Steven Wilson – To the Bone tour
The Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, Ontario
April 22, 2018
Review by Kevin Barrie.
On an international level, success continues to grow for Steven Wilson. One of the more interesting indicators of this are his increased appearances on TV, including a popular upbeat British breakfast show. Those, like me, who have been following him for the better part of two decades would likely not have predicted this. And yet he now is, as noted in one magazine, “the most successful British musician most people have never heard of”.
Before his trip to North America, he played three sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall. It was a bit surprising, then, to find the Danforth Hall as the venue for his return to Toronto. A great venue, for sure – but not the expected upgrade, capacity-wise, to his previous performances. The fact that it sold out so quickly indicates that next time around, he may need to find a bigger venue. But on to the show itself….
Wilson is currently promoting his To the Bone album, which he has consistently referred to as a “pop” album. Two or three of the songs on the album certainly fit the bill, but the rest of them sound as adventurous as many of the songs in his solo back-catalogue. And “pop” is not new territory for Wilson – arguably, the Porcupine Tree album Lightbulb Sun is even more “pop” than this one. His band is the same as the last tour, minus occasional vocalist Ninet Tayeb and with guitarist Alex Hutchings replacing David Kilminster.
As for the setlist, it featured all but two songs from the new album, three from his previous album Hand Cannot Erase, and one the 4 ½EP, which was released between the latter two records. And then…Porcupine Tree, and a fair chunk of it – seven songs, to be precise. This means that Wilson performed no songs from his first three solo albums, most notably The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories). While the Porcupine Tree songs Lazarus, Sleep Together, and The Sound of Muzak were also performed on his last tour, he added Arriving Somewhere but Not Here, The Creator Has a Mastertape, Heart Attack in a Layby, and Even Less, which previously had only been performed by Porcupine Tree.
This is a thought-provoking song selection – many an internet forum will certainly have a multitude of posts discussing why Wilson has opted to perform old, occasionally “obscure”, Porcupine Tree material at the expense of his own solo material. Wilson’s solo career and material are now popular enough on their own that one can no longer assume the audience is full of Porcupine Tree fans who are seeing his show because it’s better than nothing. But for those people, Steven Wilson will still be bringing out a few (mostly) faithful renditions of this material.
Overall, the Toronto crowd, seated as Wilson repeatedly pointed out was very receptive to the entire show, which included extensive use of visuals, both the use of a transparent projection screen in front of the band for some of the songs and projections on the back of the set. Steven Wilson himself seems to be enjoying performing more than ever. One of his more entertaining song introductions (for Permanating) lasted nearly as long as the song itself! A second North American leg has not yet been announced, but if previous tours are any indication, it will hopefully happen.
All photos by Paul Barrie
©2018. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
