Porcupine Tree Thursday September 24, 2009

How does that old joke go? Why do UK bands sound better? -They practice. Ha,Ha, but there are a lot of really, really good bands out of the UK. Porcupine Tree is one of these unappreciated bands. Being the brain child of singer/guitarist Steven Wilso, Porcupine Tree have had many albums since 92'. Experimental Rock or Ambient Prog-Rock are terms used to describe them. This just starts you off on the journey to understand. This band has the fast-yet-slow sound of most 90's Grunge bands with Metal riffs and Gothic melodic harmonies. On this last Thursday night there were many shows to choose from. It wasn't hard to make the decision to head uptown to Terminal 5. Some of us that were stuck to our TVs when we were younger might have memories of this band from old late night MTV. At the show there was a dark stage with a screen filled with different flickering images. At his first chance Steven let the audience know that they were going to play the whole new album the Incident, first disc. This is a kind of concept album of sorts which was recorded like a single long song that features many different movements. It was played out on stage with tight precision, moving from one "song" to the next. Hmm..Yes ..Blown away we were. It was amazing, then after only taking a 10 min. break they came out with a shorter but just as mind blowing set. Everyone in the crowed was dressed in mostly black. There were lots of Dream Theater T-shirts, at least 30. (no kidding) Always leave them wanting more and that is what happened. Steven let NYC know that they will be back at the beginning of the year. The lights only went on as the band left the stage after a double encore. You can check them out by listening to the songs they played at this New York Show on Setlist.fm. A web sight that puts together videos of songs to form a complete set list. Then you can get tickets to see them early 2010.
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/porcupine-tree/2009/terminal-5-new-york-ny-73d78aed.html