Steven Wilson

Well then; after John in Dallas been banging the drum since I've known him, thought it was about time I jumped back into the “prog pool” and see what the fuss was about.

So then, my first dive into the waters since I went to see Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin (also at The Sage), and after years at the “grass roots” sort of level, my first “big, sexy, rock show” (Mr. Wilson’s description….) in a long while. Big, sexy, rock show? Well, there were no dirigible-sized inflatables, no ranks of vari-lights and the stage wasn’t set out like a Viking long ship, so we weren’t looking “Spinal Tap”; that’s not to say though there wasn’t clouds of smoke from ever running haze machines and very clever use of front-stage and back-stage projections, some very Pink Floyd type animations and surreal featurettes as well as Mr Wilson being able to duet with projected backing singers and at one point 20ft women.

Naturally, To The Bone was the core of this particular shindig, People Who Eat Darkness and The Same Asylum As Before being particularly strong. And just to show that even though he’s the go-to-man of the genre, he well and truly burst the bubble of pretention by blasting out Permanating, and had the Sage lit and bouncing like the ol’ Powerhouse back in the day. Liked the little dig at the “King Crimson T-shirt” wearers as he introduced this one, as if they weren’t still sweeping Pete Sinfield’s pop work under their carpet…. That was another of the evening’s surprises, how chatty and dry witted Mr Wison is.

Getting back to the main stuff though, Mr Wilson kept hopping back through his back catalogue and pulled out a very “unsettling” Home Invasion, very much reminded me of Goblin, was one of several featured from the previous Hand Can’t Erase album. Closer of the night though was The Raven That Refused to Sing, not before he went right back to the previous band’s Stupid Dream, for a stripped-back solo Even Less, for the long-time fans in the audience.

Set list:- Set 1
1. Nowhere Now 2. Pariah 3. Home Invasion 4. Regret #9 5. The Creator Has a Mastertape 6. Refuge 7. People Who Eat Darkness 8. Ancestral
Set 2
Arriving Somewhere but Not Here 10. Permanating 11. Song of I 12. Lazarus 13. Detonation 14. The Same Asylum as Before 15. Heartattack in a Layby 16. Vermillioncore 17. Sleep Together
Encore
18. Even Less 19. The Sound of Muzak 20. The Raven That Refused to Sing

Sorry for any "spoilers" especially if you're heading to any of the RAH shows, but Mr W has eluded that's as well as debuting a new animation for a song, one or two special guests may be dropping by..... (And one or two of those songs may give BIG hints.)

An excellent way to spend a Sunday night, and a 96% house seemed to agree.