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Status Quo - Glasgow

 

OK, let's begin at the beginning. 1976, West Cork, my brother is playing a record and a song comes on that blows my 6 year old mind. The song is Paper Plane and the album is Piledriver. On the back cover is a gorilla holding a bomb. Sold. All over. Love at first listen.

 

Reviled by many(even the Vertigo label boss regretted signing them) & loathed by most of the music press because of the fundamental three chord trick that is Quomusic, many Quo fans hid their love of their band. It was easier this way, saved you having to explain yourself. Explaining how their speed & beer influenced juggernaut boogie blues made your heart soar and your neck sore. How tunes like 4500 Times, Mystery Song, What To Do, Claudie revealed a band who could play exciting good-time music and what was wrong with that??????

 

As cocaine & other nefarious habits took hold of some of them, the music suffered, and poor decisions were made, the writing was splattered on the curtains. The drummer was fired and the bassist left. When the band returned in 1986, I left. The music sucked, the image sucked, the image was one of desperation, appearing everywhere and anywhere, suing radio stations and each other, embarrassing themselves at every turn, so Quo & I parted. Then 5 years ago, my dearest friend & I were having a few late drinks, and off he went and brought his Quo vinyl down from his attic. This band I'd forgotten about for 25 years were back on my radar. No, I didn't know they were making half decent albums. No, I didn't know the lack of drugs had refocused them...and so on.

 

So I donned my trusty patch laden denim jacket in September 2008 and went to see them play. BANG. Sold. All over again. A Quo live show is a joyous experience, a bit cheesy in parts, as they attempt to play to all of their fanbase, from the casual to the diehard. But, there is no show like a Quo show. That is until last weekend.

 

The most famous line up, the Frantic Four, are currently touring the UK, so last weekend, patch laden denim jacket as my trusty shield, I went into battle again for the mighty Quo. The returning drummer, now 66, but hitting the skins like a young angry mad Turk, the bassist, unsteady on his feet brought about by illness, but the bass lines were still like a metronome and the voice still raspy and sharp.

 

There was no cheese. No flab. This was fast, heavy loud rock music by a band who will never get any kudos from sanctimonious "serious" music writers. They had nowhere to hide. No keyboard player to embellish the sound, this was the Quo that shook balconies all throughout the 1970's, with guitar, voice and drum. And the setlist? 90 minutes of curveballs. They played only 2 singles, one was their number 1 single, Down Down, the other was Rain. We got the psych boogie of April Spring Summer and Wednesdays, we got the pre-Motorhead skullf*ck Oh Baby, we got the speed fuelled Is There A Better Way(the one with the She's So Heavy pastiche in the middle). Basically, we got spoilt rotten.

 

I sit here typing, 48 hours after the second gig, my neck is still banjoed, my ears are just about recovering, the smile on my face is still a mile wide.

I'm glad I came back to the fold, to the church of Quo, to don my vestments and worship again at the altar of boogie.

 

To close, because it encapsulates the spirit of Quo, the very reason for their being, I'll leave the last word to a much missed hero.

 

"Quo are good lads, they make exciting and unpretentious records, they make me feel positively carefree." - John Peel

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Just saw Yes playing Close To The Edge and The Yes Album (Going For The One was dropped due to the casino's lame curfew). I saw them almost two years ago in the same venue with Styx, and I can't believe the difference between that show and the one I just saw. It's night and day. They are so much better and more energized with Jon Davison than they were with Benoit David. Davison sang incredibly well, and didn't struggle or strain to hit the notes like David did. He also sounded extremely natural singing, not like someone trying to sound like Jon Anderson. Steve Howe and Chris Squire were their usual selves, and both seemed to be enjoying themselves. White and Downes were pretty good, but most of my focus was on Howe, Squire, and Davison.

 

While I wish they didn't have to play a short set, the two albums (plus the Roundabout encore) sounded great. Close to the Edge is one of my favorite songs, and it was a perfect way to open the show. I know a lot of Yes fans are sick of it, but Starship Trooper was phenomenal, as was Clap (I'd love to see a show with just Steve Howe playing acoustic guitar...). Really, the whole set was played extremely well and professionally. I heard some complaining about them not playing Owner of a Lonely Heart, but it would've been a terrible encore choice as it would not have fit in with the rest of the set at all.

 

While I would like to see them at least once with Jon Anderson in the future, they didn't sound like a tribute band at all (like some fans claim). I'm sold on Davison, and I'd see them with him again in a heartbeat.

