Porcupine Tree - Baltimore, May 22, 2007

[Rick and Roll]

A band that is on top of their game right now. It's as good as it gets in concert, I don't think they'll ever be better. It's rare that the same band with the same lineup goes year after year, but the pieces fit so well. Here's the set list:

Fear of A Blank Planet
Lightbulb Sun
My Ashes
Anesthetize
Open Car
Gravity Eyelids
Dream With Me
Sentimental
Blackest Eyes
Sever
Way Out of Here
Sleep Together
Even Less
Mother And Child Divided
Halo

A lot they used to play that was missing - Radioactive Toy, Deadwing, Hatesong. And my favorite, In Abstentia, only represented by Gravity Eyelids, which was worth the price of admission!

But no spliting hairs here. Was great to hear the whole new CD, really plays well in concert (as it did last year).

Every song had power...and a few light moments, when Steve Wilson finished Blackest Eyes with "I forgot the fucking words"....and he played the whole show barefoot.

Dream With Me was introduced as a song that didn't make it on In Abstentia..and I don't know the instrumental before Halo...but I've seen it as being mixed in with Halo, and there was indeed an instrumental.

Other than the new stuff and Gravity, the highlight for me was Lightbulb Sun. What a great track.

Oh, and the opener was terrific. They are "3". Like the Emerson Berry group. Had to go the PT soite to find them. Their singer plays a mean bass/guitar amd the 2nd drummer sometimes keyboardist is a lot of fun (I really liked the main drummer though). Heavy, but traces of a lot of influences and styles.

http://www.myspace.com/3

Ran into many friends, and one I haven't seen for 10 years...great time. And 4/5 of Iluvatar at various points...wish it wasn't a work week night, but what the hell. I'm still tired from The Tragically Hip on Saturday8-)

[VAXman]

A band that is on top of their game right now. It's as good as it gets in concert, I don't think they'll ever be better.
Porcupine Tree is as good as they will get in concert? Or the concert experience in general? I would probably agree with the latter part of your statement... I don't think they'll ever be better.

Irving Plaza, Deadwing Tour. Boring! They played very well but were WAY TOO LOUD. There was nothing happening on the stage but then, I figured they were probably cramped on the I.P. stage. I gave the Deadwing tour a second chance at the Keswick Theater. K.T. has a much much larger stage but they still had a catatonic presence. I like Porcupine Tree but live, IMO, their stage presence was about as exciting as watching milk turn sour. Those last 2 experiences turned me off to wanting to spend the money to catch any of this tour.

[Rick and Roll]

Porcupine Tree is as good as they will get in concert? Or the concert experience in general? I would probably agree with the latter part of your statement... I don't think they'll ever be better.

Irving Plaza, Deadwing Tour. Boring! They played very well but were WAY TOO LOUD. There was nothing happening on the stage but then, I figured they were probably cramped on the I.P. stage. I gave the Deadwing tour a second chance at the Keswick Theater. K.T. has a much much larger stage but they still had a catatonic presence. I like Porcupine Tree but live, IMO, their stage presence was about as exciting as watching milk turn sour. Those last 2 experiences turned me off to wanting to spend the money to catch any of this tour.

I thought the 2nd half of the statement reinforced the first...they are the top of their game right now, and will never be better.

Deadwing tour was super loud. That doesn't bother me if not distorted. Distortion bothers me. Great tour.

Interesting about the stage presence. My perch on the rail of the 2nd floor is the next best thing to being in front. The music is power and so well done. Steven Wilson has grown a lot on stage, and with all of the things he has to do on stage, manages to keep it together and engage the crowd. John Wesley is always good, also grown a lot since the solo tours. Barbieri and Edwin are statues, granted, but Barbieri's not doing anything exciting and Edwin's laying down the beat. And Gavin Harrison, he's got presence.

As many bands as I've seen, I get something different from each one. Some music is made to have the band jump around, but PT is perfect for what they do. Cool screen too. Go see them if you can....and please let me know what you think!

