When Marek and I first started dating, we bonded over music, realizing quickly that we already had a number of favorite bands in common; among them, Dead Can Dance, about whom I posted a few days back. In the haiku that followed, I also referenced Porcupine Tree, about whom I am writing this post.
Before moving to Florida, Marek had owned and operated a music store in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn, in NYC, then the center of the Polish community, where he specialized in European music. And, one of the main things he did, as every good music store owner does, was to introduce people to new music they might not otherwise know.
One of the first bands and artists he introduced me to was Porcupine Tree, fronted by multi-instrumentalist and top-notch musician and producer Steven Wilson, along with another project he founded the same year, no-man.
I liked no-man, though I preferred Wilson's direct singing to Tim Bowness' breathier style, but it was Porcupine Tree to which I was drawn from the start.
I've mentioned in previous posts that my dad was a jazz pianist, and my mom was a classical pianist, and I absolutely loved both genre growing up. I was also really into rock and folk music.
So it was no surprise when I was first introduced to British progressive rock that I fell instantly in love with it, as it combined all four influences into one amazingly cohesive display of musical showmanship, which could be understated and ethereal, dark and brooding, over the top and overwhelming, and back, sometimes all within the same song cycle.
I've always been an album rock girl. To me, a good album is like an auditory story, much like a film, and meant to be enjoyed from beginning to end, as a single piece of music. And several of my favorite albums from the period are indeed one piece of music from beginning to end, such as Jethro Tull's "Passion Play" or "Thick as a Brick," Rick Wakeman's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" or "The Six Wives of Henry VIII;" or, at the very least, on one side of the album, as with Cat Stevens' "Foreigner Suite."
But then Disco came along and ruined everything. Radio edits went back to three minutes flat, intelligence and nuance seemed to have been drained from and wrung out of lyrics, and the Top 40 went back to a sameness that was, well, uninteresting, to say the least. As much of it is today.
Then came Porcupine Tree. Begun as a joke with a school friend, with a made-up back story as an iconic 1970s band, complete with a created back-catalogue, the project was a labor of love for Wilson, and a tribute to the music he loved growing up as a kid. The first album was actually a solo project for Wilson, initially released as a series of cassette tapes.
Based in London, he managed to build a following, and gained notice of a newly-formed record company, Delerium, who helped him to pare down the self-released cassettes into a more cohesive form. This resulted in a somewhat uneven but interesting album, "On the Sunday of Life," which included one tune, "Radioactive Toy," which hinted at things to come. This is when they first came to Marek's notice; he carried their music from the start, and loved it, especially "Radioactive Toy."
Realizing that to become a successful musician, he would have to tour, Wilson realized that he would need an actual band to do so, as he couldn't play multiple guitars simultaneously onstage, and so he set about recruiting members.
While the second album, "Up the Downstair," was essentially another solo work with guest musicians, by the third album, "The Sky Moves Sideways," they had a real band, and began to gain a greater following, and to tour more widely. The lineup at this time was Steven Wilson, vocals, guitars and various other instruments; Richard Barbieri, formerly of Japan, on keyboards; Colin Edwin, a long-time friend of Wilson's, on bass; and Chris Maitland on drums and percussion.
With this album, which was largely an homage to Pink Floyd, people started touting Porcupine Tree as "the next Pink Floyd," which was the last thing Wilson wanted. As much as he loved Pink Floyd, he had no desire to BE them, or to front a Pink Floyd retrospective band. He wanted to do his own thing. He has subsequently distanced himself artistically from the album, though it was the album many consider to be his breakthrough, and gained him a substantial fan base.
Fast forward several years, and original drummer Chris Maitland left, and Wilson brought in Gavin Harrison to take his place. Maitland was a very good drummer; Harrison is freaking amazing. Harrison has been touring with King Crimson, and knowing what a stickler Robert Fripp is, KC fans know automatically that Gavin Harrison must be - and is - damned good. As much as I love music, Gavin Harrison is the first drummer I listened to who made me want to go out, grab a set of drum sticks and start playing. He is that good.
