Rockezine.com concert review for Blackfield on Nov 30, 2004 in the Lucky/Rijssen

Blackfield

Lucky-Rijssen

Nov 30, 2004

BLACKFIELD
If it weren’t for the incredible Seal gig earlier this year, tonight’s performance by Blackfield (a collaboration of Steve Wilson and the Israelian Aviv Geffen) would have been my favorite gig of 2004. Driving to Rijssen I didn’t know exactly what to expect from this gig. On the one hand expectations were high because the self titled debut album had been in my cd-player for several weeks now, on the other hand there was the remembrance of the last Porcupine Tree (Wilson) gig which was slightly disappointing.

The most remarkable thing of the show was the strength of the vocal combination Wilson / Geffen. Despite the fact that I’ve been a Porcupine Tree fan for years, I never found Steve Wilsons vocals more than average. The vocals of Geffen aren’t very special either, but the way both vocals melt gave me shivers all over. The fact that Blackfield features two front men made Steve Wilson seem more relaxed. At Porcupine Tree gigs I find the man hiding in a self created shell, creating some sort of a distance between him and the crowd. The rather small and very cosy Lucky&Co stage suited this band, and Wilson in particular, very well.

Since Blackfield only released one cd (and an additional EP) the band had no other option but to play the entire thing. Luckily they had decided not to maintain the track order on the album so you were kept in the dark as to which song was going to be played next. Absolute highlights were the title track, “Scars”, “Pain” and my personal favorite “Cloudy Now” (I’ve never seen nor heard Wilson sing more intense than that - see the pictures). It has been a long time since I’ve been moved so much at a concert. From the opening notes of the evening till the encore - intensity was the keyword.

Since the debut album features only forty minutes of music (excluding the EP), the band had decided on playing one or two Porcupine Tree tracks, one of them being the excellent “Waiting” which was slightly rearranged to make it fit the Blackfield team. The fact remained that after 70 minutes the band ran out of songs to play and had to call it a night. There was decided to be one encore. The decision was made by the crowd: the title track was played for the second time in the evening.

Driving back from the gig I had a hard time making up my mind. Was I going to travel to Germany next week to get a chance to see the band again, or could I settle with just this one night experience. A lack of time and the long distance to travel made me decide on the latter, but I just know I’m going to regret this.

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)

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