I watched PT last year in their first run of "The Incident" tour. They played a fantastic set, and the great album, note to note. Since it was my first PT concert, I did not know what to expect but in the end, I saw something so remarkable that I became addicted to live PT music. When they announced a second run of The Incident tour this year, I lapped up the ticket as soon as I heard the news. Once again, the stage was set at Warfield, San Francisco. Like Robert Smith of The Cure crooned, "They keep calling me..."
Enough has been said about this band and there are enough PT-heads out there just like me, who dig everything these guys put out and are as rabid in their pursuit as I am, if not more. So, this review of the concert is not about how much I admire PT or how good this band is or how much their music enriches my life but about the show itself.
Driving straight from my work in San Jose to San Francisco in peak traffic is a pain by itself but add to it the frustration of trying to reach soon enough to get to the front row. But the travel travails felt less as I was spinning The Incident for the nth time and as every PT fan knows, Time Flies and it did. And hour and half on the road ended and I was at Warfield by 750PM. Unexpectedly, Karnivool was already on stage, rocking the crowds and getting the heat up. I never heard of this band before, but man, were they good! I found yet another band thanks to PT after discovering countless great bands from Steven Wilson Head Quarters on the web (if you want to expand your music horizons and discover some of the greatest 'unheard' of bands, look no further than www.swhq.co.uk and check the play-list at the bottom). Karnivool were a killer live band and almost made me order their two CD's on Amazon the next day (I stopped since I have many others in the wait list for the buy button). All in all, by 830PM, Karnivool vacates the stage and 30 minutes for the mighty PT to march on. As the stage is getting cleaned, Gavin's ultra-cool drum kit is unveiled and so were Richard's keyboards. Colin's and John's guitars were placed in the racks and the SW's guitar tech starts checking his arsenal of Paul Reed Smith's and Les Paul's. 9PM, and the gentlemen walk on stage, saying a polite hello to the amazed and anticipating crowds and telling us all how much they like coming back to SFO. I was standing in front of Colin who greets us all with his usual charming smile. PT launches into the extended version of "Even Less" and forge ahead with an impeccable set-list.
Filled with a couple of shenanigans, which made the live show ever more endearing, SW missed a few notes on the lead to "Drawing the Line". At that point he said "oh #@!" and looked at John, who was forging ahead note for note. SW explained that the band is slightly off due to jet lagging. Not unless you were a hardcore music fan yourself that you would see what notes they missed and how many time signatures were off but the point is, doing these small "mistakes" made the band even more appealing than ever. It felt like you were watching humans and not some machines. You could see the soul in the band and I can say this for everyone standing there that, at that moment SW missed those notes, we were all one, we were all together and we were all so happy and smiling. I forgot all my worries and felt like a baby feeling the warmth of a mother's womb. To listen to tracks like "Russia on Ice", "Stars Die", "Wedding Nails", which are seldom played, was uplifting, to say the least. SW, who is often uncomfortable with his emerging image as a guitar hero, looked every bit the guitar hero on stage, ripping those beautiful PRS guitars apart. Gavin, Richard, Colin and John added their polished and sophisticated musicianship and did more than justice to each track on the massive two hour long set-list. I was really fortunate that PT played so long only because for the rest of the show they were playing along with Coheed & Cambria, so the set-list would be condensed to one hour. After exactly one hour, the band took ten minutes off with a timer on the stage showing the countdown. At exactly time zero, they came back and per my request (only kidding, but I was routing for Time Flies, as evident from how the ten minutes went past in a zip) launched into Time Flies. I wonder how SW manages to impeccably change his show from electric to acoustic and back and manage to do that so seamlessly making it look so easy. The second half of the show went past so fast, by the end of the show I was wondering if I was in a sleep of dreaming. It all ended with a song that got me into PT about eight years back, Blackest Eyes. So very poetically, the show ended for me where it started. I have come a full circle in my pursuit of PT.
The incredible musicianship and the ultra-professional showmanship were compounded by the down-to-the-earth manners of the band, all of whom I met after the show. Hanging outside the tour bus, I first ran into Richard, who more than willingly signed my PT CD's and chatted. Gavin and Colin came out and took pictures and signed everything they were asked to. Out walked SW, with a casual and amicable approach. He greeted everyone, who were so excited to see him, and met all the fans waiting. We chatted with him and took pictures. I thanked him for the super set-list and for Insurgentis and Bass Communion. He gave me a surprising look and said thank you too. I have the happy feeling of seeing him off as he got back to the tour bus and I thanked him again for being so gracious after a two-hour show. John came out and I was very excited to run into him again, after having met him last year. John, is another inspiration with his mellifluous guitars and enchanting vocals. I said how valuable John is on the stage for PT to pull of those intricate vocal harmonies and the complicated guitar parts. As ever humble, he was ultra cool and said its only the practice that makes anybody a good guitarist. John, you are a mensch. If you want some great rock music, check out John Wesley's website (http://www.john-wesley.com/), where you can download his music for free although I recommend paying at least $20 for each album since there are way too many freeloaders out there these days. The musician has to not only make music, but also eat and pay bills right!
Bottom line, this has to be the best concert I have ever been to from all the scores of shows I see. Thank you for the music PT and my pursuit of the sound of muzak continues...
