Steven Wilson “To The Bone” Tour

Not to sound too much like a fanboy, but I caught two of Steven Wilson’s shows this past week - front row in PA, and about 20 rows back in NYC on Sunday night - and I had to post a quick review.

Forget what you think of the new album, or about prog rock - this guy and his band put on one hellova SHOW. It reminded me of a carefully planned stadium show in many ways - think Rush, David Gilmour, etc. - but he does it in small venues. There were great video effects on a see through front curtain, plus surround sound in each venue. The band touring with him is extraordinary. I didn’t think a drummer could match Gavin Harrison’s talents with his music, but I was wrong. The keyboardist played with Miles Davis. The bassist played the Chapman Stick in addition to the bass. The lead guitarist was amazing, if not well known.

Wilson, himself, is the consummate perfectionist and taskmaster, even though he comes off relaxed and barefoot onstage. At 50, he looks like a kid, with the energy and voice of someone half his age.

In the PA show, they performed most of the new album, which translates live perhaps better than expected. Permanating is still unabashedly disco (his words) but it’s enjoyable. People That Eat Darkness is special live - featuring that amazing modified 1963 Telecaster in all of its glory. He also did a great selection from Porcupine Tree’s Deadwing and In Absentia albums, as well as Hand Cannot Erase.

In the second NYC show, he busted out a more obscure song list in deference to those that saw the traditional setlist the night before. He performed many songs from Hand Cannot Erase including Routine, the title track, Ancestral, and Hone Invasion. The encore featured acoustic versions of Postcard and Blackfield.

As a showman, Wilson commands your attention. He’s funny with a dry sense of humor (and no apparent lack of confidence). He mixes in frequent stories about the songs and his life, sometimes rambling on until his band mates tell him to get on with the show. My twelve year old daughter, at her first rock concert, declared afterward he was very cool. “I get it now” she told me, in response to my comments before the show about newer artists not possessing the level of talent that these gentlemen displayed. She assumed he was a young man, no older than 20!

Anyway, if you are a fan of live music I highly encourage those out west to catch a show before he heads out of the country. He’s pretty much done on the east coast, unfortunately, or I would see him again!

 

We had the good fortune of seeing the same shows & second everything you've mentioned. I thought The Keswick in PA show was excellent, then the Sunday night NYC show happened and just took it to another level. The negative is I've now used all my SW tickets.
You've given your daughter irreplaceable memories.

.

 

I loved the Keswick show as well. Wish I was able to go Sunday night to NYC. I like that he is changing up the set list for the 2nd night of shows in the same venue.

 

LOVE the Keswick!! Seen Wilson there couple of times as well as PT !

 

Nice summary. Completely agree. I can't wait for the L.A. show at the Wiltern on May 12th!

 

Agree on your observations, another reason why he might be one of the most important figures in music of our time. Always ambitious, always moving, always a ****load of quality in everything he does.

 

Nice summary. Completely agree. I can't wait for the L.A. show at the Wiltern on May 12th!


I concur with you both....and I will also be at the Wiltern in two weeks!!!

 

I saw him yesterday at the Vic Theater in Chicago and the PA was stupidly loud. I was seated in the balcony and was getting 117 decibels. I wore ear protection but it didn’t matter, I left after the first set. I’ll stick to listening to his LP’s and videos. I felt sorry for the workers and patrons who remained, I’m sure they left with hearing damage.

 

Went to the Royal Albert Hall a few weeks ago to see him and Richard Barbieri - incredible show - they had a mini Porcupine Tree reunion as well.

 

You know, I meant to mention this. Both shows I went to were too loud. I had heard this before going, so I brought various levels of hearing protection. My daughter wore -30db (industrial) plugs at our NYC show. I used my db meter on my iPhone and saw up to around 105 dB peaks. Too high.

Also, on a funnier note, the Keswick has one men’s bathroom with 6 urinals/toilets total. Factor in 1200 over 50 men and their enlarged prostates, and you have one insanely large bathroom line! Literally a Disney-like snake that went all the way downstairs into the lobby!

 

Yeah, the Keswick bathroom situation was horrible. The sound quality in there was great though (not too loud, nice quad mixing at times).

 

I caught Steven's show in Denver on Saturday night. On the whole, it was a very enjoyable gig. The tracks from To The Bone translated very well to a live setting, and we were treated to a nice selection from Wilson's back catalogue (drawing heavily from In Absentia). Nick Beggs and Adam Holzman were brilliant as usual, and Craig Blundell continues to grow into one of rock's finest drummers.

