#prsc

Before the Game Begins:

10 bands were invited to our Prog Rock Survival Competition, however only 5 voluntarily took up the offer.

These bands accepted due to their own personal motivations, and today are expected to be transported to the playing area, known as The Arena.

Death Count: 0

Race to the tarmac!

Five bands have received a mysterious invite to meet on the tarmac of an unspecified airport, where they will be taken to The Arena, the playing field of our game. The plane they will be taking is designed by the Mysterious Sponsor of this event in order to encourage conversation and familiarity by having all the seats face each other. It is around 2 in the afternoon in autumn at the time of departure. Rush are the first to arrive, with these punctual Canadians living up to their name! They have come completely and totally prepared, bringing camping gear, along with an acoustic guitar and their undying loyalty to each other. If this is any sign of what they will be like in The Arena, they will make a formidable force to be reckoned with! A few moments later… Next arriving to the tarmac, in two separate vehicles, is a band needing no introduction: King Crimson. Their arrival will surely cause some tension with Yes, who were also invited but haven’t shown up yet, due to their drummer originally having been in Yes. More importantly, it appears that their other percussionist is bringing out pieces of sheet metal out of their vehicle, and is attempting to bring them on the plane. The two arriving later, John and David, have brought full suitcases, and seem to have been misled by their “leader” (we have been instructed to call him “The Crimson King”, but we will not be doing that). Somehow, they gather themselves, and make it onto the plane, without anyone leaving. Our prediction: they fall apart within a week. About half an hour later… Wandering in sometime later is Genesis, bringing… absolutely nothing. We stand corrected: Tony has brought an Etch-a-Sketch, and Peter has apparently brought several… costumes. So, instead of bringing nothing, they brought nothing that will help them, which is even worse. They board the plane without much commotion. Godspeed, Genesis, you’ll need it! Finally, our last arrivals (for now)… Arriving last, at approximately the same time, are prog giants ELP and Yes. The former are already bickering amongst themselves; apparently it wasn’t a unanimous vote to accept the invite, odd for such a small group! Meanwhile, it appears that only 4 members of Yes have arrived; apparently Chris is running late… again. ELP has brought a pair of drumsticks (Carl’s), several knives in increasingly hard-to-find places (we’ll spare you the details of that one…), and a suitcase of  “posh clothes”. Not quite the preparedness of Rush, but they’ll probably do better than Genesis. Yes, so far, have brought a wicker basket, a classical (not acoustic) guitar, and right now, their keyboardist, Rick, is attempting to smuggle in leftover curry. We’ll see how well they all fare… About 45 minutes after the rest of Yes… Finally arriving is Chris, Yes’ perpetually late bassist. He attempts to bring on several suitcases, which has been shot down by our Mysterious Sponsor, leading to a small argument. After another 15 minutes (we are now a full hour and a half late for departure), he concedes to bringing only what he has on him: half a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. After this is sorted out, we prepare for departure into The Arena. 

On the plane!

The bands are seated along the sides of the plane, facing each other with a narrow passageway in the middle. Along one side is ELP, Genesis, and half of King Crimson. Along the other are Yes, Rush, and the other half of King Crimson. When on the plane, it seems our sponsor’s plan has worked, and they have begun to talk amongst each other. The British bands, already being rather familiar with each other, take great interest in Rush, being the only Canadians on board. They express that half the reason why they accepted the invitation to the camping trip is because they heard that the other bands would be there. The others are puzzled at their “camping trip” remark, until it is revealed that their drummer, Neil, still has the invitation, which is then passed around the cabin. This leads the others to remark, in surprise, what they were led to believe: Yes were told it was a “nature retreat”, King Crimson and ELP were both told it was some sort of competition, and Genesis just saw it was in the countryside, and signed up. This discrepancy greatly unsettles the bands, and makes the rest of the transport to The Arena quite awkward… After the rest of their silent journey, each band is escorted to their own car, which then drops them off in The Arena. 

We promised you an interactive account, so here you are! We at the competition are wondering who you are backing in this fight till the death...

Today was quite the eventful day, and we couldn’t do the major event of the formation of The Conglomerate justice in our overview of the entire day, so we are giving you a special insider view of their first night together!

The Rush hosts provide their new companions with a lovely fish and not-quite-chips (no potatoes in the woods, unfortunately) dinner to celebrate their new union. Most of them gratefully accept the food, except for Chris, who is convinced that because of his nickname (“The Fish”) it would be cannibalism. Note: it is not cannibalism, he’s just an idiot.

The majority of the group seems to be getting along swimmingly (pun absolutely intended), sharing various stories from their careers, often in great detail. They seated themselves on 3 logs around their central campfire, with the only outlier being Keith, preferring to stand at the edge of the group, watching their conversation. Some sort of humorous conversation, strike that, some sort of… comedy improv (?) has been struck up between Rick and Alex, involving a story about a mother-in-law, the postman, and the milkman. It is quite the… explicit tale, so we’ll leave that to your imagination.

