Review: Endeavour Presents: One Nation Under Prog

here, and a full album should be released later on this year, hopefully in November, according to the band, I would strongly suggest that you part with your pennies to buy this, as if the live performance is anything to go by, the album will be quite something. Gabriel are a four-piece from London. Sadly, they just didn’t do it for me, I tried to be objective and listen to what they were setting out to achieve, and regrettably I am unable to come up with anything positive to say about Gabriel’s set. The most important thing is that they played their set and folks enjoyed them, that is what counts. Now for the main event of the night. Our hosts and headliners, Endeavour walked on stage to rapturous applause. These guys are well known within the Bristol metal scene as well as further afield. In case you are unaware, you would know Iain ‘GT’ Davis from Onslaught and Chris Hawkins from One Machine. They launched into “Drowning Memory”, a blistering opening with Chris showing his vocal range and owning the stage as a frontman should, and Iain’s solos were a joy to watch. The speed, the precision, the emotion and the skill… this lad’s fingers sure as hell know their way around a fretboard. “From The Darkest Ground” is a nine minute prog metal masterpiece, that simply smashes you in the face, and then lifts you up and soothes you. How is it possible to be so brutal and so gentle at the same time? This is what Endeavour showcased here, the ability to combine both, leaving the audience’s jaws on the floor. Chris introduced “Death In Lies”, a new track from their upcoming debut album, and we in the Louisiana were the first ones to hear it. I must admit, I can’t remember much of it. I was so engrossed with the music that it simply embraced me and lost me in its spell. A spell only broken by the crowd roaring their approval at the end. “All That He Does See” and “Betrayal of Life” closed the forty minute set It was a shame that it was so short, but you can’t really complain when the quality of the performance and level of engagement shown by both the band and punters was this high. Endeavour Presents: One Nation Under Prog was undoubtedly a success. For something that hasn’t been done before, this first ever show was testament to the courage of the band putting it on. It was also a positive move to ask the punters to nominate bands that they wanted to see rather than the “I will select the bands and you pay to watch them” attitude. At the end of the night, Chris promised that there will be another Prog Fest taking place sometime in October. I am sure that those who attended tonight will no doubt be attending the next one, and word of mouth of how good it was will surely see an increased crowd. I sincerely hope it does, and I will definitely be making the effort to attend the next one. Review: Craig Travers]]>

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