From somebody (not me) that saw Riverside's US debut at Nearfest in PA: http://www.progressiveears.com/forums/topics.asp?ForumID=1&page=10&private=&subs=
"I love the 2 albums this band has released but wondered about their live show. Nothing to worry about as they are a very polished and tight unit. The first thing I noticed was the Guitarist wearing a NJ Proghouse shirt! Great plug, I hope they can come back and play there. I was also wondering what the crowd would think of a near prog-metal type band, as heavier bands don't go over well at Nearfest. And those brief growling moments, I though they might drive a few people out of the hall. It's not exactly the cookie monster variety and I think it fits the music well. Luckily most of the crowd stayed and saw a pretty good, if slightly flawed set. Nothing wrong with the performance, all four were great, especially the drummer. All four also have impossible to pronounce or even type names, as my polish is very poor! The bass playing lead singer had better chops than I expected, playing tricky parts while delivery the vocals, never an easy task. My complaint was the song order. They got past most of their most powerful and proggy material in the first half of the set. The pacing seemed all wrong, as the second half was more mellow than the first, a mistake for a hard edged band like this. A few set alterations would have made a huge difference. Still a strong set, and I look forward to much more music from them. After last year's visa issues, it was very nice to finally get them here. Grade: B"
I know Glenn has said this band has no chance for PP, but still hoping...
"I love the 2 albums this band has released but wondered about their live show. Nothing to worry about as they are a very polished and tight unit. The first thing I noticed was the Guitarist wearing a NJ Proghouse shirt! Great plug, I hope they can come back and play there. I was also wondering what the crowd would think of a near prog-metal type band, as heavier bands don't go over well at Nearfest. And those brief growling moments, I though they might drive a few people out of the hall. It's not exactly the cookie monster variety and I think it fits the music well. Luckily most of the crowd stayed and saw a pretty good, if slightly flawed set. Nothing wrong with the performance, all four were great, especially the drummer. All four also have impossible to pronounce or even type names, as my polish is very poor! The bass playing lead singer had better chops than I expected, playing tricky parts while delivery the vocals, never an easy task. My complaint was the song order. They got past most of their most powerful and proggy material in the first half of the set. The pacing seemed all wrong, as the second half was more mellow than the first, a mistake for a hard edged band like this. A few set alterations would have made a huge difference. Still a strong set, and I look forward to much more music from them. After last year's visa issues, it was very nice to finally get them here. Grade: B"
I know Glenn has said this band has no chance for PP, but still hoping...