Meanwhile, seated across from those two and their shenanigans, are Geddy and Chris. The former is attempting to “play it cool” around Chris, but he can’t really hide the fact that the whole reason he signed up for the supposed “camping trip” was to meet him, and he can definitely tell. When Chris complains about the fish, Geddy is the only one to defend his decision, and offers to trade with him. When they begin to assign jobs to the newcomers, he also offers to work with Chris, who begrudgingly accepts due to the lack of other options. Although, truth be told, he doesn’t appear to be entirely turned away by Geddy’s… eagerness (and various rants and questions about the bass parts in Yes’ music), especially as the night goes on.

Previously in PRSC... 

The boys in Genesis, Rush and King Crimson continue to progress and gain a tiny bit more comfort in their… difficult conditions.  

Tensions within the Yes and ELP camps reach an all-time high. Steve Howe does a runner and reaches ‘The Court of The Crimson King’ by midnight. (Keyboard wizard) Rick Wakeman and (Fish) Chris Squire plan their well-needed escapes... 

Death count: 0 

In The Court of The Crimson King...  Steve reached the camp late last night and has since been welcomed by all members of it (except Broof, who tries to ignore him following his awkward exit from Yes). He is put to work with John and David in doing various dull, laborious tasks overseen by Fripps right-hand-percussion-men, Bill and Jamie Muir who are ‘keeping them in check’. Although Steve feels tired, he also finds the structure, safety and sense of community that he felt was lacking with Yes. We cannot say the same for John and David.

Meanwhile in ‘Epping Forest’...

This is the supper of the mighty one! Genesis eat well tonight as (during a particularly long prance around the woods) Peter found nice, ripe fruit on the forest floor (little does the band know that Jon dropped it earlier that day, made clumsy by his consumption of the mushrooms). Tony is spending hours a day perfecting each detail of the entrancing face of his Etch-a-Sketch recreation of the Mona Lisa.  Phil, Steve and Mike have managed to make primitive fishing rods out of the spare guitar strings that Steve forgot he brought (also forgetting to bring his guitar). Good one guys!

Rushing over to another camp…

Their fishing may be less effective (standing in the river and lashing out at any passing fish. In the event that one is caught, the band all stress out as to how to kill the thing) but, the three companionable Canadians of Rush continue their hygienic progress. The band have exhausted their camping supply of bottled drinking water and sadly, in the wilderness the band cannot dine on honeydew or drink the milk of paradise. Luckily Neil remembered a 7th grade science lesson he had where he was taught that boiling water kills all dangerous microorganisms and disinfects it. He removes the camping stove and small pot from his bag, fills the pot with water from the cleanest part of the river he could find and begins to boil…

Close to the Edge, Down By the River…

Near the ‘pretty view’ of the river Jon selected, Yes are crumbling to some extent. Steve asked Jon if he could go over to The Court yesterday and Jon reluctantly agreed and let him go. Steve didn’t mean it personally but I think Jon took it that way (poor guy). Meanwhile, Rick is getting fed up with waiting around for Jon and Alan to get vegetarian food when he could eat as much meat as he likes (though in reality, he is far too lazy to do so). Chris isn’t a fan of Jon’s leadership style. Its a sort of strange hotchpotch between Hippy and autocratic that he doesn’t like. All the while, it doesn’t help that Jon has found some magic mushrooms and spends quite a lot of his time in ‘dreamland’. He and Rick have planned to leave the camp to find ELP next time Jon and Chris go out gathering together.

In the ELP camp... 

The last few hours have been somewhat monotonous at the ELP camp. The band’s relationship is fractured (particularly Keith and Greg’s). Morale is dipping sub-zero, and Carl still hasn’t figured out the drum part for Karn-Evil 9 so instead of making useful progress to prolong their lives, the half-starved threesome chose to discuss new project ideas for ‘when all this forest crap is out of the way’. One could call this a useful conversation to keep up hope and distract them. They could also call it valuable time and energy wasted that will eventually lead to their doom. Either way, in their hungry, delirious state discussion is getting heated quickly. Carl leaves early to actually try and help them survive, and is also hurt by the two of them calling him a ‘shit Buddy Rich knockoff’. 

The issue on the table currently is Greg’s suggestion, ‘Love Beach 2 (Electric Boogaloo)’. This thought seems to be sending Keith into something of a violent frenzy. 

I will spare the details of the real-time commentary for the next few minutes. This passage is written in retrospect: Keith and Greg got into a physical confrontation which included a lot of punches from Keith and in the process, Greg hit his head on a large protruding rock in the wood’s undergrowth and by the time Carl returned from his mission of trying to keep them alive, and managed to pry Keith away from his friend, it was too late. 

