The Gagliarchives will host the final edition of its annual NEARfest Radio Special on Saturday, April 28th from 10:00pm to 2:00am ET. Host Tom Gagliardi will be joined in-studio by Festival Co-Founder Chad Hutchinson and Production Manager Kevin Feeley for four hours of nothing-but-NEARfest. Featured will be music from each of the bands performing at NEARfest Apocalypse, plus some live nuggets from past NEARfests. Be sure to tune in either on the air and online!

This morning in just over an hour, the final edition of the North East Art Rock Festival sold out. We can't thank you enough for the support in buying tickets to help NEARfest go out with a bang. Stay tuned for more details on what's in store for NEARfest weekend, including details on the logo(s) and NEARfest beer!

There are some tickets remaining for the Friday night show with Van der Graaf Generator and Aranis. These remaining Friday-only tickets go on sale Saturday, March 10th at 11:00am.

NEARfest Apocalypse tickets on sale March 3rd
February 6, 2012

Tickets for the NEARfest Apocalypse go on sale Saturday, March 3rd at 10:00am ET. NEARfest Apocalypse will mark the last NEARfest ever to be staged. The event will be held June 22nd through June 24th in Bethlehem, PA at the Zoellner Arts Center on the beautiful campus of Lehigh University. The lineup is one for the ages and will feature headliners Eloy, in their first-ever performance in North America, the revitalized Renaissance, and the ever-enigmatic Van der Graaf Generator. The 3-day lineup is rounded out by other world-class acts such as Änglagård, the Mike Keneally Band, Twelfth Night, Il Tempio delle Clessidre, Gösta Berlings Saga, Helmet of Gnats and Aranis.

Ticket Prices

Tickets for NEARfest will be sold in 2-day and 3-day bundles. The 2-day bundle includes Saturday and Sunday only while the 3-day bundle also includes Friday night's performances.

Ticket prices for NEARfest Apocalypse are as follows:

LIFT
3-day: $240.00
2-day: $180.00
Friday-only: $60.00

ORCHESTRA
3-day: $220.00
2-day: $165.00
Friday-only: $55.00

GRAND TIER
3-day: $200.00
2-day: $150.00
Friday-only: $50.00

BALCONY
3-day: $180.00
2-day: $135.00
Friday-only: $45.00

Seating Chart.

Friday tickets are initially only available as part of a 3-Day Bundle. Remaining Friday-Only tickets will go on sale Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at 11:00am ET.

There is a 4-ticket per person limit. No single weekend day or single-band passes will be made available.

How to Purchase Tickets

Tickets will be available via three methods:
- Online from Zoellner Arts Center Online Tickets Website, https://ztickets.lehigh.edu
- By phone at 610-758-2787 ext. 0 using Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover
- Zoellner Arts Center Box Office, 420 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA

* If you plan to purchase tickets, online it is recommend that you create an account with Zoellner Arts Center's online ticketing system in advance. It will speed up your transaction.

** Tickets are expected to go very quickly. If you secure tickets online, DO NOT return them to the ticket pool. There is a significant chance that you will not be able to get back into the site to purchase different seats before they sell out.

There is more information on our tickets page.

Good luck on Ticket Day and we hope to see you in June!

NEARfest Apocalypse Lineup Announced
For Immediate Release
October 29, 2011

In order to commemorate the final NEARfest in 2012, we have worked hard to bring
together the best possible lineup for the progressive rock community. Featuring
outstanding newer bands and legendary artists from across diverse progressive
music subgenres, we hope that we can provide a wonderful weekend of musical
memories to last a lifetime. We hope you can join us at the Zoellner Arts Center,
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania next June, for the NEARfest
Apocalypse!

