Tonight saw Steven Wilson hit the stage at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. The last time I went to see him was back in 2018 at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow on his tour promoting the album "To the Bone". Fast forward to 2025 and this concert is to promote his latest album "The Overview". This is a 40 minute album which consists of just 2 tracks; "Objects Outlive us" and "The Overview".
Many artists with a big back catalogue release a new album and maybe play half of the songs off a new album. But with "The Overview" just being 2 tracks, Steven was really left with no choice but to have an all or nothing approach. It's a risk and he went for it as the first part of the set tonight was the Steven and his band playing the album in it's entirety. He admitted himself its a complex album to play, as he was constantly changing between playing electronics with playing various guitars. In fact the roadie's job was made even more challenging than usual because usually he would just hand the artist various guitars at the end of songs. But with Steven you need to do the changes during the songs so the roadies have to know the songs inside out themselves.
Personally, I am really like the new album. While Steven has always pushed the boundaries of what he does, this does feel like his most ambitious project to date. Played live, it really came alive. And I did wonder if when making just how much he had to think about how they could pull it off live with the constant changing of instruments during the song. But I can safely say he and the band did. It's a modern prog masterpiece. And the crowd at the end of the second track gave a stand ovation too just to show their appreciation.
The band then took a 20 minute break. Meanwhile My Dad, brother and I were speculating what would be in store for the next part of the show. We were all unsure as we knew we were going to get "The Overview" in full but after that who knows. My brother amusingly joked we were going to get a question and answer session. While me and my Dad thought we'd get a best of set with some Porcupine Tree songs which for a lot of Steven's career was his main project. But in recent times his solo career has very much been his focus apart from a rare Porcupine Tree album released a few years back.
So what was the second set? Well it was long. In total they played well over 2 hours so we got our money's worth. But the set itself? well it was interesting to say the least. Instead of focusing on a particular album, he played a one or two songs from each album with the exception being the album "Grace for Drowning" which no songs were played off. And 2023's "Harmony Codex" which he played 3 songs off. Playing 3 songs off "Harmony Codex" looks to make sense because I don't think he toured that heavily due to touring with Porcupine Tree at the time so a lot of the songs from that release people hadn't heard live.
I think what maybe is surprising is that from 3 amazing albums in the shape of "To the bone", "The Future Bites" and "Hand. Cannot. Erase.", he just played one track from each. And the "To the bone" track was "Pariah" which on the recorded version has Nenit Tayeb on vocals. She not surprisingly wasn't there tonight but they used her recorded vocals. Another surprise is not that he played a Porcupine Tree song but which one it was. It was "Dislocated Day" on 1995's "Sky moves Sideways". In terms of Porcupine Tree's back catalogue that is one deep, deep cut.
I think what I'm trying to say is I didn't recognise as much of the material in the second part of the set as I thought I would. While I did listen to many of the albums at the time of release and I am familiar with a fair chunk of his material. It's clear there is a lot of his material which has passed me by. But that is not to say I didn't enjoy listening to what he had to offer tonight. Far from it. It was like an exploratory gig in terms of finding new gems for me to listen to in his back catalogue. Which in turn was refreshing and very enjoyable.
The night finished on a song I really did recognise and that is "The Raven that refused to sing". While Steven Wilson has so many signature tracks I feel this one takes the biscuit from his solo material. There was a moment from this track that really will stay with me tonight. And that was when the track was building towards a climax and we were sitting right at the back. And the crowd gradually started to stand up in appreciation. It added to the atmosphere and created a special moment. Steven did actually make a comment saying he has debates with his agent whether he should do sitting or standing shows, and in the past he has done both. But tonight I feel that moment would have been lost in a standing show.
Overall a great gig. On paper looking at the setlist it maybe doesn't look it considering all the tracks he has to choose from. I don't think it would be many peoples dream setlist..........but you had to be there.
Setlist
Set 1
1. Objects Outlive us
2. The Overview
Set 2
3. The Harmony Codex
4. King Ghost
5. Luminol
6. What Life Brings
7. Dislocated Day (Porcupine Tree Song)
8. Pariah.
9. Impossible Tightrope
10. Abandoner
11. Harmony Korine
12. Vermillioncore
Encore
13. Ancestral
14. The Raven That Refused to Sing
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