Porcupine Tree/Adom- Manchester Academy 3 - March 5th 2003 |
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Well, it was a long wait, but tonight, the boys were back in town, some 2 1/2 years since they last played here in Manchester. The venue was the same, but they'd been moved from the smaller venue to the larger hall.. Looking and listening in the bar before the show kicked off, it was clear that many had made the pilgrimage from all points from the North of this Sceptred Isle, and there was a nice mix of ages around too. ADOM opened the evening in good style. Mix Coldplay with Bends-era Radiohead and you are somewhere near what they are about. They certainly kept the crowd interested, and in turn the crowd's response got better after every song. Don't know any of the titles of their Richard Barbieri produced debut album (Out in May), but the last two songs were really good. . During the changeover, I started to feel a bit disappointed. There was no signs of the lighting/multimedia show that PT took around the U.S. last Autumn. I'd just assumed we were going to get the same deal, but ho-hum. As the strains of the (Overlong)
intro tape filtered through the P.A., the bar area cleared and it became
obvious why the show was moved into the big hall-it was a nice 'comfortably
full' feeling as the band battered into I'm pretty sure this was the setlist (Might have missed one and got a couple out of order, though) Blackest Eyes The set was very well paced...It clearly pulled mainly on In Absentia, but it's been around long enough now for everyone to be very familiar with it. The audience seemed very subdued in general, but this always seems to be the same whenever I've seen them live-it's almost like the crowd are so in awe of what they are hearing that to leap around like a crazy person would not be the 'done thing'. Steven's between song patter was kept to a minimum, he introduced the two new boys a few songs in, but it was pretty much wall to wall music. He was REALLY on last night. It was like watching an athlete who knows he's so on top of his game that he's unbeatable, he was SO much in control, it was actually quite scary at times. Maybe it was just the clear as crystal sound, but his voice sounded stronger and steadier than ever, and his soloing..oh, man....He even made a remark after ripping the guts out of 'Shesmovedon' that the trouble with this set -list was 'There aren't enough guitar solos in it'!!! Just as Steven had his game face on, so did the rest of the band. I often felt that Wes was being underused, but then I realised just how much his arrival has freed up SW. The harmonies between Wes and SW were spot on, too. Colin found his 'spot' just out
of reach of the lights (Which were actually pretty good, despite my
earlier disappointment of the 'Fruit Salads' not being there), and just
stood grinning into the shadows all night long, Richard was tucked away behind Wes, doing his usual 'Mad Professor' act behind his banks of keyboards and electronic wizardry. Yes, this was an awesome show indeed. I thought it would be hard to top the quality of the first time I saw them at this same venue 30 months or so ago, but it did. Full marks and a kiss off teacher must go to the man twiddling the knobs and sliding the slidey things on the sound board-I've been to lots of shows in that venue, and I've never heard anyone get a better sound. A final sign of the fact that PT are now a 'name' became apparent as we poured out of the venue, and there were the 'T shirt Pirates' 'All sizes-even you sir-for a fiver'..cheeky bugger!!! Cheers Review by Andy
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