Venue: House of Blues, Boston
The pictures are from a signing by the band on the afternoon of the show. I don’t have photographic evidence of it, but believe me when I say it, I shook hands with Steven Wilson. I got a poster and my In Absentia CD booklet signed by the band who seemed quite cheery. An acoustic performance had to be canceled as SW was feeling a bit unwell.
The Incident sounded amazing, just as I’d predicted. The band took 3 short breaks during the first set, and it was only because SW had to change guitars. Apart from those, the first set was a pretty seamless experience. Occam’s Razor and The Blind House melded into one song and got the show off to fantastic start. Great Expectations, while still short, was wonderful and Kneel and Disconnect translated really well live. The vocal harmonies between SW and touring guitarist John Wesley gave me goosebumps. I’ve been converted on the quality of The Incident (the title track, not Disc 1 as a whole) as the song was quite hard-hitting when played live (accompanied by a creepy animation). Of course, Time Flies was outstanding. I liked how SW would take a seat whenever he was playing an acoustic guitar – made the show feel more intimate. Octane Twisted and Circle of Manias were real head-bangers and the crowd loved them both. I Drive The Hearse was a beautiful way to end the first set.
The band took a 10-minute break after the first set during which they had a cool digital clock on the projector screen counting down their imminent return. The band opened with The Start of Something Beautiful and it rocked! However, during the second set, Anesthetize pt 2 was by far the song that rocked the hardest. It had the crowd going wild and the band put everything into that song. I wasn’t sure if it would work on its own, but the band segued right into it after Russia on Ice, which featured SW using one of these new-fangled LCD guitars. The venue went dark and the visualizations on the guitar were quite amazing. It was also great to see one of my In Absentia favorites, Strip the Soul being played live. SW introduced the song as the one where “Mr. Colin Edwin plays the bass.” And boy did he play that bass well! Instead of playing the song all the way through, the band ended it with the second half or so of .3 and I thought that was well done, too.
I had seen the band’s sound people making changes to a printed setlist before PT took stage. While I saw the setlist, I couldn’t tell what they replaced Way Out of Here with. Turns out, we got an extra song as the band played both Normal and Mother and Child Divided to close out the second set. Normal in particular was a highlight for me as I had wanted to hear it live and the band played it to perfection.
While it was apparent that SW had a cold, he did not let it affect the band’s performance. Maybe a function of where I was standing (in front of the soundboard), but the sound at this show was one of the best at any show I’ve been to. Ever. I could hear all the instruments, and was especially pleased with the strong presence of Colin Edwin’s bass in the mix. The crowd was respectful and really into the show, which was great to see.
As is usually the case, Gavin Harrison was spot-on, except for a gaffe (intentional?) during The Sound of Muzak. His magic trick in the middle of Trains was entertaining and a train horn sound from Richard Barbieri was a nice touch as well. Quite incredibly, the band has found a way to freshen up the song, in spite of playing it at almost every show since In Absentia came out.
Porcupine Tree are now the band I have seen live most often – three times. Each show has been a wonderful experience and I can’t wait for them to come back next year and play songs not played on this tour. I really wish they’d play more material from Stupid Dream (Piano Lessons, for one) as it’s my second favorite PT record. I got talking to the person behind me as we waited on the line to get in and we became concert buddies for the show! We talked about PT, other bands, and concerts. ‘Twas cool.
Setlist:
The Incident [The Incident Disc 1]
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The Start of Something Beautiful [Deadwing]
Russia on Ice [Lightbulb Sun]
The Pills I’m Taking (middle section of Anesthetize) [FoaBP]
Remember Me Lover [The Incident Disc 2]
Strip the Soul/.3 [In Absentia]
Normal [Nil Recurring]
Mother and Child Divided [Deadwing B-side]
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The Sound of Muzak [In Absentia]
Trains [In Absentia]
