Steven Wilson

[Jirpo]

I haven't listened to any of his other projects. Whats Blackfield like music-wise?

[Zantera]

I haven't listened to any of his other projects. Whats Blackfield like music-wise?

Blackfield is a bit like mellow Porcupine Tree, if you enjoy Stupid Dream and more of PT's poppy stuff, you should love Blackfield.
They might have slightly sadder lyrics, but the music is really beautiful and well crafted.
Not as progressive or heavy (at times as Pt can be), but more pop/rock, gorgeous melodies and so on. 

(when in the mood for it, I think that Blackfield can reach even higher highs then PT)

[Jirpo]

They sound interesting! I'll check them out when I get the chance, thanks Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun are two of my fave PT albums.

[Zantera]

If those are two of your favorite PT-albums, Blackfield might be for you.
I would recommend starting with the first album, then second and then the latest (Welcome to My DNA) probably, it's a great album run.

[KevShmev]

Grace for Downing is still waaaaaaaay too new to determine how truly great it really is, much less how it compares to the many uber awesome PT records.

Insurgentes wouldn't be top 5.  I dig it a lot, but I'd probably still put almost every PT album above it except for On the Sunday of Life and Up the Downstair.

[Ħ]

I haven't listened to any of his other projects. Whats Blackfield like music-wise?

Blackfield is a bit like mellow Porcupine Tree, if you enjoy Stupid Dream and more of PT's poppy stuff, you should love Blackfield.
They might have slightly sadder lyrics, but the music is really beautiful and well crafted.
Not as progressive or heavy (at times as Pt can be), but more pop/rock, gorgeous melodies and so on. 

(when in the mood for it, I think that Blackfield can reach even higher highs then PT)

I dunno, those are my favorite types of PT songs, but I don't really like BF that much.

[Zantera]

Maybe you have no soul? 

[Jirpo]

If those are two of your favorite PT-albums, Blackfield might be for you.
I would recommend starting with the first album, then second and then the latest (Welcome to My DNA) probably, it's a great album run.

Alright, I will do, thanks!

[skydivingninja]

I mean, Insurgentes still grows on me each time I listen to it, and Grace for Drowning is awesome as well, but like Kev said its still very new, and SW solo albums take a while to really warm up to.  Still, I'd definitely place them both above OTSOL and TSMS.  Maaaaaaaaybe better Up the Downstair or Deadwing.  After that I think the PT catalogue is just so much better. 

[ZBomber]

Horrrrrryyyy shitttttt

(setlist/show spoilers)







OK, so the show was incredible. Zack and I  met up before hand and went bar hopping and then got to the venue around 7:30. The ticket said the show started at 8


Except it didn't start til 9:30. From 8:30-9:30 there was a "movie" being screened, which was the exact same thing as the menu from the blu-ray. That was kind of really dumb, but we were chatting with ZepDT and Mebert78 who are two really cool dudes so it was alllll righttttt. (also the very end of the movie was creepy and was an awesome way to start the show)

And now for the show... amazing. I really can't put into words how great it was. Steven was REALLY getting into the music. Even during parts where he wasn't playing, he was head banging and running around to all the guys and messing around. He didn't talk to the audience too much though. Deform to Form A Star had a little technical glitch where the microphone stopped working during the middle of the song, but it came back on for the coda. Raider II was stunning... he requested that people remain silent and not shout things out tduring the beginning and it gave me goose bumps. Hearing complete silence in a room with a few hundred people gave me goose bumps... and the jump into the main riff was perfectly executed. Get All You Deserve had Steven singing more powerfully and honestly then I think I have ever heard him before. Like Dust I Have Cleared was something I wasn't sure would transition well live, but they certainly proved me wrong. Also, I was skeptical of Wes coming in the line up so late, with so little practice, and... well, to be honest, with his chops. I love Wes but he tends to butcher some of the solos during PT songs (Anesthetize). However, I have nothing but praise for him for this show. He still changed the solos around, but they still sounded really cool. He kept the basic structures of the solos the same and just improvised the rest. He was doing a lot of interesting things too.... he got a great round of applause at the end of the show, which was well deserved.

God, the whole show was just amazing. The only complaint I have was even though they had the whole surround sound thing going, the mixing wasn't the best. The bass was WAY too high in the mix. I'm super tired and didn't get back home til 4 AM. I get to go see the show again tomorrow in Boston. 

[Jirpo]

Awesome! Anyone know if they are coming to Australia at all?

[ZBomber]

Posted on one of SW's statuses



Ah...  That's kinda weird, cause I thought it was the consensus that Steven is kind awkward and a little bit distant from fans? It certainly seemed that way on the Insurgentes DVD. I've never met him though and I really wanted to go to the signing he did yesterday, but it was 8 hours before the show and I didn't wanna get to the city that earlier. 

[bout to crash]

I am planning to attend the signing in Chicago

[ZBomber]

GIVE HIM A FIRM TUG FOR ME

[Sigz]

I am planning to attend the signing in Chicago

We're going to have a three way with him right?

[petrucci07]

Posted on one of SW's statuses



Ah...  That's kinda weird, cause I thought it was the consensus that Steven is kind awkward and a little bit distant from fans? It certainly seemed that way on the Insurgentes DVD. I've never met him though and I really wanted to go to the signing he did yesterday, but it was 8 hours before the show and I didn't wanna get to the city that earlier. 