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Just saw Yes playing Close To The Edge and The Yes Album (Going For The One was dropped due to the casino's lame curfew). I saw them almost two years ago in the same venue with Styx, and I can't believe the difference between that show and the one I just saw. It's night and day. They are so much better and more energized with Jon Davison than they were with Benoit David. Davison sang incredibly well, and didn't struggle or strain to hit the notes like David did. He also sounded extremely natural singing, not like someone trying to sound like Jon Anderson. Steve Howe and Chris Squire were their usual selves, and both seemed to be enjoying themselves. White and Downes were pretty good, but most of my focus was on Howe, Squire, and Davison.

 

While I wish they didn't have to play a short set, the two albums (plus the Roundabout encore) sounded great. Close to the Edge is one of my favorite songs, and it was a perfect way to open the show. I know a lot of Yes fans are sick of it, but Starship Trooper was phenomenal, as was Clap (I'd love to see a show with just Steve Howe playing acoustic guitar...). Really, the whole set was played extremely well and professionally. I heard some complaining about them not playing Owner of a Lonely Heart, but it would've been a terrible encore choice as it would not have fit in with the rest of the set at all.

 

While I would like to see them at least once with Jon Anderson in the future, they didn't sound like a tribute band at all (like some fans claim). I'm sold on Davison, and I'd see them with him again in a heartbeat.

Awesome! I'm seeing them at the end of the summer in Indianapolis (last day of the tour!) Hopefully Jon's voice isn't shot by then.

 

:) :haz:

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Saw Fleetwood Mac Thursday night at Nationwide in Columbus. It was the first night of the tour, but they sounded great! Of course Stevie's voice isn't what it once was, but Landslide alone was worth the price of admission! :wub: Lyndsey sounded really strong and his guitar playing was great (although I could have done without I'm So Afraid). Gold Dust Woman, Landslide, Tusk, Go Your Own Way, and Sad Angel (new song) were probably the best songs. It's too bad Christine doesn't tour anymore but they still rocked without her!

 

Definitely worth it, would see again! :haz:

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I attended the Toronto April 9 MUSE concert. They were amazing.

**SPOILER ALERT**, Their set list was a balance of old and new songs. Knights of Cydonia was the best - worth the price of admission. Matt Bellamy's high falsetto was in fine form at the beginning of K of C and during other songs. They also performed: Survival and other 2nd Law songs, Starlight, Uprising, Time is Running Out, US of Eurarsisa and Supermasssive Black Hole, amongst others.

Dominic Howard drums left handed and it took a while for me to get used to the visual. His drum kit rotated a couple of times during 1 song (perhaps this is standard fair these days in the rock concert world). I enjoyed his drumming.

MUSE performed the intro to YYZ which got a big cheer. Bellamy mentioned Geddy Lee after that.

MUSE didn't talk to the audience much between songs (besides the obligatory Hello Toronto, maybe one or 2 other comments, and Dominic saying the final good night). However, it was great to see Bellamy singing with a microphone down in the audience and shaking hands with the front row fans for a song.

Their light show and 3D backdrop were spectacular. Mostly, they showed shapes, colours, words and best of all, close ups of the members of MUSE. I'm not an arty type of person so I preferred this to some of the backdrop scenery I've seen at other concerts.

The concert was approximately 1 3/4 hours and it ended too soon. (RUSH spoils us!) All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm glad I went.

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I saw Bob Dylan a week ago. He wasn't very impressive. His voice was completely shot (that's what you get for touring for 25 years straight) and sounded like he should start a death metal album. His band was quite good, especially his guitar player. They played only about 2-3 hits in their near 20 song set. It was mostly new stuff that I wasn't familiar with. He also seemed rather grumpy on stage, then again he was playing for a bunch of college students (4500 people got in free, I took advantage of it). Overall it was worth seeing, but of the few shows I've seen, it is the worst.
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I saw Yes at Massey Hall in Toronto, on april 11, I am not a yes fan, some friends wanted to go, they played closer to the edge , going for the one and the yes album, 3 full albums and roundabout for encore, Im impressed the old timers still could do it, they had a 20 minute break, they played from 7-10, I only new 2 songs, roundabout and the other hit, the crowd was really into it, the singer sounded like Jon anderson, Im still not into them, it was a good show.
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Went to the Bob Seger concert tonight.

Joe Walsh opened. He was entertaining.

 

I only stayed for 5 Seger songs.. it was THAT bad.

 

Wow - I guess we must have had really different experiences with Bob Seger!!! Sorry your was so bad. Mine was, strange. Good and bad. Let me explain.

 

Just got back about an hour or so ago from seeing him at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Like with your show Joe Walsh opened. I was not all that impressed with him. I saw Joe Walsh together with Glen Frey many years ago (back in the 90's I think) and that was a good show. This time I thought Joe was really starting to show the effects of age. Did not think his voice was anywhere close to what it had been when I saw him back in the 90's. Still plays an ok guitar. Still, nothing to be thrilled with.