The NEARfest Apocalypse Lineup:
Friday June 22, 2012
Aranis (Belgium)
Van der Graaf Generator (UK)

Saturday June 23, 2012
Helmet of Gnats (USA)
Twelfth Night (UK)
Änglagård (Sweden)
Renaissance (UK/USA)

Sunday June 24, 2012
Gösta Berlings Saga (Sweden)
Il Tempio delle Clessidre (Italy)
Mike Keneally Band (USA)
Eloy (Germany)

Aranis is a world-class acoustic chamber rock ensemble led by upright
bassist and composer Joris Vanvickenroye. Featuring interlocked bass, violin, flute,
accordion, and piano lines, Aranis’ evocative music stirs the mind and spirit alike.
They have toured extensively throughout Europe, including notable appearances at
the renowned Gouveia Art Rock and RIO Festivals. Their latest album Roqueforte
(AltRock) expands their musical palette through the addition of drummer
extraordinaire Dave Kerman, who will be joining Aranis for their NEARfest set.
NEARfest will represent the USA debut for Aranis.
www.aranis.be

Van der Graaf Generator has been an iconic musical and lyrical force since
its inception in the late 1960s. Since their reunion in 2005 and reconstitution as a trio
soon thereafter, Peter Hammill, Guy Evans, and Hugh Banton have produced vital,
engaging, and visceral new music that has magnified the band’s influential oeuvre.
They have toured worldwide for the past six years, including their first USA
appearance in 33 years, at NEARfest in 2009. On the strength of their stunning new
release A Grounding in Numbers, Van der Graaf Generator will once again storm
North America with a vengeance. We are deeply honored that Van der Graaf
Generator will be returning to the Zoellner stage as the headline act for the first day
of the final NEARfest event.
target="_blank">www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk

Helmet of Gnats is without question one of the United States’ finest
progressive fusion groups. This ensemble from Connecticut has been active for well
over a decade, honing their craft by recording three albums with audiophile
production standards and playing numerous prog festival gigs. Helmet of Gnats ply
diverse influences from Happy the Man and Bruford to Jeff Beck and ELP into a
refreshing, melodic, yet challenging instrumental stew. They will certainly kick the
second day of the NEARfest Apocalypse off to a rousing start.
target="_blank">www.helmetofgnats.com

Twelfth Night was a vanguard of the British ‘neo-prog’ scene in the early
1980s. Mixing rock, classical, and punk vibes with dramatic vocals and incisive lyrics,
Twelfth Night attracted a significant following in the UK and beyond. Twelfth Night
has always been renowned for its engaging multi-media stage show, focused at first
on the enigmatic vocalist Geoff Mann, and now the equally powerful Andy Sears. The
band has seen a rebirth in the new millennium and has toured throughout the British
Isles and European continent to wide acclaim. Twelfth Night will be making their USA
debut at NEARfest.
www.twelfthnight.info

Änglagård is perhaps the seminal band hailing from the progressive rock
revival in the 1990s. Combining influences from romantic and modern classical,
1970s symphonic rock, and Scandinavian folk music with prodigious compositional
skill and emotional depth, Änglagård produced Hybris and Epilog, two epic albums
considered essential to any progressive music collection. They are currently writing
and recording an eagerly awaited third opus. They were the first band confirmed for
the NEARfest Apocalypse, as plans took shape back in the spring.
www.anglagard.net

Renaissance is a legendary and beloved ensemble in the progressive
symphonic rock world and beyond, led by acoustic guitarist and composer Michael
Dunford and the inimitable, expressive soprano vocalist Annie Haslam. Renaissance
has won legions of fans through the generations by seamlessly fusing classical, folk,
and rock textures with memorable melodies and lyrics in timeless songs such as
“Mother Russia” and “Ashes are Burning”. Recently returned to active duty after a
long hiatus, Renaissance has toured East Coast venues and has been actively
writing and recording new music. We are most honored to bring Renaissance to the
NEARfest stage for a well-deserved and long-awaited headline performance.
target="_blank">www.renaissancetouring.com

Gösta Berlings Saga is a quartet from Sweden who produce a hypnotic
instrumental amalgam of post-rock, folk, progressive rock, minimalism, avant-rock,
found sound and more, all recorded and combined with unusual and interesting
studio techniques. Named after one of the most notable Swedish books of all time,
Gösta Berlings Saga are gaining notoriety world-wide, as evidenced by many
European concert invitations and their recent signing to the Cuneiform label. Gösta
Berlings Saga’s concert to open the third day of the NEARfest Apocalypse will be
sure to win them more new fans and even wider notoriety within the progressive
music scene.
target="_blank">http://www.gostaberlingssaga.se

