Dear Happy gentlemen:

This was a poll taken within a couple of weeks of NEARfest 2000, on various progressive music internet lists. People picked their top three for each category, #1 receiving 3 pts etc.

Thanks once again for an unforgettable evening and I'll see you all again in VA on Aug 19.

Peace
Rob LaDuca

BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE:

This was really no contest as Happy The Man blew away the competition. Most of the other bands were pretty close. Here are the results (a graduated point system was used for this category):

Happy The Man - 215
Par Lindh Project - 139
D.F.A. - 112
Anekdoten - 108
Transatlantic - 107
Nexus - 106
Thinking Plague - 105
Il Balletto Di Bronzo - 93
North Star - 72
Echolyn - 70
Iluvatar - 68
Priam - 45

Below are the top 5 for each category.

BAND THAT MOST EXCEEDED YOUR EXPECTATIONS:

Happy The Man - 42
North Star - 22
D.F.A. - 13
Nexus - 12
Il Balletto Di Bronzo - 11

OUTSTANDIG PERFORMANCE ON GUITAR:

Stan Whitaker (Happy The Man) - 51
Mike Johnson (Thinking Plague) - 27
Joe Kopecky ( Par Lindh Project) - 18
Roine Stolt (Transatlantic) - 11
Chris Casagrande (Priam) - 8

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE ON KEYS:

David Rosenthal (Happy The Man) - 49
Gianni Leone (Il Balletto Di Bronzo) - 32
Matt Mitchell (Thinking Plague) - 12
Par Lindh (Par Lindh Project) - 10
Alberto Bonomi (D.F.A.) - 9


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE ON DRUMS:

Dave Kerman (Thinking Plague) - 35
Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic) - 30
Ron Riddle (Happy The Man) - 29
Nisse Bielfeld (Par Lindh Project) - 10
Peter Nordins (Anekdoten) - 7

OUTSTANDING OVERALL PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL:

Stan Whitaker (Happy The Man) - 27
Gianni Leone (Il Balletto Di Bronzo) - 22
David Rosenthal (Happy The Man) - 12
Magdelana Hagburg (Par Lindh Project) - 9
Maria Gonzalez (Nexus) - 8

Rob LaDuca 
President, North East Art Rock Festival
rob@nearfest.com 
http://www.nearfest.com 
(570) 696-9974 (eves)

NEARfest 2001
June 23 & 24, 2001
Lehigh University 
Bethlehem, PA
"progressive rock lives"

Happy the Man - what can i say.Their performance was so professional and masterful. An obvious result of painstaking hours working at their
craft, both individually and together. The instrumentation was sewn with a fine stitch that simulated a giant breathing creature whose lungs respired beautiful music with every breath. We've been fooled, they haven't been apart for 20 years....they've been practicing all this time in Stan Whitaker's
basement until his mom unlocked the door and let them come up:) The brilliance of composition and performance made this finale well worth flying halfway around the world to witness....(i didn't have to travel that far, but i know that there were many who made the long journey). The entire auditorium had a united grin of satisfied pleasure from start to finish............no, I think everyone is still grinning.
kenny

After a near-embarassing incident at the Canadian border today (is that another bottle of Bourbon in your pants?...), I just wanted to say that
I had a ball at NEARfest, everybody was super-welcoming and nice (again), and Happy RULED !!!
GL

Happy The Man -- 22 Years is much too long for them to be away. Welcome Back! A great set from some really fine musicians. David Rosenthal
filled in nicely as the lone new member. The drummer kicked some serious ass, much better than on the original work he did with the band. They were an incredibly tight unit, this is no old farts reunion. The new music sound great, no retread! Stan Whitaker joked a lot with the crowd, he seemed thrilled to be back in front of a large appreciative crowd. Good stage presence for them as well. Quite a thrill to see them live.
Grade -- A+
Thomas Arena

