After six years away, Barcelona’s premier prog festival is back. Founded in 2014, Be Prog! My Friend has since seen prog legends like Opeth, Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett and Camel grace its stage, which nestles into a quaint courtyard in Poble Espnayol, the city’s historic open-air architectural museum.
Its return shows you how much it’s been missed by the city’s progressive community. Back with a new-look format that continues to place up-and-coming acts on the same platform as the genre’s luminaries, the festival has long since sold out.
Presenting eight bands across two days, from local exports to one of the finest contemporary progressive metal acts going, there’s plenty of variety considering its bite-size billing. Haken, a band who first performed way down the bill at Be Prog! 2015 this time headline the Friday night, delivering thee hours of big hits and deep cuts across two “prog heavy” sets.
“You can look at it as two bands,” says vocalist Ross Jennings. “We're playing [latest album] Fauna in its entirety, followed by second full-length performance of some of our favourite Haken songs. And it’s very prog heavy, so it should please everyone!
“Fauna represents a lot of the different styles that we’ve brought to Haken over the years,” he expands. “It’s a nod to the earlier days and there are sounds on there that not to the future of the Haken sound. It feels like a very eclectic mix of styles, so it’s almost like a greatest hits in itself.”
Reflecting on their 2015 performance, which saw the band crammed onto a makeshift second stage, Jennings sees their return as an “extra special” full circle moment. Above all, he sees events like these as vital for the genre’s growth.
“Despite the growth of prog over the years, it can be quite difficult for bands to grow to a big level; it's nice to have our own tent to play under where you know the people are coming are for you. I think it's very important for the bands to have opportunities to play like this.”
So, who else is playing, and what can the attending proggers expect from its two days of musical delights?
Friday 27th September
Obsidian Kingdom
Hometown prog darlings, Obsidian Kingdom live in a swirl of beautifully avant-garde ambience, borrowing at times from the intricate meditations of post-rock and the scathing weirdness of noise rock. They’ll be playing their delightful 2014 debut album/ Mantiis// in full, a record rich with well-paced progressive arcs and genre-blurring journeys that leave no stone unturned.
Kingcrow
Italy's Kingcrow embody pretty much everything there is to love about the contemporary prog metal scene. Huge, engaging vocal melodies tower above their landscapes which see oddly grooving guitars and lush waves of keyboards overlap. As new album, //Hopium//, proves, their songs that are as catchy as they are complex. But more importantly, beneath their clever riffs and emotional lyrical narratives is a bloody great rock band ready to flex their muscles on any stage that will have them.
Pure Reason Revolution
Rick Wakeman-approved British progressive alt rockers Pure Reason Revolution have garnered great momentum since their 2018 reunion and have, with their twisting new concept record, Coming Up To Consciousness now matched their trio of pre-hiatus records since reforming.
Equal parts soundscaping artistry for films that don't exist, electronic hues and throbbing guitar riffs, all iced by Jon Courtney and Annicke Shireen's poetic two-headed vocals, their melting pot is brimming with diversity. Be Prog! is the perfect setting for their storytelling.
Haken
Bringing their celebrated ‘An evening with…’ shows to a close under a Barcelonian skyline seems like a fitting end to what has been a gruelling tour for Britain’s progressive metal masterminds. The band will present two sets equating to three hours of maze-like song structures and a sound that takes in everything from breezy Gentle Giant melodies and fizzing ‘80s pomp to savage, machinery mimicking riffwork.
The first set will see the band perform their latest album, Fauna in full, which was described by Prog as being “colossal, detailed and dizzyingly diverse.” The band had penned the record with “no filter” meaning no idea was considered too crazy to be considered, and what results is a record that finds Haken at their most ambitious and catchiest, so it’s no wonder they’re eager to play it in full on any stage they can.
The second set will deliver a career-wide selection of their finest material, with each of their other six records – and one EP – getting a look in. Alongside fan and band favourites, a selection of deep cuts will also rear their head, as will songs that have never been played before. For Haken fans, and indeed lovers of progressive music in any of its forms, the two-part showcase is set to be a celebration of everything the genre can be.
