Rehearsal Report: Yesterdays from Hungary
The DPRP Podcast Team, Béla Alabástrom and Mr F, recently travelled to Nyírbátor in Hungary to sit in on a rehearsal by Hungarian proggers Yesterdays. Here's a report on that rehearsal, including a video. The podcast has an interview with Ákos Bogáti-Bokor and has been published at the same time.
Photographs and video by Béla, podcast by Béla and Mr F, exclusively for DPRP.
Béla Alabástrom
It was a glorious autumn afternoon bathed in golden light as we pulled up to the MHSZ building in Nyírbátor, near the Romanian border. We had received a very special invitation to attend a rehearsal by Yesterdays, who are gearing up for a series of live dates, including appearances in Brussels and at Fusion Festival in Stourport, and the release of a new album early next year.
This was a whole new experience for us, never having attended a rehearsal before, and Ákos Bogáti-Bokor (guitars and vocals), Gábor Tóth (keyboards), László Zsigó (drums) and Nándor Csajkos (bass) made us feel truly welcome. Gábor's personal prog god is Rick Wakeman, and he was proud to show us his hero's signature on his keyboards. The atmosphere was relaxed. We took up our spots on the sofa to listen to vocalist Kincső Galauner sing with the band for the very first time, an immense privilege.
We were hugely impressed by her command of the material, particularly with such a short time span at her disposal to familiarise herself with it. As she grows in confidence she will be a more than worthy successor to Stephanie Semeniuc. I could not resist taking some footage to keep a record of the occasion and the excerpts below, very kindly put together by Ákos, provide a glimpse of the amazing performances we can expect from the forthcoming tour.
In a playful mood, Ákos decided to put our knowledge to the test with an impromptu "Name That Tune". When we failed miserably, he teased us by referring to us as "weekend proggers", his "Get thee behind me!" response catalogued in the photos. What left us completely in awe was the band's ability to laugh and joke around one moment then launch into the tracks from their fourth studio album Saint-Exupéry's Dream the next, effortlessly reproducing its gorgeously symphonic and epic soundscapes, including my favourite Engedj el (Let Me Go).
We descended into the grounds to engage in some content creation (social media can be an invaluable tool for spreading the word about new music, but can also be something of a treadmill), taking advantage of the last remaining patch of sunlight for the photos. Having witnessed the superb musicianship on display, we can only recommend that you do not miss out on the opportunity to see Yesterdays on tour in 2025.
A few days later, we once again set off on the long drive to Carei to interview Ákos for a podcast in which we delve into the band's past and present, and discuss a wide range of issues, including the fortchcoming album and AI's impact on music.
Check out the podcast here:
Here's a DPRP exclusive video from the rehearsal, filmed by Guinea Prog and kindly edited for DPRP by Ákos Bokor-Bogáti.
Yesterdays on DPRP.next
Yesterdays: Csajkos, Bogáti-Bokor, Galauner, Tóth, Zsigó