Il Tempio delle Clessidre is the perfect marriage of the newer and older
Italian progressive rock scenes. Led by multi-keyboardist and composer Elisa
Montaldo, all of the instrumentalists in Il Tempio delle Clessidre belong to the
younger generation. Up front on lead vocals is Stefano ‘Lupo’ Galifi, formerly the lead
singer of the legendary Italian progressive outfit Museo Rosenbach. Il Tempio’s self-
titled debut is a magnum opus of stirring compositions and virtuoso playing anchored
by Galifi’s strident yet sensitive baritone voice. We are very pleased that Il Tempio
delle Clessidre will be making their American debut at the NEARfest Apocalypse.
target="_blank">www.iltempiodelleclessidre.com

Mike Keneally is an influential American guitarist, singer, multi-
instrumentalist, and composer who initially began his professional career in earnest
with the Frank Zappa band in the late 1980s. Since that time he has produced many
albums of intelligent, diverse, eclectic, and engaging music, tilting from the sublime to
the ridiculous and back and everywhere in between. Recently Mike has been
manning the keyboards for Joe Satriani, and has been part of the touring Dethklok
band borne out of the popular Metalocalypse cartoon series. Anyone in attendance
will never forget the Mike Keneally Band’s first performance at NEARfest 2004, or
Mike’s encore turn as a human jukebox with note-perfect encyclopedic prog
knowledge at that year’s after-party. We are delighted to bring the Mike Keneally
Band back East to participate in the festivities of the NEARfest Apocalypse.
www.keneally.com

Eloy is without question Germany’s most famous progressive rock band,
with career-spanning sales well over two million units and a long history dating back
to the early 1970s including 17 studio albums. Eloy is beloved to several generations
of progressive rock fans via their signature spacey symphonic sound anchored in
layers of multi-keyboard virtuosity, pulsating bass lines, and soaring guitar solos,
melded with distinctive vocals and cosmic, emotionally resonant lyrics. After a
decade-long hiatus, Eloy has made a grand return to active duty with new recordings
and splendid European concerts. We are extremely honored that Eloy will be making
its very long-awaited American concert debut as the final act in the history of
NEARfest.
www.eloy-legacy.com

Please visit the official NEARfest website at http://www.nearfest.com for ticket,
advertisting, and vending information. The NEARfest Patron Program will begin on
Saturday November 12, 2011.

Chad Hutchinson, Co-Founder, Director of Operations
Rob LaDuca, Co-Founder, Business Manager
Kevin Feeley, Production Manager

On Saturday, October 29th, the entire lineup for NEARfest Apocalypse will be announced live on the air on the seminal Gagliarchives radio program. In the past, bands for the festival were announced as they were signed to the lineup. This year marks a change in that philosophy. With 2012 being the final edition of the festival, organizers Chad Hutchinson, Rob LaDuca, and Kevin Feeley felt it was the right time to go big. At the 11 o'clock hour ET on Saturday night, October 29th, the full 10-band lineup for NEARfest Apocalypse will be announced. Kevin Feeley will be in-studio with host Tom Gagliardi, while co-founder Chad Hutchinson will call in for the announcement.

We feel we have put together a very strong lineup for the final year of NEARfest. Please tune in to the Gagliarchives on Saturday night to hear who will be appearing on the NEARfest stage for the final show. The Gagliarchives can be heard online through www.gagliarchives.com and locally in the Philadelphia area on 88.9 and 95.1 FM WBZC.

In 1999, the North East Art Rock Festival was started as an effort to return progressive rock music to the area where it thrived back in its heyday. In the 1970s, the Philadelphia area was a well-known hotbed of fandom for the brand of rock music featuring exemplary virtuosity. With the re-emergence of progressive music worldwide in the early ‘90s, festivals became a novel way to feature both new bands and re-invigorate some from the past. A few festivals had come before, namely ProgFest (CA), the ever-present ProgDay (NC), BajaProg (Mexico), and the short-lived ProgScape (MD), plus several after, but none have taken on the notoriety NEARfest had achieved. In just a few short years, NEARfest became the “most prestigious progressive rock festival in the world” and has remained so for over 12 years.

From its inception, NEARfest has strived to merge extraordinary bands from the global Prog Rock underground and the devoted community of eclectic music fans on this side of the pond. It was felt that otherwise, never would the two meet, especially en masse. This emotional combination of musical dedication has produced many a weekend of musical bliss. Ask any former attendee of the festival and you will get a different list of highlights from years past, which is validation in itself of NEARfest’s dedication to a diverse lineup of Prog Rock subgenres. Favorites will range from Camel and Keith Emerson to Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and Miriodor; from Steve Hackett and Banco to Echolyn and Hidria Spacefolk; from Magma and Univers Zero to Kenso and Kraan; from Eddie Jobson and Three Friends to Cabezas de Cera and Beardfish; from Porcupine Tree and PFM to Anekdoten and Änglagård. And that’s only a fraction of the over 120 bands that have performed at NEARfest to date.

