Steven Wilson live Copenhagen

Last weekend I flew across the country, and whilst Denmark is an incredibly small nation and it only takes some 40 minutes to fly, -it still felt great to get away from work and all these terrifyingly adult things, that I now have to deal with because of my age Anyways, after a weekend of sunshine, beer, LOTS of music and the occasional bird sighting(Denmark is home to a lot of beautiful women) - I went to the Steven Wilson concert with a couple of my friends on Monday.

The gig was held at a place called Amager Bio, which is an old rebuilt cinema that perhaps sports the best sound quality in Copenhagen. It is not a huge place by any stretch of the imagination, but intimate, warm, voluptuous and curvy - always taking care of the music in a way that is vibrant and earthy. While Steven usually plays in a place called VEGA, whenever he visits Denmark with Porcupine Tree, I am actually pretty glad that he played in Amager Bio.

As with the other performances on this tour, no - there are no Porcupine Tree tracks to be heard. The focus is entirely on Steven's two solo albums, and that rather adds a wonderful dimension to the proceedings here. I thought I would be hearing all kinds of PT requests from drunk Danish men who happen to think they deserve something special, because they indeed are special, but the overall feel of the gig was one of deep and careful listening, devoting oneself entirely to the music. I heard no irreverence, low-blows nor foul mouth jerk-off speaker sessions from the crowd, which in turn made me all warm and fuzzy inside. It was like attending one of those old school shows from the start of the 70s, where people shut up to the very end of the tunes - just to catch those last bass breaths and guitar glissandi. People then proceeded to applaud - like in real clap clapping. I know that sounds wild and adventurous, but boy does the sound of a couple of hundred hands clapping sound absolutely beautiful at times. In short: This felt like a show where people really knew what was going down. It was all about the music and the men dishing it out. 

As for the music itself, it was just like the last time I went to see PT live. Even if the music is rather different in scope and feel, you could definitely feel just how long these guys had been playing together on tour. When I saw The Incident live last year - I felt somewhat similar, because somehow this mess of an album suddenly was brought to life, it felt vibrant and real. Now I happen to like Grace for Drowning in the first place, but encountering the different tunes in a live dressing was absolutely brilliant! As with most other musicians playing live for long periods of time I gather, these guys were really hitting it off. Secular sections prolonged, an extra rumbling round on the drums, more rope to the guitar solos and whatnot. Everything I really love about music played live. It's open for mistakes and different roads taken - and this gig was certainly a clear cut example of just how magical such an event can be. A track like Index, which I really adore, was ten times more beautiful and captivating because of the dynamics happening between Marco Minneman and Steven's guitar. It got wild and rambunctious inside a time frame of a few seconds, but then the track just took off and pelted its way through the airwaves. Great stuff! 

I was extremely impressed with all of the musicians at Steven's side. When I wasn't looking at the fabulous bassist, that on occasion hammered on a Chapman stick(Hell Yeah!!), I was looking at the drummer, or the incredible lead guitarist, piano/synth/organist guy or the ninjaing reeds man standing in the back. You can really feel how laid-back and fruitful this kind of setting is to the man up front. Personally I think this tour, as well as the album, has been " a need" of Steven's - something he had to do to progress as a musician - something to keep him revitalised about music and maybe ultimately learn how he can change and evolve within the rock sphere. 

This laid-back nature of things also shun through at the gig. To tell you the truth, I've never heard Steven talk so much to the audience before, and it wasn't like it felt forced or anything like that. Friendly humoristic banter between tracks, and the ending introduction of the band - everything felt warm and genuine. Like had he invited a few hundred people over to his flat for a good jam night. So intimate and real.

Ending the show off with the long piece Raider ll, I truly felt like I was sitting on cloud 9 with a cold beer in my hand overlooking some fantastic musicians doing what they do best, surrounded by people of all ages, shapes and sizes. Hell, we even had some pretty birds attending the show as well. Yep, I think it's safe to say, that the Steven Wilson tour is a real humdinger, and if the rest of the shows is just half as good as the one I just experienced in Copenhagen - then you should be looking forward to it like a small child does to Christmas.

Such an inspiration. 

Great review David, and sounds like a great show. I feel like I was there with you drinking Carlsbergs ("Probably the best beer in the world").  I think Grace is a majorly great work, and I have no doubt he can make it even better live.

SW is an analog nut, which makes me happy!

 

Do we know who the Stick player was?

 

Thx

 

This is from the Steven`s Facebook