"To The Bone" - 5th Steven Wilson Album, 8/18

Will be traveling to Denver next week to see Steve. No show in Florida.
Set list looks super. Counting the days.

Peace,
Tony

 

Oh definitely, I thought the setlist was excellent. Set 1 was particularly excellent, and probably my fave, especially Home Invasion. That was a scorcher of a version, with Steven coming right to the edge of the stage in front of me ripping on the bass.

Craig Blundell took this photo right after the show and posted it to his Instagram. I’m lower right...

 

Fresh interview with Jonathan Clark:
Q104.3's Out of the Box

 

I just met Steven tonight in Boston!! Me and a couple of fellow Berklee friends chilled near the tour bus for a couple of hours after the show and got to meet him and take photos, he was very nice about it and it was totally amazing!

Amazingly awesome show too, there were songs I already loved from To The Bone that took on a whole new life live like Song of I which especially I found to be amazingly menacing and dark sounding especially the heavy jam added at the end. Add in the PT songs he chose to add into the set and man it was just an incredible night

 

I was at both shows in Chicago and he played 10 alternate songs the second night. The band over-played the small venue a bit (it was VERY LOUD) but the shows were amazing. It was great meeting and sitting next to a well-known taper and I'm anticipating a great souvenir from the show for us all.

 

Great Concert, but I concur that I thought the it was Very Loud for the Venue as was also a problem at the Keswick Theater(Glenside/Philly), as sometimes was hard to hear the melodies through the Loud Guitars(MUSE might have blown the roof off the Keswick, but they are built for Stadiums going all the way back to 'Origin of Symmetry'), especially I could not tell if Strings were added in pre-recorded for 'Sleep Together' that brings a great end to that song. Like I mentioned in a prior post, the Video Screen Visuals were a nice added touch to the Music.

Did you get Paul Draper(Mansun) as the Opening Act, or was Ninet at the Chicago Tour Stop? Seemed that Draper was East Coast and Ninet was West Coast, so with Chicago being in the middle, was not sure which Guest was playing there for your Concerts.

Do you recall which Alternate Songs were played on the 2nd Night? I was hoping that SW wold play 'Routine' and 'Drive Home'(although realized not songs from the Raven Album were planned for the main Tour Stops which only had 1 Night Concerts).

 

I saw him on the second night in NYC (4/29). He asked how many people were there on Sat (lots of applause), and then said because of that, the first set would be songs from Hand Cannot Erase. He played Routine, Ancestral, Hand Cannot Erase, Happy Returns, Regret #9, Home Invasion, and Ascendant Here On... A highlight for me was an acoustic version of Postcard and Blackfield. No Lazarus though.

 

Steven Wilson Setlist at Vic Theatre, Chicago

Steven Wilson Setlist at Vic Theatre, Chicago

 

Really like the second night set list!

Peace,
Tony

 

I was at that show as well and really enjoyed it. First time seeing him. I thought the crowd was a little sedate until the end and encore. He remarked on it as well. The sound and visuals were excellent.

 

I saw the first night in NYC with my fiance and she commented that the applause for the encore was the lamest response she's ever heard at a concert. I think the crowd at the Keswick show earlier that week was better. But then again, Philly audiences are almost better than NYC crowds in my experience seeing shows on the same tour in both cities. Not always, but usually.

SW did actually comment at the Keswick that he thinks he's played at that venue more times than any other venue throughout his career as a solo artist or with PT. I've seen him there in various incarnations at least 4 or 5 times.

 

Last night Steven paused to take in the standing ovation he received after the second song. Even requested the house lights to be turned up so he could see us all (which whipped up the crowd even more).

 

Damn I wish I had gone to to the second show too.

 

Any news on when the Royal Albert Hall DVD going to be released? Unless he works while he tours, this may have to wait until all touring is done and he returns to the studio.

 

Steven continues to work while he tours...the man never stops!

 

...was moving a few things around my house today, including some records, and pulled these out to look at them. I've stopped buying vinyl for the most part these days, so I don't have most of SW's newer LP releases but am happy I have these particular titles.

 

Quite enjoyed the show in Seattle tonight.

Spoiler: Review within...

My first live experience with the SW band (saw PT on the Incident tour). I have some regret for not seeing a previous incarnation of the band live (Raven/HCE), but I think the current lineup is acquitting itself very well. I appreciated Alex Hutchings' solo turns, and Craig Blundell is a fine drummer. The visual aspects of the show were slightly muted at this small venue, but still very much appreciated as always with SW. The setlist was fine, though "Permanating" wasn't any better live (not that it's bad to begin with, but it doesn't move me like some of his other work) and "Song of I" fell completely flat. I appreciated that the In Absentia tracks weren't the obvious ones and it was good to hear "Arriving Somewhere." Ninet Tayeb and her band put on a great opening set and her live vocals were much appreciated on "Pariah" and "People Who Eat Darkness," but then they did "Blank Tapes" (which I was hoping to hear) as the first of the "encores," which was a poor programming decision on their part as neither were in good enough voice to do it justice. All in all, I'm glad I went.

 

I listened to this album for the first time in months today and it had really grown on me. Beside the obvious tracks, "Blank Tapes" really stands out. There are also many instrumental details I never noticed before, such as the keyboards/synths at the end of "Permanenting", which are almost a bit funky.

While this is not my faourite Wilson album, it is quite interesting and different which makes me glad he didn't make a "Hand cannot erase" pt.2.

Craig Blundell may be one of my favorite drummers around at the moment too. I really like how he blends the prog elements of recent Wilson works with the "Lightbulb Sun" era electronic sounds.Blundell's playing is much more restrained on this album than it is live and is snare sounds a lot different too, but it still sounds like his playing. While Gavin Harrison and Marco Minneman are more recognisable, I feel Blundell more accurate combines all of Wilson's influences into a more accurate representation of his vision.

 

I'm pretty sure that Bundell only played on Pariah, People Who Eat Darkness, Song of I, and Song of Unborn on the album.

 

Correct. The rest of the drums were by Jeremy Stacey.

 

This is true, yes, and the drums on the album are excellent, but can I just say how much I enjoy Blundell as a member of Steven's band? Personally, I was a huge fan of Chris Maitland's more laid back style, and while I enjoyed Gavin's playing, I found him to be too "precise" and showy for my taste. Blundell combines the best of both of them with some Bonham-esque power. His playing on My Book of Regrets is some of my favorite drumming in Steven's catalogue.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Agreed. Don't get me wrong, Harrison is a beast and has many great moments on the 4 PT albums he was a part of, but Maitland was terrific as well. He had a groove and feel that Harrison does not. Just check out the original Hatesong and then listen to it with Harrison live. As he usually tends to do, Harrison overplayed it by adding too many fills that just eliminated the vibe and groove of the song. I rarely watch the two live PT DVDs because I get so aggravated by Harrison's constant overplaying (and PT is one of my two favorite bands ever).

 

If only Wilson would be sensible and release “A Door Marked Summer” on vinyl...

 

That's exactly the term I was looking for. It's too busy. It's one of the reasons that Neil Peart kinda drives me crazy -- he's technically excellent, but so precise that I get distracted by the drums instead of listening to the song. It's also why David Gilmour's and Roger Waters' post-Floyd drummers don't usually work for me -- too distracting, too flashy, too much going on. Nick is the pinnacle of "Feel" drummers who didn't come up through formal training, and aren't adding needless bells and whistles (or cymbal fills), but rather just playing along. Nick's appreciation of jazz probably helps, too.

Blundell seems like he's from the Nick Mason school to me.