Concert Review: Porcupine Tree--The Incident at Terminal 5

The first North American leg of Porcupine Tree's tour for their newly-released The Incident came to New York on Sept. 24. The veteran British psychedelic progressive band played two sets, featuring a complete performance of Disc 1 of their new record. The second set featured a cornucopia of Tree classics, including songs from Lightbulb Sun and In Absentia with the odd detour into other recent albums.

Steven Wilson and company were in fine form, alternating between echoing power chords, crunching sheets of metallic guitar and delicate, almost porcelain textures played on piano and keyboards. Steven Wilson alternated instruments throughout the set, aided by touring guitarist John Wesley and keyboardist Richard Barbieri. Bassist Colin Edwin and drummer Gavin Harrison are the band's greatest weapon, a prog rhythm section that can actually swing.

At 55 minutes long, "The Incident" (the song, that is) is the largest work that Tree have ever put out. It is a song cycle dealing with a series of stories taken from contemporary news reports, boiled down to their raw emotional content. By turns critical, confessional and deeply personal, it is a work of staggering power. Yet the songs themselves are accessible, particularly the 11-minute "Time Flies" and the heartbreaking finale, "I Drive the Hearse."

The band also played "Remember Me Lover", the final song on the second disc of The Incident. Afterward, Wilson commented "That's only the second time we've played that one." Other highlights included "The Start of Something Beautiful", half of "Anesthetize" and a teeth-rattling "Strip the Soul". The whole show was accompanied by a dizzying display of visuals and experimental films by band collaborator Lasse Hoile. His surreal, scratched, disturbing images are becoming as much a part of the band's visual identity as Wilson's spectacles and bare feet.

Show openers Kings X (who almost deserve a post all to their own) played a strong set, featuring deep cuts from the band's vast back catalogue ("What Is This?" "Lost In Germany"), a couple of classic tunes ("Over My Head", stretched to a ten minute jam complete with dizzying guitar solo and a sermon from dUg Pinnick) and cuts from the band's new platter XV. As always with this veteran Texan power trio, they leave you spiritually refreshed and wanting more of their signature sound.
Porcupine Tree. Photo © Lasse Hoile.