Review: Steven Wilson, Bristol Beacon – ‘A multimedia treat’

He’s a contrary cove is that Steven Wilson.

He disbanded Porcupine Tree at the height of their success, seemingly because he’d conceived of them as a parody band, but forgot to let the burgeoning audience in on the joke.

He’s made the Dolby Atmos surround remix of classic prog albums his own (his remix of Pink Floyd at Pompeii topped the album charts this week), but doesn’t appear to have been let loose on the prized Kate Bush back catalogue yet.

As a solo artist, he’s released a string of great albums, many of which have been chart toppers, while remaining under the mainstream radar – apart from a memorable appearance on BBC Breakfast TV,  during which he was challenged by an uncomprehending sofa dweller to define ‘progressive rock’.

All his achievements have come despite seemingly wilful attempts to alienate his loyal audience with the pursuit of pure Abba-esque pop. And now, unexpectedly, he’s delighted that audience with a return to pure prog in the form of the suitably epic concept piece The Overview, which has garnered rave reviews from the most unexpected quarters.

Now he’s touring an epic show that opens with both parts of The Overview in their entirety – a decision than he may come to regret given the vocal demands that the opening half, Objects Outlive Us, place on its composer.

For the audience, on the other hand, it’s a multimedia treat, with crisp projections and subtle, sublime lighting effects enhancing the auditory experience. As the diptych contrasts events at a banal and truly cosmic scale, they are also highly effective.

Wilson’s great band of long-term collaborators is permitted to do much of the musical heavy lifting, with the ever-excellent Craig Blundell on drums, ever-flamboyant Nick Beggs on bass, Randy McStine taking much of the lead guitar, and rock royalty scion Adam Holzman on keyboards.

Everyone has a part to play and there’s none of the musician bloat that you get with certain veteran acts, who seem to expand their bands to fit the stage space available.

A 20 minute break permits everyone to get their breath back prior to the second, even longer half of the show, which delves deep into the Wilson catalogue while avoiding obvious choices.

We get four from the pandemic-afflicted The Harmony Codex album, including the live debut of Economies of Scale, and the unusually concise What Life Brings (dedicated to everyone who’s here “by mistake”) plus the splendid Luminol from The Raven That Refused to Sing and Harmony Korine – possibly the only prog song ever to be titled in honour of an obscure indie film director.

He even reaches back to Porcupine Tree days for Dislocated Day, which permits much piss-taking of the unfortunate Blundell.

Called back for an encore, Wilson jokes that as it’s been a long show surely we all want to go home.

Then he makes his now-familiar remark that as he’s never had a hit he can now play whatever he damn well pleases. Swatting away calls for Trains, he opts instead for Pariah from To the Bone and Ancestral from Hand. Connot. Erase.

It’s a fitting end to a magnificent show that’s really succeeded in upping Wilson’s game on the visual front.

All photos by Tom Ham

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