Blind Ego was the first band to start the first official day of the fifth festival. They were solid but what was odd was the fact that their frontman, Kalle Wallner, operated off to the side and in an unimposing stance.

 

Worthy of note, Paul Wrightson, their vocalist, came out of retirement to guide this ship. Turns out he was seaworthy after all these years. Unfortunate for fans, John Mitchell - who sang and played guitars in the studio - was AWOL from the live event, and Ervin "Mr. R’"Reader filled in for session drummer, Tommy Eberhardt. What’s funny is that Reader is not the "R" from RPWL – that would be Phil Paul Rissettio; though this is how he was introduced. Yogi Lang, however, was present as a guest keyboardist.

 

This makeshift crew played just about everything from their debut and still had enough fuel in the tank to play their instrumental anthem, “Moorland”. Other than that, most of the song-oriented pieces featured extended solos from Kalle Wallner in the vein of Dave Gilmour.

 

Altogether, they were a steady act.