The one somewhat weak spot was the new lead guitarist, Alex Hutchings, who was given very little opportunity to show his stuff. When To The Bone came out, I'd commented that it seemed like a deliberate step away from virtuosity from Steven in favor of song craft and conciseness. Saturday's show was in line with that observation, as the forceful lead guitar work I'd seen from Govan and Kilminster were replaced by lead guitar in a supporting role (a la John Wesley with PT). This is a minor quibble because Hutchings' work was always tasteful and well done, but I'll admit that I missed a little bit of the virtuosic lead playing from past tours.

 

I'm working the Portland show Wednesday. Looking forward to it in fact.

 

Saw the Seattle show and was totally blown away. I saw him a couple of years ago in Portland and that was a great show, but the show on Tuesday night was epic. His band is crazy talented and it was really cool to have Ninet play with him and open the show with her band.

I should also say that his new guitar player was amazing. Despite whats been said in an earlier post, I thought he was given several attempts to shine and was awesome!

 

I caught the Wiltern show last night. Thought that he put on a decent show musically. However, I found his between song rant about not getting pigeon-hold sticking to music within any one genre, and essentially defending his new album and specifically "Permananting". I often times like it when artists go outside their comfort zone to try new things, but to feel the need to stand on stage and rant for 5- 7 minutes about how much enjoyment he gets out of annoying his own fans when they can't accept his artistic musical change is tacky. The way he rubs it in his audiences' faces (I assume) every time he performs it live is pretty shabby and alienates many I believe, myself included. At one point he suggested that for those that didn't like it, the exit doors were located just behind them. Okay. He seems to have gone from a humble front man in PT to someone that is really full of himself.

Then he went on about how he was a Prince fan-boy while growing up with posters on his walls and going on about how talented he thought he was. Then he said that Prince was the only good thing about American music and that we in the U.S. has produced the finest musician that ever lived and we should be very proud. As Prince came from Minnesota, I immediately thought "what about Dylan?", and several other song writers, guitarists, and overall musicians that I thought were much better, and many that Wilson himself has praised.

 

I flew to the mainland to catch two shows on this tour, Salt Lake City and Portland. Both were among the finest rock shows I’ve ever attended.

Salt Lake City had the full production, with the transparent screen in front of the band and the holograms. The Portland show had a weird layout, with the stage in a corner, and the all ages/bar area separated by a barrier with a 4’ Demilitarized zone in between. No holograms or transparent screens at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland.

Ninet Tayeb opened both shows I attended, she sounds great live and has a pretty good band. I can’t find the highlight of her set on any album, a song called “Something To Say.”

I can’t decide if “Nowhere Now” or “To The Bone” was a better opener, both were really effective. It was great to hear Ninet join Steven Wilson on stage for “Pariah”, “People Who Eat Darkness” “Don’t Hate Me” & “Blank Tapes.” I was hoping to hear “Routine” but I can’t quibble with the setlist either night, a three hour plus spectacle with zero filler.

Nick Beggs is a fantastic musician, watching him play bass and the Chapman stick was a real treat. Steven Wilson also played a bit of Bass guitar during Home Invasion/Regret #9.

“Ancestral” “Permanating” and “Song Of Unborn” were highlights for me on both nights. If I’m being nit-picky, the animation during “Detonation” was kind of cheesy and unnecessary, everything else was top notch.

I regret not seeing the Seattle show, along with another show in California. I hope to never miss another Steven Wilson tour, the man brings it on stage just as well as his records.

 

I’m definitely an aficionado, have all Porcupine Tree & solo discs and all that are available in 5.1 as well. Have seen every tour stop in LA since 2002 and have seen PT in London, twice, including their last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in October of 2009.

Was at the Wiltern show on Saturday - fabulous show. I treated my new drummer to a ticket (we were in the pit!) who was a "newbie" to SW and PT and he was 1000% blown away. SW and band are the complete rock package. Tunes, presentation, execution, musicianship ALL. OF. THE. ABOVE!