 

Then Seger came on and thats when things got ... weird.

 

To my right was a railing (thank heavens for reasons I will shortly explain). Behind me was a bunch of folks who kept talking throughout Bob's set. They were not singing along. Could not make out what they were talking about exactly but it was annoying. In front of me were a bunch of drunk folks who were very into the show and very obnoxious. To my left, were another bunch of drunk folks who were also very into the show and very obnoxious. I do not appreciate getting pounded on the back by some drunken jerk when I am trying to enjoy a concert but thats what was going on. Nor do I appreciate having some drunken jerk howling "awwooow" into my ear multiple times in the middle of a song that is being sung. Esp. if it happens with almost every song in the set. If it was at the start / end of a song - fine. If it happens at the end of some awesome solo - fine. but right in the middle of song - not fine. That, among other BS, is what I was having to put up with. Thank heavens their was a railing to my right. With my luck if their had been people there they would have been drunken aholes like the folks in front of me and to my left.

 

Finally got sick of putting up with the drunken aholes and tried to go to another section only to have security give me a hard time since my ticket was not for that section. Understandable but not what I wanted. Finally managed to work my way into another section and that turned out great (thank goodness!!). Security did not give me any problems. The folks there were a little drunk but were totally into the show in a good way - singing along and were real cool - the total opposite of what I had to put up with at the start of the show. Not only that but the seating was closer to the stage and directly opposite the middle of the stage.

 

The crowd as a whole was really into the show. My impression was that Seger can still really deliver it. He had a huge grin and was really into the concert. His voice might not be what it once was but once he got through his first couple songs he got his vocal cords warmed up and everything was more than ok from that point on.

 

And what a set list!! One great song after another. At times it was more a massive sing a long than a concert. The crowd was really into the show. Interestingly he mentioned that he had not played "Like a Rock" live since 1987. Sort of surprised me since that was his last big hit.

 

I had never seen Seger live before tonights show. Would I see him again? Absolutely yes - esp. if I don't have the drunken f'ing aholes near me again.

 

Again, sorry you had such a bad experience. Other than the drunks (and that was a BIG problem) mine was good.

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I saw Opeth for the very first time on April 19th at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. It was the 2nd night of their 2013 and final American leg of the Heritage Tour. The show was awesome,and it surpassed my admittedly high expectations. What made the show even more sweet was that I was at the front of the barrier in the center which was a first. Katatonia opened for them, who were also awesome. Although, I felt bad for them because the majority of the crowd stood still and weren't getting into it as much as they did when Opeth came on later.

 

Opeth's set consisted of more heavier songs. I believe in total, they played more Ghost Reveries songs than Heritage songs. I don't recall where exactly in the set, but in between songs the band played a section from Harvest and Mikael told the crowd to sing along, which we did to his delight. He then told us that we'd have to return the favor...which later turned out to be "the silent headbang" (something which he'd make the crowd do before at Sonisphere 2011). During this leg, the band played the wonderful acoustic rendition of Demon of the Fall. This leg marked the first time they've played Atonement off of Ghost Reveries live in America. Also played, were the crowd favorites Hope Leaves and Deliverance, which followed immediately after Atonement. The main set ended with Harlequin Forest, while the encore this time around was Blackwater Park. And of course, no Opeth show would be complete without Mikael Akerfeldt's funny remarks in between songs. At this show, Mikael joked that they will play the entire first Bon Jovi record.

 

All in all, the Opeth/Katatonia show would probably go down as one of my favorite concerts in recent time.

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I saw Opeth for the very first time on April 19th at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. It was the 2nd night of their 2013 and final American leg of the Heritage Tour. The show was awesome,and it surpassed my admittedly high expectations. What made the show even more sweet was that I was at the front of the barrier in the center which was a first. Katatonia opened for them, who were also awesome. Although, I felt bad for them because the majority of the crowd stood still and weren't getting into it as much as they did when Opeth came on later.

 

Opeth's set consisted of more heavier songs. I believe in total, they played more Ghost Reveries songs than Heritage songs. I don't recall where exactly in the set, but in between songs the band played a section from Harvest and Mikael told the crowd to sing along, which we did to his delight. He then told us that we'd have to return the favor...which later turned out to be "the silent headbang" (something which he'd make the crowd do before at Sonisphere 2011). During this leg, the band played the wonderful acoustic rendition of Demon of the Fall. This leg marked the first time they've played Atonement off of Ghost Reveries live in America. Also played, were the crowd favorites Hope Leaves and Deliverance, which followed immediately after Atonement. The main set ended with Harlequin Forest, while the encore this time around was Blackwater Park. And of course, no Opeth show would be complete without Mikael Akerfeldt's funny remarks in between songs. At this show, Mikael joked that they will play the entire first Bon Jovi record.

