong frontman, and de-facto…

VENUE O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON, LONDON DATE 31/10/2025 Black Country, New Road have always been full of surprises. When frontman Isaac Wood bowed out days before the release of their second album, Ants From Up There, most groups would’ve found a new singer or simply folded. Instead, the sextet drew a firm line under their past, ditched the old material and pushed on with an entirely new set written for the stage in the shape of Live At Bush Hall, rebuilding themselves in real time before their audience’s eyes. Current album Forever Howlong has seen yet another left turn with saxophonist and flautist Lewis Evans stepping away from the mic to leave violinist Georgia Ellery, keyboardist May Kershaw and bassist Tyler Hyde continuing with vocal duties. And while that’s another reframing of…

BEYOND GREAT I was delighted to see The Beyond album Crawl featured in Prog 165. In the midst of so many clones in the late 80s and early 90s there were some hidden gems, including the mighty Atom Seed, who were namechecked in this article. In my opinion one of the most unique bands to surface at this time were Loud. They released two fantastic albums and even bonus tracks on singles and EPs showed a diversity and quirkiness in their songwriting that many of their mainstream peers lacked. I’ve still got all the Loud releases, but after being reminded how good Crawl was I’m going to have to track down a copy on CD. Feargal Melon, Derry, Ireland A STUPENDOUS DISCOVERY Yet again Steven Wilson is to be found…

Hen Ogledd – the collaborative project of artists Richard Dawson, Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies and Sally Pilkington – return on February 20 with their third album, Discombobulated via Weird World on CD, vinyl and digital. Described as their most complex yet most welcoming record, it explores political upheaval, personal crisis and mental wellbeing with warmth, strangeness and unpredictability. “There’s something to Hen Ogledd that’s really not like a normal band,” says Dawson. “It’s something… else.” Hen Ogledd developed the new album through early 2024 sessions initiated by drummer Will Guthrie. Working remotely across the UK before gathering at Blank Studios in Newcastle with producer Sam Grant, the group welcomed an extended cast of contributors, from spoken-word guests to field recordings and children’s voices. “Maybe Hen Ogledd is more like a…

HALLAS HAVE PLAYED some unlikely places over the past few years. There was the time the Swedish retro-prog five-piece rocked up at a biker club summer festival. Or the tiny former public toilet in Leipzig that turned into a techno venue after they’d finished. Weirdest of all was the night they found themselves playing a German fetish club. “It was right after the pandemic and many places were already booked, so we ended up in this sex club,” says bassist and vocalist Tommy Alexandersson. “We came in backstage and there were all these harnesses and gynaecological chairs.” “It was actually a regular rock audience,” adds keyboard player Nicklas Malmqvist. “But right after we finished the latex people arrived. We met them at the door. They were, like, ‘What are they…

IT MIGHT SEEM that taking 11 years to release a debut album is maybe a little too prog. But Norwegian sextet Confirmation Bias see it as worthwhile – it ensured they made the most of outgrowing their roots as a Rush tribute band. They released Century Mornings independently in 2024. It’s a complex work of impressive maturity, demonstrating that while patience can be bitter, its fruits can be musically sweet. Guitarist Ørjan Risa Svensen, bassist Jon Martin Haarr and drummer Kai Gabrielsen had been together for years before finding acoustic guitarist Eirik Hanssen, keyboardist Fredrik Skår and vocalist Lars Martin Aasgård. And since Hanssen has played with Magic Pie for years, comparisons with their fellow Norwegians, plus Marillion, IQ and of course Rush, are welcome. Asked what they earned from…

THE NEW CONCEPT album from Sister Ray Davies, Holy Island must almost certainly be the first instance of a duo from Muscle Shoals, Alabama writing an entire concept album about Lindisfarne in the North Sea. Fellow Americans might struggle to recognise a tiny island north of Berwick-upon-Tweed that was once home to Benedictine monks during medieval times and, thinking about it, they may not know who Ray Davies is either. “Yeah, it’s tough to gauge who gets it when we say it over here,” admits Adam Morrow, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. “Obviously the Velvet Underground thing alludes to that Brian Eno quote [“The first Velvet Underground album only sold 30,000 copies but everyone who bought one started a band”]. If you’re talking to musicians, they get it! But the Ray Davies…

50 MAUD THE MOTH THE DISTAFF THE LAVARIUM The ancient Greek poem by Erinna that gave Amaya López-Carromero – aka Maud The Moth – the title for her fourth album was the jumping-off point for the Spanish singer and multi-instrumentalist’s dissection of the place of femininity in modern society. It’s as dramatic as any Hellenic play, alternating between moments of anxious darkness and sunlit beauty, with López-Carromero backed by cello, sax, violin and some astounding drumming courtesy of acclaimed jazz percussionist Seb Roachford. However, the dominant instrument is Maud The Moth herself – a gothic prog Maria Callas or Diamanda Galás PROG’S PRIME CUT: A Temple By The River 49 ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF ICONOCLASTS YEAR0001 The Swedish art-rocker’s sixth studio album showed how high her stock has risen, attracting collaborators…

It’s a tough time for independent progressive rock labels. With so many inactive or producing only the occasional release, the previously thriving scene has contracted to a handful of participants. One relatively new organisation that’s very much bucking that trend is Progrock.com’s Essentials, run by husband-and-wife team Mark and Rayna Monforti. They’ve hosted concerts in their Chicago home for some years, but when the duo bought the Progrock.com domain name in 2013 from mailorder retailer Shawn Gordon, it was initially just a home for their online radio station. However, an opportunity arose in 2019 to partner with Detroit-based band Discipline on a reissue of their classic Unfolded Like Staircase. The album was remixed during lockdown by Rush producer Terry Brown and released in 2022. Since then, the label have signed…