Having said this, his "banter" did get a bit annoying at times. It believe he was genuinely trying to give a compliment to the US with the Prince bit but it came off a bit awkward and overlong. He's really come a long way with his showmanship since '02 and he's seriously one of the best rock musicians in the game but, again, he can dial the 'I'm so great" aspect of it back a tad without compromising his artistic bona fides in my view.

ps... the '63 Tele he's bragged about is a $4000 reissue - not an original, just saying. Sounded amazing though!

 

I attended his show this past Friday in San Francisco. It was my first SW concert, so I didn't know what to expect. Throughout the show, I was amazed by the presentation and the performance of his live band. The projector setup was used well and everyone in his band played their asses off. I just wished Ninet was there to perform, but maybe another time! All I know is that I will be attending future SW shows.

 

Have been following SW since seeing PT back in '99 (yikes, almost 20 years ago). His band gets better every tour, and I can say that I didn't really miss either Govan or Kilminster. To my ears "Home Invasion" and "Ancestral" both sounded significantly better this tour.

Loved the Fantasia-styled animation for "Song of Unborn"; I trust that was intentional.

Had no issue with the stage patter. It's humor in the mold of Fripp, and very, very dry. To paraphrase his intro to "Permanating", guys with King Crimson shirts are excused from dancing because they're not used to moving at concerts.

Aw man. It really did sound great, and even had faux wear on the body paint. I don't miss the PRS. Did you notice if he's still using Black Cat amps?

 

I just got back home this afternoon after driving down to Phoenix for last night's show. My first time time seeing him solo but I'd seen P Tree a couple times and also Blackfield. I had seen some setlist and comments so I kinda knew what to expect.

Overall a good show but not without issues. On the plus side, the sound was very good at the venue - not excessively loud as I'd seen some reports of other shows say....and we had Ninet there singing live on stage instead of the hologram version he uses when she's not there (her band also played a short set before Steven came on). I can't really complain about the setlist - of course there's one's I'd have liked to hear but there were very few instances of me thinking "I really don't like this one." Standouts for me were the 4 encore songs - Blackfield and Postcard done with just SW and Adam in an "unplugged" style followed by Sound of Muzak and Song of Unborn.

On the negative side, logistical issues with the venue prevented him from using the really big rear screen and the hologram screen - we had to settle for just the smaller rear screen. The other issue is just personal taste - while when he's doing the background keyboard parts I don't mind Adam at all (and he did a great job on the unplugged bit) but when he goes off on a synth lead solo I can barely stand it. I just find that while he's obviously got decent chops he just doesn't have anything unique or original in his approach, one prog cliche after another.

So, yeah, very glad I went and I enjoyed it a lot, but it could have been better, especially with the whole visual package (of course no fault of SW there). His band (with the above noted exception) were really good. I've not been a big Nick Beggs fan before but I think he's changed my mind now - he was great on his Stick as well as the bass and handles the bvox well too. Craig impressed on drums too.

 

I saw the Wiltern show, fabulous show. I missed Dave K on guitar, and it was obvious Steven played more lead than usual, that aside it was a fantastic show.

 

The new guys great but I missed Guthrie Govan

 

I saw both NYC shows (flew there from Tennessee), my 2nd and 3rd SW show. Sunday (2nd) night I was 2nd row near center.

Fantastic shows, great presentation. Alex was amazing on guitar -- he might be the perfect SW guitarist with his ability to effortlessly come forward and do exactly what is needed, and then step back and fill in the the sound. Nick and Adam are consummate professionals.

Craig's drumming was very strong, especially on the To The Bone material, and he's fine on the Porcupine Tree songs - however, there was 3 or 4 spots where I noticed the rhythm felt "off" for a brief moment, particularly during or after a fill. I think he's a solid drummer and a great guy, and happy with him in the band -- but at the same time I understand some of the kinder (?) criticisms of his live playing.

I'm looking forward to the Blu-ray of the Royal Albert Hall show, and hoping the tour will do a 2nd leg through the US south. Nashville would be a great place to see this presentation, but I'd happily settle for The Center Stage in Atlanta again.

 

Yep. Third time I've heard these tracks live, and the performance at the Wiltern was the best yet. Only drawback for me was Ninet Tayeb not being there (although the hologram during Pariah was pretty cool).

 

Yes - he's still using the Black Cat. He did bring out the PRS for a couple of numbers. And I noticed he's not using the Babicz acoustics anymore. Last time around he was touting his SW signature model "for only $1200."

I know what you mean about the Fripp style stage banter. Ian Anderson was famously verbose and not a bit condescending back in the day.