Admitting a bias, I had to say that the Steven Wilson live show I saw last November on his Philly stop of the North American tour is by far the BEST musical performance I have ever seen (take that, Coheed and Cambria). So, as soon as Mr. Wilson posted on facebook that he was selling a live CD to help fund his next tour, I jumped right on that, and paid the extra money to get my copy signed. It has just arrived, and I uploaded it, and opened up my blogger.
So, this is going to be a half CD review, half live review. Granted, the recording is from the European tour, and with a different guitarist on this tour, I expect it's a fairly familiar show, and the performance is of the same quality.
So, they started with a see-through sheet in front of them, weird am I right? But whatever. "No Twilight Within the Courts of the Sun" from Steven Wilson's freshman solo-musician release "Insurgentes" was first. Each band member came on one by one, starting with drums, and bass, and it just built, and once it climaxed to all six of them, it was pure bliss. I could hear these guys jam for a while (particularly that rhythm section). I will say the drummer is a bit flashier with his cymbals than I'd prefer, but I'm only noticing that on the recording. Live, it worked. Instantly I new this is one of the highest caliber set of performance I've seen (minus some of the people who played at the Rochester Jazz fest over the years, but Wilson's band wasn't far behind).
The Philly show being set up, cool place to be!
One of my biggest complaints from Porcupine Tree (Wilson's best known project) is that in their live show, everyone other than Wilson and drummer Gavin Harrison looks bored as hell. In this show, this was not the case. Nick Beggs, the bassist, was easily the most entertaining, both because he got super into the music, and he was the coolest mother fucker I've ever seen. Dressed in pure black and sunglasses like he's about to kick some Agent Smith arse, he rocked pony tails. Did you read that? Pony Tails. Whatever. There were some moments in the show where he raised his base like He-Man and let that thing tower over the rest of the band in a really menacing fashion (picture that at the climax of Raider II, more on that later).Well everyone is jamming out, Wilson spends a lot of time conducting... kind of. He walks around, head bangs, sometimes make a four count with his fingers, but I don't think they need it. He plays too a lot, but there's a lot of moments where he takes a step back and humbly let's these masters of their music take over. Wilson is, after all, a composer much more than he is a player. That's where the strength of this performance really lies. It was all of the high class musicianship reeled in nice and tight to form some of the best arranged compositions of the last decade (Ok, I'm a fan, sorry).
So, after No Twilight, they play Index, not a favorite tune of mine, but performed well. So I'll just skip that. Next up: Deform to Form a star. After the heavy guitar and drums stuff, Mr. Adam Holzman get's his time of day. The Piano (which on the record is performed by Jordan Ruddess) solo's in a very Jazzy extend improvised section. This guys got chops! I don't think his improv fits the composition so well, it briefly abandon's the feel that it begins with, but it's a nice little flashy moment that one can get away with live.
The composition of this song is pretty straight, but very gorgeous. I can't speak ill-of it with that chorus. Our bad-ass bassist also sings, btw, and his voice blends well enough with Wilsons that it's not a distraction, and the idea of the lush recorded harmonies from the album are expressed. The album being promoted is called "Grace For Drowning" fyi, check it out. Probably the best record of 2011.
It's important to note that they still have a see through screen in front of them. It's a cool idea, as they have projections from Lasse Hoile on it as well as behind the band, but in my opinion they kept it up a little too long. Plus, I've never been a fan of Lasse Hoile (I think I've only really liked one of his video's), so I just wanted to see the band. But in the very King-Crimsony inspired track "Sectarian," that veil drops and there is finally nothing between the band and the audience. It drops at a very climactic point and fits well with the music, and the audience all cheered and all was good. The stage itself was pretty bare, so the focus was on the musicians themselves. There was nothing to much to distract you from them. Even the projections were subtle. The way it should have been.
Sectarian might have been my favorite performance. In the venue, just hearing that bass shake everything, it was incredibly powerful. The song creates such an ambiance well still packing a punch. The music is slightly predictable and repetitive, but something about it doesn't get old. It just keeps hitting you, you're like a punching bag for a very powerful force. So cool. Reminds you of just how powerful tones can be on their own, separated from the music. There is more power to music than what lies in melody and lyrics. Tones themselves create something, and that heavy distorted bass does something real good.
Mid performance, look at the badass on bass.