 

All in all, the Opeth/Katatonia show would probably go down as one of my favorite concerts in recent time.

 

maybe i will catch the show in a fe weeks.

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Let's see, I ended up leaving my dorms a little late for the show (usually like getting there an hour or two before the doors open) and there were about a hundred people ahead of me. It was general admittance so I pretty much gave up on getting front row. So once I finally made my way in, I went for a piss and entered the ballroom. To my surprise hardly anyone was in there. The people ahead of me all went to the bar instead. I walked up to the stage and wiggled into one of the last gaps in the crowd barrier. I was directly in front of Steven's mellotron.

 

Before the show there was about 30 minutes of some Bass Communion song playing to a picture of the moon, often showing different distorted faces. It was pretty meh. The effects on the moon kept skipping. All of a sudden a cloud moved across the moon, then halfway across it skips and does it again. Since this doesn't really count as an opening, I won't leave it in my final verdict.

 

After about 30 minutes of the moon screen and Bass Communion, the band finally came on right at 8:00. They started off with three songs from the new album. Luminol, Drive Home, and The Pin Drop. These versions were phenomenal. They sounded even better in a live setting. His touring guitarist, Guthrie Govan reinvented the solos Steven had originally written him into something more improvisational and entertaining. Luminol was very fun, Drive Home was a little dull until Guthrie started playing and with The Pin Drop, there was a problem with the sound. Either with the actual sound system or my ears, I couldn't tell. It was either so loud my ears (I have some hearing problems, probably should have brought ear plugs) couldn't interpret the sound or the sound system created some long annoying whine.

 

Fast forward a little, he played a few songs, the guy next to me broke down and cried when he played Deform to Form a Star. Whenever Steven played his mellotron, he had a laptop blocking his face so I couldn't see him. Yet every now and then the left eye of his face appeared and it looked like he was staring me in the eye whenever he moved. Steven overall was a bit chatty during the show. He joked about how the last song was about a dysfunctional relationship and how the next one is about... you guessed it, a dysfunctional relationship. He told the audience about how the songs on his latest album were about ghost stories and how the last song he played (The Watchmaker) was about a man who killed his wife of 50 years and how his next song (Index) was more f*cked up. Only he did through a somewhat annoying deep voice created by his mic. During those two songs, he had this curtain over the stage so we could get a great view of the graphic images on them. According to some other reviews they disgusted the audience, but since I was so close to the stage, I could see through the curtain and missed all the fun.

 

I was a bit overwhelmed by Harmony Korine & Raider II. I really got into them. They are great live songs. There was a lot of energy in the crowd and it was fun to watch Steven dance around like a maniac conducting his band. When he was playing a complex part of Raider II on guitar (He switched instruments a lot, He played bass, mellotron, acoustic, etc.), Guthrie stood there and mocked him because he knew he was better. It was a bit fun to see them f**k with each other on stage. I made a bit of a connection with Marco Minnemann because I was paying more attention to him than anyone else during some songs. He saw me react to some of his fills and he smiled whenever I air drummed. He threw his sticks in my direction after the show and I was inches away from catching them.

 

The arena was really small too. Only about 400 people could fit in there. Everything was fantastic. There were no major slip ups, the songs were executed flawlessly, and though there was trouble early in the show, the sound was very good. I will rank this probably among the very best of the few shows I've seen.

Edited by Union 5-3992
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Went to see Death at Irving Plaza...well, Death to All to be more specific: a concert to commemorate the music and life of the late Chuck Schuldiner. It will probably be the closest thing I'll ever come to in terms of seeing a death metal band back in the 90s. It was also the most brutal concert I've ever been to, and I when I mean brutal, I mean the most intense hour of my life at a show.

 

Let's see...I left my dorm at 6 and I arrived at the venue about 10 minutes later. My dorm is not too far from the venue, so I thought if I arrived an hour before doors open, I might be one of the first few in line. That wasn't the case. There was two lines, one for VIP tickets which included a meet and greet with the band (and probably Death's manager Eric Greif as well) , and one line for standard tickets. I had a standard ticket, and didn't go in until 7. At the merch booth, there were a couple of Death shirts, the currently in print Death reissues. Scream Bloody Gore, and Leprosy were not there because they've yet to be reissued. I don't think I saw Symbolic there either even though that's readily available. I picked up a Death To All tour shirt and made my way to the stage, but in less than 5 minutes, and I went back to the merch booth and got a Human shirt as well. Luckily my spot wasn't taken so I was able to go back to where I was as if nothing happened.