The two of them aren’t talking as they submerge the body into the dark, cold river water. What he has done is beginning to dawn on Keith and he has been battling with his tears since they left to the water. All Carl can think about is that his friend and bandmate is a ‘fucking murderer’. He must negotiate a way away from this knife-wielding maniac. Luckily, upon return to the camp, he recognises two new, trustworthy silhouettes, CHRIS AND RICK!!! He is currently having a private discussion with the two of them featuring sentences like, ‘Guys please get me out of here. He’s a crazy madman with a knife. I’m gonna die’. Chris sensibly responds in a hushed voice, ‘We could always give those Canadian kids a go?’. And that is the plan for the three of them... 

That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for... 

Previously on PRSC... 

We are now over a week into the competition: two deaths have occurred so far, and we had the arrival of a surprise guest: Ian!

As for our regularly scheduled groups, Genesis appears to have made a major backslide in their progress following the death of Phil. It is unsure when or if they will recover.

The Conglomerate is still going strong, although running into some minor issues. 

The Court has seen its first departure!

Death Count: 2

One More Red Nightmare at The Court!

We pick up where we left off yesterday at The Court: our self-appointed “Crimson King” has awoken to discover David’s escape. He called for a long meeting at his “court”, the strange structure built at the north end of his camp. We are unsure of what went on at this meeting, but it appears to have lasted several hours. However, everyone exited yesterday’s meeting alive, so it couldn’t have been that bad. Today, it appears that “His Royal Highness”, Fripp, has sent out his “Foreign Intelligence” and “Defense” scouts once more, this time to figure out where exactly David went. “Defense”, or put more accurately, Fripp’s Merciless Mercenary, Muir, probably has other plans for David if their paths meet. He has brought his sheet metal with him on his journey. Meanwhile, Fripp is trying to make up for the loss of one of his slaves workers , which does not look very successful. Does David’s escape spell the end of The Court? From Genesis to Revelations?

Conditions have not improved much at the Genesis camp, as they are now reduced to an equal number of useful and useless members. While they all have been heavily affected by the loss of Phil, they have been reacting in completely different ways. Tony seems to have entirely abandoned his Mona Lisa recreation, and has not left the shelter he claimed to himself for some time. Peter, on the other hand, seems to be suffering from a full-blown mental breakdown. He has been walking around the forest and muttering to himself, in full Slipperman costume. We are unsure why he picked that particular one. Meanwhile, Mike and Steve have thrown themselves into work to try and make up for their missing member (that is not a Lamb pun, we assure you!), however, it is rather disorganized: instead of dividing up the work like the other groups, they have been doing the same thing, leading to an overproduction of fish, but not enough shelter or firewood. News Spreads to The Conglomerate

As the day draws to an end, The Conglomerate is visited by Broof once again, this time informing them of Phil’s unfortunate demise. He hasn’t disclosed his role in it, of course. But that is not the reason for Broof’s visit: he has come to question them. He isn’t letting on it’s about David’s escape from The Court, but the others are able to put together that something is going wrong. Unable to find proof that The Conglomerate is harboring him, Broof moves on. As for the rest of the day, things have still been going rather smoothly, falling into a sort of routine: they each go off to do their roles in the morning, and return late in the afternoon, where they meet around the campfire, talk, and discuss the next day. These campfire sessions have included various forms of entertainment, bringing a homely feel to The Conglomerate. Most notable is the formation of  “Two Dumb Blonds” a comedy duo comprising of Rick and Alex. We will have the transcript of one of their “shows” posted shortly! And a Song from the Wood… Perhaps the most exciting news to come out of yesterdays’ events was the addition of a new competitor to the PRSC! We have uncovered that Ian has been in the woods since the very beginning, and perhaps before, by complete coincidence! He has established his own base on the west side of the river, where he ran into David defecting from The Court. After a short confrontation, he has decided to take David into his camp, and join the game. David, however, isn’t doing quite so well. He hasn’t left Ian’s bungalow today, perhaps all-too-aware of his search. Thankfully for David, Fripp seems to be unaware that a new competitor has entered The Arena, so he will be safe… for now. Will this be the self-sufficient camp that wins the Prog Rock Survival Competition? Stay tuned to find out! That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for... 

Previously in PRSC... 

Disaster strikes between The Court and Genesis as Bruford (The Court, King Crimson) fights Collins (Genesis, AKA Illcoll). Sadly, only Bill survived.

This leaves Genesis in a state of fracture and disillusionment 

David is in BIG trouble from Fripp after Steve (The Court, Yes) reports his plans to evacuate the court. He plans an escape... 

