“How many of you came here by mistake tonight? Wives, girlfriends, best friends, and so on? I know what you’re thinking — ‘we’ve been here ninety minutes and he’s played four [expletive deleted] songs!’”
— Steven Wilson, September 19, 2025
To which the mostly – though not exclusively – male fans who brought those wives, girlfriends, best friends and so on to The Fillmore Detroit (btw, thanks for renaming the venerable State Theater so it’s just another franchise, Live Nation) would probably reply: “Yeah, but how about those four songs?!?”
As usual on this tour, Steven Wilson and his band kicked off with the entirety of his new concept album, The Overview, with hi-rez video projections and surround audio to match. While my critique of Wilson’s latest music holds — I found it compositionally thin, too derivative of his influences, annoyingly reductive in its materialist message — the scope of the visuals fused with the propulsion of Nick Beggs on basses and Craig Blundell on drums supplied the depth and drive my at-home listening has lacked. And when Randy McStine launched into a scorching guitar lament on “Objects Outlive Us: The Heat Death of the Universe”, or when Adam Holzman and his synthesizer skittered across galaxies on “The Overview: Infinity Measured in Moments” — well, the Chestertonian sense of wonder I’d been longing for was there in the moment, embodied if unprofessed.
Confirming Wilson’s current fascination with the creative template of vintage electronic music, he and Holzman opened the second set with a creepy synth duet on The Future Bites’ “King Ghost”. But then came the moment the numerous folks in Rush t-shirts had been awaiting – an no-holds-barred take on “Home Invasion/Regret #9” from 2015’s neo-prog masterwork Hand.Cannot.Erase. Everything veteran cosmic rockers love about this album was there: blazing guitar riffs, biting Rhodes chords from Holzman, earthy funk grooves from Beggs and Blundell, solo space aplenty for Holzman and McStine, and lyrics spat out by Wilson, as on target in their bleak portrait of online life as they were a decade ago:
Download sex and download God Download the funds to meet the cost Download a dream home and a wife Download the ocean and the sky
Download love and download war Download the shit you didn’t want Download the things that make you mad Download the life you wish you had
Another day of life has passed me by But I have lost all faith in what’s outside The awning of the stars across the sky And the wreckage of the night
From that point, Wilson and the band didn’t miss a trick; as they trawled his back catalog, the crowd stayed with them through every twist and turn. And admittedly, there was something for everyone in this setlist: the soft pop of “What Life Brings” (which, Wilson pointed out, never got traction on TikTok due to its minute-long guitar solo); Beggs’ jaw-dropping Stick feature on The Harmony Codex closer “Staircase”; a take on the vintage Porcupine Tree tarantella “Dislocated Day”, stretched out by Wilson bringing Blundell’s volume lower . . . and lower . . . and lower; “Pariah”, To The Bone’s vocal duet that proved effective even with a prerecorded Ninet Tayib; extended cinematic workout “Impossible Tightrope”; the metal-injected melancholy of “Harmony Korine”; and brutal, thrashy set-closer “Vermillioncore”. As encores, the multi-part epic “Ancestral” and the mournfully uplifting title track of The Raven That Refused To Sing put a satisfying button on the night.
If Steven Wilson remains unapologetic about his consistently contrarian musical moves, his current live concerts embrace a certain realism; repeated stabs at channeling modern pop toward progressive ends (especially on The Future Bites) didn’t necessarily expand his core audience, while the recent Porcupine Tree reunion seems to have brought younger generations of rock and metal fans into the fold. Projecting a new-found comfort with cult status (as he cracked after a labored joke about tariffs, “I’m not famous enough to be extradited”), Wilson and his killer band are delivering the virtuoso goods present and past on this tour, and the delighted Detroit crowd — a pleasant surprise for a grateful Wilson, given that it was his first solo stop there — ate it up. Whether you believe Wilson peaked ten years ago, hold on to hope that his best is yet to come, or even wind up at his concert by mistake, I think you’ll find something to your liking at this generous three-hour show. (Remaining US and world tour dates are here.)
