There is little doubt that one of the major surprises in the underground prog scene in recent years is the resurgence of Solstice. Originally formed in 1980, they were one of the leaders of the early Neo prog scene, yet while often referenced by others they never truly gained the success they deserved. This dramatically changed with the release of ‘Sia’ in 2020, the first album with Jess Holland on vocals, since when they have also released the excellent ‘Light Up’ and have been a constant on the live scene playing prestigious gigs throughout the land. One of these was their return in 2023 to the famous Cropredy Festival some 25 years on from when they first played there, and now we have the double vinyl release of that show.
The line-up for this was Andy Glass (guitar), Jess Holland (vocals), Jenny Newman (fiddle), Peter Hemsley (drums), Robin Phillips (bass), Steven McDaniel (keyboards), Ebony Buckle (keyboards, vocals) and Dyane Crutcher (vocals) who had replaced Gwen Taylor. Although the singers only joined the band in recent years, the rest of the band were in the ‘Spirit’ line-up in 2010, and there is also a special guest in Clive Bunker who returns to play “Morning Light” (I know Clive will have played that plenty of times when he was in the band, but Peter Hemsley was the original drummer for ‘New Life’, but as there was nothing from ‘Circles’ in the set I imagine that is why they had him in for this one).
Andy is a powering guitarist, still cutting through the rest of the band, while in Jess they have a wonderful lead singer, and the use of three-part harmonies is now an integral part of their sound. The fiddle provides cut through when the time is right, the keyboards provide the backdrop for the others to rest against while the rhythm section provides the foundation, the result being a modern progressive rock band who just keep going from strength to strength. Cropredy is my favourite festival as it always has such a wonderfully diverse and powerful set of acts from folk through to progressive, and there is no doubt the crowd were hugely receptive. In front of 10,000 people Solstice demonstrated that more than 40 years since their inception they are growing a new fanbase, and this album shows just how good these guys are in concert. The old material has been given “new life”, while the new material is heralding in a “brand new world” as the Solstice of old has transformed into the Solstice of now and long may they continue.
