Porcupine Tree: New Album and Tour

[Shaytan]

Sorry for the resurrection of this thread but it's for a good cause

PT was in Paris 2 days ago and that was great
My personal highlight from the 1st part is definitely and without surprises Time Flies. For the 2nd part it's Anesthetize, the crowd went wild on this one (I know the band didn't allowed us to take pictures or video but the annoncement was made in English only so, some didn't understand and you can find some on Youtube ).

Just for the record and because it's considered to be an achievement to have your name on the front of the Olympia :

And something about Robert Fripp : this guy is nuts

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Wow. That is impressive. I forgot this thread but I saw PT last Saturday. Mind-blowing. The Incident was so polished and well-worked live, especially Time Flies and Occam/Blind House. The absolute highlight though was the Octane Twisted-The Seance-Circle of Manias sequence. The Colston Hall venue has such brilliant acoustics I thought CoM was going to take the roof off. I've seen plenty of heavy songs and bands before, but CoM was the single heaviest live song I've ever known.

The second set was excellence personified - Start of Something Beautiful, Buying New Soul, the awesome bit of Anesthetize, Remember Me Lover, Strip the Soul/.3 (another well worked combination), Lazarus, Way Out of Here, Sound of Muzak and Trains. If only they had more time... best gig I've been to since Tool back in 2006, and possibly even better than that. 10/10 and I hope they do a second round of tourdates for the Incident tour cycle.

 

[Shaytan]

Wow. That is impressive. I forgot this thread but I saw PT last Saturday. Mind-blowing. The Incident was so polished and well-worked live, especially Time Flies and Occam/Blind House.

And it was well received by the audience. It's not always the case when a band decides to play all the concept of the new album.

If only they had more time... best gig I've been to since Tool back in 2006, and possibly even better than that. 10/10 and I hope they do a second round of tourdates for the Incident tour cycle.

Indeed, the show was great. But it's not the best memory I will have of a Porcupine Tree gig. I saw them in the Trabendo (700 persons) in 2003, I was sitting on the stage (the priviledge of being at a corner of a front row ) my back against one of the amplifiers, nothing will never be like that again
Now my mind also has difficulties to register everything because I had another gig yesterday (Marillion and that was also brilliant ). I need to see the show again (worst excuse ever to ask for a 2nd tour )

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Bit of thread necromancy I know, but I was wondering if anyone else has got hold of the new Anesthetize DVD?

I got it last Monday and a day hasn't got by where I haven't played Dark Matter, Sleep Together and Strip the Soul/.3. The DVD really works as a great companion for the FOABP as it contains 9 out of 10 songs from that era plus a stack of raritiesI love that out of the 18 songs, only one of them was on the previous DVD so there's minimal duplication. I only wish I had shelled out for the deluxe edition and got the booklet, CDs and two extra tracks (Prodigal and Nil Recurring).

Still, another triumph!

 

[1001001]

I have not received mine yet, but I did order one.

I got the T-Shirt for my daughter, and that came.

Did you get the Red Version? Those shipped first, according to Burning Shed.

I'm looking forward to seeing it. I wish they'd hurry up!

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to pay £50 for the deluxe edition. £40 was my limit. Fair play though, £9 for just the DVD is a bargain.

The only downside is that Half-Light is on there, and it must be the only PT song post-Signify I cannot stand. Segues into Sever quite nicely though.

Sleep of No Dreaming is a beast as well. Great inclusion.

 

[I am not Spock]

Bit of thread necromancy I know, but I was wondering if anyone else has got hold of the new Anesthetize DVD?

I got it last Monday and a day hasn't got by where I haven't played Dark Matter, Sleep Together and Strip the Soul/.3. The DVD really works as a great companion for the FOABP as it contains 9 out of 10 songs from that era plus a stack of raritiesI love that out of the 18 songs, only one of them was on the previous DVD so there's minimal duplication. I only wish I had shelled out for the deluxe edition and got the booklet, CDs and two extra tracks (Prodigal and Nil Recurring).

Still, another triumph!

I ordered the grey edition, and it shipped the other day, so hopefully I'll receive it soon! Of course, being a PT nutcase, I couldn't wait, so I went and bought the standard edition as well!

It's fantastic. The visuals and audio are stunning, the performances magnificent, the crowd very responsive. And as you say, only one track duplicated from their last DVD. I hate it when bands make you pay again for the same tracks on their live releases. It's nice that PT varied it a bit.

I'd say its a pretty major coup they're playing the Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and the Royal Albert Hall in London. It's fairly safe to say these may be the biggest gigs of their career!

Saw them myself a few months back in Melbourne, and they were stunning. Absolutely amazing. So until they tour again, I can only content myself by watching the new DVD over and over again, lol.

Love your avatar by the way, man!

 

[I am not Spock]

Also I meant to mention this before, but there's a new PT song available to buy on their website. It's called Meantime, it's from the In Absentia sessions and it was left off that album because it was 'far too cheery by half'. It's also really, really good. Actually reminds me a little of Radiohead in their more guitar-driven moments. I highly advise you all buy it!

Downloaded Meantime, and a bunch of other PT rarities, from their website the other day. Meantime is very different from their other stuff, dare I say it, almost...upbeat, but I love it! It's a very pleasant and enjoyable song.