This month’s selection kicks off with something very special: John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs by Ian Leslie, the most impressive book on The Beatles I’ve encountered in ages. Pop-psychology journalist Leslie blew up the Internet in 2020 with “64 Reasons to Celebrate Paul McCartney”, but the driving passion here is his scrupulously balanced estimation of both Macca and John Lennon as men and musicians. Staying off the long and winding “John versus Paul” road so many authors take, Leslie traces the arc of an exceptionally deep male friendship between “two damaged romantics whose jagged edges happened to fit.” Which birthed an exceptional creative partnership, the fruits of which still brighten the world. His thoughtful reflections on 43 songs — grounded in copious documentary evidence, the best Beatle scholarship, accessible musical analysis and his own insight into creativity — vividly portray the forging, then the fracturing of Lennon and McCartney’s bond, from pre-Beatlemania through the Fab Four’s imperial phase and their ill-tempered breakup to Lennon’s shocking death. Tangled as their connection became in the throes of professional and personal conflict, John and Paul couldn’t help but look to each other throughout the 1970s — as competition (writing “Imagine”, John wanted the melody to be as good as Paul’s “Yesterday”), as foe or friend of the moment, as the only other person who could possibly understand. Throughout, Leslie brings to bear admiring gratitude for The Beatles’ music — George and Ringo get their props as well — along with compelling clarity on the emotions that drove that music. And in the end, his portrait of a collaboration that “even as its most competitive, was a duet, not a duel” is utterly moving, equal to chronicling what Lennon and McCartney made of their tempestuous time together and apart. Just read this.
The Flower Kings, Love: A long-playing magic carpet ride, with the minutes effortlessly flying by in the capable hands of Roine Stolt and his Scandinavian comrades. Kicking off with a pair of change-ups (tough, bluesy opener “We Claim the Moon”, jazzified ballad “The Elder”), the Kings then settle into a multi-part suite that, if a bit sedate, has plenty of instrumental color and dynamic vocal shading to hold interest. But the home stretch of this album is where Stolt and company take wing, channelling their inner Yes for the acoustic lilt of “The Promise”, the orchestral build and double-time finale of “Love Is”, the grooving power ballad “Walls of Shame” and the extended closer “Considerations”. Sneakily, subtly addictive, Love is simultaneously a master class in ongoing invention and a psychedelic time travel exercise — so retro it’s actually back there, yet fresh as a daisy throughout.
Gentle Giant, Playing the Fool – The Complete Live Experience: The original 1977 release was inspired both by Gentle Giant falling victim to bootleggers and by the rush of mid-70s double concert albums (the British sextet had opened for Peter Frampton both before and after his game-changing Comes Alive set). On the edge of punk’s advent, was a mass-market breakout still possible for a prog band that promiscuously swapped guitars, saxes, recorders, violin, multi-keyboards, mallet percussion and hand drums onstage, mixing soul shouting with Baroque vocal counterpoint all the while? The Shulman brothers, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green and John Weathers give it their all here, from the ricocheting precision of “Excerpts from Octopus” to a wobbly take on “Sweet Georgia Brown” improvised when said keyboards blew up in Brussels. This brand-new reissue restores the complete live set, including three tracks off the contemporaneous “Interview” album, showcasing Gentle Giant as a jaw-dropping live act, doubtless as awesome to behold in the moment as they are to hear right now.
Haken, Liveforms: If Gentle Giant has a modern-day successor, it’s gotta be these guys! Captured in concert at London’s O2 Forum, Haken doesn’t constantly trade instruments, mind you — though the unrelenting interweave of Charlie Griffiths & Richard Henshall’s guitars and Connor Green’s bass (all downtuned, all with an extra string), Peter Jones’ Wakeman-meets-electronica keys and Raymond Hearne’s dizzily polyrhythmic drums evoke a similar instrumental giddiness. Mix in singer Ross Jennings’ searing, soaring leads and occasional demented-barbershop-quartet backing vox, and you have one singular, headturning sound.
