Porcupine Tree, London, Forum, 26/04/07

Day after the PT gig at the Forum in London and still digesting the experience. Musically, it was awesome. First of all I had no idea just how good John Wesley’s voice was and how the harmonies really sparkle, even live. Second, Anesthetize live is awesome, almost the night’s finest moment –epecially the mesmerizing middle section.
Right up there too was Blackest Eyes, which simply blew me away, melodic and powerful and brilliantly played. Indeed most of the set was wonderful.
But it wasn’t all perfect. Personally I didn’t think some things worked live. I thought the inclusion of Half Light was an odd choice and it didn’t totally work. It’s a beastiful song but maybe not the best live experience ever.
I’ll get flak for this but I also think it is a mistake to play the whole of the FOABP album live. Sentimental doesn’t work and the band fluffed the first verse slightly. The album’s closing tracks aren’t necessarily suited to a live environment either – the strings of Sleep Together disappearing in the mix totally. I could have lived without both and would have enjoyed a deeper trawl through some back catalogue – maybe Trains, Last Chance to Evacuate, Dark Matter, Sound of Muzak, Signify, Pure Narcotic.
A minor complaint though. Otherwise the choices were spot on. Even Less, Halo, Mother and Child Divided, all great but to include Drown With Me – what a great choice!
They’re not the most charismatic band live, the lights were perfunctory and the I think they could do more with the video projections but when the music’s that good, does it really matter? Hardly.

With regard to the last two tracks from FOABP, I think both are wonderful songs but I thought by that stage it would have been a better choice to pace the dynamic of the gig with something a little lighter. With Sleep Together the strings just disappear and they are what make that track special. Way Out of Here is great but at that stage in the concert I thought they could have done with something a little lighter in tone - maybe something from Stupid Dream? Something a little more melody driven. I suppose they might have been attempting to crank up the intensity right through the final stages of the setlist and it worked in that regard. I think I'm just getting old!!! Wanted to hear something a little lighter, maybe Drown With Me would have been better at that point?
For me Gravity Eyelids was great, they really nailed it. It had all the right atmospherics and in the mid-section really kicked.
Thinking back the one I thought was also incongruous was Open Car. Would have preffered Shallow or even Orchidia or something like that. I also think the vocal was a stretch for Steven on Open Car. On Lightbulb Sun too on the second and third chorus Steven decided to raise the vocal a whole octave, which was weird as it was clearly too big a stretch. Not sure why, if he wanted a bigger punch from it he just didn't double the vocal with John taking the higher part?
This all sounds like I'm down on it. I'm not. I thought it was brilliant! One of those evening's when you just think - f**k me, what would this band be like if they had access to big production values in terms of lighting, projections etc. Then again if that was the case we wouldn't be seeing them in such intimate surrounds but in huge football stadiums  and that would be just as big a shame.

It was a great gig though. And the band did seem in good form. There wasn't any of the tension you mentioned from the Preston gig, though there were long periods, longer than anything seen on the Arriving Here DVD, where Colin and John had naff all to do.
However, Steven even made a few jokes. In referencing the new album he said that for the time in 20 years he could actually say something was from a hit record and then pointed out that Richard Barbieri claimed to have been involved with much bigger hits leaving Gavin to fill in with the drum pattern from (I think) Visions of China. Funny. Was this rehearsed and trotted out at every gig? I imagine so...


Edited by arcer - April 28 2007 at 08:21