Porcupine Tree, NYC, October 6th 2006

Nokia Theater, NYC

October 6, 2006

 

A truly bizarre show.  Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew opened the show with something called ProjecKt Six, with Fripp on his ever-present Les Paul in front of a bank of electronics, and Belew on...electronic drum kit!  Although Fripp was his usual brilliant self (occasionally hitting upon some truly masterful guitar work), Belew was - there is no other way to say this - horrible.  He is barely even adequate on drums, and even less so on electronic drums.  I am not stretching at all to say that if all Fripp wanted was some relatively interesting beats to play to, I (and probably other drummers in the audience) could have done far better than Belew - not even knowing how the drums were set!  Belew only had two beats; one slowish, the other sort of Mastellato-like (and, boy, would the set have benefitted from Mastellato's presence!).  The effect of the set was as if Belew was simply "getting his rocks off" on the drums, while Fripp "tolerated" him and played along.  To say that the overall effect was embarrassing is being kind.  And apparently much of the audience felt the same way, as many, many people were talking about it in words that make mine look like a rave.  I cannot imagine what was on Fripp's mind when he agreed to this; he opened solo for PT last year, and he was superb.  He should have done the same, or done some double guitar work with Belew.  What a let-down!!

 

However, PT more than made up for it.  Not only did they go on early (!), they were truly at their best.  As others have noted in their reviews, that first set consisted entirely of songs that will be on the next PT album, due out in Spring 2007.  And based on what they played, the album is going to be a monster!  At least as good as, if not better than, Deadwing.  There is one extended piece (another reviewer says "20 minutes," but I clocked it at 14) which is absolutely amazing.  Wilson made a droll comment before starting: "This song is really hard for us to play.  (Pause).  A walk in the park for Dream Theater, but difficult for us."  It was a nice touch.  And the composition does have at least two sections that one could imagine in a DT piece, complete with odd and shifting time signatures, and super-heavy bass, drums and guitar.  Another piece (as another reviewer remarked) opened like Zep's "No Quarter," but then went into a very Beatle-esque chord progression and arrangement, reminiscent of the stuff on Magical Mystery Tour.  Yet another composition had a seriously Zep-ish guitar riff with Bonham-esque drumming.  All but one of the songs were as good as anything I have heard by the band.  It really increased my anticipation for the next album.

 

The second set consisted of stuff from Deadwing (including Open Car, and the always amazing Arriving Somewhere But Not Here), In Absentia and Signify.  It was largely the same set they played last year at Town Hall in NYC, but the sound at Nokia is far better, so the set came across even better than it did before.  They closed with an encore of Trains, Blackest Eyes and Lazarus.

 

As noted, the Nokia Theater has excellent sound, and the light show was tasteful and appropriate.  The only downer is that the front and middle sections have no seats, so unless you want to sit pretty far back, you have to stand through the whole show.  Somehow, it's harder to do that the more people there are (Nokia holds about 2,200).  I was lucky and snagged the end of a railing on which I was able to perch for periods of time; otherwise, I think I might not have enjoyed the show as much.

 

PT continues to write and play some of the best prog and quasi-prog out there.  And although one can hear their various influences - a wide array that includes Pink Floyd, Zep, Crimson, DT, Beatles et al - they are able to channel those influences into something interesting, enjoyable, and often even compelling.  They continue to amaze, and I continue to be a fan.

 

Peace.