A complete run-through of their latest album Fauna (featured on the vinyl version) is equal parts ballet and blitzkrieg. The BluRay/CD package adds a second set to showcase Haken’s catalog to brilliant effect, from the headlong pop-prog of “Cockroach King” and “1985” to the foundational metal epics “Crystallized” and “Visions”. Whether they’re pivoting on rhythmic and melodic dimes, diving into the heavy, or wrangling multiple genres at the same time, this band deserves a hearty “WWOOARRRRGGGHHH” from fans across the board.
Pink Floyd, At Pompeii MCMLXXII: A pristine new version of the classic acid-trip midnight movie, complete with a typically crystal-clear, hard-hitting new sound mix from Steven Wilson. I dig the behind the scenes footage from the recording of The Dark Side of the Moon at Abbey Road — flashes of studio inspiration, David Gilmour and Nick Mason’s passive-aggressive interview snippets, revealing glimpses of the hostile, fragile band dynamic just waiting to be completely curdled by mass success. But the main course here is Roger Waters, Rick Wright, Gilmour and Mason huddled in that ancient, haunted amphitheatre, surrounded by devastated ruins and arid desert, conjuring up the spooky sonic webs of “Echoes” and “A Saucerful of Secrets”, the obsessive mantra “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”, the whisper-to-scream catharsis of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” and “One of These Days”.
Without those long years of building their lysergic, near-telepathic style to the feverishly precise pitch shown here, could the Floyd have taken the world by storm with Dark Side? Available in multiple audio and video formats, At Pompeii remains a stunning portrait of a band on the brink of an unlikely world-conquering moment.
Tesseract, War of Being Tour, Part 2 Band: Daniel Tompkins (vocals), Acle Kahney (lead guitar), James Monteith (rhythm guitar), Amos Williams (bass), Jay Postones (drums) Setlist (one hour): Natural Disaster, Of Mind – Nocturne, King, Sacrifice, Legion, War of Being, The Grey, Juno (with Concealing Fate Part 3: The Impossible outro)
Devin Townsend, Powernerd Tour Band: Devin Townsend (vocals, lead guitar, theremin), Mike Keneally (rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Darby Todd (drums), James Leach (bass) Setlist (~one hour fifty minutes): Powernerd, Love?, The Fluke, Lightworker, Dimensions, Aftermath, Deep Peace, By Your Command, Bastard, Why?, Gratitude, Almost Again, Truth, Kingdom Encore: Ih-Ah! (Devin solo acoustic), Deadhead, Bad Devil
Talk about a power lineup. For me, anyways. This show was only on my radar for the last couple weeks when I first saw it when stumbling across Devin’s Powernerd tour. When I saw TesseracT were opening for him on part 2 of their War of Being tour, I was intrigued. I saw them on the first part of this tour back in 2023 in St. Louis, and they were phenomenal. I had never seen Devin live before, but I’ve really fallen into his music since 2019’s Empath. I didn’t buy the tickets until a couple days before because work has been so busy and I’ve been so tired, but when Devin announced early last week that after this tour he would be stepping back from regular touring, I figured I needed to go. Nashville is a little over an hour from me, so it’s an easy trip and can be back in my own bed the same night. Or in my case falling asleep on the couch at 1am with the dog barking at me for leaving her at home.
I left work a little early to go home and feed the hound before heading south early for some BBQ near the venue and to get a free parking spot on the street near the venue, Marathon Music Works. Marathon Motor Works was a brass-era automotive manufacturer in Nashville, active from 1909-1914. The buildings still stand all these years later, and one of them is the home of this deceptively large venue. It looks like a small club from the outside, but inside has a standing capacity of 1800. For being in what is essentially a large open warehouse, the sound quality was quite good. More on that later. Multiple discretely located bars and a hot dog stand round things out inside. The weather was a bit crap, so the venue opened the doors long before the stated 6:00pm doors open time, allowing people to line up in the vestibule area. They also offered free water at the bars and security handed out free water bottles in the interim between bands. I’ve never seen a concert venue do that before, and considering the inexpensive cost of the show ($43 plus ~$13 fee), I was pleasantly surprised. This was a great venue. Parking is limited, but there are a few paid lots nearby and street parking in the area if you show up early.
