Some thoughts in no particular order:
To make it work, the best advice I can give is to bring back the genre - but this time around skip all the excesses and self-indulgences that did a number on prog back in the day. Focus on the music first, last and always - and especially the melodies. Make sure what you're playing are songs as opposed to extended scale exercises or regurgitations of classic music snippets on guitar and synth. Good songs develop a theme or idea and have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Make sure all yours do. And when in doubt, simplify.
Pay attention to your image. Prog is about pretty. So don't be afraid to look good. Always put in your best appearance. But don't get too bogged down with costuming. I'd skip the capes unless you're sorta poking a little fun at the old days. It looked pretentious and childish back then. It probably won't fly at all today. Someplace between white silk and capes and Geddy Lee's way of dressing down, there's a happy medium for stage dress. Find yours. Even somebody as talented as Peter Gabriel overdid the costuming and stage antics early in his career with the original Genesis lineup. Don't make that mistake unless you're talented enough (like he is) to get out from under the silly and pompous image he created for himself early on.
Don't be afraid to be a little intellectual, romantic, and starry-eyed. Prog generally paints a picture of a better more interesting mental and spiritual world. That's one of its chief attractions IMO. So don't be afraid of grown up words in your lyrics, good sentiments in your message, and having a message. The Moody's open every show with the song Lovely to See You Again and wrap it up with John Lodge thanking everyone for joining them on this journey. Four generations later, that message is still winning hearts. And for good reason.
Keep your costs under control. You don't need a lot of equipment to pull it off these days. So don't go overboard with keyboards etc. Take a tip from the likes of Tull and Al Stewart. If the songs are strong enough, they're not going to be dependent on a ton of gadgetry to sound good or be interesting. And a stage that looks like the showroom floor at NAMM doesn't impress audiences like it used to. People are very used to seeing and using technology these days. It no longer has the WOW factor it once did. So make it far less visible than the old guard felt compelled to.
Good prog isn't usually that easy to play if you're new to it. Make sure whatever you do play is capable of being played by every member in the band. A muff in jazz gets a few frowns from the audience. A miss in blues is just mojo and "the humanity" - and it's usually appreciated (or at least excused) by the blues crowd. But a flubbed moment in a prog song is a disaster. So take care and make sure you're note perfect every time.
By all means compose and perform originals. There's enough tribute bands and stage shows already. And a lot of them are really good at doing carbon copies of their favorite bands. If you just want to do other people's music, it'd probably make more sense for you to try to hooking up with one of those shows or bands. Or do your own tribute band if none are local. At least you'll make a little money and probably get to gig out far more often that way.
As far as gigging out goes, my prog band days were in the genre's heyday back in the '70s. It was the emerging style when I was in it, so the rails were already greased for me. Doing it today is going to be a lot tougher. About the best I can suggest is that you create and play really good prog music, and stick together long enough for it to start happening. Most people don't realize how long it takes to become sufficiently familiar that people are willing to let you entertain them. That's called "getting the permission of the marketplace." In my experience, it takes on the average of three years before it happens.
DOn't know if any of this is beneficial. But thats about what I've got for the moment.
