A Double Helping of Steven Wilson

Tour Announcement

After anxiously awaiting the release of Steven Wilson's latest solo album, Hand Can Not Erase, he announced the North American tour dates. My friends and I picked these shows because they were on the weekend, and within close proximity of each other. The shows were in Anaheim, and LA, on 6/12 and 6/13 respectively.

Band Lineup

For the European leg this spring, the band lineup was essentially the same as the Raven that Refused to Sing tour. The only person missing this time around were Theo Travis, on woodwinds.

For the North American leg, Marco Minnemann, and Guthrie Govan, also dropped off, because of their commitment to their own project, the Aristocrats. (I'll be seeing them perform here in Austin, on 8/21.)

The current lineup of the band is:

• Steven Wilson - Vocals and Guitar
  
• Adam Holzman - Keyboards
  
• Nick Beggs - Bass and Chapman Stick
  
• Dave Kilminster - Lead Guitar
  
• Craig Blundell - Drums
  

I was already familiar with Kilminster's work, he has played with the Keith Emerson band in the past, and also was the guitarist on Roger Water's tour for the Wall.

Blundell apparently won some sort of drum clinic contest, and doesn't seem to have a very long resume. I will say, he is quite good, and certainly held things down.

Friday 6/12 - The National Grove in Anaheim

Even though Anaheim was only 35 miles away, we had to leave LA around 4:30 PM. With LA traffic, it ended up consuming approximately 90 minutes. I certainly didn't miss this aspect of LA, which I used to experience when I was contracting in Orange County 15 years ago.

The venue is actually at the edge of the parking lot of Angels stadium. So there were a lot of people in the area with baseball paraphernalia on.

Inside I estimate that the venue held somewhere between 1.5 to 2K. Sight lines and acoustics were good, and the seating was comfortable.

The concert started approximately at 8:30, and finished up two half hours later. The setlist was focused mainly on the new album, but also included covers of two PT songs. In all honesty, it would be very difficult for a live music performance to ever get much better than this.

Saturday 6/13 - The Wiltern in Los Angeles

Night 2 was at the Wiltern. It is located just a few blocks away from the La Brea tar pits, has a larger seating capacity than the Grove, and is an older building. Although we had floor seats, the pitch of the floor was essentially flat, making it a bit more difficult to see. The seats were also cramped, but I had no complaints about the acoustics.

This show was actually streamed by Yahoo for free, and was on a somewhat tighter schedule than the previous night. The show started promptly at 8:00PM and finished up within the allotted two hours. I am hoping that perhaps it will be possible to purchase a video copy of the show in the future. As you can see, the setlist was a little different.

As the show progressed, you can see that my friends and I opted to go upstairs, in order to see better. Other friends at home were commenting on Facebook about how good the show was. I obviously look forward to more albums and tours by Steven in the future. (I'm just hope Porcupine Tree is eventually returned to action).

Steven Wilson at the Howard Theater

The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)

Eighteen months ago, I was fortunate enough to have caught Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning tour, in Philadelphia. After completing the European leg of that tour, and the Storm Corrosion project, Steven quickly returned to the studio to record his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing, with essentially the same band.

Predictably, the tour announcement came in the wake of the album release, and once again was limited primarily to stops on the East and West Coast of the US. Looking over the tour schedule, I noticed this show on Saturday night in Washington, DC. It would allow me to head back to Maryland and see my family, and also catch an Orioles game.

I called an old friend and fellow musician, Joe Schaedler, and talked him into going. I was somewhat anxious to hear his opinion of the music, since it was new to him. I felt it was both Poppy and Artsy enough to appeal to him. My guess was correct, since he enjoyed it, and described it as Hannibal Lecter meets Sergeant Pepper.

After meeting my friend in Reston, at his place, we headed into town, arriving at the Howard with about half an hour to spare.

The Sound System

As the crowd waited for the show, Bass Communion was being played through the Surround Sound PA. My friend noticed this immediately, and was blown away by the effect. He said that this show was forcing him to reconsider and think about the manipulation of the stereo field during a live performance.

Band Members

The line up for this show was almost identical to the Grace for Drowning tour. The only difference being the guitartist.

• Steven Wilson - lead vocals, guitar, and keys
• Guthrie Govan - lead guitar
• Nick Beggs - bass, Chapman Stick, and backing vocals
• Adam Holzman - keys
• Marco Minneman - drums
• Theo Travis - flute, saxophone, and clarinet

The Show

The actual show started promptly at 8PM, a consisted of a single set lasting 2 hours, and an encore. The actual setlist was up and available within 12 hours of the show.

It was a wonderful evening of music, I am hoping that they may perhaps do a second North American tour before the end of the year.

Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning

Extended Weekend

Since I was already planning on being on the East Coast this past weekend, I decided to extend the trip by one day and catch Steven Wilson's Grace for Drowning tour.

Catching a train from NYC, after spending Friday in Hoboken, I arrived in Philadelphia. I was able to check-in to my hotel, and grab something to eat before heading over to the Liacouras Center, on the campus of Temple University. The actual show was not at the Center proper, but a chapel that had been converted into concert space. It was easy to find the venue, once I noticed the tour bus, with trailer in tow.

There were lots of people wearing Porcupine Tree T-shirts standing in front of the building, so I knew I had the right place. I entered the hall at 8PM and proceeded to the Merch table. I was one of the lucky few that was able to get a shirt. Later, while waiting in line at the concessions, I ran into Julie Slick (not a surprise really) and we talked about camp again.

I spent the 40 minutes or so before the show talking to the other people around me, and listening a to quadrophonic mix, of Bass Communion being played in the hall. It was at this time that I realized that the show would be in surround sound. Nice!

Touring Band Members

Steven led an outstanding 6 piece band, which included the following musicians:

• Nick Beggs - of Kajagoogoo fame, on Bass, Chapman Stick, and Backing Vocals
  
• Marco Minnemann - Austrian drummer extraordinaire
  
• Adam Holzman - Keyboards
  
• Theo Travis - Flute, Sax and Keyboards
  
• John Wesley - guitars (called into duty when tour guitarist, Aziz Irbrahim's U.S. Visa was denied)
  

The show was just shy of two hours, and had one encore. The setlist included pieces from both of Steven's solo albums, Grace for Drowning and Insurgentes.

Throughout the show, I was very aware of the sound coming from speakers at the rear of the house. The entire set went by way too fast, and the band was fantastic. I was particularly blown away by Marco. It was a fantastic night of music.