Tesseract
Beginning right on time, TesseracT take the stage to a largely Devin-focused crowd. While it seems most people haven’t heard of TesseracT before (to their shame), the band seems to impress all-around. They thoroughly impressed me, playing a strong setlist of some of their best tracks. Unsurprisingly they pull from their heavier output, with crunching riffs and Tompkins distorted vocals. As the first show of the tour, Tompkins wisely paced himself. Their songs require a lot from him, so he has to pick and choose which high notes to reach for and which to knock down a notch. He knows which ones to shoot for to really make the songs. His distorted vocals were always stellar, and his high notes never disappointed.
I suppose you could say I was in the second row, standing right behind the folks leaning on the rail, off stage left (so, right side of the stage from the audience perspective). I had a great view of prog metal’s giant (literally – he looks like he’s 7 feet tall) James Monteith. When I saw them before, I was in the loft at that venue, which afforded a great overall view. This time it was nice to get a closer look at Monteith’s fingerwork. Their music is so complicated that often he was in the zone and focused on his fretwork. But he still took time to engage with the audience, even climbing on the little stool that Tompkins took more use of. Bassist Amos Williams also made several trips over from his side of the stage to engage a bit. Sadly Acle never wandered over to our side.
Watching the band up-close I was struck with how they really don’t get their power from a particular virtuosic player or excessively technical noodling, but rather from exquisitely tight riffs and technical polyrhythms. To stay in sync as well as they do is a remarkable accomplishment. While standing in line to get into the show, I saw a young dude with a t-shirt that asked, “Does it even djent?” TesseracT answered that question with a resounding YES. The heavy repetitive crunches, the stuttered drops, the thundering bass and drums – oh yes, it djents.
I brought earplugs as I usually do to shows like this. I found myself standing rather close to one of the stacks, although I was so close and it was hanging that I don’t think the full brunt of it was aimed at me. I could feel the bass though, but not in a makes you run to the bathroom way. I could actually feel my hair moving, and my pant legs had the signature quiver of a good subwoofer. With my earplugs in, I found it hard to hear some of the more dynamic elements, so I pulled them out for probably 60-70% of the entire show (both TesseracT and Devin). Taking them in and out may have been a bit awkward, but it worked out well and I left without the fuzzy head feeling. That’s a testament (ha!) to the sound engineer and whoever designed the sound system at the venue. There was no unpleasant distortion like I was expecting when I took the plugs out. The sound was clear and loud, but not overly loud. For it to sound so good when I was so close to the action was quite surprising.
TesseracT are a serious outfit and put on a serious show. Their stage is clean, and their lighting show it pristine, befitting the technical prowess present on stage. Tompkins had a serious demeanor, but he also clearly plays the role of the showman well, with precise movements on stage that mirror the riffs the band is playing. He had dark makeup on the upper part of his face (eyes up), fitting the aesthetic of War of Being. He talked to the crowd a little bit, at one point commenting that they opened for Devin fifteen years ago on his first solo headlining tour. That was probably one of their first tours as well, so it was cool to see them together again. Devin generously gave them an hour to play, which was a pleasant surprise. I figured they would have a 45 minute set, so when they played three songs more than I was expecting, I was thrilled. That was a switch from when I saw them headline in 2023, when they had two opening bands and only played an hour 15 minute headlining set. I enjoyed that show, but I was disappointed they didn’t play more. Here they played a little less than that but more than I expected, so I left very happy. All in perspective, I suppose. I look forward to seeing them live again someday.