So. Marek and I started dating in 2006, and along with other music he introduced me to, he would play Porcupine Tree. And the conversation usually went something like this:
C: Wow, I love this! Who is it?
M: This is Porcupine Tree.
C: This is incredible! Would you please leave this out for me so that I can play it later on?
M: Sure.
And then the album would disappear into his impenetrable archives, never to be seen again. Until the next time he played Porcupine Tree. And we would play out the same conversation . . . and the same result.
An album I really wanted to play . . . and couldn't find. He knew how to get me completely addicted. ;-)
By the time "Fear of a Blank Planet" came out, in April 2007, I was completely hooked. And in July, when I had a weekend class in Orlando, I asked if I could borrow some albums for the trip. Among them I took "Deadwing" and "Fear of a Blank Planet," which were at the two most recent studio albums.
I took several more, but those are the only two albums I played. All. Weekend. Long.
When I discovered that Porcupine Tree was going on tour, and that their tour was starting in Tampa, I knew right then and there that we were going. Marek had already seen them in concert several times, and had told me that Porcupine Tree was among the best acts he had ever seen live.
And, by this time, I had already seen the "Arriving Somewhere" DVD from their last concert tour, supporting the album "Deadwing," which is by far one of the best concert videos I've ever seen. Including Pink Floyd's "Live in Pompeii," which is saying a lot.
No way in hell was I going to miss this concert.
As hard as it may have been, the concert exceeded my expectations. The musicianship was stellar, not a note was missed between them, and everything flowed magnificently. They really were one of the finest acts I have ever seen perform live. In fact, having now seen them several more times, and having subsequently seen Wilson several times alone and with other projects, I can say unequivocally that four of my top five concerts ever featured Steven Wilson.
The only artist who kept him from having a perfect five for five was The Cure. So four out of five. Not bad.
This video is Porcupine Tree, playing "Arriving Somewhere (But Not Here)," my favorite song from "Deadwing," taken from the "Arriving Somewhere" concert DVD. It is over twelve minutes long and worth every second. Enjoy.
All words and images are my own. The photograph of Steven Wilson at top I took during a question and answer session on 21 September2010, at the New York premiere of his "Insurgentes" film, which was a documentary road film about the making of his first solo album, by the same name.
It was a seriously odd night for me, as it was the birth date of my sister Carol, who had died nine days previously following a long illness. She would have been fifty-five that night, had she lived. I had been sharing Wilson's music with her for some time, and had pre-ordered two copies of the Insurgentes film DVD, one of which had been intended as her birthday present.
Marek, for his part was a gem, and had somehow managed to secure us front row seats for the film, and for the Q & A. I was even able to ask a question, though Wilson chose to answer something else, rather than specifically what I asked. In any event, the front row seats are why the photos came out so very well.
When we met him, Wilson couldn't have been nicer, and that was certainly a highlight for us both. Three days later, we saw Porcupine Tree in their first (and so far only) appearance at Radio City Music Hall, which is my #2 concert of all time. It was amazing, spanning the breadth of Porcupine Tree's body of work, and at something over three hours long, was absolutely an event to remember.
The video clip I've included was sourced from YouTube, is clearly the property of Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, and I own no rights to it in any way. As with Dead Can Dance, I am posting this clip to introduce Porcupine Tree to a wider audience, and hopefully, to gain some fans for them, and for Steven Wilson, who has more projects than most musicians have albums. A talented and prolific man, is Mr. Wilson.
The joke among his staunchest fans is when - or if - he manages to sleep, between all of his recording, mixing and touring. And all his hard work pays off; he has four Grammy Award nominations for his 5:1 Surround Sound mixes, so far, and counting.
In the past several years, he has been remixing the back catalogues of many of progressive rock's greatest artists, including King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, Caravan, Camel, and many more. And, all the while, he keeps on putting out stellar albums of his own, and continues touring.
If you ever have a chance to see him live, go. I promise you won't be sorry. And buy the DVD. And all his albums. Seriously. ALL of them.
Here is another of my favorite PT songs, from the same concert, which shows some of his humor in action. ;-)
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