When we entered the venue, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of people that showed up. Lucky & Co had nearly sold out.

John Wesley
John Wesley, guitarist of Porcupine, came out on stage to play some acoustic songs to support his new album. I’d seen him before, supporting Fish and Marillion, and he just never seems to get the attention he might deserve. Fact is that John Wesley can write amazing songs but sadly is unable to write a good album.

As a support act John has to strip his songs down enabling him to play them solo on acoustic guitar. After a few songs such a performance gets boring no matter how good the songs are. John clearly learned from his previous experiences and kept his performance to four of five songs. This worked remarkably well and he gained some well deserved applause.

Porcupine Tree
At around nine o’clock Porcupine Tree entered the stage. It was no surprise that Blackest Eyes, the opening track on the latest album “In Absentia”, was the first song played. It’s a most powerful song which set the standard for the songs to follow. It was a shame that the instruments weren’t properly balanced in the beginning. The opener lost some of its rigidity in the mix. Luckily it didn’t take the sound engineer more than a couple of minutes to perfect the sound.

The Sound of Muzak and Gravity Fields, both from the same album, were played next. It was great to see and hear John Wesley performing these tracks. I think he finally found a band in which he can really outdo himself. His guitar playing was great. The backing vocals were brilliant. Nothing remained of the image I had of the static Porcupine Tree performance seen before. Front man Steve Wilson was clearly enjoying himself, walking up and down the stage looking for interaction with the other members of the band.

John Wesley wasn’t the only new member in the combo. Former drummer Chris Maitland is replaced by Gavin Harrison. I was a huge fan of Maitland’s drumming as he made a perfect couple with bass player Colin Edwin, both playing with a certain bluesy, jazzy approach. Harrison’s play is clearly less melodic. Nevertheless he’s a most impressive drum player. He brings power and more rigidity to the music. An approach that suits the direction the band is currently taking very well. His drum solos were this evening’s highlights.

Some other definite highlights in the set were Russian On Ice and Hatesong. I clearly wasn’t the only one in the audience that felt this way. The crowd was absolutely overwhelming, treating the band to well deserved applause. There was a brilliant atmosphere in the Lucky venue.

After the regular set the band decided to play two encores Shesmovedon and Trains. Most of the crowd was disappointed by the fact that the concert was over. Nevertheless I’m sure all were glad to have witnessed a fine performance by Porcupine Tree.

Walking out of Lucky & Co I remembered the low expectations I had about the concert. This will be very different in the autumn when Porcupine Tree will hit on the road again. Last night’s gig will definitely make it into my top 10 concerts ever!

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)