[VAXman]

I thought the 2nd half of the statement reinforced the first...they are the top of their game right now, and will never be better. I know that, I was being facetious. ;)

Deadwing tour was super loud. That doesn't bother me if not distorted. Distortion bothers me. Great tour.
Irving Plaza was PAINFULLY loud and distorted. Cranking it to 11 is one thing; 111 is way too much. It's not always the band's fault either. Sometimes they just hire the wrong FOH and main board people. Regardless of the venue, all of the knobs and sliders are cranked to the 11s. I thought that the recent Todd Rundgren gig (the one that I took RM to when he was over here for ROSfest) would have benefitted from a considerable backing off on the volume at the board.


Interesting about the stage presence. My perch on the rail of the 2nd floor is the next best thing to being in front. The music is power and so well done. Steven Wilson has grown a lot on stage, and with all of the things he has to do on stage, manages to keep it together and engage the crowd. John Wesley is always good, also grown a lot since the solo tours. Barbieri and Edwin are statues, granted, but Barbieri's not doing anything exciting and Edwin's laying down the beat. And Gavin Harrison, he's got presence.

I remembered your comment about Pineapple Thief -- shoe gazers. P Tree aren't that bad but, save for the film reel running the length of the Deadwing tour, it wasn't much of a stage show on the band's part.

I saw Richard Barbieri do a solo gig as a support for a Marillion gig. He was much more active -- of course he was busier too being a one man electronic orchestra -- than he was at the keys for P Tree.

I also saw John Wesley solo (also an opening act for a Marillion gig). He was much more engaging then too.

Maybe they feel they shouldn't upstage Steve Wilson?


As many bands as I've seen, I get something different from each one. Some music is made to have the band jump around, but PT is perfect for what they do. Cool screen too. Go see them if you can....and please let me know what you think!
Granted! I think it was that comment made it sound like: If you see P Tree, you've seen the best on stage there ever will be. Go home and miss the rest. I've seen too many acts in (wow has it been this long) almost 35 years to say that any one of them is THE be all end all on stage. I can probably -- safely -- state that Pink Floyd's The Wall was the ultimate in stage theatrics even though I am no great fan of The Wall musically. I've been to many gigs that I've enjoyed more than The Wall with far less stage theatrics.

[PFD]

Looking forward to seeing them on Monday night here in Toronto

[zvinki]

I'll be seeing them on Saturday with my whole family and a bunch of my 17 year old's friends. Porcupine Tree is one of those bands that appeals to people of various tastes. My wife, for example, can't stand metal and distorted guitars yet she likes Porcupine Tree. I'll give you my take on their performance on Sunday or after.

[VERNIXX]

A band that is on top of their game right now. It's as good as it gets in concert, I don't think they'll ever be better.

I dunno...it is PROGESSIVE ROCK after all. I think they go from strength to strength personally. Being a fan since the VERY early days, I just think they get better with each passing album & tour.

And if it's too loud, yer too old. (8-D

[zvinki]

Montreal May 26 concert

It was great. The place was packed and the crowd was enthusiastic. The back-up act was supposed to be 3 but only the lead singer showed up and did a remarkable job of a one man band. He has a great theatrical flair where his songs tell a story similar to Chris de Burgh. The crowd laughed when he pointed out, after the first song, that his band didn't show up. I think that everyone thought that he was joking. It was nice to see how supportive the crowd was to this 1-man unknown act.

Porcupine Tree opened their concert with Fear of a Blank Planet. The vocals seemed too low during this song, which was fixed later on, but my focus was on Gavin. Wow!! Can he play! Just a rhythm machine so strong throughout.

I won't go through the playlist but songs that stuck out for me were Lighbulb Sun, Anaesthetize (sp), and Way out of Here, which was probably the best song of the night. The crowd really responded well to the metal parts possibly indicating a younger group than the previous times that I saw them.

Go see them if you can. As I tell my older son, we are so lucky to like these bands that are not popular since we can see them in such intimate settings.

[Rick and Roll]

Montreal May 26 concert

It was great. The place was packed and the crowd was enthusiastic. The back-up act was supposed to be 3 but only the lead singer showed up and did a remarkable job of a one man band. He has a great theatrical flair where his songs tell a story similar to Chris de Burgh. The crowd laughed when he pointed out, after the first song, that his band didn't show up. I think that everyone thought that he was joking. It was nice to see how supportive the crowd was to this 1-man unknown act.