Drown With Me, Chloroform, and Futile are great, and would have fit the concept of In Absentia pretty well. Meantime probably was a bit too cheery to fit alongside the rest of the album, but I'm glad it saw release in some form.

PTs B sides are as great as some bands' regular albums! I wonder why they reject a lot of this stuff?

 

[1001001]

My Gray Version shipped yesterday.

Sweet!

And yes, PT has so much material they don't release in traditional ways. I love Drown with Me.

 

[I am not Spock]

^Love Drown With Me. I'm so glad it made the new DVD setlist. Shame they cut out Stars Die, though We already have Halo on Arriving Somewhere... They could have cut that to make room for Stars Die.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ Thanks. It's such a great cover and it was about time I got something other than the Master.

Stars Die could easily get put on the Incident tour DVD, should there be one. They've played it a few times on that tour. I'd certainly like to see that and Russia On Ice.

I imagine you already have it, but Recordings - the b-sides collection from Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun era - is being reissued this year. There're some brilliant tracks on there, especially Buying New Soul, Cure for Optimism and Disappear. Be nice if they did a disc like that for the IA/Deadwing tracks, though I do have them all already. I can only assume they get rejected because they don't fit the theme - like Meantime and Cheating the Polygraph. I know Wilson does regret not including Drown With Me on In Absentia, but I always assumed that was because it was a bit too similar to Trains.

Actually I'll tell you one b-side/rarity is truly bizarre that I do really like - the Collapse the Light Into the Earth demo. Have either of you heard that? I stumbled upon it in an unofficial collection called Out Absentia, also including the full-length original Strip the Soul/.3. It's twice as long and really heavy, nothing remotely like the album version!

I also downloaded the two Blackfield albums today. All I can say is... how does Wilson make so much damn good music!?*




*let's ignore his song with Pendulum for the purposes of this thread/taste.

 

[I am not Spock]

^I haven't actually got Recordings yet, so I'll be looking out for the reissue later this year. I've heard some of the tracks from it, though. Buying New Soul is wonderful, one of my favourite PT songs. I assume Chloroform didn't make In Absentia coz it builds in a similar way to Gravity Eyelids. And yeah, Drown With Me is kind of similar to Trains, but they're both great songs.

I've bought some of Wilson's other projects too. Blackfield is superb. How does this guy spread his talents so far, and yet still make great music every time?

Where did you find Out Absentia? To my knowledge, that's never been officially released anywhere. Haven't heard any of that material. I reckon they should make a boxset of PTs B side stuff, including the Deadwing/IA sessions (although I have most of that stuff: Futile, Drown With Me, So Called Friend, Mother And Child Divided, etc).

Well, about the Pendulum collaboration. It's making Wilson some press, at least. The new Pendulum album got to number one in the chart. Despite not strictly being a SW album, it is nice he finally has something he appears on making the top ten. He deserves it. And the guy from Pendulum was quoted in the Times raving that one of his fave bands is 'this great band you've probably never heard of called Porcupine Tree'. So if a few Pendulum fans with an open mind check PT out, and tell their friends, that's a good thing in my book

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ Yeah that's fine. The song is dreadful though, that's what I meant.

I found Out Absentia when I was trying to find some bootlegs on some random site or other. It's pretty rough stuff, I only kept the Collapse demo (which for some reason is on there twice, the other one known as 'Cut Ribbon') and Strip the Soul/.3. Off the top of my head, it also has a Creator Had a Mastertape demo, an orchestral version of The Rest Will Flow, a couple of short instrumentals and a Lips of Ashes demo.

Edit: ah here it is http://www.last.fm/music/Porcupine+Tree/Out+Absentia

 

[1001001]

I have everything! A friend of mine who's even more obsessed than I has sent me copies of all kinds of crazy stuff. Mostly live boots (London, Italy, Netherlands).

I have Stupid Dream Sessions. I have Recordings and Futile.

And oh yeah, Access Denied is the worst PT song ever. I think it's the only song I skip over.

 

[Shaytan]

I've bought some of Wilson's other projects too. Blackfield is superb. How does this guy spread his talents so far, and yet still make great music every time?

Agreed.
The last Pocupine Tree related album I bought is Insurgentes, the only Wilson solo album. It's great too.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

I love Access Denied the only song I really don't like is Half-Light, and I'm indifferent to most of the first two albums other than Radioactive Toy and Synesthesia. Oh, actually Fuse the Sky is boring as well!

 

[1001001]

I like the rockin' stuff a lot better than the ambient stuff. That was mostly Steven Wilson alone.

Once the band fully formed, they really hit their stride.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Which was The Sky Moves Sideways IIRC, and that's frelling awesome.

 

[I am not Spock]

I think the beginnings of the 'modern' PT sound can be traced back as far as Signify. That album's a mix between the ambient stuff, and the more song-oriented stuff of their later releases. There's heavy riffing on the title track, and 'Stupid Dream' esque tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter'.

They certainly changed their sound a lot between Signify and its follow up. The only real traces of the psych era on SD are 'Dont Hate Me' and 'Tinto Brass' (both awesome IMO). Interestingly, PT seem to have managed to kept most of their fanbase throughout their many artistic changes, unlike the backlash some bands receive.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ A Smart Kid as wel, I would have said. And Waiting Phase One being the first real sign of the 'poppier' sound that would emerge.