I think they deserved more love than they got, although I saw a much longer line at their merch desk than there had been before the show started (Devin’s line was massive before the show), so hopefully they gained new fans. I, for one, bought my copy of the newly re-released CD of Concealing Fate before the show. It hasn’t been issued since it’s initial release, and it is darn near impossible to find, so it was great to pick up an overpriced copy at the merch desk.
Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend’s show is somewhat of a stark contrast to TesseracT’s, or to most other heavy metal or prog metal bands. Anyone who has seen Devin before or followed him at all could attest to that. I had never seen him live in-person before, and I was surprised at just how engaging he is with the crowd. And how much of a goof he is. He’s absolutely hilarious on top of being extremely talented. Right off the bat he came onstage without any kind of intro and started talking to the audience. He made it sound like there was some sort of issue with the intro music, but he may have been kidding. Whatever the issue was, he lightened the mood.
This was obviously Devin’s crowd. TesseracT put on a fantastic show, but most of the people were there to see Devin, and it showed with the energy level once he took the stage. That energy was infectious, but truth be told I couldn’t sustain the energy myself for very long. I used up a lot of my energy in TesseracT’s show, but it has also been a long few weeks. After a few hours of standing, I found myself wishing I had brought along my roll-on Icy-Hot for my lower back, and my feet were killing me. That put a damper on my enjoyment of Devin’s set, but it didn’t impact how good his set was and how much fun it was to see him live.
Since this was the first show of the tour and he didn’t play his Powernerd material on his more recent European shows, it was the live debut for the two songs he played off his new record (“Powernerd” and “Gratitude”). The title track was a great way to start the show, getting the audience revved up right away. I was thrilled he followed it with a Strapping Young Lad song (“Love?”), one of my favorite SYL songs. I overheard some people before the show commenting on how Devin doesn’t play the Strapping stuff anymore, but they clearly haven’t been paying attention the last several years because he re-introduced some of that material to his live shows, including three songs at this show (“Love?”, “Aftermath,” and “Almost Again”).
This was a very balanced set displaying the many sides of Devin. His heavy side dominated with tracks like “Powernerd,” “Love?”, and “Kingdom,” but his softer and sometimes spacier sides showed themselves in “Lightworker,” “Why?”, and the impromptu acoustic version of “Ih-Ah!”. He said that particular track wasn’t actually on the setlist, and I saw he didn’t play it at last night’s show in Georgia.
Devin’s humor was sprinkled throughout, whether it be through his belching, forgetting lyrics to the new songs, his balls jokes, inappropriate maneuvers with the theremin, air humping behind the security guy, briefly twerking, or the way he knelt down and wistfully looked at Keneally as that master played a keyboard solo with one hand and played some guitar notes with the other. In talking with the audience, Devin brought up the weird feeling of playing live after having been cooped up in the studio for so long. He lets his fans in on how he’s feeling, which helps create a connection between fan and artist.
I was over on the same side of the stage as Mike Keneally, and he was really fun to watch. He looks older than he is (he’s 63 but easily looks 70), which could be because of his borderline business-casual attire, in sharp contrast to both Devin’s hoody and the brutal riffs of much of the music. He was clearly having a blast, and watching him play those heavy Strapping riffs was hilarious. It is fitting that he’s playing with Devin now after playing a similar role for Frank Zappa many years ago; Devin reminds me a little of Zappa with his talent, quirkiness, and prodigious output.
The fun thing about this setlist is just how deep it is. Devin covered the length and breadth of his career. Despite the decades of music under his belt, his voice sounds as good as ever. From the operatic styling of “Why?” to the emotional distortion of “Deadhead,” Devin seemingly hasn’t aged a day. His voice really is a rare talent. Speaking of “Why?”, I’m so glad he played that. I love that song, and so did the crowd, judging by the unanimous sing-along that ensued. “Kingdom” is obviously always a hit, but I especially enjoyed hearing “Deadhead” live. It is probably my favorite Devin song, combining the best elements of his different styles. A perfect choice for an encore.
