Prog Stage is the name of a new Israeli music festival that will present heavy metal (progressive metal) and some progressive rock. The event is scheduled for October 4th-7th, 2012.
Swedish metal band Pain of Salvation is the headliner for the festival. Other top acts include progressive rock band The Flower Kings (Sweden), metal band Andromeda (Sweden) and Polish metal band Osada Vida. All four bands have never visited Israel before.
Last year’s ProgStage 2011 was a one-day festival that included only 4 local bands in one small urban hall in the city of Petach-Tikva. But ProgStage 2012 is envisioned as a long outdoor event, set in a fun zone of water parks near the Kinneret Lake (Tiberias is the nearest city).
Many local metal and progressive groups have jumped on the Progstage bandwagon, with ethnic metal monster Orphaned Land the biggest name on the list. Other Israeli bands featured, in alphabetical order:
- Artland – led by the festival’s organizer, Patrick Losinsky
- Bubble Band – cover band, showcasing Ian Anderson’s stunt double, Paul Forrest
- Distorted Harmony – performing their 2012 debut album, “Utopia”
- Haarnav Halavan – “the white rabbit”, hard-prog group working on their 2nd album
- Key of the Moment (KOTM) – vocal progressive fusion, showcasing their debut album, “The Switch”
- Pie-Q – female-fronted progressive metal outfit, which released their debut EP, “Piece of Cake”
- Reign of the Architect – international project, about to release the debut “Rise”, opening for Symphony-X on their 1st Israeli gig (6/6/2012).
- Solstice Coil – with two albums in their armor, and working on a third release
- Stormy Atmosphere – their debut, “Colorblind” (2009) will be followed by a 2nd album soon
- Sumo Elevator – jazz-prog-electronica quarter, released their first full album, “Breakfast”, in 2011
- Sussita – retro prog-folk group, working for a long time on their 2nd album
Ticket price for the entire event is only 300 Shekels ($80 USD).
The exact location is “Dugal” center, uniting the Golan beach and the Dugit beach. All shows will start at 18:00 (6:00 PM), allowing the crowd to enjoy the “Luna Gal” water park, the Kinneret waters and many water-sport attractions.
The date (October 4th-7th, from Thursday to Saturday) is the weekend of Israel’s Sukkot holiday, allowing many young people to join the event, since they’re on school vacation for the whole week.
Full details can be found on the official ProgStage 2012 website progstagefest.com