Hi all! Hope you enjoyed this page, but definitely not as much as I enjoyed the festival! It was a memorable event, and we're now thinking of Kuri Proge 2003. Yes, ideas are being floated around, and keep checking back for more details here!

I also got the photos from the festival scanned into the system -- so now those of you that missed the event can finally see all the wonderful scenes from that day! I have also extended the review section of this page, as promised earlier.

Those of you that have your own reviews of the event, please send them in! I would be happy to put them on this site. Also, if you have photos, the same!

Again, I would like to thank many people for helping to gather the info for the page, especially the main organiser, Artur Siim. Many of the best photos came from my buddy Matti Andre, so thanks to him as well!

The all-day (and all-night) festival was held on a beautiful, sunny Saturday on the "paradise" island of Hiiumaa off the western coast of Estonia, in the small village of Kuri. The autumn day (10 August) proved to be one of the warmest and sunniest of the already-too-hot summer, which added to the overall environment of this first-time festival.

Over 250 people enjoyed being at "paradise on Earth" in Hiiumaa, with their enjoyment accentuated by the excellent music from eight acts, wonderful beer and food, and just being around many friends. Musicians and fans were as one, enjoying all Kuri and Hiiumaa could offer. Designed as a family event, children played as the music entertained all -- making the event a perfect weekend getaway for many prog fans and their families.

There was already a buzz about by the time festival organiser Artur Siim began a very challenging trivial quiz -- with some choice CDs and LPs as prizes. I barely got half the answers right! This was an excellent way to kick off the festival.

The first act, fusion combo PHLOX, began the festival during the blazing heat of the Hiiumaa mid-afternoon sun. It was a good way to open the festival, getting the audience into the mood. It also highlighted an interesting trend in the current music scene, the strength of the fusion scene in the country; PHLOX was the first of several fusion acts to grace the Kuri stage.

After a brief diversion, the prog fans were soon treated to one of the many pleasant surprises to come from this inaugural festival -- the reunion of the high-tech prog duo Data. This reunion brought the stylish sounds of keyboard whiz Igor Garshnek and programmer-extraordinaire (on guitar this particular day) Tiit Aunaste together for the first time in a decade.

Data, though playing a somewhat short set, was an excellent way to kick off the prog parts of the festival. The duo performed some of their best-known tracks, featuring some blazing keyboard solos by Garshnek. Aunaste added his unique vocals to several tracks, including an interesting cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Part II" -- to the enjoyment of the audience. The audience was also treated to an impromptu stand-up routine by Garshnek when Aunaste had to change a broken guitar string -- a new career, Igor? Quite funny stuff.

For organiser Artur Siim, the third act was the one he's waited for -- for quite a long time, may I add. It was the reunion of the 1970s psychedelic rock band Meie. This historic band created the foundations for the developing prog rock scene in the early 1970s, and their short set of some of their best-known pieces demonstrates how fresh the material remains 30 years after their first performance.

The band is rooted in the unique vocals of Tajo Kadajas, bringing both power and dynamic to the strong and tight music by the band. For a band that has not played in three decades, and with limited rehearsals, the set was probably the tightest of the entire festival -- a testament to the skill and professionality of the five musicians on stage. The guitars of Kalle Vikat created the excellent melodies of the pieces, accentuated by the keyboards of Vladimir Petuhhov. The quiet strength of bassist Enn Saretok gives the material both foundation and flavour. The only non-original member was the fabulous Ivar Sipra (best known for his crafty work in the symphonic prog trailblazer Mess), having replaced the original drummer who had sadly passed away.

For the audience this short set was a major treat, hearing some of the most impressive Estonian rock of the early 1970s revived on the modern stage. The success of the performance, which gained raptuous cheering throughout, has even led the band to work on future appearances. If the festival is to leave legacies, the revival of Meie must be one of the main ones.

It took awhile for the crowd to settle down after that excellent performance. In the meantime, Artur Siim and his family brought out the reason for the celebration -- a huge birthday cake for four people. This festival was originally designed as a birthday bash -- and it turned into one with the singing of "Happy Birthday" and more cheering. The organiser himself was celebrating his 40th birthday, while photographer and great friend Matti Andre his 45th and this website's webmaster his 30th -- as well as the 10th birthday of the organiser's son, Sander. This was the most amazing way to celebrate a jubilee!

Following the cake feast for the hundreds of people there, the next act -- fusion combo Megan Quartet -- hit the stage. It was a little odd to see five musicians on stage for a "quartet" but nevertheless they pulled off a solid and enthusiastic set with some excellent soloing. Band leader and keyboardist Tarvo Kaspar Toome zapped through some crafty passages within the innovative fusion compositions.

In the meantime, the aroma of food was getting to people. Already enjoying the plentiful beer and hernesupp (traditional Estonian pea soup) -- as well as an amazing array of smoked seafood (including several absolutely incredible smoked eels, a major Estonian delicacy) -- there was activity on the side of the stage. No, it wasn't a holy lamb, nor was it lying on Broadway, but nevertheless there were two lambs being cooked in pit ovens. As they came out, the hundreds of hungry fans took no mercy on the two hapless and cooked creatures. Excellent stuff, but really -- how appropriate was it for it to be lamb at a prog festival? Totally cool.