And then there was Happy the Man.What can I say? Awesome. After hearing their new songs, happy the man am I to say their new album will
be kick ass. Their new drummer, Animal (ex-Muppet Show Band) really tore it up. And the new keyboardist kept us entertained by doing the limbo dance with his keyboards throughout the show.
Mindgrind

Happy the Man - A fantastic surprise. I bought their first two discs a few months ago. After a few listens I had a feel for what to expect,
but their live performance, unlike Anekdoten, transcends their studio material. Great presence on stage. A fun blend of musicianship and
humor. A must see if you can. 
Todd Crane

I have to admit, Happy the Man was my main reason for attending NEARFest, and I was NOT disappointed. They sounded like they had been gigging for the past 20 years. Incredibly tight... WOW! I hope someone recorded this  performance on a multi-track. Even a stereo off the soundboard would be good since the mix was so great. I want to buy a CD of this! The rest of NEARFest was, for me, icing on the cake.
mikebo

After a 2 hour break, the headliner for the night was Happy The Man. Rob La Duca started off with a classic "top 10" list. This was the festival's best show, hands down!! Their performance was awe-inspiring. They ran through a variety of older tunes as well as about 5 new tunes which were great. David Rosenthal is a true keyboard virtuoso. Stan Whitaker could be a standup comedian. I would have gladly listened to them for a couple more hours.
Alan J. Mallery

AND THE #1 THING OBSERVED AT NEARFEST 2000

1. Hell freezing over as Happy the Man took the stage!!!!!
Cheers!
Phil

Okay, since we're all rating stuff, let's rate the NEARfest progbabes:

1. Anna-Sofi Dahlberg
2. Mariela Gonzalez
3. Deborah Perry
4. Magdalena Hagberg
5. Gianni Leone :-)

My list would be 1, 3, 2, 4.
Jason

Happy The Man - Absolutely outstanding! I am not even a fusion/jazz fan, but these guys completely exceeded my expectations. Thanks Rob for turning me on to this band. For me they were on a level above everyone else on Saturday. Their musicianship is incredible, and they looked like they were having a blast. Brilliant!!
Stevesly

I attended NEAR-Fest last weekend and had the opportunity to meet Paul Whitehead, cover artist for Genesis, Van Der GRaff, and others. We chatted for a bit while I asked to sign some things. He told some anecdotes about rooming with Genesis in the early days and stuff. I asked him what he thought of Roger Dean and if he had ever worked with him. He said that he's never worked with him because they "rivals" in their field. He went on to say that he thinks he is different that Roger Dean in that he always does "different" things while Roger Dean is "always doing the same things over and over".
Jim

Anyone who missed it missed a fantastic show! I was only able to catch Saturday's bands, but this day I feel was the best part of the entire show. My personal opinion of the bands from most progressive to least were:
Happy the Man - This band is totally devoted to the Progressive scene Every song was complex and the sound mix was excellent. Watch for a
new CD by this band, it is guaranteed to be worth your money. The original members were present except for the keyboard player, as he didn't wish to participate in a live performance. But the bands replacement in this area was nothing short of amazing, and performed like a master.
AdrenaChrome

OK....

I saw Happy the Man at NearFest. In short, of all my years of  listening to prog, it was the finest performance I have ever seen!

Regarding their first 2 albums, I would consider them both indispensable. I'm also going to get the new one as soon as it comes out. The new keyboardist is top shelf and his compositions, Frank Wyatt's and Stanley Whitaker's are great.

I couldn't help thinking that the other prog bands at NearFest probably wet their pants in anticipation of being compared to the complexity, dynamics, and sheer inventiveness of HTM's compositions and playing. The rest of the festival was, in my opinion, a phalanx of 2nd stringers!

Wow!

The gig was absolutely fantastic, and I concur with Steve Feigenbaum (my host in Washington DC) that HTM is one of the very few, if not only, bands who are EVEN BETTER reformed now than they were in the old days. I look forward to the new album with much anticipation.

Best regards,
Aymeric