Encore
The show ended close to 11pm, with Devin giving us close to 2 hours of music – a surprise considering TesseracT played an hour. With Devin’s goofiness and chill personality the perfect balance to TesseracT’s seriousness and technical prowess, it was a stellar pairing, one I am glad I decided to go and see. They are only touring together for a couple weeks, so catch them if you can before they part ways on their respective tours.
With new releases from the first third of 2025 piling up, a desperate attempt to answer the question “Can album reviews convey the essential info listeners need in haiku form?” For example, about the format used below:
Streams linked in titles; Brief poetic impressions; Shopping links follow.
Spawton’s young heartache Sparked this grandiose concept – Well-wrought remaster. (CDs sold out; vinyl available at Burning Shed and The Band Wagon USA)
It hadn’t been an auspicious beginning for The David Cross Band’s stateside tour; their opening night in Asheville, North Carolina was scuttled by Hurricane Helene’s brutal landfall, blowing a hole in their plans (and their finances) and stranding them in the disaster zone for a couple of fateful days, until they could source a full tank of gas and find an open road north. As they took the stage at Grand Rapids’ Pyramid Scheme, you could tell they felt for the devastated community they’d left behind — but also that they were also grateful to be back on track and playing for an enthusiastic (if compact and shall we say, mostly of a certain vintage) audience.
Electric violinist Cross, best known for his early-1970s stint in King Crimson, wasn’t messing around. As guitarist/vocalist John Mitchell — yep, fellow Progarchists, that genial jack of all trades from The John Wetton Band/Frost*/Lonely Robot’/Kino/Arena/It Bites/etc. — hit a chord, Cross took off on the kind of free improvisation that awed Crimson fans back in the day (including the drummer two seats over from me, who raved about a stop at GR’s Aquinas College 50 years ago). Cross, Mitchell, bassist/vocalist Mick Paul, keyboardist Sheila Maloney and drummer Jack Summerfield quickly locked in, building the folky core material to a simmering peak with classical flourishes and just the right amount of rock muscle. The epic Cross original “Calamity” shared a similar brooding feel, while “Tonk” and “Starfall” (the latter written with Crimson lyricist Richard Palmer-James) proved convincing slabs of the hard-hitting odd-time prog-metal the crowd had come to hear.
But as cool as Cross’ original work is, this North American stint isn’t called the “Larks Tongues’ 50+” tour for nothing; there was plenty of classic King Crimson on tap. “The Great Deceiver” was a high-octane update of the “flying brick wall” groove with which Bill Bruford and Wetton had terrorized Robert Fripp and Cross back in the day, as Paul, Mitchell and Maloney belted out Palmer-James’ sardonic lyrics; “Red” remains every inch the monstrous instrumental stomp it was in 1974. And after an apropos announcement in the vein of the Who’s Keith Moon from Mitchell (“Silence for rock history, please – especially up there in the jazz club”), the band launched into the entire Larks’ Tongues in Aspic album — complete with the extended thumb-piano intro that opens Part 1 of the title track.
Not on their cell phones: the Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Thumb Piano Ensemble in action
Throughout the night, Summerfield and Paul drove the band forward with propulsive power and a wicked edge, while Maloney served up lush keyboard colors, the occasional synth solo, and a nifty electronica backbone to freshen the mournful ballad “Exiles”. Paul’s rough-hewn voice soared on that tune, and Mitchell’s singing spanned the tender ardor of “Book of Saturday” and the vicious kiss-off of “Easy Money”, channeling Fripp’s monolithic power chords and tritone-laced solo style all the while. At center stage, Cross covered all bases with aplomb; buzzing like a hornet’s nest, shrieking like a banshee or launching sustained flights of aching, soaring melody, he moved with the music in the moment, no matter its direction or destination. Eschewing the precision tooling of recent King Crimson tours for a freer flow, the band built the tribal funk of “The Talking Drum” to a fever pitch, then pumped up the crushing Hendrix-plays-Stravinsky riffs of “Larks’ Tongues Part Two” to a shattering climax.
