Thanks for the excellent review.  Brings back very happy memories of the Colston Hall gig in Bristol last year.

Porcupine Tree-Melbourne, The Palace, 7^th of February 2010

First of all, what anincredible concert. I have only known of these guys from Hemel Hempstead,England, for a couple of years, (they’ve actually been around for two decades)but now I’m a dedicated fan. I’ve collected all their albums. Word of mouth hasbeen critical to the success of this band. Theirs is a story of hard work andpassion for music over hype, substance over style, grassroots fan campaigningand support over haughty Rock God image. Decidedly left of the mainstream, theyblend prog, metal, psych, electronica, and alt rock influences into anirresistible concoction with something for everyone. Indeed, the crowd for thegig ran the gamut from fans wearing Pink Floyd t shirts to those decked out inmetal band tees (I found my way to the gig by following the guys dressed inDream Theater and Opeth shirts. I was adorned in my Led Zeppelin ‘Stairway toHeaven’ shirt). And also, could it be? Girls (and not ugly ones) at a prog rockconcert? I kid you not.

The first half of thegig was PT playing the entirety of their new concept album The Incident, whichsounded incredible live. Even more atmospheric, energetic, and heavy than thestudio recording. If you’re not sold on the new album yet (I’ve heard ‘em all,and I think the new one is among the very best), I urge you to hear it live. Itmay change your mind. The second half was a selection of material from theirlast few most recent albums. The setlist was as follows:

Actone (The Incident suite)

Occam'sRazor

TheBlind House

GreatExpectations

Kneeland Disconnect

Drawingthe Line

TheIncident

YourUnpleasant Family

TheYellow Windows of the Evening Train

TimeFlies

DegreeZero of Liberty

OctaneTwisted

TheSéance

Circleof Manias

IDrive the Hearse

(Break)

Acttwo

TheStart of Something Beautiful (from Deadwing)

Russiaon Ice  (from Lightbulb Sun)

Anesthetize(from Fear of a Blank Planet)

Lazarus(from Deadwing)

WayOut Of Here (from Fear of a Blank Planet)

Normal(from Nil Recurring EP)

Bonniethe Cat (from The Incident disc 2)

Encore:

TheSound of Muzak (from In Absentia)

Trains (from In Absentia)

I pushed my way to theforefront of the pit. I had a really good view of the band, positioned right inthe centre, a few rows back from the front. I was metres away from bandfounder, chief lyricist, vocalist, and guitarist Steve Wilson. (The band beganas a solo project for Wilson, the other members coming onboard fulltime forthird album The Sky Moves Sideways). I could see Wilson was performing theentire concert barefoot, and could actually see his fingers working thefretboard on his guitar. He even looked me in the eye at one point. The bandplayed tighter than a pair of 80s spandex pants. This was a technicallyflawless performance, the only goof I noticed was Wilson singing the first noteof ‘I Drive the Hearse’ off-key and starting again. Oh well.

Special notice must begiven to drummer Gavin Harrison, who was freaking incredible. He’s an extremelygood drummer, his solos in ‘Octane Twisted’, ‘Bonnie the Cat’, and ‘Way Out ofHere’ being particular highlights. He got a rapturous applause from the audienceat the conclusion of the set.  (Harrison joined the band in 2002 for the breakthrough albumIn Absentia, replacing outgoing drummer Chris Maitland, a key turning point inthe band’s sound). Bass player Colin Edwin (from Melbourne, Australia; a fact whichwent down very well with tonight’s crowd!) was also rock solid. RichardBarbieri on keyboards added subtle texture to the songs, without being too muchin the forefront (he didn’t get solos like Muse’s Matt Bellamy or DreamTheater’s Jordan Rudess). Touring rhythm guitarist John Wesley was very good,too. He should join the band full time (I love his vocal harmonies withWilson).

There really wassomething for fans of all stripes. It was interesting to see. Opeth and DreamTheater- heads were windmill headbanging to ‘The Blind House’ (a very Opethianriff) and ‘Anesthetise’. Pink Floyd and Rush devotees were nodding in approvalto wistful epic ‘Time Flies’. Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and Marilyn Manson fanswere grooving along to the industrial syncopations of title track ‘TheIncident’ and the tech-metallish ‘Circle of Manias’.  Muse fans were fist pumping to more poppish efforts such asthe chant-worthy ‘Drawing the Line’ and ‘The Sound of Muzak’.  I love all facets of their sound.

This was only their secondvisit to Australia, and they were greeted by the ecstatic crowd with thefanfare of returning heroes. It goes to show that hard work, word of mouth, anddedication to the crafting of great music really can transcend the ‘mainstream’and become a cult phenomenon. The audience were great. Very supportive, andcheering the band on. I remember yelling out ‘Lazarus!’ and ‘Trains!’ when theysaid they’d be doing songs from Deadwing and In Absentia respectively(unfortunately, they didn’t listen to the guy yelling out ‘Hatesong!’ and‘Strip the Soul!’). I certainly hope they come down here again. My onlycomplaint was that they didn’t play anything pre-In Absentia (except for theheaviest thing they did before that record, Lightbulb Sun’s ‘Russia on Ice’).It might have been nice to hear some of the older, more psychedelic stuff likeThe Sky Moves Sideways or Signify.  And where was the Stupid Dream album, one of my favourites bythem? I guess a lot of fans discovered the band through their more recentalbums, and they decided to concentrate the setlist mainly on their heaviernumbers. I’m sure everyone in the audience had their favourites that weren’tplayed. It’s a testament to how many good songs the band has, really. And theyhaven’t officially released a live CD since the Lightbulb Sun era, so I hadn’theard many of these songs performed live before.

I don’t reallyremember the support band, to be honest (local group Sleep Parade). Theysounded OK, but the problem was I, and most of the audience, didn’t know thesongs. I suppose everyone has to start somewhere, slogging around touring withmore established acts. They weren’t too bad, but they did play overtime, whichmeant Porc Tree came on late, which meant I missed my train (ironic,considering ‘Trains’ was the final encore!) and had to take a cab home!

I think a fellow fanleaving the concert put it best, in a conversation I overheard about PT. (Thismay be slightly paraphrased).‘They do their own thing. They don’t wanna be justa metal band, or just a progressive band, or just an indie rock band. They takelittle bits of all of these. One day, they write this song. The next, theywrite another different one. They do whatever the hell they want’ Hear, hear.Go and see PT if you ever have the opportunity. Highly recommended.