Sky's not the limit for a local band of classically-trained prog rockers.
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Edge of Sky will perform at the Michael Hoskins Creative Arts Centre on Friday and Saturday, May 24 and 25.
They promise exciting musicianship, some well-known tunes, and virtuoso wizardry - with the spectacular lights and visuals of rock.
"It'll be a great show," keyboardist Warwick Dunham said. "You won't hear anything like it in Armidale until we do it again!"
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Edge of Sky formed at last year's Bach festival, as a tribute band performing 1970s supergroup Sky's jazz / Baroque fusion.
The group consists of Dunham on keys; guitarists Steve Thorneycroft and Steve Tafra (the EphenStephen duo); Sarah Thorneycroft on bass; and David Von Tongeren on drums.
"We're all classical musos," Mr Thorneycroft said. "Prog rock is like playing classical music - but you get to play LOUD!"
"There aren't many places you could bring together an ensemble like this," Mr Tafra said. "Starting with the music of Sky, both the guitar players have to be classical players; the keyboard player has to have a background in Baroque music, as well as improvisation, jazz, and rock."
For this concert, they are joined by vocalist Katie Hazelwood, while audio engineer Martin Hansford and visuals expert Ian Mackay are integral to the team.
Sky's Toccata (after Bach) will be the big hit, the band expects. They will also perform Pink Floyd's "Great Gig in the Sky" and a surprise number; Queen's "The Show Must Go On"; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; and other 1970s and '80s music.
"A lot of these guys were absolute virtuosos," Mr Dunham said.
Their pieces weren't two- or three-minute songs that fitted on a slot in the radio, but nine or 10 minute epics. (Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was infamously thought too long and too weird for radio.)
"They were pushing the limits," Mr Thorneycroft said.
Edge of Sky will also perform one of Mr Dunham's own compositions, which he describes as hard-driving rock fusion, and a piece by American composer Marc Mellits.
"He walks that lovely line between prog, rock, and chamber music," Mr Tafra said. The piece exists as a piano duo, rock quartet, or scored for varied ensemble.
Edge of Sky: The Michael Hoskins Creative Arts Centre, 7.30pm, Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25. Book online: https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=490481. Some tickets may be available at the door.