 

The first band that opened for Death to All...uh...how do I put this politely...they came pretty close to rupturing my ears out. They didn't suck, they were ok, to be honest, but they were just TOO LOUD! Actually, not only were they loud, but I could hardly understand what the front man was saying whenever he talked between songs. He introduced the band, but I couldn't hear the name of the band. I couldn't tell if the loud sound was bad because I pretty close to the speakers, or the sound mix sucked for them. It's funny because after they went off stage, the sound mix all of a sudden. Good thing they were only on for less than 20 minutes...I think the crowd hated them to begin with because they asked everyone to mosh and no one did.

 

The second band that opened was called Anciients, and this band was definitely better than the first act, at least for me. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect from them, but I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by what I heard from them. The crowd response was mixed. Some person said their music was too long he almost fell asleep, but ironically he was wearing a Dream Theater shirt. At the end of their act, their bassist threw a pick at the crowd, but nobody really seemed to care, nor anybody claimed it. When they were setting up Death's equipment, I saw that the pick was lying on the floor near the barrier so I grabbed it before anyone noticed.

 

Now it was time for Death to All. On this tour, the musicians playing were the line-up from the Human album (of course, minus Chuck): Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert from Cynic, the amazing Steve DiGiorgio, and on vocals/guitars, Max Phelps. Before their act began, there was a little short slideshow of Chuck and once that was done the drum intro for Flattening of Emotions (which is one of my all time favorite Death songs) started to kick in and once that happened, everyone started to go bonkers. Literally everyone moshing and headbanging, and I mean everyone. And for the remainder of the show this continued, and it was so hot (as there was no air conditioner, from what I know), everyone was sweating like crazy by the end of the show. As for the band themselves, they were phenomenal. They were so into it and I could see on their faces that they were really happy and honored to be doing this. I could almost see Chuck in Max Phelps, because Max sounded almost exactly like Chuck! The setlist was amazing, songs like Leprosy, Spiritual Healing, Zombie Ritual, and Left to Die were amazing, but the three songs everyone went crazy for were Suicide Machine, Lack of Comprehension, and Pull The Plug. They brought in a special guest for Pull the Plug but I had no clue who it was. There was also a little short video about the life of Chuck, and there were videos of him I had never seen before. At the end of the video was a slideshow that showed the Death discography. I was literally all over the place during the show. At one point I was probably 3 rows behind the barrier, by the middle I got pushed towards the front of the barrier and barely squeezed myself their for most of the show, and by the last song, I was about 5 rows back. Everything seemed like it was happening so quickly. For me, Death's one and a half hour on stage, felt like a half hour.

 

Overall, I'd say this was another memorable concert along the lines of the Steven Wilson in 2011, the Opeth/Katatonia show from last week, and Porcupine Tree's final US show at Radio City. It was probably just as good as the Opeth/Katationia show I went to last week, but in different ways.

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^Good review, glad you enjoyed the show. I'm glad I missed the first band when I went :LOL: I just wish they played the 20-something song set like they did last year. Still a great show though.
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^ Honestly, if they do another run of Death To All next year, they should do like a 2 hour set, no opening act. For this tour however, I would've kept Anciients on the bill but drop the first band completely and use those 20 minutes for more Death. Looking back at the first band, every song sounded EXACTLY the same which got old really quickly. I thought it would've been super cool if they played the whole Human album and added a song like Infernal Death or Choke On It. I really hope that DTA 2 makes it way to the states (as of now it's only one show in Europe) I'd be really gutted if DTA 2 didn't come to the states and they play songs from the last three albums and it was either the Symbolic or The Sound of Perseverance lineup playing.
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Just got back from the NYC show. I wanted to arrive at the venue at around 5:30 or so, but I didn't get in line until after 6 and there were quite a few people ahead of me. During the 2011 tour, I arrived at 5:00, was near the front of the line, and got a spot right near the stage. I got just as good of a spot tonight, which was a pleasant surprise. After half an hour of ambient music and techs testing the gear, a projection of the moon played on the screen, which morphed into the album cover for The Raven. That lasted for another half hour, and the band came on right at 8 (compared to 2011's show, when they came out after 9, due problems with the venue). Luminol was an energetic opener, and the first thing that I noticed was that SW was actually playing much more. Instead of dancing around the stage conducting the musicians (like in the GAYD DVD), he played guitar in the beginning before the verses. This continued throughout the show, as he played guitar, bass, and keys. The new album sounds incredible live, even split up throughout the set. The Holy Drinker was so good. Theo Travis was the highlight for me on The Pin Drop; his sax playing was simply fantastic. Most people have been talking about how great Guthrie, Marco, and Nick are, but I haven't really heard much praise for Holzman and Travis. While I love everyone in the band, I really like the jazz aspect that they bring with them, and the show wouldn't be the same without them.

