The proggers descended upon Connecticut Friday as Legends Café in Wolcott played host to what amounted to our own mini prog-fest. The double bill featured the state’s 2 finest original prog bands, Crucible and After The Fall. Wolcott is also Crucible’s home base so this is decidedly their territory.

After The Fall kicked off the festivities with an hour-long set of their own brand of guitar-driven, heavy progressive rock. The band quickly won the crowd’s favor with several hard, driving compositions. The very animated stage presence and vocal style of guitarist Mark Benson made the performances that much more effective and somewhat dictated the overall mood of the room. The rest of the band followed Mark’s lead and delivered a tight, well-packed set of all original material. Their performance featured several pieces from their latest release "In A Safe Place."

Crucible took the stage and opened with covers of Steve Miller’s "Fly Like An Eagle" and Cream’s "White Room" before getting into their own compositions. "The Poet Liar" was the first piece from their debut album "Tall Tales" and succeeded in spotlighting the band’s many talents. Most in attendance were already familiar with the band’s music and seemed to lean more toward the originals than the covers. One fan was even overheard commenting that he wished the band would perform "Tall Tales," in it’s entirety, as one set. The album certainly is good enough to warrant such treatment, and I’d love to see it myself, but I don’t know if many club owners are ready for that quite yet. Covers are still a requirement to getting many gigs and Crucible certainly draws from a substantial assortment to fill in their sets.

The band has now completely adapted to new bassist Chris Vescera and is once again off and running. Tim Horan is at the helm and with his considerable talents being supplemented by Dan Esposito's guitar, Bill Esposito's vocals, and Tony Cappellina's drums, Crucible is clearly ready to fly.

Both bands share the credit for one great night of progressive rock, hidden away in a corner of Connecticut.

C-V Management
23 August Ave.
Wolcott, CT  06716