(Photo credit - Diana Nitschke)On May 17th, Laurie and I attended the first Porcupine Tree show at the Park West Theater in Chicago. Unfortunately, we missed the opening of the show because the opening band started well before the start time shown on the ticket! Go figure. Needless to say, I was more than a little upset as we walked in during my favorite track from the new album "Anesthetize".
The (partial) track list for this show was:
Anesthetize
Open Car
Gravity Eyelids
Drown with Me
Blackest Eyes
Sentimental
Unknown Ballad into Sever
Way Out of Here
Sleep Together
Encores:
Even Less
Mother and Child Divided
Halo
Undoubtedly, we missed the first two tracks from the new album, the title track "Fear of a Blank Planet" and "My Ashes". What else we missed I will probably never know because on June 1st, I saw them again with Jim and they played a different set! They played the entire new album from start to finish to begin the show. Then, after a short intermission, they performed some different songs from the previous show. The set list for June 1st was:
FOABP/My Ashes/Anesthetize/Sentimental/Way Out of Here/Sleep Together
(Intermission)
Lightbulb Sun
Open Car
Hatesong
Mellotron Scratch
Drown with Me
A Smart Kid
Blackest Eyes
Trains
Encores:
Mother and Child Divided
Halo
(Jim - let me know if I missed a song but I think that's correct.)
The venue was packed for both shows and the crowd was very enthusiastic. I thought I was in Montreal for a second. There's no question that PTree is attracting a greater mix of people than your typical prog band. The ratio of men/women is still high but lower than usual, and the average age is decidedly younger. These numbers bode well for the future of the band.
For the second show, Jim and I actually managed to get seats smack dab in the middle of the theater, slightly raised above the crowd so that we had a good view and luckily very few people walked in front of us. All this with waitress service too! Shweet!
The band performed the new album really well. The title track was accompanied by the disturbing video of pills and guns and kids, oh my... But the music was fantastic and the band was "on" right from the git-go. In contrast, the 2nd track of the night, My Ashes, featured a blissfully beautiful video with time lapse video of clouds passing overhead, snowy night mountain scenes, and gorgeous nighttime skies filled with stars. The video matched the beautiful chord progressions of the song perfectly.
Then, things really kicked into high gear with the drum beats and rhythmic strumming of guitar at the beginning of Anesthetize. If you've listened to this song even a few times, you know that this all leads to a crescendo of powerful crunchy guitar and insane drum fills. This is Porcupine Tree at their finest. And this, in my opinion, is one of their finest songs to date. In typical Steven Wilson fashion, the song takes its time building and building musically, rhythmically, lyrically until it all explodes and ultimately collapses upon itself in sublime resolution. (John Wesley does an excellent job with the awesome Alex Lifeson guitar solo too.)
And played live Anesthetize does not disappoint. In fact it's better! PTree just has a way of creating strong differential between the elegant quiet parts and the blistering and powerful heavy parts, much like a symphony orchestra, which creates incredible emotion. In concert, the end of the really heavy section of the song seems like the end of the song because the crowd cheers so loudly over the transitioning quiet synths/sounds. As you begin to hear the song re-emerge from the sounds of the cheers you realize that there is no resolution yet. And this ending is what makes this song so supreme. The glimpse of hope and poetic images from previous good days makes you feel good at the end of the song. Wesley and Wilson sing magical harmonies together and pull it off really well in concert. I'm really not sure how they do it.
This leads into Sentimental which seemed a little stale in comparison. But, Wesley again proves his worth and plays some blissful guitar strumming that really carries the song to its conclusion (and yes, Jim rightly points out that part of it sounds like a section of Trains). Despite the meaning, the chorus of this song is very catchy. "...sullen and bored the kids stay, and in this way, they wish away, each day."
As I had hoped, the next song, Way Out of Here, is much better performed live than on the CD. This song also has an interesting video that accompanies it. Despite being a fairly literal translation of the lyrics of the song, the images of this beautiful young girl listening to her iPod while walking on old train tracks and standing in old rail cars somehow captured my imagination. And Gavin Harrison treats us to some of his finest drumming during the heavy portions of this song, and that's saying something!