 

The Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning songs were equally enjoyable as the new stuff. I'm really glad that he added to Insurgentes title track, as it's one of my favorites. It more than made up for the lack of Veneno Para Las Hadas. Some assholes had to ruin the silent parts of Raider II's intro. Someone screamed "Theo" during the first silent part. During the second part, another (probably the same guy) screamed "Play something for Connecticut" or something along those lines. Then the guy next to me started to sing. It was quite different than last time, when the entire theater was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop (no pun intended). Steven wasn't happy, but they started it again without interruption. And it kicked serious ass. Postcard was another good live song. I loved it last time, so I was looking forward to hearing it again.

 

The title track was the closer to the show, and I couldn't think of a better way to end such a great concert. I can't even begin to describe how good it was, especially as the show ended and Holzman played the final piano melody. Of course, there was the encore. We got Radioactive Toy, which I've actually only heard a few times. It was good, but I think I would rather have heard the No Twilight/Remainder medley. Radioactive Toy just doesn't seem like an encore song with all the psychedelic sections to it, but the sing-along parts were fun.

 

SW surprised me with his between-the-songs banter. He's not Mikael Akerfeldt, but he had me literally laughing out loud a few times. He joked about his mother's fascination with serial killers, leading him to become interested in the subject. He also talked about the director Harmony Korine, and how he just made his first mainstream movie. He said that he's been a fan for years, as shown by the song named after him. He joked about how "cool" he was for this fact (maybe he's turning into a hipster!). Overall, he seemed extremely happy on stage whether he was playing, singing, or talking with the crowd.

 

After the show, I headed to the merch booth and picked up a shirt and the record store day album. Nick Beggs was going to be there to sign copies of his comic books, but I didn't wait. I wanted to, but then I'd end up missing the earlier train. Not that big of a deal as the show was awesome and I met SW before.

 

I really can't recommend this show enough! It was two and a half hours of prog heaven.

Edited by ColdFireYYZ
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^ It's funny, I was about to do my review of the show, until I saw yours. You pretty much summed up how amazing the show was, but I'm still gonna do my own review of it.

 

With that aside, I arrived at the venue at 5:30 and to my surprise there were a considerable amount of people ahead of me. In 2011, I remembered going to get lunch after meeting Steven at J&R, and arrived at the Best Buy Theater around...I wanna say 4:30-5 and I was either the 4th or 5th person in line. During the wait, I was talking to two fans (something which I hardly do at shows); the one in front of me and the one behind me, not just about PT/SW, but other stuff like Opeth, mutual bands we liked. I remember the younger of the two fans said he knew of Rush, but didn't really listen to them. I gave him two Rush albums I recommended for starters, which I won't name because they're obvious choices (at least I think that). Once the doors opened, and we went inside the venue, I didn't see those two guys again, which kinda sucked cause I thought we were hitting it off. Like in 2011, I went to the merch booth and was one of the first if not the first person to go to the merch booth. I only bought a tour shirt this time, and although I would've loved to get more stuff, my budget was running low.

 

Coincidentally, I stood at the exact same spot where I saw Steven in 2011: near/front of the stage in between Steven and touring guitar player (it was John Wesley in 2011, and of course Guthrie Govan in the present). I will always be in the minority when it comes to the Bass Communion stuff, but I thought the Bass Communion piece on this tour was great! It had elements of the track Haze from Molotov and Haze but when it was near showtime, it started to mutilate into this demonic version of it and had some guy that sounded like a Satan Steven Wilson talking gibberish. The video of the moon with the clouds passing by were...okay...didn't impress me that much. I actually preferred the the black shrouded man that reminded me of the Grim Reaper walking slowly towards the audience over the moon video over the moon video.

 

Luminol was an awesome opener, and The Holy Drinker...oh my god...what a killer track live. It was cool to see Steven play bass for once. For that matter, the entire Raven album sounds amazing live. Of course, the Insurgentes and Grace For Drowning songs were equally as awesome live. Believe it or not, the song from the previous two albums that stood out to me live this time around was Deform To Form A Star. Adam's intro/mini solo for that song struck a chord with me that I didn't feel back in 2011. Insurgentes was a lovely addition to the set, and the addition of Marco's drums on that song (I don't recall drums on the studio recording) gave it a nice deserved boost. Steven really went nuts during Index and his dancing/antics throughout the song was done in such an awestruck yet unintentionally funny manner, I couldn't help but smile during the song, I almost had to laugh.

