Rather like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, PORCUPINE TREE have built up a large hardcore fanbase verging on the fanatical who follow them regardless of fad or fashion. It's an enviable position to be in where the fickle music industry is concerned because it allows them to remain largely immune to compromise and playing the game simply to survive.
They've released some remarkable records over the past decade, but the cornerstone of their success is undoubtedly their live reputation. Their gigs are lengthy, stamina-testing affairs and their tours are always 'events'. Hardcore fans (are their any other kind of Porcupine Tree supporters?) have long since been hoping for a full-length visual document of the band's prowess but with 'Anesthetize' they have been rewarded with the full kitchen sink.
As the sub-title 'Live in Tilburg Oct 2008' strongly hints, this in-concert affair captures PT across the course of two rapturously-received nights in Holland during their most recent European jaunt. The filming was the domain of the group's long-term visual collaborator Lasse Hoile and he presents a sumptuous, multi-camera record of the gigs which is good enough to satisfy the palette of devotees and the merely curious alike.
Admittedly it helps that Porcupine Tree's music translates perfectly to any enormo-dome you care to mention. Like Rush or King Crimson, their music straddles Prog, Metal and Hard Rock, although tracks like 'Strip The Soul' and 'Halo' feature motorik, Krautrock-y basslines and Richard Barbieri's sweeping synths have more than a touch of glacial Post-Punk about them. But then again, he was originally the keyboard player with Japan.
Stretching to over two hours, the show features the band's acclaimed 2007 album 'Fear of a Blank Planet' in its' entirety, although dips into the group's back catalogue also pull out tracks such as 'Sleep of No Dreaming' and the feverish light and shade of 'Dark Matter' and these slip equally seamlessly into the set list. As you'd expect, the performance is ultra-virtuosic and flawless but even an ageing Punk Rocker like myself can't fail to appreciate the remarkable rhythmic dexterity of drummer Gavin Harrison.
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Crucially, for all the precision, 'Anesthetize' never sounds sterile, ensuring tracks like 'Cheating the Polygraph' and 'Fear of a Blank Planet' have an inherent urgency regardless of their complexity and bombast. 'My Ashes' straddles grandiosity and poignancy to perfection and – despite its' title – 'Sleep Together' sounds more like a frenzied knife attack than an invitation to enjoy some kinky rumpy-pumpy.
It's big, serious music for sure, but tracks like 'Way Out of Here' and 'Anesthetize' itself are hardly a million miles from the numbed-out glory of Radiohead, while frontman Steven Wilson's twitchy psychosis is every bit as charismatic and compelling to watch as NME-endorsed heroes like Thom Yorke or Tom Meighan.
'Anesthetize: Live in Tilburg' is a marathon of a performance, but it's never less than gripping and exhilarating. It's surely the one the fans wanted and it's a great legacy to the majesty of Porcupine Tree live. Mission accomplished, in layman's terms.
Porcupine Tree official site
KScope Records online
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