Apr 12

On Friday, April 9th, I attended the Opeth “Evolution XX” (20th anniversary) concert at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, and this was, hands down, the single most intense concert experience of my life, on many levels. I was there with my good friends from around the country and it is safe to say, we all thoroughly enjoyed the show and the entire experience. We all had VIP tickets, which meant we got to meet the band, witness the sound check, receive special swag and gain early admission to the show. We got to the venue early, and lined up outside waiting for our chance to meet the Swedish metal legends!

Brett, Eric and Tony in the VIP line

Brett, Eric and Tony in the VIP line

Once we got our special laminate badges on snazzy Opeth lanyards, we were herded into the VIP holding area, which had a bar and bathrooms, and some room to mill about. We were then sorted into groups of 20 or so, with each group getting about 10 minutes to mingle with the band. Not enough time!!! Once we got our chance, it was a (white) cluster fuck to try to interact with all five band members, snap photos (with our lousy cell phone cameras because we stupidly followed the rules and didn’t bring real cameras!!) and get signatures on items. I brought with me a photograph of the Opeth logo pumpkin I carved for Halloween. Every band member did get a chance to sign it and they were all impressed by my efforts, so that was cool. Mikael Akerfeldt asked me if I ate the pumpkin, I said no, then he told me that “We made pumpkins in our garden. I did not eat them, too.” So charming!! All of them were the nicest guys you would ever meet! Just genuinely great, nice guys, who seemed to be as happy to see us as we were to see them. It was really quite an experience, but it went by in a blur.

Opeth drummer Martin Axe Axenrot and me.

Opeth drummer Martin "Axe" Axenrot and me.

After the meet-n-greet we waited for the sound check back in the VIP holding pen and enjoyed some beers. Finally, we were escorted up to the balcony area where we could view the sound check. We witnessed tuning of the drums and various instruments, but it became evident that there were some technical difficulties occurring. It was at this time that we were given the bad news that Fredrik’s equipment – guitars, amps, effects pedals – did not arrive! So we did not get to hear the band do a sound check at this time, and we were shuffled back down to the holding area. At 8 pm, when the doors were supposed to be opened to the public, we finally heard them start playing The Leper Affinity. They then let the VIPs into the venue, and we all rushed to grab the best vantages in our respective areas. (We were mostly split up, due to :wtf: moments when we all bought our tickets back in December. Tony was the lucky one who was able to get a ticket in the Pit area, Eric and I ended up with regular GA tickets, and Brett had a seat up in the loge area.)
Now a bit about the Wiltern Theater. The Pit area and the rest of the General Admission area are separated by a walkway, with a waist-high wooden barrier. We claimed our spots just right of center, up against that barrier, and enjoyed the sound check version of The Leper Affinity. By the end of the concert, we had been pushed to dead-center, right at eye level with Mikael.

Opeth playing The Leper Affinity during sound check

Opeth playing The Leper Affinity during sound check

Then, doors opened and people started filling the venue, and our wait for the show began. At one point, I noticed someone in the Pit area who looked an awful lot like Kenny G. Turns out, it was Kenny G, who was in attendance with his sons, who apparently are Opeth fans. Of all the potential LA stars to show up at an Opeth show, I must say that Kenny G was easily the least expected one to be there. But he was a good sport and posed for people’s cameras, horns raised and all.

Finally, at about 9:30, the lights dimmed and Opeth took the stage to the haunting opening note of The Leper Affinity. Fortunately there were lots of people documenting the show, so here is a clip:

The Leper Affinity

At the next song, Bleak, mosh pits formed, both in the Pit, as well as behind us. The moshing behind us caused the sea of humanity to push forward into us, which crushed us against the wooden barrier. This pretty much went on throughout the entire show and I have the bruises to prove it. It was distracting at first, but I managed to get used to it by the second set, although it was quite exhausting protecting our positions there with death grips on that barrier!

During the slow part of Dirge For November

During the slow part of Dirge For November

As for the concert – WOW! The first set was the entire Blackwater Park album played from start to finish with no talking. After a ten minute break, they returned to play one song from each of their remaining eight albums in chronological order. After the first song, Forest of October, Mikael introduced the band – “the name of the band is… Toto!” This got much laughter, but mostly from the four of us who oddly, just the night before, were discussing the band Toto. Our group was divided as to opinions of that band’s musical merits.

At the bar, discussing Toto

At the bar, discussing Toto.

Our vantage point, although cozy, offered fantastic sound. Mikael’s voice was just perfect! I have to say, some of the high points for me included Harvest, which had never sounded so good, Blackwater Park, Advent, Hope Leaves, and Harlequin Forest, although the entire show was mind-blowingly fantastic. I will never miss another opportunity to see this band live. I suggest everyone see this band, if they get the chance!

