Friday 16 December 2022

F Is For Franck Carducci And The Fantastic Squad.

 I saw Franck Carducci and his band at The Night Of The Prog festival in Loreley in Germany in 2017.   It's only an hour and 35 minutes to Frankfurt Hahn airport which is nowhere near Frankfurt, like a lot of other artistic licence airport names that a budget certain airline uses.  A taxi drive later and we were there.  Well apart from a long walk up an hill. Next day we found out you could catch a bus there from the town.   We stayed in an hotel and instead of seeing "keep off the grass" (I hadn't been smoking) signs their said: "Verboten". 

The festival site is picturesque perched  high above the River Rhine.  The stone amphitheatre was constructed apparently for Hitler's WW2 victory celebrations.  Thankfully that never happened and these days great Prog Rock bands grace the stage.  We saw old signs for Scottish Celtic Rockers who had played there a few weeks before The Night Of The Prog. 

Franck Carducci is from France and he is based in Amsterdam.  I saw them at Loreley and found them to be a breath of fresh Prog Rock air.  

They remind me of early Peter Gabriel/Genesis with their theatrical like stage presence and Mary Reynaud with her dancing and singing.  They got a standing ovation by 6000 people including yours truly at Loreley.

They are playing A New Day Festival next August at Mount Ephraim Gardens at Faversham near Kent.  Regular readers will know I have been there twice but I am not sure about next year.  Time will tell.

Any way or any road enjoy the music. It's a ten minute track and ever there's a good reason to like Prog it's this band.


Like Max Boyce says: "I was there!

Me thinks next week it will be the letter G.  Not so much a Prog guitarist but definitely a Blues and Rocker.  Emerald Isle is a big clue.  Have you any plans to go to a Rock festival next year? I have got two plans up to now.  Hopefully.

11 comments:

  1. I had never previously heard of Franck Carducci. Melodic stuff. I liked the dancing blonde girl singer. Is it R**y G*******r next week?

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  2. Have look at Alice's Eerie Dream by the above band YP. Poor Alice in Wonderland is turned into an Hooker. Mary Reynaud plays Alice on stage. I think they are great. A newish Prog band full of fun and entertainment. Great live.

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  3. No it's not the lad from Ballyshannon who lived in Cork. Although it would be an excellent choice. My G featured guitarist is from Belfast and was in my favourite Irish Heavy Rock band. I'm really liking playing and sharing my favourite bands again.

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  4. Well, not quite like Val Doonican but interesting....

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  5. "Now, Patrick McGinty an Irishman of note, Fell in for a fortune, and he bought himself a goat." Time to get the patchouli oil, long skirt and tie dye tshirt out of the wardrobe and order some festival tickets JayCee.🎸😊

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  6. Yes, they are good. I rate them highly. I know your next letter too, one of the best.

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  7. I knew you would like them Rachel. You can see so many Rock influences in their music - Genesis, Pink Floyd..... They supported Sting recently and Steve Hackett appears on their records. G is no longer with us Rachel but his music lives on. Thanks.

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  8. Prog Rock isn't my thing, so ten minutes is way too long.

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  9. When you see 'verboten' you take a step back. That's a strong word, in any language lol. Keep off the grass just makes you want to disobey and make a few tracks

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  10. Ten minutes is relatively short for a lot of Prog songs River. I love it. Music with concepts and themes and a good instrumental bit in the middle Roll on the summer and a festival or two. Thanks.

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  11. Yes that's what went through my head Linda. I wanted to walk on that grass and take in the view. Thanks.

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