 

If I thought Raider II was the perfect closing song for a Steven Wilson show, I was proven wrong with than The Raven That Refused to Sing. The song was so epic live, it was the closest I've ever been to tearing up at a concert. The emotion in Steven's vocals, the fantastic musicianship, the breathtaking music video accompanying the song, that song had it all live. For the encore, I would've been happy with either the Remainder/No Twilight medley or Radioactive Toy. However since I already heard No Twilight and Remainder in their entirety, I admit that I was hoping for Radioactive Toy cause I never heard that one live (although of course I've listened to it on countless live PT albums) which they did play. Nothing against PT's arrangement of it, I enjoyed the SW band's arrangement more. I thought Adam's keyboards during that song gave it a jazzier feel to it which I thought was cool.

 

As the band took their bow, and exited the stage, there was an outro video that played that showed ocean/river scenery set to an instrumental version of the 2nd half of Storm Corrosion's Ljudet Innan. I don't know if he did play the previous Bass Communion outro video in NYC in 2011, but I don't seem to remember seeing or hearing the Bass Communion song and/or video piece. I thought, the Ljudet Innan video piece was lovely. With Ljudet Innan being my favorite track off of Storm Corrosion, and as a Freshman going on Sophomore film student, I thought the video while simple in nature, captured the feeling and mood of the song that I envisioned. When the video of that ended, I tried to get a setlist and I even stayed till I was the last person in the venue, but they had no set lists on stage. Oh well, it didn't hurt to try asking for one though right?

 

Edit: Well, originally I wanted to talk about what happened after the show in this post, and how I ended up meeting Nick, Guthrie, Theo, Steven and Marco by chance but then I would've crossed tl;dr territory and I don't think anyone cares to know what happened so I'll spare the misery of talking about it.

Edited by PolarizeMe
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I'd definitely want to share my post Steven Wilson concert experience, it's just that there was a lot that happened after the show...

 

There is one thing I do want to talk about that happened during the show. There was one girl in front of me that had earphones on the entire show. I believe her boyfriend dragged her with him. I think it was pretty clear that she didn’t like the show, nor even knew who Steven Wilson was probably. She didn't even move, didn't get into it, and she was even covering her ears with the earphones plugged in cause she thought it was too loud. Also, she was taller than me and while I did have a great view of the stage, I could hardly see the area where Nick, and SW's keyboards were. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t bothered at all by this, because I was bothered by it, more than I should have. And I think me and everyone else behind her cheering annoyed her even more so she left for good at the end of Harmony Korine and I took her spot for the rest of the show.

 

Alright, now on to what happened after the show. Nick Beggs came over to the merch booth to sign copies of his comic book. I already had his comic book from Burning Shed and it was already signed, but I did come prepared with something. Just in case anything happened and I somehow bump into any of the band, I bought my deluxe copy of The Raven which was a very risky decision but paid off. He was down to earth and he was a very funny guy. We had a nice little talk about stuff like the reason behind using a pick in the studio version of Luminol, and how he met Steven through Steve Hackett. I also asked him about tips for a beginner bassist. Since, I've decided to get reacquainted with my bass (cause with college stuff, I lost touch with the bass), his tips make total sense to me.

 

At this point, I had no intention of staying in an attempt to meet Steven and the rest of the guys but once I walked out the venue, I saw Guthrie Govan chilling outside with a couple of fans. I took advantage of the situation and went up to him and asked if he would sign my copy of The Raven, which he did. This was where it gets embarrassing at least I feel embarrassed looking back on it...I hate to use the term to describe what happened, but I guess because he's Guthrie Govan, and one of the best guitarist I've seen, I was so star struck by him I ended up making a complete fool of myself in front of him. :facepalm: Let's just say, looking back on it, I was talking in complete gibberish to him. I remembered he needed me to speak up or say what I wanted to say again cause I spoke too fast. He was nice about what I asked him though...said something to me like "I'm not just a shredder, I’ve played at weddings too you know" and "When it comes to different kinds of music, I just play what fits for a song". I also got a picture with him, but I think we kinda looked stoned in it, especially Guthrie. :LOL:

 

Shortly after talking to Guthrie the security set up barricades around the entrance. I knew already this had something to do with meeting Steven and the band. Since I was there already and since I dorm in the city, I thought I might as well stay awhile for Steven, Marco, Adam and Theo. After all, I wanted the entire band to sigh my Raven copy even though I already met Steven once before. In between that time, I spend a great amount of time talking to a fan and her son about stuff like Opeth, Katatonia, gigs we've seen. We also talked about Rush and they said they're going to the Jones Beach show. They also said that the crowd at the Blackfield show in NYC in 2011 were pretty harsh towards the band to an extent. At one point, I saw a bald guy with a huge goatee walk inside and I thought, “Damn, that guy looked like Jordan Rudess” and when he walked back outside, it WAS Jordan Rudess. I don’t know why, but I shouted out his name and he looked toward me and said hello and we waved to each other as he was walking to whoever knows where (probably back near the studio where Dream Theater’s recording the new album I guess)

