On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 June Prog And Frogs Music Festival, now in its fifth edition, returns to Cascina Caremma (Besate – MI). Prog And Frogs is a unique festival for the choice of location, the quality of the programme and the conception by three different realities: the entrepreneurship on the territory of Gabriele Corti (Cascina Caremma), the independent and Progressive discography of Matthias Scheller (AMS Records), the radio experience of Renato Scuffietti (Radio Popolare). Prog And Frogs – proudly free admission – recaptures the climate, spirit and mood of the free festivals of the 1960s and 1970s, when music linked meditation, art, culture and protest. The chosen venue is perfect: immersed in the Ticino Park, Cascina Caremma is a reality that began in 1988 with the conversion of the land to organic production methods, and over the years has become a popular agritourism but above all a laboratory of ideas and initiatives for the protection and enhancement of the territory. Mox Cristadoro, journalist and writer, will present the two evenings.
Saturday 10 June from 6 p.m. kicks off with three unmissable line-ups, summarising three directions of Rock Progressivo Italiano. Opening will be The Lost Vision of the Chandoo Priest, namely Francesca Zanetta (Unreal City, Quel che Disse il Tuono) and Niccolò Gallani (Cellar Noise, Quel che Disse il Tuono). A visionary experience that the two multi-instrumentalists realise by drawing on the Psychedelic culture of the 1960s, from Pink Floyd to German Cosmic Music, to the Scandinavian Prog Rock of recent years. Next up is one of the historic bands of Italian Prog, L’Estate di San Martino: the Umbrian group, active since 1975, has recently returned with their new album “Kim,” a concept on Darwinism, transhumanism and the contrast between religion and science, under the banner of daring contemporary Progressive Rock. Grand finale with Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin: the Roman keyboardist needs no introduction, he has changed the face of Italian music thanks in particular to the soundtracks of Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso and Suspiria, and has an international popularity that shows no signs of waning. With his Rock Tales, Mox Cristadoro will tell the story of Simonetti and Goblin.
On Sunday 11 June, another trio of giants. Opening will be CFC, born in the spring of 1974 thanks to their love for Genesis, which they paid homage to with passion, becoming one of the most prolific cover bands in the west of Milan, not only of Peter Gabriel and co. but also of national and international Prog. Followed by the live return of another historic band of Italian Prog, among the most seminal and long-lived: Jumbo. An eclectic, irreverent and critical formation, Jumbo have always focused on harsh and biting lyrics, and their aggressive and edgy music has made them a cult band. Prog And Frogs 2023 closes with La Maschera di Cera: the Genoese band, led by Fabio Zuffanti and Alessandro Corvaglia, with the presence of Martin Grice of Delirium, is one of the pivotal names in the rediscovery of the glorious Italian Prog sound of the 1970s. The band is celebrating its 20th anniversary with concerts also abroad and the reissues of its first two much-loved albums. For Mox Cristadoro’s Rock Tales, the focus will be on Cramps Records, celebrating fifty years of alternative music in Italy.
Prog And Frogs is also a new age market (various handicrafts, vinyls, lutherie), Foodstock (catering with traditional and vegetarian dishes, made with BIO products from the Cascina) and Saturday night, after the concerts, After Party & Free Camping by Reti Sonore.
Radio Popolare: http://www.radiopopolare.it
Cascina Caremma: http://www.caremma.com