The final touch could only be “Starless”, one of the last pieces Cross played live with Crimson in those early salad days. Mitchell rose to the occasion, singing Wetton & Palmer-James’ melancholy words with fervor and grace. Then Summerfield and Paul cranked the tension of the instrumental build to a tipping point. From that height, Cross dove into the breakneck double-time coda, blazing the trail for Maloney and Mitchell to follow. As the quintet stuck the landing, the audience hit their feet (with only minimal prompting from Mitchell), glad to be in the moment with a band that, on this night, had ascended to a sweet spot where memory and spontaneity combine.
Due to circumstances beyond my control — thanks to everybody who helped out! — this edition of Quick Takes is playing catch-up. This time around, purchase links are embedded in the release title, with any additional sample/streaming links labelled (LISTEN HERE).
The last few months’ progressive rock releases have skewed heavily toward reissues — for example, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake’s mid-1980s reunion with hard-rocker Cozy Powell in the drummer’s chair. Triple-cd box Emerson, Lake & Powell: The Complete Collection(LISTEN HERE) is a compact, yet worthy appendix to the ELP canon. The main album, ranging from extended throwbacks “The Score” and “The Miracle” through jazzy diversion “Step Aside” to souped-up classical gas like the single “Touch and Go” and Holst’s “Mars, the Bringer of War” is big, brash, widescreen stuff; both in the studio and on the two live discs included, Emerson’s thrusting digital synthesizer upgrades, Lake’s full-throated bravura vocals and Powell’s sleek percussive drive come on like gangbusters on new material and vintage classics such as “Pictures at an Exhibition” and “Pirates”. ELP’s mass appeal remained in the rear view mirror, but Emerson, Lake and Powell was a game try at reinvention for a different time.
Carl Palmer was playing drums for Asia during ELPowell’s flare and fade, but he’s remained engaged with his biggest band’s work, stepping up as legacy guardian after Emerson and Lake’s passing. Disc 1 of Palmer’s solo boxFanfare for the Common Man(a reissue/expansion of 2001’s Do You Wanna Play, Carl?) shows how he emerged from his bandmates’ shadows in the later 1970s, asserting himself in spellbinding trio jams, big band blowouts and a stylish, eclectic percussion concerto; disc 2 covers his roots in British R&B and psychedelia plus his later collaborations with Asia and others, while a new 3rd disc documents live work reinventing the ELP repertoire for guitar-based power trio. The accompanying BluRay video and biography are revealing, though scattered and even self-contradictory. But that’s a minor blemish: Palmer remains rightly admired and respected by musical peers and fans, and still on the road in his 70s, he retains the rhythmic fire and momentum that this set amply demonstrates.
ELP weren’t the only proggers trying to reinvent themselves after the mid-70s; on side one of 1977’s The Missing Piece(LISTEN HERE), the manic British sextet Gentle Giant made ever so coy feints at co-opting the energy of punk and New Wave (especially on the self-conscious spoof “Betcha Thought We Couldn’t Do It”). Side two was more relaxed; reaching for the soul-inflected art-pop that Genesis and Yes later rode to the top of the charts, the Shulman brothers & company still stirred in Baroque cross-rhythms (“As Old As You’re Young”), stately balladry (“Memories of Old Days”) and breakneck instrumental and vocal twists and turns (“Winning”). With Steven Wilson providing fresh stereo and spatial audio remixes, this is another delightful installment in the Giant’s ongoing series of album upgrades.
English folk-classicalists Renaissance kept plugging through the decades, with operatic lead singer Annie Haslam at the helm. 2000’s Tuscany(LISTEN HERE) was Haslam’s last go-round with key members guitarist Michael Dunford and drummer Terence Sullivan (plus limpid guest piano work from former keyboardist Jon Tout). Not as urgent as their 1970s work, it’s still a lovely, impressionistic album, gently meditating on the nexus of art (“Lady from Tuscany”, “Dear Landseer”), nature (“Pearls of Wisdom,” “Dolphin’ s Prayer”) and love (“In the Sunshine”, “One Thousand Roses”). A complete live show from Renaissance’s 2001 tour of Japan included as a bonus mixes new tunes with career standbys such as “Carpet of the Sun,” “Northern Lights” and “Mother Russia”, showing off Haslam and company’s musicality and consistency. As usual, Esoteric Recordings’ latest Renaissance reissue provides the context to better assess the work of this underrated band.