Death Count: 2 

Afterglow in Epping Forest 

"Peter! Pete!" He’s not answering. "Christ, Steve he’s not gonna say a word. Just leave him." Genesis have been struggling since Phil’s death. All progress has come to a halt and Peter spends most of his days curled up in a ball on the forest floor muttering to himself. He’s been having worse dreams recently too. He’s been having the ones about revelations again. This is seriously getting to the other three members of the band as it was Peter who signed them up to this stupid ‘nature retreat’. Does this indicate a loss of hope for Genesis’ run for victory? 

Same as it Ever Was! (Drat, Talking Heads should be in this game so that reference would make sense) 

The Conglomerate continues pretty steadily along. News of Phil’s death still hasn’t reached them yet as there aren’t many camps near them. There have been two (only minor) problems: Chris is still refusing to eat fish as, "It’s cannibalism! It’s not cool, guys!", and the other two members of Rush are beginning to worry for their third bandmate, Neil and if he’s pushing himself too hard. Other than that, all is going as planned for the unlikely team and we speculate that a member of The Conglomerate may win the PRSC! 

Outside the Court of the Crimson King... 

In light of David’s clear impending doom in the form of a meeting with Fripp, he has chosen to leave the court by cover of night. He knows that Fripp has murderous potential (look at Phil) and that may become an issue if he plans to be on Fripp’s wrong side. He runs East into the thickest forest he could find, fording the river in the process, taking a few provisions from his ex-camp. What will Fripp think of this in the morning? 

In the thickest part of the forest, he hears a strange metallic noise. Almost flute-like. He’s sure it's not Peter because he left his flute at home. He said so on the plane. Suddenly, he spies a dramatic amount of wild hair, but it vanishes amongst the plant life. A rustle of leaves.

"Excuse me, but what the fuck are you doing in my wood?"

It's Ian, that is, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull????? Now this hasn’t been expected by any of the competitors nor even us reporting for the PRSC! After explaining himself, David is allowed into Ian’s small, basic, wooden bungalow. They sit down around a fire on some furniture Ian made and David explains everything from the beginning, which is difficult as he’s not entirely sure what happened himself! This adds another competitor to the tournament, and a possible live wire at that! 

That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for... 

Previously on PRSC... 

The second cross-band camp is formed, The Conglomerate. This is the combo of Rush (as a whole), Emerson and Palmer of ELP, and finally, Chris and Rick from Yes.

Keith has (for want of a better term) lost his shit following the murder of his friend and bandmate, Greg. He’s racked with guilt and angst. So far, this has led to attempts to loot the Rush camp. This makes the other bands put him into isolation.

Death Count: 1 

In the Conglomerate... 

The prog supergroup of a camp is flourishing with the increase of personnel. Chris (of the Yes group) has remembered that he brought his lighter with him into the arena and has had it with him all along. This has made a large number of differences. Chris has been making himself useful, making basic torches that he can light easily with his lighter. This of course means that the bands can work longer hours and then have more relaxing evenings afterwards. The others have democratically been assigned positions in the Conglomerate: 

 Alex oversees hunting/fishing, working (reluctantly) with Keith 

When Chris isn’t working on light sources, he and Geddy gather resources like wood, mushrooms and vegetables. 

When the four of them get back from these missions, Alex meets Rick around the fire, and they cook it all to be eaten later (while also having a great laugh!) 

Neil does all the heavy lifting jobs and manual labor. He is the strongest (in body and mind) of the guys at the conglomerate, and he rarely shows any sign of weakness. Carl (from ELP), helps him with these tasks and tries to make himself useful elsewhere 

They were visited by one of Fripp’s messengers earlier this morning. This caused something of an awkwardness as this messenger was Bill, previously of Yes, Bruford. Needless to say, Chris kept his distance, and the others didn’t give much information away to "The Court".

Over In Epping Forest... 

Genesis, are doing surprisingly well considering their somewhat rough start and two pretty much unusable members (Tony due to his boredom and Peter as he is too whimsy). Tony’s Etch-a-Sketch Mona Lisa is coming along nicely, with the hair pretty much complete now! They have the most efficient food gathering of any of the bands because of their new advancements in fishing "equipment". They are also cooking the fish properly on a cooking rack that Phil, Steve and Mike put their heads together to create. Not bad, Genesis! 

Politics In the Court... 

Robert Fripp has been sending scouts to various areas of the arena looking for other bands so he can learn of their progress (and make sure to be one step ahead of anything they may try). These chosen people are possibly his most brainwashed band mates, Bill and Jamie(referred to as James by Fripp). Fripp’s endless control over the arena is worrying David rather a lot. As you may know, he has been demanding to be referred to as "The Crimson King" for some time and now with his men in charge of "Foreign Intelligence" and "Defense", our violin playing friend is worried that The Court may not be as democratic as he was encouraged to believe... 

That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for...