Steven Wilson "Home Invasion - In Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" (BR+2CD, DVD+2CD) Oct 26/18

Just finished watching the disk. Great show. Nice to enjoy the music 24db down from what I experienced live!

 

I just saw him at Paramount, Huntington NY (1,500 seats) and it was ridiculously loud as well. I had great seats (7th row) and had to move back to the standing section to save my ears. I had earplugs with me but hate wearing as they muffle everything, had to close ears during every loud passage. Spoke to Adam H. after the show and told him the same. He said stage volume is fairly loud as well, but nothing like audience volume. Have seen SW/PT many times in the past and never this loud.

 

Still waiting to watch the blue ray as it is wrapped up and under the Christmas tree.

I also ordered the vinyl so expected to have to wait until March next year for that.

I just received an email from Burning Shed telling me that my name had been picked out of a hat and that I will be getting a signed test pressing by Christmas!

 

It arrived today. It's a good job that Burning Shed use good mailers because Parcel Farce had a good go at destroying it. One corner was soaked and badly squished. The lps were ok though the rest of the mailer plus a bubble wrap bag prevented any further damage.


SW has signed each of the plain white outers.

Playing first LP now, Ninet is sounding good on Pariah. Nice quiet vinyl.

Looking forward to getting my real copy with printed sleeves, booklet etc.

 

I use earasers. Really like them. Wore them for SW show in Ponte Vedra Sunday Night, which was definitely loud. Everything was crystal clear and no after show ringing.

 

For those interested....



My review of Steven Wilson's [ii]Home Invasion: In Concert at The Royal Albert Hall[/i], today at All About Jazz.

In a career now early in its fourth decade, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson has bucked almost every trend in the new millennium music industry. After spending over twenty years as the driving force behind Porcupine Tree, he made the seemingly risky move of going solo with 2009's Insurgentes (Kscope). In some ways it was an odd move, given that Porcupine Tree ostensibly began as a solo project, with Wilson collaborating, in only its very earliest years (and not for long) with Malcolm Stocks, and Porcupine Tree only becoming a full-fledged group when album sales demanded he put a band together to take his music on the road.

And history was against him. Many artists who left popular groups found, despite any cachet built with their former band (and Porcupine Tree had built a sizeable audience), that only a surprisingly paltry percentage of their former fans were willing to go along with them into their solo endeavors. By the time Wilson hit the road in 2011 for the first time under his own name, in support of his second solo album--the even more ambitious Grace for Drowning (Kscope)--the number of Porcupine Tree fans who'd gone along him was already much greater than any stats could have predicted.

Over the course of the next four years and two studio albums--2013's The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) and 2015's concept album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. (both on Kscope)--Wilson continued to grow his audience, attracting not just those who'd been following his career for years, but entirely new demographics as well.

Based on the direction of his music, which brought together influences from a multitude of musical styles that was, in itself, a rare thing, Wilson found an unexpected nexus of fans. Hardcore progressive rock fans loved his often-times complex compositions, filled with breathtaking solo space rendered all the more impressive by his occasionally shifting lineup of virtuosic supporting musicians. But Wilson was also drawing in an increasing number of fans attracted to his unequivocally lyrical (albeit dark) disposition, not to mention those captivated by the metal elements brought to bear (to varying degrees) on his solo records, and which he first explored in greater depth across Porcupine Tree's new millennium releases. Wilson even released a compilation, Transience (Kscope, 2015), intended as an introduction to his music via his more readily approachable music, including a new version of the pop-friendly "Lazarus," first heard on Porcupine Tree's Deadwing (Lava, 2005).

Continue reading here...

 

Excellent review - thanks for posting!

 

Congratulations!! Hold on to those. Very special.

 

Have there been any reports of defective BD’s?
I finally got to watch this in surround yesterday. The center channel was hardly used on my copy. I thought at first it was mixed in 4.1 but occasionally something would come out of the center. For instance, during Arriving Somewhere But Not Here all I heard was the organ. There seemed to be a “hole” in the vocals which only came out of the front left and right channels.
Is this the way it was mixed or do I have a strangely defective copy?

It’s not my amp. Everything else I played on it was fine.

 

I believe is the way it was recorded. I had the same question when I noticed the center channel mute for what it appears most of the time.
To be honest I didn’t make a big fuzz because I didn’t miss anything, it felt right.

Peace,
Tony

 

Thanks. I thought the vocals were excessively hollowed out. It was probably due to me paying too much attention to what wasn’t coming out of the center channel.

 

semi-OT question: how much of a difference in music is there on a properly positioned and balanced surround setup with the vocals isolated in the center channel versus center-panned between left and right?

 

It's used as a "trick" at mixing to get more positionning options and sometimes get a different feel to the parts that come from the C only vs. the ghost L+R. On a "perfect" system, if both mono feeds were played consecutively, there should be little to no difference.

 

Woo ! beautiful 5 Lp set

 

I'm giving this thread a bump because a wish of my just came true: Steven Wilson has released the beautiful animated video that was projected on the backdrop during the performance of "Song of Unborn"!



Unfortunately, I only have a slow DSL connection so I can't watch in high def.
Even so, seeing this has made my day!

 

That was one of my favorite Songs from 'To The Bone'. For all the Great Rock Songs SW has written on his Solo Albums, post Porcupine Tree, I think his Best Songs have been the Slower Ballads, like 'Drive Home', 'Deform to Form A Star', 'Postcard', 'Perfect Life', 'Pariah' and 'Routine'(although that Song mixes in some heavier sounding parts).