Yezda Urfa (US)

Yezda Urfa - Yezdaurfalive. Nearfest 2004 (2010, Danger Dog)

It finally happened! After ten years of trying, we finally got the band back together for one fantastic moment in time. Marc received an email from a fan who had just returned from NEARfest 2003 (thanks Eddie!). He suggested contacting Chad and Rob to see if they would be interested in having Yezda Urfa perform at next year's festival. Chad and Rob returned a very enthusiastic “absolutely” and we proceeded to sign a contract to perform at NEARfest 2004. Now reality began to set in. How would we pull this off? We faced some considerable hurdles: we hadn't played together in over 20 years, and Marc and Rick lived over a thousand miles away from the other guys. Phil chose not to participate, so rather than scrapping the project, Rick knew of a keyboard player who was willing and able to take on our music, and so Mike Barry joined us. Each of us had to relearn the music, and this was no easy task. It was hard enough to learn the first time around, let alone trying to go back and painstakingly recreate some very challenging music. But it was a labor of love. Over the course of twelve months of preparation, we individually practiced and got together for full rehearsals only four times. But it became clear that Rick wasn't up to the task. Fortunately, Mike knew of a singer with a voice similar to Rick's, and so Ron Platt joined the project with only about four months to go before the festival. When the time came, we packed up our vehicles with guitars, keyboards, drums, whatever we needed that wasn't provided by the festival, and each drove, with friends and families, from Indiana and Illinois to Pennsylvania. After a late Friday night sound check, we attempted to get some sleep, then arose early and proceeded to the theater. We did another sound check, then went backstage to wait as the theater filled. After our introduction, we opened the festival. It was an incredible experience that we will never forget. We hope you enjoy hearing this as much as we enjoyed performing it.

Style: Eclectic Prog