Steven Wilson is a man who never sleeps. He has performed and produced music with many acts over the last few decades, including Porcupine Tree, No-Man, Blackfield, Storm Corrosion, Opeth and more! Even in his down time he might be visiting Tel Aviv or remixing a Jethro Tull re-issue, and yet somehow, the master of modern Prog Rock has still found the time to perform a 3 hour show to a sold out Manchester audience!
Steven performed with a different line-up to his previous European leg of the "Hand. Cannot. Erase." tour, featuring some new faces and some old. Most notable was Dave Kilminster, son of the late legend Lemmy. It was good to see Dave back on the horse only a month after his sad loss. And his guitar playing and charisma tonight was extraordinary to watch. The whole band was extremely talented. Insane drum fills, complex guitar solos and atmospheric mellotron and moog sounds were the order of the day.
The first part of the concert was dedicated exclusively to performing his latest (and in my opinion best) 4th solo album "Hand. Cannot. Erase." Since this was one of my favourite albums of 2015, I was super excited to get to hear it live in full. Not only was there a fantastic sound and light show, but the entire performance featured a film that tells the story of the whole album. It was almost like watching a live score for a film. The lady on the front of the cover starred in most of it, and there was even an animated sequence during standout "Routine", which Wilson jested was "the most miserable song ever written". Whilst I don't quite agree, this was a stunning highlight of the set. Unfortunately Ninet Tayeb's epic vocals weren't on hand tonight, but a well mixed in backing track did suffice. "3 Years Older" was another huge highlight, a track always evolving and taking new paths in true Prog style. The doomy "Home Invasion" had a riff reminiscent of Opeth's "The Grand Conjuration". Steven beamed with great confidence as a frontman, performing barefoot and occasionally directing the band with hand gestures.
The second half of the show focused not only on the man's extensive back catalogue, but also featured songs from yet another new album (or extended EP as he called it), "4 1/2", which was just released a week beforehand. This EP features new studio recordings of old songs that didn't quite fit on their respective albums. From this album he performed the majestic "Vermillioncore", as well as the album's big standout "Don't Hate Me". This "deleted scene" from the "Hand. Cannot. Erase." album would also feature Ninet on vocals, but Steven Wilson did a fine job singing the higher notes. All night his vocals were on fantastic form and rang with so much confidence.
Having spent over 20 years performing with his main band Porcupine Tree, it would be disappointing not to hear some of their classics songs, and fortunately nothing was disappointing here. Steven did a very lovely rendition of "Lazarus" which he dedicated to David Bowie. The piano playing on this song was absolutely gorgeous! A big surprise was a performance of "The Sound of Muzak" from the "In Absentia" album, with it's Tool-esque groove. The show climaxed with a tear inducing version of "The Raven That Refused to Sing", accompanied by an awesome animated film with a Tim Burton-esque atmosphere.
There was a very special atmosphere in the 02 Apollo tonight, and looking around me I saw such an eclectic array of fans, old and young, wearing all sorts of different bands on their shirts from genres far and wide. Steven Wilson really has something that almost everyone can enjoy, and he brings an incredible live show that works at all angles. The sound, the visuals, the musicianship, the banter and the confidence were all on par. Those 3 hours absolutely flew by and a lot of that time was taken up by some of the longest and most gracious applauses I've even seen at a concert. 10/10.
There was a very special atmosphere in the 02 Apollo tonight, and looking around me I saw such an eclectic array of fans, old and young, wearing all sorts of different bands on their shirts from genres far and wide. Steven Wilson really has something that almost everyone can enjoy, and he brings an incredible live show that works at all angles. The sound, the visuals, the musicianship, the banter and the confidence were all on par. Those 3 hours absolutely flew by and a lot of that time was taken up by some of the longest and most gracious applauses I've even seen at a concert. 10/10.
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