Porcupine Tree at Ilosaarirock 14th July 2007

 

Juggling was the only way to survive the long wait.

 

Here's another one:

 

 

Then and hour before Calexico started. We went to the arena and managed to get to the front row as planned. This is when we started getting really excited:

 

 

Then we watched Calexico. They were amazing! If you haven't heard of them, check 'em out. They're much better live! Calexico played for an hour. Then we had to wait another hour for PT.

 

Then they brought Gavin Harrison's drum set and the crowd went crazy!

 

Then the rest of the band except Steven came. Every time they touched their instruments everyone yelled. It was incredible. The whole crowd was getting so excited even though it was just a soundcheck. Then we started yelling for Steven. He didn't come though.

 

At 10:00PM the concert hall went dark and we could hear the beginning of Fear of a Blank Planet. The crowd went nuts. I've been to many concerts before, but never has a crowd been so enthusiastic as this one was. And then Steven Wilson finally entered the stage. That was one of the best moments of my life. It's just something really special seeing your idol right in front of your eyes. The song was incredible! The heavier part near the end was the climax of the song. I've never headbanged so hard.  

 

Then at least to my surprise, they played Lightbulb Sun. It was a pleasant surprise though. To me the song sounded much heavier than the studio version. That was only a good thing though. The whole crowd seemed to enjoy this song.

 

 

After Lightbulb Sun, my friend told me that he wanted to hear Open Car. And surprisingly Open Car was the next song. This song was amazing! Again a lot of headbanging, jumping and excitement. This is a pic from Open Car:

 

 

After Open Car, they played Anesthetize. That was totally mind blowing!! One of the best concert experiences I've ever had!  I found a 10 minute clip of it from youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-PKF8h9hvs# Here you can see how great the crowd really was!

 

After Anestethize they played one of my favourite PT songs: Blackest Eyes. Wow that was something! I'm really repeating myself, but this song, just like the previous ones, was the best thing I've ever witnessed live. The essence of masterliness!

 

Then they played two songs from Fear of a Blank Planet. Way Out of Here and Sleep Together. Both were amazing! Then they left.  But of course they came back!  And oh boy was I ever excited when Steven said that they would play a song that's really popular in America. I knew that they would play Trains and so did a lot of other people. Everyone started shouting: TRAINS!! TRAINS!! TRAINS!! Then SW said Trains and the crowd went crazy yet again. That was one of the highlights of the evening. A truly magical experience.

 

 

After Trains they still had some time left. They played Halo. It was a perfect ending to a perfect night!

 

 

Then it was time to say goodbye:

 

 

And then the concert was over. I was tired, my neck was killing me and my throat was really sore :

 

 

All in all it was nothing short from a perfect concert! The set list was great. The band rocked! I have to admit that I didn't really watch anyone else than Steven Wilson. I did watch Gavin at times though. And there were some parts where he really shined. I was a little worried before the concert, because it was a festival, so I wasn't sure what the audience would think about them. Not all of them were fans after all. But as the first song started I realized that everyone was having a great time. It looked like even the band was a bit surprised at the response they got. I'm sure they will visit Finland again after this.

 

I talked to a lot of people after the concert. Everyone thought that it was the best concert of the whole festival. Even people who hadn't heard of PT before thought that it was amazing. I didn't hear a single complaint. Good job PT!  Hopefully I can see you guys again sometime soon. This was one of the best days in my life and I will never forget it. I already miss you...

 

Oh and sorry for the blurry photos.

 

Just saw Steely Dan and would like to write a review about that too, but don't know which section would be appropriate...