First Night of the Progs coming to Reading’s The Butler Pub

A new Prog Rock night is coming to a Reading town centre pub this November, featuring a line-up of three acts.

The First Night of the Progs is a celebration of the genre, and will take place at The Butler in Chatham Street on a quarterly basis.

Headlining the event on Saturday, November 16, will be the John Hackett Band.

Also appearing will be Hoopy Frood and John Mitchell.

Hoopy Frood are celebrating 20 years of performing together, and their set will include tracks from their new album Mostly Harmless.

The psychonauts are influenced by bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Free, and Fleetwood Mac, and perform what they say is music with a stir-fry of influences.

John Mitchell is a musician, songwriter and record producer and a man of many talents.

A member of several popular progressive rock bands, including Frost*, It Bites and Arena, he is also known as Lonely Robot.

He is also a record producer and sound engineer, working out of Outhouse Studios.

And he’s also performed live with the likes of John Wetton (Asia) and Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) among others.

The John Hackett Band is led by John, who has collaborated with his brother Steve – the former Genesis guitarist – on albums such Voyage of The Acolyte, Sketches of Satie and Please Don’t Touch.

Now, he is bringing his flute to his band, comprising drummer Duncan Parsons and bassist Jeremy Richardson, with Nick Fletcher’s lead guitar.

Between them, they perform pop, rock, jazz, classical, funk and all stops in-between, from the tenderest of ballads to hair-raising instrumental workouts.

The gig is organised by Bad Dog Promotions.

Doors open from 7pm, with the music starting at 7.30pm on Saturday, November 16.

Early bird tickets cost £13.20 including a booking fee. When these have sold out, the price rises to £16.50 including a booking fee.

In each case, there is a maximum of four tickets per order.

The tickets can be ordered by logging on to https://wegottickets.com/event/634448 and searching for John Hackett Band.