Porcupine Tree opened their concert with Fear of a Blank Planet. The vocals seemed too low during this song, which was fixed later on, but my focus was on Gavin. Wow!! Can he play! Just a rhythm machine so strong throughout.

I won't go through the playlist but songs that stuck out for me were Lighbulb Sun, Anaesthetize (sp), and Way out of Here, which was probably the best song of the night. The crowd really responded well to the metal parts possibly indicating a younger group than the previous times that I saw them.

Go see them if you can. As I tell my older son, we are so lucky to like these bands that are not popular since we can see them in such intimate settings.

Cool z! He is a great musician (for 3). I would say though, PT is very popular. At least you can define your intimacy :)...thanks for the review, and the z sighting.

[PFD]

toronto...May 28.

Well, what can I say that hasn't been said.

It was the best PTree show I've seen. for only the third time this tour, they played the new album from start to finish to open up the show. It was weird seeing Steve Wilson play keyboards for most of it, but John Wesley is proving himself very capable on guitar.

Wes was very nervous last night, especially on Anesthetize, when he had to do the solo originally done by Alex Lifeson. Why was he nervous? Cause Mr. Lifeson himself was in the audience.

The visuals that accompanied the FoaDP set were really good and gave a good feel to the dark side of Wilson's lyrics. The second set was all old standbys, mostly culled from the last two albums. They included Lightbulb Sun, Open Car, Gravity Eyelids, Sever, Blackest Eye, Trains and a couple songs I'd never heard.

After the show I got a chance to meet up with Wes for a few :vaxman: and Wes was all ecstatic about meeting Lifeson. "I had my picture taken with him. I felt like a complete Rush geek. I should have asked him to sign my guitar!"

Great show. Great fun.

[zvinki]

That is so cool PFD. During the show on Saturday my kids were saying that it would be neat if Alex Lifeson got on the stage to do the solo since we are so close to Toronto but just knowing that he was in the same small venue as us would have been great. It's so cool when a rock star of Alex Lifeson's proportions (no pun intended Rick) is still a music fan. I know that he is a big fan of Tool. Maybe he will be there at the Copps Coliseum in July. So cool.

[PFD]

Yeah, turns out that Rush are quite fond of PTree, and friendly with them. I never knew this but John Wesley recently went on a bike hike with Neil Peart. Neil was also rumoured to be there, but I don't think he showed up.

[darksideof]

Porcupine Tree is as good as they will get in concert? Or the concert experience in general? I would probably agree with the latter part of your statement... I don't think they'll ever be better.

Irving Plaza, Deadwing Tour. Boring! They played very well but were WAY TOO LOUD. There was nothing happening on the stage but then, I figured they were probably cramped on the I.P. stage. I gave the Deadwing tour a second chance at the Keswick Theater. K.T. has a much much larger stage but they still had a catatonic presence. I like Porcupine Tree but live, IMO, their stage presence was about as exciting as watching milk turn sour. Those last 2 experiences turned me off to wanting to spend the money to catch any of this tour.
I agree with you I was at that concert at Irving Plaza. It wasn't the loudness that bothered me the most, but the crappy distored sound and I guess becuause Deadwing is the lesser album by PT that I enjoy. I stiill prefer their old albums. However, I really enjoy the new album very much ( it is still growing on me) It is a greater inprovement and I was still saved as a big PT's fan. Their stage and sound shows these day are surely superbly greater compare it with their humble early days.
the very first time I saw PT is was a tiny small place (1999 the Nitting Factory NYC) performing to a group of 80 fans ot maybe 100 and the whole sound stage show was a disaster. So, I guess the band stage and sound are at their very best right now. I agree too bad they don't play their old material anymore I don't know why:lurk:

[Neek21]

Took in Porcupine Tree @ The House of Blues, Cleveland back on May 18th..they performed the entire new album front to back, in order, right off [first time they did that on this tour, i understand] and it was amazing..with the video and images projected behind them, the album made more sense...they then took their break, then came out and played 9,10 older songs, just as powerfully...the mix was great, and it was'nt too lou, which was nice...yes, Gravity Eyelids was fantastic, as was Sever, which, I was also told, was played live for the first time on this tour...the openers '3' did nothing for me, I took my son's PSP and played Tiger Woods golf during their set....