From the day I heard “Back in the World of Adventures” during a visit to Russia, I fell in love with the music of The Flower Kings. No other music grew on me (with the possible exception of David Bowie) as much as the music of The Flower Kings did, and throughout my music writing years and time spent at music college, I have always looked up to Roine Stolts and Tomas Bodins music writing abilities. Never did I think I’d see the day I would bump into them after a gig. I almost did with my friend Tom Maclean back when they came over in 2004 for their Adam and Eve tour, but I had to...

It was their final show of the Banks of Eden tour 2012 and what a show it was. Lalle Larsson played us in with piano arrangements of music from his latest album, plus a very cool jam with Jonas and Felix. The Flower Kings themselves started off with Numbers, followed by For the Love of Gold, also from Banks of Eden. Then we delved back into albums such as Paradox Hotel, Adam and Eve and of course, Stardust We Are. But for the first time (in the times I’ve seen The Flower Kings play), they even played from The Rainmaker! Last Minute on Earth to be precise. Roine joked that there were actually...

I recently started to follow a user on Twitter, Progrocktweets, going by the name of Brian. He from time to time asks his followers of their opinions of progressive rock albums / bands i.e. who is the best, personal favourite, best keyboard solo. Some interesting responses get retweeted. All the ones you expect to come up, do come up – Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater (although I debate their classification as Prog Rock). I am slightly biased in my opinion, being a massive Flower Kings follower, so naturally I put their name forward. When it comes down to albums though, I...

As outlined in my previous blog, I was surprised, and yet disappointed, to hear about the latest ITV talent show contest and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers casting for the Jesus Christ Superstar. It is quite clear that the casting wasn’t taken very seriously. After all, this obviously means Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is a bit short of a few million so is obviously using this as a cash injection. So, I would like to present two alternatives – one that might as well have been the casting (due to the nature of the seriousness involved in the decision making), and one that I reckon is a winner. So, to...

Be prepared for an angry rant. Sorry. But when my music nostalgia is tampered with, that hurts. I’m picturing the scene right now – I am about 7, 8 years old. It’s a Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in front of the television about to watch Jesus Christ Superstar. My family are big into operatics, my grandparents are members of the Salvation Army and so I’ve come across this subject once or twice. I watch it and I love it. The whole 70′s ‘thang’ is there, flares and all. Ted Neeley sings epically. Carl Andersons performance as Judas Iscariot is mind blowingly...