First, A Little History

The seed for the North East Art Rock Festival was planted in April 1998. Rob LaDuca explains, "I was serving as treasurer and fund-raiser for ProgDay, the annual outdoor progressive rock festival held in Chapel Hill, NC, in addition to my 'day gig' as a college chemistry professor at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I discussed with organizer Peter Renfro the possibility of moving ProgDay up north for 1999. I contacted Chad Hutchinson (a web developer and fellow prog fan, then from Allentown, PA) about getting a prog festival going in this part of the country, and finding a possible outdoor site. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was chosen as the new location for the festival due to its strong support of eclectic music. It hosts several popular annual cultural events such as Musikfest and the Celtic Classic. Bethlehem is also in a central location near the major population centers of the northeast U.S. But Peter Renfro and I agreed ProgDay had to keep its unique charm at Storybook Farm, so ProgDay stayed right where it belongs."


festival founders Chad Hutchinson and Rob LaDuca

Chad Hutchinson goes on: "We were still determined to see the birth of a new progressive music festival up north in 1999. We selected the last weekend of June for the event and made a preliminary booking of the outdoor Moravian Arts Pavilion. Now for a new name…Bethlehem Art Rock Festival '99 was the choice for awhile until Rob's wife Melissa pointed out the obvious, 'Guys, do you really want to be known as BARF '99?' I suggested 'North East' instead of Bethlehem and the North East Art Rock Festival (NEARfest for short) was born. We began contacting bands in the summer of 1998. By December 1998, we had booked three top-echelon prog bands coming from long distances (Spock's Beard, IQ, Solaris) along with six world-class groups from the northeast (Alaska, Scott McGill's Hand Farm, Mastermind, Finneus Gauge, Ice Age, Crucible). We'd even confirmed a 'Prog 101' lecture with electronic music pioneer Larry Fast."

Rob discusses some behind the scenes maneuvering prior to NEARfest '99: "The City of Bethlehem Mayor's Office was reluctant to issue a written contract for the Moravian Arts Pavilion because of a 'City Heritage Day' planned for the same weekend, an event that never materialized. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we ended up securing Foy Concert Hall at Moravian College. It did take some deft diplomacy to get the exclusively classical-music-listening hall management to commit to NEARfest…. 'Why should we let you have a rock concert in our hall? Your answer will determine whether you get the hall.'…I told them the simple truth: 'progressive rock is perhaps the highest art form in contemporary music and we're trying to prove that it's a viable and serious art form.' Done deal! We thought the 428-seat Foy Hall had the perfect capacity. We estimated we'd sell 300 to 350 tickets. Chad and I had nightmares thinking only 100 people would come. Boy did we ever guess wrong! We began ticket sales on-line in mid-January. Much to our shock and delight, by March 15 NEARfest '99 was completely sold out with a waiting list of over 200 people!"


The inaugural NEARfest was a rousing success by all accounts. All of the artists gave stellar performances and earned multiple standing ovations. Hundreds of prog fans had their wishes answered and got to see IQ and Spock's Beard for the first time. Nathan Mahl came in from Canada and blew the roof off of Foy Hall as a last-minute replacement for the disbanded Finneus Gauge. The vibe was very friendly, like a family reunion for the far-flung prog community. NEARfest '99 covered all of its costs and had a little bit left over to put towards the 2000 event. The Moravian hall management was delighted with the presentation and atmosphere, and asked NEARfest to return in 2000."


visit the nearfest 99 webcast site

But NEARfest had outgrown Foy Hall. Chad relates the situation: "We had to have a larger venue to accommodate the demand. Looking toward the future, in April 1999 we booked the beautiful Baker Hall at Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University for the second edition of NEARfest. This hall features four tiers of seating with a capacity of 1002, dressing rooms and large lobby and mezzanine areas for vendors. The venue management has been receptive and supportive from the start. We also planned to expand the festival by introducing NEARfest Friday, a two-band opening showcase, at Crocodile Rock Café in Allentown."

Rob continues: "With the increased seating capacity, our budget grew to match. We could now afford more international artists. We have spared little expense trying to bring to you the best possible lineup while keeping ticket costs fair, around what you'd pay for a 2-hour theater concert with one of the 'big name' bands. We wanted to get the highest quality bands representing a wide range of genres under the wide 'progressive music' umbrella. The reputation of NEARfest '99 carried a lot of weight with prospective bands. The booking process was pretty easy. Most invitations were confirmed within a week of trading

e-mails or phone calls. After some extensive schedule checking and clearing, the four members of the outstanding modern-day prog supergroup Transatlantic were all on board. And about a month after our original letter of invitation, Happy the Man agreed to reunite and perform at NEARfest 2000."

Chad discusses the crazy first days of ticket sales for NEARfest 2000, which began on February 15: "We were simply astounded by the response. Last year Rob never received more than 8 orders per day selling the tickets out of his house. On the first day of sales alone, 619 tickets were sold. There was even a line at the Zoellner box office. We had no idea that so many tickets would be sold that quickly. By March 23, we had a complete and total sellout. Our tagline of '1000 in 2000' is now a reality thanks to all of you." Folks are coming from over 30 states and over 10 foreign countries to attend NEARfest 2000.

Rob concludes: "Thanks for the overwhelming support all of you who purchased tickets and also to those folks listed in the program who've provided financial sponsorship or volunteer assistance. The NEARfest tradition is now firmly in place after only two short years. Progressive rock lives! See you again next year."

Rob LaDuca, President and co-founder
Chad Hutchinson, Vice-President and co-founder


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