C-lebrity

Yesterday was my half birthday and I usually buy myself a little something, like those half cakes they sell at the grocery store - especially the chocolate chip glazed ... Note to self: go back to store and get half chocolate chip glazed cake. Anyway, I didn't do anything like that this year. Instead, I gave myself a much bigger gift a couple weeks early.

As my most scrobbled band on last.fm, it's probably fair to say that Frost* is my favorite band at the moment and certainly of the past year. And since relatively few people know who they are, there's an added benefit for fans - accessibility. Such was the case two weeks ago as we dropped the kids on grandma's doorstep, and, defying the warnings of the snout sniffles, flew to Philadelphia to see Frost*'s only U.S. performance as part of a three-day progressive rock festival called the Rites of Spring Festival. Now, we couldn't leave the kids with grandma for three days without doing permanent damage to all involved, so we had to limit our stay to just the one night to see Frost*, but it was well worth it.

The first weekend of May, and Florida's 7 day forecast was already calling for highs in the mid-80s with a chance of melanoma, so heading to the land of "overcast, breezy, high 66" was most welcome. The town around our hotel was beautiful, hilly and green, with vibrantly colored dogwood trees of white, pink and purple all over the place. Quite serene. We made our way to the venue, which was nestled in a lovely little village with shops and mom 'n' pop eateries. It wasn't long before we met up with fellow Frost* fans and made instant friends.

The performance itself was unique in that it was the band's only U.S. show, they had a TWO HOUR set (most major bands don't play that long), the show was being recorded for a live CD, and by a fluke, the band recruited a special guest for this one show - one of my favorite drummers, Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Kevin Gilbert, Tears For Fears, Genesis). And what a performance it was.

With an audience consisting mostly of pot-bellied middle aged balding guys, you'd think the band would be quick to exit after a show, but they stuck around and did the meet 'n' greet thing, signing autographs and posing for photos. It was a great pleasure to meet Nick, who is oddly just a few hours older than me. Maybe if I'd been born an hour earlier, I wouldn't be a complete moron. Also odd, is that the only other time I've seen Nick live was as guest drummer for another band, Fates Warning, when they were opening for Dream Theater and Queensryche.

Doubly nice was meeting the rest of Frost* who are all somewhat on loan from other prog rock bands: bassist John Jowitt (IQ), guitarist John Mitchell (It Bites) and vocalist/guitarist Declan Burke (Darwin's Radio). Ultimately, though, the biggest honor was meeting the main man, the keyboardist and founder of this amazing band, Jem Godfrey, who isn't a household name here, nor even in his native UK, but that's not to say he hasn't tasted success. As a songwriter and producer, he has a platinum record under his belt for the single, "Whole Again," by the English girl group Atomic Kitten and also wrote the hit, "That's My Goal" for Shayne Ward, winner of one of Britain's many singing competition shows, The X Factor. Aside from being a friendly fella, he's also incredibly funny, as anyone who's seen his Frost* Reports on YouTube can attest.

Outside, I said my goodbyes to my new friends and ended up meeting another musician and new friend - Rob Cottingham, vocalist and keyboardist of Touchstone, another UK prog band performing at the festival. Very friendly and a 'top gent' as they say over there in Soggytown. And just when you thought it was over... We were staying in the same hotel as the band and they had an after party in one of the banquet rooms. It was private, but the guys spent a fair amount of time outside the party to mingle with us common folk. As a result, I got to stand around and chat with Dec for nearly two hours and Jem joined us for a little while before running off again.

A most memorable night. And so nice of the guys to hang out with their fans, even if we are pot-bellied and middle-aged. At least I still have my hair.