Index

I'm going to start this off by saying that this is a Steven Wilson appreciation post. By that I shall be going into a discussion of the three times I have seen him live; Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, and his Grace for Drowning tour.
Steven Wilson is a huge inspiration to me, between just absolutely loving all his music, the vast amount of work he has been able to create, his musical integrity, and overall just all that he's accomplished are just mind blowing. He really is my idol, and if I ever get to meet him again I just want to tell him "thank you". For putting his work out there, being the nicest person to his fans, and just never stopping creating music.


Porcupine Tree - 9/24/10 Radio City Music Hall

For those who are unaware the Radio City show was one of two special shows for Porcupine Tree, the second being the show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. These shows were consisting of material that the band has not played in some time, and prepared specifically for those two special evenings.

The show itself consisted of three sets, plus an encore. As an audience we were graced with three wonderful hours of music provided by Porcupine Tree. While everyone would love for the shows that they go to be the ones that are recorded for official release, this show I feel really should have. Either Radio City or the Royal Albert Hall would be wonderful to have, so those of us who went could relive the moment and those who didn't experience a small fraction of it. But I do kind of understand how making a release of that would take away part of the special nature of those shows really being a once in a lifetime moment.

They opened the show by being their own opening act, playing the songs acoustically. Their first set consisted of the following:

01. Stranger By The Minute
02. Small Fish
03. Pure Narcotic
04. Black Dahlia
05. Futile

 This recording of "Stranger by the Minute" can give you an idea as to how we began the show..

This was another one of those shows that as the night went on, just got better and better. Below is a video from later on in the show, how they conclude the second set with "Bonnie the Cat".

I wish I could go back to that night just to see it all again.. But for your interest here we have below, the setlists of the rest of the show that night:

Second Set: 06. Even Less | 07. Open Car | 08. Lazarus | 09. Tinto Brass | 10. The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One) | 11. I Drive the Hearse | 12. Bonnie the Cat


Third Set: 13. Occam's Razor | 14. The Blind House | 15. Great Expectations | 16. Kneel and Disconnect | 17. Drawing the Line | 18. Dislocated Day | 19. Time Flies | 20. Anesthetize | 21. Up the Downstair | 22. Sleep Together

Encore: 23. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here

Really, for those people who traveled to see this I know it was worth it. For me going to the city is easy for concerts, you just have to hop a train, but if they did another show like this I would be willing to travel to another state just to see it. It really was amazing, and this being the first time I had seen Porcupine Tree live it was really special for me. Once they return to the studio or to tour, I know I shall be getting tickets to see them as soon as possible. Everyone in the band is such a fantastic musician, and from watching their performance you can tell they just loved playing the show.

Blackfield - 5/20/11 Irving Plaza

Tickets to this show was actually a birthday present from my parents, which was great. This was the first time I had seen Blackfield, as well as Anathema who was the opening act. Now it wasn't the entire band of Anathema because they weren't all able to make it to the US, so just Vincent and Danny Cavanagh playing acoustically. I have to say, they put on such a fantastic show.

Anathema's set from that night was as followed:
01. Thin Air
02. Deep
03. Angels Walk Among Us
04. Lost Control
06. Fragile Dreams
07. One Last Goodbye
08. Flying

Their acoustic performance was just beautiful with so much emotion put into each song. I really hope that they tour the US at some point in the near future so I can see them again, and get to see the whole band. But just meeting those two at the end of the show, they really were extremely nice. They almost seemed surprised that we were saying how much we loved their performance, but they were really great. They had even signed the special edition of We're Here Because We're Here that we bought right after the show. If you haven't listened to them yet, you really are missing out. Now this was when they were touring We're Here Because We're Here, which is fantastic, but make sure to check out their newest album Weather Systems. That album I would say is definitely one of the best released this year. I am hoping that following their current European tour that they come back to the states for a headlining tour of their own.

When Blackfield came on, they put on a great set. I was really close to the front for that show, and I was completely thrilled. The set they did for that night was the following:

01. Blood | 02. Blackfield | 03. Glass House | 04. Go to Hell | 05. Open Mind | 06. Pain | 07. DNA | 08. Waving | 09. 1,000 People | 10. Once | 11. The Hole in Me | 12. Miss U | 13. Zigota | 14. Epidemic | 15. Oxygen | 16. Where Is My Love? | 17. Dissolving with the Night
Encore: 18. Far Away | 19. Hello | 20. End of the World | 21. Cloudy Now

The whole concert was just amazing, and I had two nice added bonuses for that show. The first being I got one of Steven Wilson's picks. Now the second is even better.. as you can see to the right I got to meet Steven Wilson. Honestly I was really kind of star stuck since I love his music so I don't recall saying too much, but I did get a photo with him and he was kind enough to sign some stuff. Seriously, he was so nice to everyone who was there at the end I still can't get over it. I had also gotten to meet Aviv Geffen, who also took a picture with me, and Eran Mitelman. It was great, and I am looking forward to the next album and tour that they do, even if Steven Wilson isn't going to have as bi of a part in it.


Grace for Drowning Tour - 11/11/11 Best Buy Theater
This concert stands as one of the best shows I have seen. The amount of talent on that stage, was just completely mind blowing. I wish that it didn't have to end, because I loved every single second I was there. From the moment we got there where they had Bass Communion playing as the crowd walked in up until the beginning of the set, up until the last note.

Here is what the amazing setlist from that night was: 

01. No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun | 02. Index | 03. Deform to Form a Star | 04. Sectarian | 05. Postcard | 06. Remainder the Black Dog | 07. Harmony Korine | 08. Abandoner | 09. Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye | 10. No Part of Me | 11. Veneno Para Las Hadas | 12. Raider II
Encore: 13. Get All You Deserve

I really wish that I could have seen a second date of this tour, but I am very glad that I got to see it. Every second of this show was just amazing. I don't really have words for it, but I am looking forward to watching the Get All You Deserve blu-ray to sort of relive moments of the show.

"INDEX"

Now this over here is the third in a series that I plan to continue, which is to draw something to connect to a specific concert. This well, is taking the lyrics of the song "Index" and referencing the point in the show when Wilson got out the gas mask. If you are interested I do have this up on deviantART.

I hope that you have enjoyed this accumulated post on the various times I have seen Steven Wilson related projects live. Every single one was amazing in their own way.