Even though I'm north of age 40, I still enjoy seeing live
music. I don't make it to that many shows per year, but I will
try to give an honest review of the few shows I do attend. I
haven't done many reviews so far from the shows I've seen, but here's what I've got.
Note: This review contains setlist spoilers. Please be
aware that if you are going to see this tour and do not want to
know what songs will be played, you probably won’t want to read
this review until after you’ve seen the show.
It was my sixth time seeing Steven Wilson perform live, but my
first time seeing "Steven Wilson." His band Porcupine Tree is
one of my all-time favorite progressive rock acts, and one that
I'd seen in concert five times in three different cities across
two states, but I'd never seen Steven Wilson perform under the
banner of his own name before. In fact, no one had ever done so
in the United States. Wilson brought his solo tour to the U.S.
for the first time on Nov. 8 for the first of eight North
American dates, kicking things off at Orlando's House of Blues.
I had to be there, didn't I?
It had been only a week since Wilson wrapped up the European leg
of the tour, and he had to suddenly replace guitarist Aziz
Ibrahim, who was denied entry into the U.S. Old friend John
Wesley stepped in with just four days notice and had to learn
the entire set. Wesley resides in Florida, had no visa problems,
and has played live with Porcupine Tree for years, so his
availability was crucial to keeping the tour on schedule. Wes
was there, with musical cheat sheets, but the band didn't miss a
beat in putting on a fantastic show at the House of Blues.
I arrived just a few minutes before the show started, curious to
see whether the crowd would be anywhere near what Porcupine Tree
has drawn at the same venue in recent years. I had been somewhat
afraid that poor sales might cause the cancellation of the show,
but I was pleasantly surprised to see several hundred people in
attendance. The band entered one member at a time, led by
drummer Marco Minnemann, with Wilson being last. Each played as
they came on, building the tension, before the band kicked into
"No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun," and the show
was underway.
Over the course of two hours, the band played the majority of
Wilson's recent release, Grace for Drowning, with a few
forays into his first solo album, Insurgentes. Nick Beggs
handled the backing vocals, along with bass and stick, for the
ever-barefooted Wilson. Theo Travis provided fantastic (and
crucial) woodwind flourishes throughout the show on flute, sax
and clarinet, and even filled in on keys a few times. Adam
Holzman channeled his inner Richard Barbieri on keyboards,
though his participation went well beyond the usual atmospherics
that Barbieri provides for Porcupine Tree. Minnemann was
stunning throughout. I'd never seen him play before but found
him every bit as mesmerizing as guys like Gavin Harrison, Nick
D'Virgilio, Neil Peart and Mike Portnoy. Wesley's guitar playing
was seamless You'd never know he'd only just joined the tour.
The show started with this goofy transparent screen in front of
the band. In a way, I felt like I was at Bob's Country Bunker
for a Blues Brothers (or is it Good Old Boys?) show. But instead
of chicken wire, the screen was an actual screen. Images and
video were shown on it to enhance the show, but you could still
see the band perform behind it. The screen stayed up for a few
songs before coming down mid-number (intentionally). Wilson
doesn't typically say a whole lot between songs and this night
was no different. He did offer a few brief stories, including
the anecdote of Wes having only learned the material in a few
days and having rehearsed it with the band just once, prior to
the show. There was one humorous moment, however, when Wilson
asked the crowd how many assumed it would just be him, a guitar
and a banjo in hand, playing "Trains" all night. A few hands
were raised.
The rest of the visual/showmanship experience was down to the
chops of the band and the usual Lasse Hoile videos and imagery,
which are typically dark and sometimes quite disturbing. I'd say
these were less intense than we've seen on the last few
Porcupine Tree tours, but there were still a few moments that
some will find quite chilling. The imagery matches the music,
though. Wilson's solo material is alternately gloomy and angry,
but with a few moments of sublime beauty, such as in songs like
"Deform to Form a Star," and "Postcard." But it's
still generally a sad beauty. The exploration of these
"negative" emotions has been an ongoing staple throughout
Wilson's career work, and the intensity on his two solo albums
is ratcheted to great heights in a live setting.
If you're not familiar with Wilson's solo music, I would
describe it as a cross between Porcupine Tree and the most
industrial moments of King Crimson's catalog, with just a splash
of Tool and perhaps a hint of Blackfield on occasion. I found
the show to build in intensity, particularly in the second half,
climaxed by a blistering instrumental section of "Raider II,"
the sprawling and challenging epic from Grace for
Drowning. The audience seemed similar to Porcupine Tree's,
if smaller, but with a much more reverent sense of the technical
aspects of the music. There was very little in the way of head
bobbing and basically zero dancing or swaying. I would imagine
that early King Crimson's audiences were similar — respectful,
quiet and appreciative. The noise came between songs, after
particularly challenging solos or in the odd moment when,
amusingly, those unfamiliar with the music assumed a song was
over.
The show was outstanding and really enhanced my appreciation for
the material. I listened to the album on the drive home and it
really seemed to click for me, as if I hadn't quite gotten the
point until then. Having seen Wilson perform under two banners,
and a third (Blackfield) on DVD, I can't wait to see, and hear,
what the man will do next.
Setlist:
No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun
Index
Deform to Form a Star
Sectarian
Harmony Korine
Abandoner
Postcard
Remainder the Black Dog
Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye
No Part of Me
Veneno Para Las Hadas
Raider II
Encore:
Get All You Deserve
