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Topic ClosedSteven Wilson, Cleveland 5-2-13

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AmbianceMan View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Steven Wilson, Cleveland 5-2-13
    Posted: May 07 2013 at 17:39
First of all I have 2 big shout outs:  First, my wife for coming along (who ended up enjoying it pretty well), and I will probably have to go see Josh Groban with her as a result ..
 
Secondly, The House of Blues in Cleveland was amazing.  We are from Dayton, Ohio so we booked a hotel as well.  We bought the dinner/concert package, so for less than $300 we got a hotel stay, dinner, and tickets to the show.  My wife said it was the best steak she ever had, and my lobster and flatbread was amazing.  It also meant we didn't have to stand in any lines and we got to sit in a roped off section for the concert with chairs, right behind the sound board.  Prime location!  We weren't more than 30 feet from the stage.
 
It was a very intimate show, not packed, SUPER sound.  Steven was very laid back, talking to the crowd, joking with his bandmates, he was having a good time up there, and also announced that they would NOT be playing Free Bird!
 
An intro video/music was played for what seemed like 25 minutes.  Way too long, maybe there was some technical difficulty.  The set was the same as previous posters:
Luminol
Drive Home
Pin Drop (super chorus live, highlight of the show for me).  I assumed that it was possibly Nick Beggs singing on this one because it didn't sound like Wilson on the album, but I found out it is indeed Wilson.  This is also where the light show kicked in, great light show.
Postcard
Deform to Form a Star
Holy Drinker
 
At this point a sheer drape comes down and a projector shines clock images and whatnot on it.  The band is behind the sheer and start playing.  It's was like watching a music video and the band at the same time, nice effect.
The Watchmaker (amazing ending)
Index
No Part of Me
Insurgentes
Harmony Korine (very cool live)
Raider II
The Raven That Refused to Sing, and while the video played behind them it was in perfect sync, even down to the lip (edit: I mean "beak") movements of the raven matching Steven's vocals.  Quite nice

Encore: Radioactive Toy
 
I preferred the live versions over any album version of any of these songs.  The sound was so crisp and tight, and the punches were perfect.  The contrast between music parts is really accentuated live and carries MUCH more feeling.  I can see after going to this show that his music is intended to be appreciated live moreso than the album versions.  And of course Guthrie Govan had some additions for some of the songs, he is an amazing guitar player.  I really hadn't had time to digest all of Grace for Drowning, and all of a sudden Raven comes out and Guthrie is listed as the guitar player.
 
I firmly believe Raven is an instant classic.
 
Peace!

 


Edited by AmbianceMan - May 07 2013 at 17:52
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Roland113 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 18:52
Great review, I was at the Pittsburgh show two days earlier and I'm kind of jealous of the steak and lobster.  I ate at home and had hot dogs wrapped in croissants.  Good, but not quite steak.  The good news is that my five year old loved the dinner . . . 

So after I left the two of them and went to the Pittsburgh show, I had a blast.  For our show, they did advertise that there would be a half hour video prior to the band taking the stage.  We will take the blame for the Free Bird reference, it was asked for from te Pittsburgh crowd.  On the other hand, we were silent for the ''pretentious' moments of silence in Raider II.

I agree with you on the live versions, they had so much power and such a fantastic feel.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 21:30
I went to the Boulder show last night, and I agree with you both. Absolutely stunning! However, there was a slight change in setlist: No Part of Me was replaced by Sectarian, which caught me by surprise. Sectarian was awesome, and the infamous chord changes synchronized with the epic light show, and during the song the curtain put up during the Watchmaker came down, inciting thunderous applause. Before Deform to Form a Star, Adam played a brief but beautiful piano solo from out of the blue. After he finished, a drunken frat boy (Boulder, guys) yelled "BEAUTIFUL" in the ensuing silence. Hilarious. During Steven's Free Bird speech before Raider, everyone was yelling the former while one guy was absolutely screaming his heart out for Salvaging, which is actually one of Steven's tracks. Why, I didn't know.