 

Adam was the first to come out along carrying a few things along with some roadies, and went straight into the bus. That was the last I ever saw of him, as I don’t recall ever seeing him coming back out. Unfortunately, he’s the only one didn’t sign my Raven copy. Nick followed, and then came Theo whom took time to sign autographs before entering the tour bus. Then around 1AM, Steven came out and along with him was a little boy, probably the son of someone who works at the venue. Not surprisingly, Steven spent the most time with the fans. I remembered thanking him (and the rest of the band actually) for starting Raider II over again, and just as he was about to leave to say hello to the fans on the opposite side of where I was standing, I asked him if he was a fan of Ingmar Bergman (Swedish filmmaker) and what is his favorite movie of his. Quite an unusual question to ask him in that situation, but I felt that unless he does a record signing in NYC again, I would never get to know. Fortunately, he was a fan of Bergman and said his favorite film of his was Wild Strawberries. One of his best movies, but I told him my favorite was The Seventh Seal to which he replied, "Oooh, that's another excellent film!" I then said thanks to him and that I hope he comes back to NYC and he thanked me back before going to the other side. Marco was the last one to come out, but by that time, mostly everyone left after Steven showed up. I also got a photo of Steven, but shortly afterwards I dropped my phone and cracked the back of it, but I'm getting a new phone anyway in the summer so it didn't bummed me out. Marco was the last one to come out, but by that time, almost everyone left cause I think they were only there for Steven. I was only one of about 5 people who stayed for Marco. After Marco signed my copy of The Raven, I left the venue.

 

All in all, I think I spent a good 9+ hours in and around the vicinity of the venue. How I was able to be still standing after that, I don't know but it was all worth it. If none of this happened, I still would have thought that the show was the best I've seen period but the fact that it did, it just made it more awesome and would probably the gig I would never forget.

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Just saw Steven Wilson in Minneapolis... Holy smokes! The venue was quite crowded and uncomfortable, but I loved how tight and energetic the show was. I was impressed by Marco and Guthrie on the recording, but they sounded even better in person. Also, Steven Wilson is much funnier than I expected! Edited by priest_of_syrinx
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BRIT FLOYD - Phoenix, AZ - May 11, 2013 - Comerica Theatre

Saw Brit Floyd in Phoenix last Saturday. For those who don't know who they are, they are the "World's Greatest Pink Floyd Show". And I can tell you this, They Are The Greatest!! It could very well have been the best concert I've ever seen, and that's a Huge Statement because I've seen everyone, and been to over 750 concerts in my life. This concert was that good. This concert was so good that it rivals the many times I saw the real Floyd.

 

They are not some wannabe tribute band. These guys tour the world and play 5000 theaters, with a huge production and amazing show. I was absolutely blown away at this concert, blown away! They played a great mix of all Floyd albums, and played everything perfectly, if not better at times than the real Floyd. Their show was; Set 1 = 1:15, Set 2 = 1:30, for a solid 2 hours and 45 minutes of heaven.

The production was stunning. Sound was the Best Concert Sound I've ever heard! Lighting and Video was mind blowing, and all was perfectly run and timed exactly with the performance.

 

I hate tribute bands, and don't write reviews....So this must really say something about the concert and band.

Go see BRIT FLOYD at all costs, which isn't very much. I payed $38 for my row 22 dead center ticket.

 

Here's a gallery of photos I took and posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151604835194728.1073741826.602099727&type=3

 

Here's a video for One Of These Days:

Here's a video for Take It Back:

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SWANS - Live in Parma - may 21st 2013

 

I spent all winter moaning that Swans would be touring Europe in spring and I'd have no chance to see them... and they come in my hometown!! How cool is that?

There's not much I can say, actually. It's incredibly hard to describe their music. It's dark blues meets mantra meets hardcore meets ethinc... I love its meditative, repeating cycles, and yet it's no f***ing new-agey stuff, you can tell it comes from some dark side of the soul and from a big city tough guy angle.

What can you say about Michael Gira? He plays, he sings, he directs the band like an orchestra. And yet he retains the incredible humbleness of the consumed performer. He's no star. The band is a force of nature and plays incredibly loud, with a low end so heavy you can feel it in your belly.

Incredibly good mix of people in the audience: metal guys in leather, punks, hipsters, hippies, regular joes, goths, prog heads bragging about that time they saw Genesis... a little bit of everyone.

Oh, and the price: 20 euros for a full 2 hours set. This is what it means getting your money's worth...

Really good experience. Now it will take me a few days to get my hearing back...

Edited by H. P. L.
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