Saw Steven Wilson live last night

axisus

.... at the Royal Albert Hall. A breathtaking gig! I don't think I've ever been to a more enjoyable show. Great light show, incredible material, some fantastic projections on a screen bigger than the side of a house - Some abstract imagery, and some weird films, a bit horror in tone. The start to the gig was really ominous - the lights went down, some drone was playing for quite a long time and the screen showed a picture out of a window. This went on for a while, then I noticed that there was a figure in black in the background, almost imperceptibly moving closer, closer .... it was eerie!

I wish I could have made the first night as well as they played mostly different material on each night. 

Dave Kilminster was superb on guitar, but also we had Guthrie show up and blast three of my favourite numbers: Home Invasion/Regret#9 and Drive home. Wilson's PRS sounded superb with powerchords throughout, and some of the music was really heavy - absolute cacophony! (in a good way). 

2 hours of music plus about 20 minutes of encore. Utterly fabulous! Much prog rock over the years has still had it's head stuck in the 70s, but Wilson's material is much more vibrant and edgy. 

not_the_dj

Sounds awesome, really wish I could have gone to this. Saw him with Guthrie on the first leg of the latest tour and it was outstanding, but this looks to have really been something special.

Chuffola

Was at the Monday show but if I'd known there were going to be two entirely different set lists and guests earlier, I'd have gone to both. Brilliant stuff.

axisus

Yeah, I wish I could have afforded both nights!

Teetonetal

sounds awesome, I desperately wanted to go to the Zürich show, so very jealous!

Chuffola

My only disappointment was Guthrie missing on Monday but Dave Kilminster was excellent in his absence.

Moss

Wasn't it Matt Berry supporting?

axisus

Moss said:

Wasn't it Matt Berry supporting?

Yes it was! I rather enjoyed them. 5 songs, three were very proggy with lots of instrumental. The lead guitarist had quite a lot of action.

Hootsmon

this "Matt Berry"....anything to do with the actor?

axisus

hootsmon said:

this "Matt Berry"....anything to do with the actor?

Yup, one and the same

http://www.themattberry.co.uk/purchase/

Aidanspaghetti

Necro bump - I'm going to see SW in Dublin in a few weeks, cant wait.

Love the new record.

Aidanspaghetti

Just back from the gig and it was all kinds of awesomeness
That whole new fandangled "Hologram" stuff is out there.... 
Great great gig.
What a band.

Hootsmon

who is in his band this tour?

Hootsmon

anyone know who the current members are?

Vaiai

Craig Blundell on drums - has been the last 2 yrs I think? Alex Hutchings on guitar and the same bass/keys

Hootsmon

Cheers V 

axisus

The mighty Nick Beggs on bass!

Alterlifeson

Caught the final RAH show last night, loved every second of it. The setlist wasn't what I was expecting, he played all but one song from the new album, which was to be expected, but didn't venture too far back Porcupine Tree wise. I read that he did that the previous night  and also played most of H.C.E (a firm favourite). It looks like Dave Kilminster came out for a bit too!

I like Alex Hutchings on the guitar as well, he seems a good fit with the rest of the guys. He seems a little more reserved than Dave and kept himself to himself on stage, mind you he has only recently joined. Great player though! One thing that surprised me is that the length of his strap appear to change from song to song. Some of the more technical parts the guitar was jacked right up to his chest, other heavier songs and it was haning below the waist!

Any one else catch a RAH gig?

axisus

Really wish I'd gone now .....

impmann

Alterlifeson said:

Caught the final RAH show last night, loved every second of it. The setlist wasn't what I was expecting, he played all but one song from the new album, which was to be expected, but didn't venture too far back Porcupine Tree wise. I read that he did that the previous night  and also played most of H.C.E (a firm favourite). It looks like Dave Kilminster came out for a bit too!

I like Alex Hutchings on the guitar as well, he seems a good fit with the rest of the guys. He seems a little more reserved than Dave and kept himself to himself on stage, mind you he has only recently joined. Great player though! One thing that surprised me is that the length of his strap appear to change from song to song. Some of the more technical parts the guitar was jacked right up to his chest, other heavier songs and it was haning below the waist!

Any one else catch a RAH gig?

Yes, I was at the Thursday show. Incredible. As ever, SW is just superb.

However, I'm not a fan of Alex Hutchings in SW's band. His playing isn't emotive (at all), whilst technically very demanding - which I find very dull. I also thought his guitar sound was awful - indistinct and muffled for most of the time. His solo on Regret 9 wasn't moving or inspiring, and missed the whole point - I thought Dave K's solos from last tour were *incredible* and the night I saw the hand.cannot.erase tour in London I'd say Dave's solo was better than Guthrie's recorded one (and I consider that to be in the top 10 greatest solos of all time). I'm not saying Alex is a bad player - not at all - but I think Dave was a better 'fit' due to the emotive qualities in his playing. I'm hoping that Steven can persuade Dave to come back in the future, as I'd love to hear an album written with Dave doing to 'stunt' guitar stuff.

On a different note - Steven's new CS Tele sounds incredible. And I'd say sounds 'bigger' than his PRS guitars - obviously for the drop tuned stuff with big amounts of gain, it may not work so well but he looks so much more comfortable with the Tele and I thought his playing was the best I've seen from him.

Alterlifeson

impmann said:

Yes, I was at the Thursday show. Incredible. As ever, SW is just superb.

However, I'm not a fan of Alex Hutchings in SW's band. His playing isn't emotive (at all), whilst technically very demanding - which I find very dull. I also thought his guitar sound was awful - indistinct and muffled for most of the time. His solo on Regret 9 wasn't moving or inspiring, and missed the whole point - I thought Dave K's solos from last tour were *incredible* and the night I saw the hand.cannot.erase tour in London I'd say Dave's solo was better than Guthrie's recorded one (and I consider that to be in the top 10 greatest solos of all time). I'm not saying Alex is a bad player - not at all - but I think Dave was a better 'fit' due to the emotive qualities in his playing. I'm hoping that Steven can persuade Dave to come back in the future, as I'd love to hear an album written with Dave doing to 'stunt' guitar stuff.

On a different note - Steven's new CS Tele sounds incredible. And I'd say sounds 'bigger' than his PRS guitars - obviously for the drop tuned stuff with big amounts of gain, it may not work so well but he looks so much more comfortable with the Tele and I thought his playing was the best I've seen from him.

Interesting! Where were you sat in the hall? I was over on Nick and Craigs side about 4 rows from the front so Alex was a little drowned out for me, I put the guitar sound down to that. Could the lack of emotion be beacuse this is still new to him? He didn't look all that comfortable on stage at this point. This seems to be a huge profile gig for him too, I had only really heard his name in passing before this tour was annouced. He has some big boots to fill though!

Have you listened to the 41/2 album? I think that has lots of Dave K guitar on it. Theres a nice melodic solo in My Book of Regrets, love his phrasing in that.

Totally agree anout SWs tele, sounded mega. Even through that little H&K during Even Less.