ProgDay 2023 (28th annual)
Day 2, Band 2 - Red Fiction
Sunday, Sept 3rd, 2023 ~1:30pm - 2:45pm
Storybook Farm, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Jason Shimmel - guitar, bouzouki, bass, keyboards
Shawn Baltzor - drums
Ryan Parrish - sax

1. raffle announcement (2:06)
2. soundcheck and intro (2:00)
3. song 1 (title?) (5:17)
4. song 2 (title?) (11:03)
5. song 3 (title?) (4:39)
6. song 4 (title?) (4:54)
7. Pratfall II -> (1:08)
8. Clone 13 (3:06)
9. announcements & band intros (2:17)
10. song 6 (title?) (2:47)
11. song 7 (7:08)
12. song 8 (title?) (4:22)
13. Antilla (5:40)
14. song 10 (title?) (6:48)
15. song 11 (title?) (3:55)
16. Selket (9:13)

Total Time: 76:18 (1 hr, 16 min, 18 sec)


Tascam DP-004 digital recorder connected to two Shure SM57 microphones
sitting about 15 feet back from center stage and about 2 feet apart ->
WAV -> Cool Edit '96 (volume, eq & track split) -> FLAC Frontend -> flac files


Notes:

And I was doing so well at figuring out set lists up to this point. But
Red Fiction didn't announce any song titles, and comparing the recording
with the CD they were selling (Visions of the Void) only turned up a few
titles. They did mention that they've almost completed work on a new
album, so I'm guessing most of this material comes from that.

I do have to thank a user named tschingsch on setlist.fm for figuring out
that the last song was Selket (they changed the beginning so I didn't
recognize it from the album version). He also identifies song 7 as Django
Reinhardt's "Rhythm Futur" which Red Fiction's forerunner band Atomic Ape
covered on their Swarm album - but I don't think it's actually that song.
The rhythm sounds right, but the melody is completely different. As always,
any additional help figuring out the set list would be much appreciated.

This band was supposed to be a four piece, but apparently the bass player
went to Burning Man and got stuck there by torrential rains. So guitarist
and bandleader Shimmel did double duty as bassist where possible/necessary.

Red Fiction evolved out of a band called Atomic Ape, and Shimmel has worked
with bands like Secret Chiefs 3 and Estradasphere. The band is signed to
John Zorn's Tzadik label.

Their music features high-speed unison guitar/sax lines, klezmer influences,
jazz fusion and everything from surf rock to space rock to metal. Flashy,
virtuoso instrumental stuff. They reminded me of Marbin, but more so.

The recording came out pretty much like most of the others oof the weekend
so far. Needed some tweaking of the balance and a little low end rolled
off to "unmuffle" it a bit, but other than that this is almost the raw
recording.

Unfortunately there's some audience chatter in the background on this one,
especially towards the end of the set. You might also occasionally hear
what sounds like a seal barking between songs. At the Saturday night pool
party, someone came up with the drunken idea that it would be funny if,
instead of applauding, everyone barked like a seal instead. Come Sunday
morning, either most people who were there had forgotten about it, or
(like me) never thought it was a particularly good idea in the first place
(I was worried that the bands might think we were mocking them or being
disrespectful). But the few people who remembered the idea and were into
it were VERY into it.


Red Fiction on the web:

https://www.redfiction.com/
https://redfiction.bandcamp.com/album/taste-for-blood-phanagoria
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4nK2YpY-gtun7BOGSTj3Ug


About ProgDay:

ProgDay is an outdoor festival of progressive rock that has been held annually
since 1995. In 1996 it was expanded from one day to two and has been featuring
anywhere from eight to eleven progressive rock bands each year since, often with
related events nearby on Friday or Saturday nights. The event has been forced
indoors due to weather twice (1999 and 2002), was held online in 2020 due to
Covid, and was sadly cancelled in 2021 (also due to Covid), but every year apart
from those has seen some fantastic progressive rock bands take the stage at
beautiful Storybook Farm.

It's definitely worth the trip if you're a prog fan and don't mind a little heat,
humidity and sun. I first went in 1997 and had such a great time that I've been
back every year since. There's really nothing else like it - most of the bands
mix and mingle with the fans, you can sit or stand literally stage-side for any
band you're particularly interested in, the atmosphere is super relaxed, the
people are friendly and the hotel pool parties have become the stuff of legend.

If you'd like to make a donation via PayPal to help keep the festival afloat (and
ensure more of these ProgDay torrents in the future), please visit:

http://www.progday.net/ProgDay-Support.html

Images for all shows as well as full size images for this show.

Images for this show:











RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (2).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (3).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (4).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (5).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (6).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (7).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (8).JPG
RedFiction2023-09-03ProgDayStorybookFarmChapelHillNC (9).JPG