"String theory. You wouldn't understand."

I already knew that San Diego-based (maybe 1970s-based is more accurate) prog rock outfit Astra were good, but when I saw them perform at Freshface Fever last month I was totally blown away. They played in a room with a bar and no stage, and the only microphones were the ones Richard Vaughan and Conor Riley were singing into, but they don’t need a giant sound system or stage to make them appear godlike or larger than life. Their music does that for them.  Even if I saw them in someone’s basement I would still feel like I was floating away from my body and off into some magical synth-laden Mellotron world where John McLaughlin-style double-neck guitars grow instead of trees and vinyl records sprout out of the earth in place of flowers. Astra opened a window to 1973 and everyone at Les Deux that night was eager to look inside. Continue reading →