Opeth – Harvest

Feb 01

My friends at RushTour.com have created a new fan forum for Porcupine Tree – PTreeTour.com! It has been live for less than a week and already this site has come under PT’s radar as they are now linking to the forum under the “news” section at porcupinetree.com. Very cool. Come check it out!

Jan 05



My New Baby

Originally uploaded by coopersloat.


Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Oct 31



Opeth Pumpkin Close-up Lit From Within

Originally uploaded by coopersloat.


Oct 31



Opeth Pumpkin – Complete!

Originally uploaded by coopersloat.


Oct 31

Dremelling in action



Opeth Pumpkin – Step Two – Dremelled

Originally uploaded by coopersloat.


Oct 31



Opeth Pumpkin Step One

Originally uploaded by coopersloat.


Sep 22
Me with Gavin Harrison

Me with PT drummer Gavin Harrison at the meet-n-greet the day before the show in San Jose

Gavin Harrison signing my Deluxe Edition copy of The Incident

Gavin Harrison signing my Deluxe Edition copy of The Incident

You can see the top of my head here in the crowd

You can see the top of my head here in the crowd in the upper right quadrant of the photo

Again, I am in there somewhere.  Look for my crazy hair.

Again, I am in there somewhere. Look for my crazy hair.

Sep 21
Pre-concert meetup group photo.

Pre-concert meetup group photo.

From left-to-right: Brett, Julie, Suzanne, Steve, Lyne, Steve, Phil, Tony, Theresa, Annette, Sean, Rea and Alex

Me and Steve

Me and Steve

RushTour Forum PT Subform Subversives

RushTour Forum PT Subform Subversives

L-to-R, Back Row: Tony, Phil, Suzanne, Brett Front Row: Sean, Alex

No photography allowed at the show

No photography allowed at the show

Bus ride from the Haight back to the hotel

Bus ride from the Haight back to the hotel

Busted Forecast.  (it was supposed to be warm in the City this weekend!)

Busted Forecast. (it was supposed to be warm in the City this weekend!)

Nothing to see here.  Let's move along.

Nothing to see here. Let's move along.

Sep 21

This past Friday I had the most incredible concert experience of my entire life seeing Porcupine Tree at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco. Hands down, it was the best concert I have ever been to. The reasons for this are multiple. First of all, Porcupine Tree consists of musicians with incredible talent, their songs are all interesting lyrically and musically, and they just plain kick major ass. Second, my vantage point for this show was front and center, right in front of the stage, a mere 3 feet (or less) from Steven Wilson’s mic stand. And third, although most definitely not last, being there with my friends who were enjoying the show as much as I was greatly enriched the entire experience.

Friends came from all over to meet-up for this particular show. Texas, Missouri, and distant parts of California were represented in my group of friends. We arranged a meet-up before the show at a nearby Irish pub – 14 people in all! My only regret about that was my pre-concert nerves distracted me from visiting with everyone there at that time. It was also very loud, so conversation required some shouting. Anyway, we then all filed over to the Warfield where there were several confusing lines already formed, each with different purpose. I had fan club tickets which required picking them up from a special section of will call. Finally, we received our special bright orange wrist bands that said “Porcupine Tree The Incident” on them, and enabled us early entry into the venue. We were definitely bad-ass wearing those! When we first arrived and saw the long lines, I thought my hopes of getting anywhere near the stage were dashed. Turns out – most of the people who went in before us were wasting time at the merchandise counter, or just milling about, and thus we were able to score our excellent location right in front of the stage! The only person closer to the stage than me was a little eleven-year-old girl who was there with her father. Perfect! An unobstructed view!

Well, by this time, it was not yet 8 o’clock and the warm-up act, That One Guy, was to start at 9. Instead of standing for all that time, we just sat on the floor, posting on Facebook. It helped the time to pass a little faster, but we were all just so psyched for the show to begin so time did not fly! That One Guy stared his set a little early, which was great, because we figured the sooner he started, the sooner he’d finish and we’d get to the Main Event! He was interesting – definitely unique, but honestly, I was there to see Porcupine Tree.

Finally, near 10 o’clock, Porcupine Tree took the stage and the show began. The first set consisted of the 55-minute opus from their new album of the same name, The Incident, which is really a song-cycle of 14 separate songs. Each song pretty much required the use of a different guitar from the previous one, and Steven Wilson also switched between playing acoustic to electric within the same song, as well as using a small piano there to the left (my left) of his usual center-stage position. Every part of The Incident was fantastic. Just outstanding! For the first song, Occam’s Razor, Steven played his beautiful green PRS Custom 22. He probably used that particular guitar the most throughout the concert, with his acoustic Babicz six-string the second-most frequently used guitar. (of note, my close vantage point allowed me to see how well-used that guitar is! He has played the hell out of it – but it sounded fantastic!) Although I loved every second of it, the stand-out songs of The Incident included: Drawing The Line where Steven played a trippy guitar that had a video screen inside behind the strings! Seriously bad-ass, though, it looked like it weighed a ton. Probably why he only used it for one song. Naturally, Time Flies was incredible. SW started out with the Babicz and then switched to a PRS for the solo, which was un-fucking-believable! That solo might have been the high point of the show, if the entire show wasn’t the high-point in itself! Then the trilogy of Octane Twisted, The Seance, and Circle of Manias proceeded to blow our socks off. This part of The Incident is seriously heavy and I do remember SW was playing a matte-finish down-tuned PRS SC for Circle of Manias. It was insane!! The Incident finished with I Drive The Hearse, which is an epic ballad sort of song – extremely dark and beautiful.