Saturday 28th September
TodoMal
Masterminded by two veterans of the Spanish progressive underground scene, the nexus of TodoMal's music can be found where the roads of dark doom and psychedelic-tinted prog intersect. Their slow-burning yet oddly uplifting gothic anthems back the punch of sludgy riffs and the statesman-like prowess of enveloping keyboard textures and philosophising lyrics in equal measure.
Alkaloid
Featuring current and former members of the technical death metal elite, including Obscura, Necrophagist, and Blotted Science, Alkaloid are showing how well complexity, extreme metal and progressive ambitions can blend together.
As their music has evolved, they’ve dialled back the more visceral of their moments, slithering instead down cosmic prog expanses without betraying their hard-as-nails musical backbone. They’re a band that doesn’t tour extensively, so this isn’t a set to be missed.
Dødheimsgard
Self-described as a “raw Norwegian black metal band,” that label downplays how important avant garde flavours and progressive structures are to their unique take on one of metal's most viscous subgenres. Sure, there are blast beats and emotive trem picked guitars aplenty at their core, but their ability to spin off into different directions should be applauded. Across their sprawling songwr
Pain of Salvation
Across a near 30-year career, Pain of Salvation's dark and poetic take on a sound which nestles on the border between prog rock and metal have proved one of the scenes most vital proponents. Their last record, 2020's Panther, saw the Swede's ringleader Daniel Gildenlöw confronting his neurodiversity having been diagnosed with ADHD. Moreover, they did it through a technicolour – yet always dark and grungy – mesh of jittering rhythms, discomfort able turns and vocal-driven songs.
What you get with Pain of Salvation is song first, story-focused craftsmanship, with the band's deftness for knotted technicality, dynamic ebbs and flows and an ever-shifting moodiness used to propel their music and its interwoven messages.
Prog scribe Holly Wright called Gildenlöw's lyrics “philosophical and self-exploratory,” without being “self-pitying” in her piece on Panther’s creation. It's a damningly accurate description, and it's around those lyrics that their skilful musicianship coils. The Swedish stalwarts have earned their spot at the top of the bill, and will no doubt bring the festival's return to a theatrical and evocative close.
Key Info
The venue has been moved to a different spot in the open-air architectural museum of Poble Espanyol to cater for the 1,000 capacity event. Four bands will perform each day at the single-stage event. Doors open at 4pm each day, and the first band due to start at 4.50pm. The headline shows will conclude by approximately 11.30pm.
LINE-UP FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER (Doors at 4pm) Obsidian Kingdom, Kingcrow, Pure Reason Revolution, Haken
LINE-UP SATURDAY 28 SEPTEMBER (Doors at 4pm) TodoMal, Alkaloid, Dødheimsgard, Pain of Salvation
LOCATION: The festival takes place at Poble Espanyol, Av Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 13, 08038, Barcelona, Spain. It’s a 30 minute walk from the city’s infamous Las Ramblas street and has easy access via public transport.
TRAVEL: The closest airport is Barcelona, which is 7.5 miles away. Public transport is recommended to reach the festival site. The closest metro station is Espanya, a 10 minute walk from the venue. The nearest bus stop is called Poble. There is ample private parking for those arriving by car.
DISABLED ACCESS: There’s a disabled viewing area at the event.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS: With the festival site opening at 4pm each day, there’s time to explore the city beforehand. Food and drinks can be purchased within the venue too, with a range of dietary requirements catered for.
ACCOMMODATION: Please note that Be Prog! is not a camping festival. Instead, try local hotels or Airbnb for a place to rest your music filled head.
ABOUT THE LOCATION: Built in 1929, Poble Espanyol is designed to look like a historic Spanish village, with replicas of buildings from different regions. Its village plays host to craft workshops, bars and restaurants. Please note: Museu Fran Daurel art gallery will be closed during the Be Prog! Festival.
DON’T FORGET TO PACK: Sun cream, sunglasses, water and ear protectors. There’ll also be a merch stand for official Be Prog! shirts, as well as threads from all featured bands. So bring extra euros to show your support.
Disclaimer: All details are correct at time of press. Visit the Be Prog! website for the latest info.
