Friday

Whatever way you look at it, this year’s Be Prog! My Friend has to be viewed as a triumph. Given the arrival of the three-day Barcelona Rocks festival, which is held on the same weekend, the packed crowds pay testament to Be Prog!’s pulling power, abetted by another brilliant line-up that spans generations and progressive genres.

It’s a triumph for the music, too: all 10 bands playing over the weekend deliver above average sets. Throw in the great weather and glorious setting, and you end up with the kind of festival experience you wish we could have back here in England.

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Transfixed isn’t how you’d describe the ecstatic reaction that’s given to Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress. The Be Prog! crowd goes crazy when Portnoy’s assembled throng (made up of most of Haken, plus Eric Gillette from Neal Morse’s band) take to the stage. Even if, as some purists have been quick to point out, he has three guitarists to do what John Petrucci would do on his own for Dream Theater, it’s a stunning set, built around Portnoy’s own ‘12 Step Suite’, sandwiched in between a chunk of material from Metropolis Pt.2 and Awake’s ‘The Mirror’. Haken’s youngsters hold their own against Portnoy’s ebullient showmanship, the whole fantastic show leaving you wishing it wasn’t merely a one-off for the latter half of 2017.