And now, the time has come to complete the cycle.

2012 will mark the final edition of the North East Art Rock Festival. NEARfest has always employed a model, for right or wrong, where lineups were typically anchored by legends of the greater genre and featured a plethora of world-class bands spanning the broad range of subgenres. Part of the success of NEARfest and its rapid sellouts was its ability to attract legendary progressive bands that had played only infrequently, if ever, on the East Coast of the United States. As time has marched inexorably, it started to become clear that this headliner-centric model would not be sustainable indefinitely. Too much of a change in the model and those dedicated to attending and supporting the festival may feel that it is no longer in the spirit of NEARfest itself. Therefore, we have decided to retain the marriage of our successful model to our NEARfest brand name.
After the unfortunate events leading to the cancellation of NEARfest 2011, we could not allow the legacy of NEARfest to end with a dark and empty stage. The festival has meant too much to too many, including us, to just disappear without at least making an attempt at a joyous swan song. Therefore, since the spring of 2011, the three of us have been conspiring to put together a final NEARfest, one true to its roots and special to its faithful. We are happy to say that this will indeed happen.

NEARfest Apocalypse will be held over the weekend of June 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, 2012 at its rightful home, the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in beautiful Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This will be a true celebration of progressive rock music as well as a “raising of the glass” to everyone who has made NEARfest so special to so many of us over the last 13 years, including our outstanding crew and production team, the wonderful staff at Zoellner, and everyone who has ever bought a ticket to NEARfest. There are plans for activities beyond the norm for the weekend, which will be detailed as the festival draws closer. For now though, we can tell you that both Roger Dean and Mark Wilkinson will be involved in the artwork for this final special event. We will also do our best to make sure that both of these fine gentlemen are in attendance.

In the coming weeks, we will announce the entire NEARfest Apocalypse lineup live on the air on the Gagliarchives radio program. The exact air date will be determined shortly and announced online NEARfest.com, our Yahoo mailing list, Facebook, Twitter, and Progressive Ears. Stay tuned!

We sincerely hope that you will join us for the final chapter of NEARfest. After all, the world ends in December 2012 anyway, right?

Most humbly,
Chad Hutchinson
Rob LaDuca
Kevin Feeley

We are very happy to announce that the North East Art Rock Festival will return in 2012. Over the last several months, we have thoroughly discussed what it would take for another edition of NEARfest to become a reality. This was new ground for us, so we took our time, had long, heart-felt conversations, and even put feelers out to bands we thought would make for a solid lineup – one worthy of NEARfest's legacy and, more importantly, the expectations of the progressive rock community whom has been so unbelievable supportive over the years.

Scheduled for June 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, 2012, NEARfest will once again be staged in beautiful Baker Hall at Lehigh University's Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem, PA. We are very happy to be able to continue wonderful relationships with both the concert venue and the host hotel, the Comfort Suites Bethlehem. We will also once again be join forces with the Bethlehem Brew Works to create a delicious one-off beer for NEARfest weekend.

So now the question is: "Who will be playing?!" Well, we can't tell you quite yet, though we are working on finalizing the lineup as we speak. We are also working on some other cool ideas for the weekend's festivities. Once we have o's umlauted and eyes crossed, we will reveal the bands... and not before. So you still have time to debate who might be playing.

We are glad to be able to bring NEARfest back and we hope you will join us next June. As always, be sure to visit us online at www.nearfest.com for all the latest information and where you can join our Yahoo mailing list, mingle with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and participate in the discussion forum.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Very sincerely,

Chad Hutchinson
Rob LaDuca
Kevin Feeley

We have just learned the unfortunate news that Alberto Bonomi, maestro
keyboardist of the Italian progressive fusion band DFA and two-time NEARfest
alumnus, died in a car accident on an Italian highway on Sunday, June 26th. This
is sadly a patent loss to his family, his band mates, and the progressive rock
community. If you own some DFA music, please play some in his honor.