After this song, the CD breaks away from the performance. Live, they through in more songs like Postcard, Remainder the Black Dog, and Harmony Korine, and I think something else, but they didn't include them, alas. Harmony Korine is soooo gooooood. (I know, I'm being way too much a fanboy for this to be a "review" but whatevs. No, instead they skip straight to "No Part of Me" which I think might be the weakest track. It's just so divided and doesn't seem to go anywhere. All of the parts are fine, but in order for a song to be good, it needs to equal more than the sum of the parts, right? I'm in an American Gothic class right now and I just read the philosophy of composition by Edgar Allan Poe, and in their Poe talks of a story needing to create an experience in it's journey from beginning to end. I don't like Poe, but I agree with that.Normally that's what I like most about Steven Wilson's works. The album is a journey you can get lost in, like getting lost in a book or movie. When it's done there's a period however short that you need to readjust to being in reality. That seems to be an idea lost in a lot of listeners, that music is something to get lost in. At any rate, I think this song kind of loses that on it's own. Still, it pushes the performance along, so I'll give it that. The ending crunchy guitars just sound so forced though. Whatever. Moving on...
When I ordered this CD, I was most excited for the performance of "Veneno Para Las Hadas." It's one of those songs that's high on reverb and very soundscapy, and you're just suppose to get lost in it. It's a very personal song, best listened to with headphones alone in your room. Always was a highlight on mine on "Insurgentes." When the chords started playing live I remember thinking "huh, how are they going to keep this interesting?" Well, the drums were a little heavier, and that helped, and everyone through in their little jammy fills which was nice. But what really kept this song interesting for me was the performance by Theo Travis on flute. His soloing style fit this song so well, and it was that perfect balance of still getting lose, and having something to cling onto. I almost wish they put a similar sort of solo in the album version. In my opinion, the live version actually improved on this song. Hearing it on the record, I'm reaffirmed of this. Great work, Mr. Travis.
Raider II. Musically speaking, one of the creepiest songs I've heard that didn't try too hard to be that way. Just that hovering menacing spirit that carries throughout the whole thing. Oh, and if you want prog? Here it is. Twenty four minutes long, arranged like an ELP tune, you got mellowness, few vocals, extended complicated jams. Wilson draws from his interest in Serial Killers, so yeah, we've got some semi-pretentious stuff going on here, but that's not a bad thing, necessarily. It's done tastefully enough, I think. Some of those really mechanic sounds going on in the background, I don't know what they are, but they spook me.
The whole band is so tight on this performance. Marco Minnemann's flashy drums work on this one. This is a song to go all out on. That part somewhere near the 10 minute mark where they go from a jazzy little bit to an all out dream-theater-esque prog metal section is so satisfying. Every epic needs that just plain and simple badass part. I want to learn that part on Bass, coz' it just looks impressive. I wish I could describe it in a way that's satisfying for a review, but I just can't. It's one of those one's you just need to check it out for yourself.
The whole band, I think playing Veneno Para Las Hadas.
If you'll notice, the only member of the band I didn't mention was the guitarist, Aziz Ibrahim. I was hesitant to mention him because when I saw them live they had a different guitarist, John Wesley. As a guitarist myself, I'm normally pretty fixed on the guitar, but I remember thinking live that I just wasn't that impressed. The music itself does not really lend itself to too fancy guitar work. The parts are composed by Steven Wilson, who is great! But his strength isn't in guitar, and that reflects in his composition. I didn't want to comment because I didn't know this guitarist, and I was waiting for a moment that he blew me away, but it just never came. That's not to say that either did a bad job. They just didn't do anything too note-worthy. Maybe since I know guitar too well I'm just over critical, whatever.Anywho, the tightness of all of the highly skilled members of the band along with the tightness of the compositions was something that to me has been unmatched (although some of the live performances of Peter Gabriel come close, but he also has cooler stage antics so... gah, I need to see him live). Wilson has said that after this up coming Storm Corrosion project with the dude from Opeth that he's been writing material strictly for this touring band, and I'm pumped. Next time they come anywhere near me, I'll drop big bucks to see them again. You should too!
As far as this CD itself goes, only listen if your a fan, if not, get into Steven Wilson through the CD's. The journey from the live experience doesn't translate as well to disc. I give this CD on it's own maybe a 5/10. A perfectly average live release.
...But go buy everything Wilsons ever done.