The closing song of FOABP is one of my favorites. Again, despite the lyrics of the song, it seems to me that this track points a bit toward what we may expect from Porcupine Tree in the future. It is the most unique song on the album with its use of keyboards and orchestra. Of course, the orchestra was not there for the concert but somehow Richard Barbieri and co. made it work.
After a short intermission, they began the 2nd half of the show with an unexpected song, Lightbulb Sun. It seems like the band must have been working for a while on this one since it seemed quite different from the CD version of the song. Steven Wilson played acoustic guitar on this one and left the electric guitar duties to Mr. Wesley. John's unique guitar solo was the highlight of the song. Wow! This guy is becoming indispensable, that's for sure!
Open Car followed Lightbulb Sun. This was the concert opener the last time I saw PTree in concert and they really know how to rip this one. It's a great live song albeit a short one.
The next selection was also from the Lightbulb Sun album. Hatesong is another song that shines in concert. It is quite different from the CD version and they have really worked out some phenomenal drum and guitar interplay toward the end of the song. If you have seen this song on the Arriving Somewhere DVD, you know how incredible this version is. To me, this was probably the highlight of the entire night along with Anesthetize. Staggering chops on full display!
The next couple songs were a disappointment to me. Mellotron Scratch was a surprise selection. With all the other great songs to choose from Deadwing, they chose this? Hmmm. Not that it's a bad song by any means but how about Arriving Somewhere, Start of Something Beautiful, Deadwing or Lazarus?!?!
The next song was "Drown with Me" which was a 'B' side from the In Absentia album. This was a nice ballad and works well live but it still was not the quality of many other PTree songs. I'm sure they enjoy playing different songs though so it's hard to fault this pick.
The next song was also a surprise to me but it's one of my sentimental favorites from the Stupid Dream album. "A Smart Kid" fit in very well with the tone of FOABP and they played it quite well too.
The first two songs of In Absentia, Blackest Eyes and Trains, rounded out the concert before the encores. They have these songs down pat and they are real crowd pleasers. Wilson joked about the infamous string-breaking incident from the Trains version on the DVD (filmed at this venue by the way). The strings held up this time.
The first encore is one of my favorite instrumental PTree tracks, Mother and Child Divided. This song is co-written with Gavin Harrison and it shows as the drums on this song are mind-boggling. It's interesting that PTree is getting a reputation for throwing in a couple songs into the live performance that are not on their albums. "So Called Friend" from the concert DVD is a GREAT song that should have been on some album!
The final song of the night was Halo. This song is, once again, better live than on the CD and seems to be an appropriate way to end the show. The whole crowd was singing the chorus with the band.
All in all, this was a great concert. Porcupine Tree proves once again that they are meant to be seen live to be fully appreciated. The nature of their music somehow lends itself to a live interpretation. This would not be the case, however, if every band member did not have the chops to pull of these songs. Of course, Gavin is one of the best drummers in the world and his presence is always strong. I find that I watch him for a good portion of the concert and not just because I play drums and like drumming. He is just that good and interesting to watch.
Colin Edwin is also simply perfect on bass and, unlike many other bass players, you can really hear his bass lines. He is not invisible like many other bass players. On the contrary, he is integral (ESPECIALLY ON HATESONG!!!! WOW!). I also continue to be impressed with John Wesley. His guitar playing is excellent - he has many of the lead parts in songs - and his vocal harmonies make the songs work well live. I always think of Richard Barbieri as the mad scientist of the group, tinkering with his myriad keyboards in subtle yet mystical ways that keep everything together and provide the solid sonic backdrop for most of the songs.
As for Steven Wilson, well, everyone knows what I think of this guy. He says he's not that talented on guitar but I beg to differ. OK, maybe technically there are better players but few who are as musical and understand songwriting like him. He plays more keyboards in concert now and his voice is better than ever. With Steven at the reins, there just seems to be no limit to what this band can pull off.
With Fear of a Blank Planet, Porcupine Tree has done it again but it must be seen in person to be fully appreciated and understood. This Chicago crowd certainly loved their concerts and I can't wait until they come back again. Maybe even twice!