I think in that part of the DVD, he was kinda tired of taking pictures and stuff. I've met him twice, and he's been really friendly and warm on both occasions, chatting and telling stories, etc.

[faemir]

Yeah he was really nice, and I had a nerdy audiophile loudness war / dynamic range chat with him

[ZBomber]

That's good to hear then.  I really wish the signing he did in NY was at like 4 PM instead of noon, I guess he also played Deform to Form a Star and Postcard at the signing which is cool.

Anyone here ever meet SW outside of the venue? I'm considering hanging around the venue for a bit hoping to catch him on the way to the bus or something, but I've never tried that with any band before so I don't really know what to expect.

[petrucci07]

Anyone here ever meet SW outside of the venue? I'm considering hanging around the venue for a bit hoping to catch him on the way to the bus or something, but I've never tried that with any band before so I don't really know what to expect.

Yeah, I met him (and a lot of other artists) this way after a PT show once. Just hang around near the bus or with the other people who are waiting (and there will be a few), and you'll be fine.

[bout to crash]

I am planning to attend the signing in Chicago

We're going to have a three way with him right?

Duh. Have you met him before? I am gonna get all nervous and not know what to say/do. I need you to be my fluffer.

[seasonsinthesky]

Yeah he was really nice, and I had a nerdy audiophile loudness war / dynamic range chat with him

how did that go? what did he say?

[Sigz]

I am planning to attend the signing in Chicago

We're going to have a three way with him right?

Duh. Have you met him before? I am gonna get all nervous and not know what to say/do. I need you to be my fluffer.

Jackie, I will fluff you like no other.


But no, I haven't met him either, so we might need to fluff each other. Or just him, I don't know.

[ZBomber]

You better get pictures or I will consider the possibility that it didn't happen

[bout to crash]

There will be pics.

[ZBomber]

Sadly didn't get to meet SW... waited out there for an hour and a half and saw everyone but him.

[petrucci07]

That's really cool man! Maybe he was already in the bus.

[ZBomber]

I think he might have went out to a bar. There was a group of like 5 of us chilling by the bus, and all of the guys came by at one point to dump stuff of in the bus. I know John and Nick went out to the bar, I saw Theo and Adam leave together too. I saw Marco at one point but I don't know where he went. I think Steven might have actually escaped out the front of the venue because I got there within 5 minutes after the show ended.

We waited until 11:45 or so when the manager (?) came out and told us that the band had left. Someone asked Theo if he knew where SW was and he said he didn't know. Maybe he was nailing some chick backstage. 

Anyways John was SUPER nice. He seemed willing to talk to people, but I didn't really have anything to say... was kind of nervous.  Just told them how awesome the show was. Nick also seemed nice but he didn't talk as much. Still, hung around the area and didn't seem like he was trying to escape from dealing with fans. Adam walked by a few times and didn't say a word and seemed kind of awkward and soft spoken.


But man, the sound was awesome at this show. I think the NY performance was all in all better, but the sound here was top notch.

[petrucci07]

Anyways John was SUPER nice. He seemed willing to talk to people, but I didn't really have anything to say... was kind of nervous. 

Yeah man! when I met PT, John was the one who chatted the longest! I'm a guitar player too, so he told me about how he has to learn the guitar parts by ear, and what the hardest parts to learn from The Incident were. Very cool guy.

[TioJorge]

So this SW app is pretty damn awesome, especially for being free. I finally gave into the new era of technology and got an iPhone, which is actually pretty darn useful. But I find myself playing around with apps like SW's more than I actually use the everyday appliances like the map/GPS and such. Really cool to hear a new cut of Cut Ribbon, and the pictures are just so darn beautiful.

[petrucci07]

I want to hear Cut Ribbon so bad it's untrue

[ZBomber]

Anyways John was SUPER nice. He seemed willing to talk to people, but I didn't really have anything to say... was kind of nervous. 

Yeah man! when I met PT, John was the one who chatted the longest! I'm a guitar player too, so he told me about how he has to learn the guitar parts by ear, and what the hardest parts to learn from The Incident were. Very cool guy.

That's awesome!  I'm extremely impressed by how quickly and thoroughly prepared he was for this show given how little notice he had.

Curious as to what he said the hardest part from The Incident was?

[petrucci07]

Anyways John was SUPER nice. He seemed willing to talk to people, but I didn't really have anything to say... was kind of nervous. 

Yeah man! when I met PT, John was the one who chatted the longest! I'm a guitar player too, so he told me about how he has to learn the guitar parts by ear, and what the hardest parts to learn from The Incident were. Very cool guy.

That's awesome!  I'm extremely impressed by how quickly and thoroughly prepared he was for this show given how little notice he had.

Curious as to what he said the hardest part from The Incident was?

He said he found the high chords in Time Flies (3:11) to be very hard to learn. He had to use the 'slow down' function in Transcribe to learn them. He also said Octane Twisted was pretty hard.

[glaurung]

[Sigz]

BITCH STAY FROM SW HE'S MINE YOU CAN HAVE JOHN

[ACID_FOX]

Bumping into SW in a Hooters would is one of the most surreal things I can imagine.