pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

Rarely do two bands you like happen to tour together.  Porcupine Tree is touring with King’s X on this U.S. Leg… well… ok, starting in a week in Ohio.  This West Coast leg, though gets That1Guy (another musician I like a lot).  I’m bummed I’m missing a KXC/PT show, but That1Guy is a fun live act as well.

I guess I’ll have to get used to the Roseland, as I imagine I’ll be seeing more and more shows here over the years.  It’s an “OK” venue… a basic stand-y rock club.  They do have a nice food menu, though… and I got as Zappa veggie dog (I heart the PacNW).  The band had a ban on cameras, outside of the officially selected photographer for the Incident tour blog; so no photos from me this time.

That1Guy played a short set.  Pretty much the same set as the last time I saw him in Feb, but just cut short. I was kind of bummed that he didn’t play “Buttmachine” or “Mustaches.”  Maybe he was trying to be “more serious” for the prog fans.  I don’t know.  I think “Buttmachine” is one of his catchiest songs, regardless of its ridiculous lyrics.  Watch the video here.  Overall his set & jams were a bit redundant / repetitive, but he’s still fun to watch.

Setlist: about 40 mins

• Intro Jam
• Jigsaw
• Weasel Potpie leading into Instrumental Jam
• Heaven or Heck
  
• Dig (with the magic boot)
• Outro Jam (T1G’s credit card jam with snippets of “Smoke on the Water”)

That1Guy’s 2007 album, The Moon is Disgusting, aged well.  I’m still digging it a bunch, and wish he would have played more off of it outside of “Jigsaw” and “Dig.”  You can listen to samples of the album HERE.

Next up, Porcupine Tree, whose new album, The Incident, arrived to my earbuds last weekend (thanks to Demonoid) but also hit my hands in a the lush limited edition on Tuesday.  Wow… it’s freakin’ excellent.  Great packaging in the deluxe edition.  I think the limited edition is sold out, but the standard CD is available worldwide now.

Porcupine Tree hit the stage around 9:15 and played a first set entirely made up of The Incident‘s 1st disc.  They didn’t stray from the album in scope or sound.  It was very great being in the same room as Steven again.  He’s truly a great musician and songwriter, which is a hard moniker to assign to a progressive rock musician (most of them can’t write a song to save their lives).  Their set…

Setlist:

• The Incident (in its entirety)
  I – Occam’s Razor
  II – The Blind House
  III – Great Expectations
  IV – Kneel and Disconnect
  V – Drawing the Line
  VI – The Incident
  VII – Your Unpleasant Family
  VIII – The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train
  IX – Time Flies
  X – Degree Zero of Liberty
  XI – Octane Twisted
  XII – The Séance
  XIII – Circle of Manias
  XIV – I Drive the Hearse
  2nd Set
• The Start of Something Beautiful
• Buying New Soul
• Anesthetize Part 2
• Lazarus
• Strip the Soul
• .3
• Bonnie the Cat
• Encore: Way Out of Here
• Trains

Great show for their fantastic new album.  They played right around 2 hours total.  The Incident is easily the best album they’ve done since In Absentia, IMO.  This was only the 2nd show of their tour, and it didn’t really show.  I mean, they were on top of their game.  Steven mentioned that they were a little nervous at the Seattle show the day prior.  Somehow I’m skeptical of that.  They probably roll out of bed and could play these songs blindfolded. :)

The Appropriate Linkage:

• PorcupineTree.com
• The Incident on Tour (official blog)
• Another Portland 9/16 Review (by Mark Colman)
• Porcupine Tree on MySpace
• That1Guy & the Magic Pipe
• That1Guy on MySpace
• Roseland Theater
  

~Dan – np: Patton Oswalt – My Weakness is Strong

Further U.S> Porcupine Tree Tour Dates (as of now)

Tue 15 Sep SEATTLE, WA MOORE THEATER [opener: That1Guy]
Wed 16 Sep PORTLAND, OR ROSELAND [opener: That 1 Guy]
Fri 18 Sep SAN FRANCISCO WARFIELD [opener: That 1 Guy]
Sat 19 Sep LOS ANGELES CLUB NOKIA [opener: Big Elf]
Mon 21 Sep CLEVELAND, OH HOUSE OF BLUES [opener: King’s X]
Tue 22 Sep CHICAGO, IL VIC THEATER [opener: King’s X]
Thu 24 Sep NY, NY TERMINAL 5 [opener: King’s X]
Fri 25 Sep BALTIMORE RAM’S HEAD [opener: King’s X]
Sat 26 Sep PHILLY ELECTRIC FACTORY [opener: King’s X]
Sun 27 Sep BOSTON, MA HOUSE OF BLUES [opener: King’s X]
Tue 29 Sep MONTREAL METROPOLIS [opener: King’s X]
Wed 30 Sep TORONTO QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE [opener: King’s X]