Gig review/ Steven Wilson


BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Steven Wilson/ Live in Mumbai

Genre: Progressive rock

Details, Nesco Grounds, Goregaon, November 3

Promoter: Live Box

Rating: **** 1/2

As luck would have it, it didn't rain in Goregaon on Monday evening. Maybe the rain gods wanted to have an overview of the concert taking place at the Nesco Grounds below, as British musician Steven Wilson began his India leg of The Overview tour.

The crowd was considerably smaller than the one that paid twice the amount to see Enrique Iglesias lip-sync at the MMRDA grounds a few days ago. But they surely got their money's worth as Wilson's 135-minute set, break excluded, dazzled with scintillating live performance, aided by pitch-perfect multi-channel sound and Imax-equivalent visual effects.

Wilson had come earlier with his progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, playing at IIT Mumbai and as a solo act at NH7 Weekender. The current visit is part of an international tour to promote his latest solo album The Overview, and besides Mumbai, covers New Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

The first set, therefore, played the 42-minute album The Overview in its entirety. A concept album, it is inspired by the Overview Effect, a cognitive shift caused by viewing the Earth from space (maybe that's why the rain gods stayed silent). It also marks his return to progressive rock after he experimented with electronic music in his last two albums Future Bites and The Harmony Codex.

The Overview is divided into two parts - 'Objects Outlive Us' and 'The Overview' - and the live rendition reproduced the album's nuances, complete with its tempo shifts and regular surprises. While Wilson was on vocals and guitar, he was accompanied by Randy McStine on guitar and vocals, Adam Holzman on keyboards, Nick Beggs on bass and Craig Blundell on drums. It was a marvellous band, with Wilson quipping, "I am the worst musician in my band" and "on the drums, we have a drummer", in true Brit-wit style.

After the break, Wilson said he would focus on his solo numbers and not take any requests. However, this set began with the Porcupine Tree number 'Voyage 34', which featured sitar player Purbayan Chatterjee in a guest appearance. It was a wonderful collaboration, smoothly blending east and west.

The other Porcupine Tree piece was 'Dislocated Day', from the 1995 album The Sky Moves Sideways. Some splendid guitars and a brilliant drum part were the highlights. The solo gems included 'Home Invasion, 'Pariah', 'Luminol' and from the Harmony Codex album, 'Staircase' and 'What Life Brings'. The psychedelic 'Harmony Korine' and instrumental 'Vermilioncore' made way for the final number 'The Raven That Refused To Sing', which had a beautiful build-up and superb visuals taken from the original video.

In terms of musicality, technical brilliance, flow and experience, it was one of the best rock shows Mumbai has seen in a long time. Strangely, one didn't see any mainstream media reviews, unlike Enrique which everyone covered.

Interestingly, one saw as many Pink Floyd tees as Steven Wilson or Porcupine Tree. A young guy, spotting this blogger's Floyd Dark Side prism design, yelled, "Dude, you're wearing the wrong tee". I shot back, "Dude, I'm wearing his guru". The lad didn't seem to get it, and vanished. Maybe he wanted to hide behind a porcupine tree.




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