April 2004. Phoenixville, PA. It is the inaugural ROSfest, and progressive rock fans are gathering to see how it will turn out. Many are local but most have come from Miami, Atlanta and Chicago and Minneapolis, and they are hoping to see a music spectacle. But their optimism is cautious because - let's face it - how good can it really be? This festival is a startup and the first time anyone had an inkling of its existence was just 4 months ago!

It is now February 2005 and we know the answer. The inaugural Rites Of Spring festival (ROSfest) was a tremendous success. No, it wasn't sold out and tickets were easy to come by, but don't expect the same thing to happen this year. Smart money says you'll need to stake your claim to the quaint Colonial Theater as soon as possible - and tickets go on sale at noon Eastern on Feb. 26th.

ROSfest 2005 promises to be better than 2004 in so many ways:

· Last year's lineup was good. This year will feature some of the most successful acts in modern progressive music.

·Last year's Friday Night pre-show featured some wonderful bands in a club down the road from the Colonial. This year's Friday Night event is in the Colonial, and will be headlined by one of today's most important acts in British prog.

·The Colonial Theater itself, quaint and intimate, has benefited from a year of renovation work. It will look better and the balcony will be open.

·The vendors, always a major attraction at an event like this, will no longer be placed in the lobby. A separate spacious vendor room will be provided so hunting down that long lost rarity will be a more pleasant experience, and there will be room in the lobby for comfortable social intercourse. [Note that it says social - ed.]

·And because there will be a far better turn out, you're far more likely to bump into old friends - or to build an important new network of friends, contacts and acquaintances, as I did last year.[*]

Around four hundred tickets will be available at $90.00 each. The patron tickets sold out very quickly so you'll want to move fast. No one has taken any market surveys or consulted their crystal balls - but I for one am expecting a sell-out.

Friday's line up:

Arena will be the headline act, showcasing their recent 5-star album, Pepper's Ghost

· Dennis Haley 7:00pm
· Myriad 8:15pm
· Arena 9:45pm

Saturday:

Mostly Autumn will headline Saturday's show. I saw them in Trenton, NJ in 2002 and can promise that you'll be amazed by this band's live performance. [As it turned out - MA cancelled; Magenta took the headliner spot and Kino filled Magenta's spot -ed.]

· Eyestrings 11:00am to 12:30pm
· Tiles 2:00pm to 3:30pm
· Sylvan 5:00pm to 7:00pm
· Mostly Autumn 9:00pm to 11:30pm [Magenta]

Sunday

Sunday's headliner The Tangent started out as an interesting project, and has grown into a band in every sense of the word. Their recent The World That We Drive Through featured on many top-of-2004 lists.

· Cryptic Vision 11:00am to 12:30pm
· Man On Fire 2:00pm to 3:30pm
· Magenta 5:00pm to 7:00pm [Kino]
· The Tangent 9:00pm to 11:30pm

I'll See You At ROSfest 2005!

[Read our reviews of many of these artists throughout out site -ed.]