Steven did mention that he genuinely enjoyed Boulder (not to say he didn't enjoy the other cities... but then again.), and an audience member gave him a finger puppet of a raven that he sort of played with during Raider II. Also, Marco (the drummer) played with a plastic pig during the quiet part of Radioactive Toy, and during the last freak out ending of the latter.... He held his sticks up to hit the last note, put both in one hand and briefly held up the pig, then proceeded to end the song. As stated earlier, the band's chemistry was inimitable. Absolutely brilliant! Nick loved jamming out with Marco, and Steven hung around with Adam during the jams. I loved the few seconds before The Holy Drinker when Steven took Nick's bass and started jamming out while Nick went backstage and grabbed his Chapman stick, tuning it on stage. This was an amazing display of talent to me.

Great sound, great atmosphere, very diverse crowd. Stood next to a nice couple and discussed Opeth's upcoming show (the guy was wearing a Katatonia shirt) along with Steven's material. Just a blast.
I consider drone metal to be progressive...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 21:31
Here's a decent review, with some great photos, of the Boulder show.  (Yes, I was there!)

http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2013/05/07/steven-wilson-at-the-boulder-theater-5-6-13-photos-review/


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 21:47
Great photos.  They told us before we went in, no cameras, but everyone had their phones in the air none-the-less.  I really wanted to hear Sectarian, one of my favorites.  Incidentally, I picked up the "get all you deserve" DVD at the show and that concert mirrors his raven show in many ways..except the songs were different of course.  The DVD doesn't capture Wilson's concert experience though, not even close.  Live is 10 times better.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 21:58
Originally posted by infocat infocat wrote:

Here's a decent review, with some great photos, of the Boulder show.  (Yes, I was there!)

http://www.heyreverb.com/blog/2013/05/07/steven-wilson-at-the-boulder-theater-5-6-13-photos-review/




Some great photos, I was standing in the back left next to a stack unfortunately. There were also a few guys who held their hands up and did the dynamic stuff with each cue and note hit. Doesn't sound bad, but when you're 5'6"...
I consider drone metal to be progressive...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2013 at 22:27
Going to see him in a week. Really glad, since I didn't make up my mind on time last year. And yes, I'd rather he included Sectarian in the show I'm seeing.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2013 at 13:34
My wife and I were at the San Francisco show at the Fillmore (perfect venue, btw), and the show was fantastic!  We got to hear Sectarian as well, but no Radioactive Toy in the encore.  We were treated to a medley of sorts, which started out with Remainder The Black Dog and segued into No Twilight Within The Courts Of The Sun before ending on Remainder.  And then there was part of a Storm Corrosion song that ended the show.  Just fantastic.  Best prog concert I've been to and just behind Soundgarden for the best concert I've been to, period.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2013 at 20:25
Going to see him tomorrow!!! But I kind of read something about them changing the drummer... not sure though. Should that be good or bad?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2013 at 22:43
Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

Going to see him tomorrow!!! But I kind of read something about them changing the drummer... not sure though. Should that be good or bad?
 
I'd go with bad if Marco isn't drumming.  The guy seems like he did a few lines of coke before going on stage because he's a mad man on the drums!  Very fast, but precise.  Who knows, though, it might not make any difference.
 
EDIT:  I just read that the drummer is currently Chad Wackerman (LOL yep, I'm immature) for the next leg of the tour. 


Edited by MillsLayne - May 13 2013 at 23:12
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 17 2013 at 11:14
Originally posted by MillsLayne MillsLayne wrote:

Originally posted by Dellinger Dellinger wrote:

Going to see him tomorrow!!! But I kind of read something about them changing the drummer... not sure though. Should that be good or bad?


 

I'd go with bad if Marco isn't drumming.  The guy seems like he did a few lines of coke before going on stage because he's a mad man on the drums!  Very fast, but precise.  Who knows, though, it might not make any difference.

 

EDIT:  I just read that the drummer is currently Chad Wackerman (LOL yep, I'm immature) for the next leg of the tour. 


I already attended the show, which was really fantastic. Unfortunatley, I'm ashamed to say I don't really remember that well how Marco looks, so I'm not sure if it was or wasn't him on the kit. Still, the drumming was really cool during the show.
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