20 THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT  TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION COOKING VINYL The ground-breaking 1976 debut album from The Alan Parsons Project was the first of this year’s reissues campaign for the band, arriving as a 45RPM double-vinyl ‘Audiophile Edition’ remastered at half-speed on limited-edition clear vinyl, no less, as well as an expanded CD release. WHAT WE SAID: “Mystery and imagination it has in spades. Some elements have dated, but others surprise with their boldness… It’s genuinely epic, carrying the album to the heights of gothic grandeur it’s been seeking.” – Chris Roberts, Prog 159 19 VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR  WORLD RECORD (REMASTERED) ESOTERIC The final release from the ‘classic’ Hammill/Banton/Jackson/Evans line-up until 2005’s Present album, 1976’s World Record arrived in a clamshell box with two discs featuring new stereo and 5.1…

JANUARY COLIN CARTER July 14, 1948 – January 10, 2025 Former vocalist with Flash, solo artist. TEDDY OSEI December 17, 1935 – January 14, 2025 Saxophonist, drummer, flautist and vocalist with Osibisa. ELLIOT INGBER August 24, 1941 - January 21, 2025 Guitarist in The Mothers Of Invention, Fraternity Of Man, The Magic Band. BRUCE HOWE March 17, 1947 - January 29, 2025 Bassist and vocalist in Australian prog rock band Fraternity, who featured future AC/DC singer Bon Scott. FEBRUARY MIKE RATLEDGE May 6, 1943 – February 5, 2025 Keyboardist and flautist in Soft Machine. JAMIE MUIR July 4, 1945 – February 17, 2025 Drummer and percussionist in King Crimson, later Buddhist monk and artist. MARCH ROD CLARK November 23, 1942 – March 16, 2025 Bassist in The Moody Blues, who…

VENUE DOWNSTAIRS AT THE DOME, LONDON DATE 23/11/2025 It was only two weeks ago that the promoters had to shift a prog gig by Germans RPWL upstairs at this venue, such was the demand for tickets, and tonight, Swedes Moon Safari are probably knocking on the door of something similar. It’s busy here; not uncomfortably packed, but it’s getting there. And while tales of gigs being cancelled due to poor ticket sales are rife these days, both these London Prog Gigs shows provide a crumb of comfort. That Moon Safari are even playing a venue like Downstairs At The Dome is perhaps a moot point. Those in the know – which pretty much includes everyone at tonight’s show – would suggest the Skellefteå quintet (keyboardist Sebastian Åkesson, one of three…

VENUE THE CAMDEN CLUB, LONDON DATE 09/11/2025 It may be the Lord’s Day, but the Lord has yet to see fit to intervene where London Prog Gigs’ Sunday night double bills are concerned. Southern Rail’s closure of crucial stations throws Prog into a quandary of epic proportions, with the decision to leave ahead of Tiger Moth Tales’ set taken to mitigate the very real possibility of being stranded in the rain in the early hours. Apologies to Peter Jones, although we note from social media we’re not the only ones hindered by Sunday public transport. Having taken a circulatory route into the city via rail replacement service, we also miss the beginning of Dim Gray’s set, with the lambent beauty of Feathers on arrival providing succour for travelling woes. The…

VENUE UNION CHAPEL, LONDON DATE 15/11/2025 SUPPORT ROXANNE DE BASTION It’s natural for an artist to be affected by their environment. Roxanne De Bastion is certainly receptive to her surroundings tonight, standing onstage in the stunning, serene Union Chapel with just her Rickenbacker guitar and laptop for company. Flashing excited, nervous smiles at the audience, her first song, Erase, doesn’t quite break the ice – it’s a sombre, personal plea, albeit with a powerful, folk-fuelled vocal. Things pick up when De Bastion encourages some shouty audience participation on the punkier Molecules and Red And White Blood Cells – “It’s church, but Friday night!” she jokes, gently. There’s a rawer edge to the Billy Bragg-like Wasteland – commenting on the vast changes undergone by her native Berlin in the last century…

VENUE THE FIDDLER’S ELBOW, LONDON DATE 12/11/2025 SUPPORT DIKAJEE, YUVAL RON TRIO As a prelude to upcoming festival appearances, Yuval Ron Trio and Aisles are touring the UK, giving prog punters an opportunity to see them in more modest surroundings than might otherwise be expected. Joining Aisles for a couple of shows is solo keyboardist and vocalist Dikajee, who opens tonight. With a voice that conjures up hints of Kate Bush, Annie Haslam and Björk, Dikajee inhabits a musical territory that encompasses disquieting, folkinfluenced, electric piano-based sketches that include Millions Of Flashes; the otherworldly dark lullaby Forest and the yearning, sparse elegance of Friar’s Lantern. Time constraints dictate a truncated set, but Dikajee still manages some audience participation, and piques interest for many here. With a suitably portentous intro tape and…

VENUE THE DOME, LONDON DATE 02/11/2025 SUPPORT ALSO EDEN It’s been 20 years since one of RPWL’s most popular records, World Through My Eyes, was released and tonight we have an extra-special show to celebrate it. In fact, it’s so special that it requires a venue upgrade to host the clamour for tickets, which in itself is great news for both the band and the genre. Pairing with openers Also Eden, who are making an all-too-rare visit to the capital, also proves to be a masterstroke: both artists prioritise melody and storytelling to pull people into their respective sonic ecosystems while paying homage to progressive rock bands that have come before. As they did at their recent Summer’s End show Also Eden treat the crowd to a number of unreleased…