After a ten minute break (exactly 10 minutes – it was marked off with a countdown clock projected behind the screen) the band came back out for set two, which consisted of:

Start of Something Beautiful
Buying New Soul
Anesthetize (Extract)
Lazarus
Strip the Soul/.3
Bonnie the Cat
—–Encore—–
Mother and Child Divided
Trains

I was delighted they played Buying New Soul! Such an outstanding song. Strip the Soul was another one I was particularly happy they played. It was the first Porcupine Tree song that I got into years before I really got into the band. It is a very heavy song. Of course, Anesthetize was awesome. Everyone was head-banging to that one, myself included, and my neck still hurts. Bonnie The Cat was insane! It is one of the darker tunes (if that makes sense) on the second disk of The Incident. Really fantastic. Gavin was a drumming madman during this song! Mother and Child Divided was cool to see performed live – Steven literally was hammering on the tremolo with his fist during this one. I was sad when I saw him come out with the acoustic at the end, knowing it would be Trains and that would be the last song. Of course, Trains was epic, and always a fan favorite. It was amusing when he deliberately delayed singing the last part of the song and the over-eager crowd jumped in ahead of him. He cracked one of his rare smiles with that, and it was delightful.

Now comes the real review. What everyone really wants to know. What was my impression of Steven Wilson in the flesh, performing just 6 feet away from me? Well. I’m not sure where to start. (heh) He was pretty much what I looked at the entire show, although I did make eye contact with all the other band members (except for keyboardist Richard Barbieri, whom was obstructed from my view by Steven’s piano, but I did manage to be able to shake his hand and thank him after the show when we saw him as we were leaving the venue, which was very special!), so I had a good two hours to study the man. SW is very stoic on stage. He pretty much looks straight out and maintains a serious face throughout, eyes often closed. There were a few times I saw him smile – once when someone tossed rose petals onstage and again when he teased the crowd during Trains. A great deal of the time, all I could see was his silhouette as the stage lights were right behind him from my point of reference, but it was a glorious silhouette of silky (I’m assuming) flying hair on a guitar wielding rock god! From my vantage, I could see every chord change, every note struck – everything! I could even hear the sound of the pick on the strings, un-amplified, as he was just right there in front of me. The only disappointing thing from where I was is that I heard the audiences’ voices more than his, as his voice was amplified farther out into the venue. I could hear his voice, but it was, at times, drowned out by the crowd singing along. Of course, I was singing along, as well, so I was also part of the problem, but only for the eleven-year-old girl in front of me.

Steven Wilson does have lovely feet, although, some of his toenails were a little long, but at least they appeared to be clean. (He does not wear shoes during performances. It is his thing. Makes operating all his pedals and effects switches, of which there are many, easier, or so he says.) His arm hair was very fine and sparse, again, a detail made easy to notice because of the illumination from behind him. He hadn’t shaved since before the Portland show, as he had a bit more beard growth since the video of him smashing up an iPod was taken. The way he moves onstage is extremely captivating. From the way he often lifts his guitar into a flat position as if to admire its beauty (he does this a lot) to how he holds the pick between his two fingers as he points out into the crowd during songs to how he kicks his leg then head-bangs during the heavy parts. Just a spectacle and a delight to watch. I would have liked a little more banter with the crowd – he was all business – however, my great expectations about him, the band and the concert were all exceeded by several orders of magnitude.

There were many markers during their show and time definitely flew by. The good news is not only is there a new concert DVD to be released next spring, but there will definitely be a second leg to this tour. Thus, I know for certain that I will see Porcupine Tree at least one more time possibly next year as I intend to make trips out to other parts of the country to meet up with my PT Peeps to further enjoy this great band.


Our group before the show

Our group before the show

Pictured left to right: Tony, Alex, Rae, Theresa, Phil, Suzanne, Annette, Sean, Julie, Brett, Lyne, Troy and Steve. Not pictured, Steve Markkanen.

Steven Wilson during rehearsal before the Tour.

Steven Wilson during rehearsal before the Tour.

This is almost the perspective I had, although I was standing more directly in front of the mic stand.

Steven Wilson with the video-screen guitar.

Steven Wilson with the video-screen guitar.

This was almost my exact perspective. Pretty close, huh?

SW's Foot

SW's Foot

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