The sun finally headed downward as darkness slowly crept in during the Megan Quartet set. The people were full from lamb and soup, and settled down to enjoy the rest of the night's excellent music. Though the Megan Quartet set ran a little long, no one minded that naturally. The bonfire was also lit during the break after the set.

People were eagerly anticipating the next act, the "headliner" of the festival (the original headliner, prog combo Contus Firmus, had to pull out due to unforseen circumstances), the reunited Linnu Tee. This formerly top prog act of the late 1980s had brought to Kuri a new look, with several different musicians. For one, keyboard legend (already warmed-up from his Data set) Igor Garshnek filled in the keyboard role, and Frippian guitar maestro Robert Jürjendal played acoustic guitars and some backing keyboards. The rest of the band remained drummer Tarvi Jaago, bassist Margus Kliimask, guitarist Raul Jaanson, and vocalist Indrek Patte.

There had been some rumours before the day of some ambitious material, possibly a well-known prog cover song. Listening to the soundcheck certainly gave hints of it for those who noticed. However, to most of the audience, it was shocking to hear when vocalist Patte said they were playing just one song this evening. It turned into more of a shock when the first note of the song came from the six-piece: "Supper's Ready" -- the most legendary of all prog epics.

A minute into the piece you can hear that the adherance to the original is very close, and lots of attention has been paid to the details of this intricate piece. Ironically the band rehearsed very few times and much of it was being sight-read by the talented musicians. The acoustic guitars played by Jürjendal really added to the flavour, as well as the flute by drummer Jaago -- a trained flautist. Jaago played the Gabriel flutes to perfection, making the execution of this epic even more fantastic.

Vocalist Indrek Patte did Gabriel proud in his performance of this ultra-demanding piece, especially its end. Despite ill with flu, Patte hit each and every note with energy and power, giving this performance an extra bit of authenticity. His love of the song is noticeable by this stage presence and perfection in memorising the lyrics (even Gabriel couldn't do that). Keyboardist Igor Garshnek paid his tribute to Tony Banks with a rousing solo for "Apocalypse" that amazed those who had not seen Garshnek at his soloing best for many years.

The 25-minute epic was received incredibly well by the enthusiastic audience, as many had loved this song since the piece was first smuggled into Estonia illegally in the early 1970s. The performance was totally awesome, and the band paid the ultimate tribute to their heroes in this set. Even professional Genesis cover bands like The Musical Box would have took their hats off to this awesome performance. Wow... Later we would see this bit on the evening news! I'm sure hearing "Supper's Ready" on the evening news blew the minds of those that didn't come out to Kuri!

Everyone's breath was still taken away far after the finish of the set (the encore was the end segment once again, as they had not reheased anything else!). It took awhile before people came back down to earth, but with the beer flowing the people were in excellent mood. The following set was a return to fusion once more, as the much-heralded Beggars Farm took the stage.

By now the hour was growing late and the energy of the festival was feeling some ebb. The beer continued to flow over the fine fusion form of Beggars Farm. The bonfire was in full burn, and many had already set up their tents and were enjoying the set from their individual choice locations. Oh, did I mention the area is a camping site, so perfect for families as well?

The hour grew really late by the time the soundcheck for the spacey duo Edasi commenced. It was after midnight, and the problems with the soundcheck led some to turn in to their tents early. However, the organiser quickly brought them awake, out of their tents by shifting the order of the last two acts. Instead of atmospheric instrumentals, the re-awakened audience was treated to a short but excellent set by guitar legend (of Ruja fame) Jaanus Nõgisto.

Nõgisto performed several beautiful acoustic tracks, ones that would leave the most die-hard Yes fans in tears of joy; Steve Howe would have bowed to this performance. Ironically, the electric acoustic used by Nõgisto was actually the same instrument he bought for Howe when a part of Yes (Howe and Jon Anderson) played "Leaves of Green" on Estonian television before their November 2001 symphonic concert. The pieces were totally awesome, and they need to be recorded and released! It would amaze the world, not just Steve Howe and Yes fanatics. Amazing.

Finally by this hour everyone was pretty knackered. It was past 0100 when Edasi finally made it on stage. This duo was an experimental project by Tarvo Kaspar Toome (of Megan Quartet), on guitar, and keyboardist (of well-known fusion band Luarvik Luarvik) Mihkel Kleis. The atmospheric sounds helped the crowd wind down after a long day and night of intense and interesting music. The one drawback was that the lateness of the hour made the planned jam session (with yours truly on bass) had to be cancelled. Well, everyone was asleep by that time, drawing close to 0300...

The great thing about this festival was how nice the atmosphere was, the comraderie among all the fans and musicians as we all enjoyed it together. The location was perfect, the weather was superb, and the music was fantastic. It was so successful that the organisers are talking about KURI PROGE 2003 -- so do check back at this website for things new, as well as the schedule for the festival next year. Some material from this year's festival will likely be released in the near future as well.

Again, what can we say? Wow... Most importanly, thanks to everyone -- especially organiser Artur Siim and his wife Margit, as well as great friends like Matti Andre, Karel Boggens and so forth. It was a wonderful day out, but most of all, it was great to catch up with so many old friends. Well, what will come of this festival is not known fully, but much will. It has already led to much interest by many musicians and bands in Estonia and abroad, so next years festival -- already in the works -- will be even more amazing! Check back here for more news!!!