And in the wake of its new reissue, I now consider Yes’ 1994 album Talk the most unified effort of their post-prog decade. (It was also the least well-known, due to grunge taking over rock radio and Yes’ record company collapsing.) The only full-blown songwriting team-up of hippie muse Jon Anderson and guitarist/keyboardist/composer Trevor Rabin, Talk’s tunes ooze out-there ambition and hi-gloss appeal; the choral kick of “The Calling” and “Walls”, “Real Love’ jangle-pop/heavy metal synergy, the skip-hopping “State of Play” and the closing multi-part epic “Endless Dream” are stunningly remastered to devastating impact. Rhythm section Chris Squire and Alan White are at their most down and dirty; Tony Kaye leans in with expressive, gnarly organ work. And a bonus live set (from the soundboard at a 1994s tour stop) showed that this lineup could conjure a fairly close approximation of the classic sound on standbys like “Heart of the Sunrise” and “I’ve Seen All Good People”. If you loved Yes but wrote them off between 90125 and Union, I’m serious; give Talk a shot.
There have also been plenty of ear-opening new releases, mostly rooted in improvisation rather than composition. The latest posthumous set from piano legend Chick Corea has its source in a 2019 tour and follow-up sessions with eclectic banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck; the aptly-titled Remembrance(LISTEN HERE) covers an incredible range of sonic possibilities, with the duo wailing on Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing”, Scarlatti sonatas, brand new compositions and impromptus pulled from thin air. Impeccably tasty and always in the moment, Corea and Fleck spark off each other constantly, caught up in an unending sense of play and delight. Fans of either player will love this, and folks who dig acoustic jazz, bluegrass or both will find themselves smiling again and again when they hear it.
While Brad Mehldau is one of the numerous young lions who followed in Corea’s wake on piano, his sound and vision are uniquely his own, as a fresh pair of solo discs make clear. On After Bach II, Mehldau brings his love for the classical piano tradition and his improvisational chops to bear on a second set of J.S. Bach’s richly poised keyboard works, mingling preludes and fugues played straight with jazzier extrapolations (“Between Bach”) and superimposed twists of rhythm and counterpoint based on one of Bach’s pinnacles, the Goldberg Variations. Apres Fauré brings a similar freedom to the music of Gabriel Fauré, the French composer who became a unique bridge between the late Romantic and Impressionist schools; Mehldau responds to Fauré’s sense of adventure with sweeping repetitious bass lines, long-spun singing melodies, and thick two-handed harmonies. Plenty of rigorous development to chew on, plenty of knotty invention and lush sound to bask in on both of these!
On their new EP Tropic of Cancer, Chicago’s heavy-prog-jazzers Sons of Ra show how they can unspool variations on a theme with staggering impact. Setting a nimble, dancing idea with roots in fusion’s golden age into motion, multi-instrumentalists Erik Oldman and Keith Wakefield and drummer Michael Rataj put it through exhilarating paces over 23 minutes: you get wah-wah electric piano extrapolations, a sax/bass duet over a bed of guitar/sax noise; a wonderfully idiomatic folk/Celtic throwdown (complete with guests on violin, flute and pipa); a Santanesque guitar jam that spirals up dizzingly before it goes off like a fireworks display; and a gargantuan finish with hypnotic sax wailing over a shuddering guitar army. No jive; this is great stuff, and Sons of Ra are a band to which attention must be paid!
King Crimson-adjacent power trio Markus Reuter, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto are also back with the ironically titled Tu-Ner for Lovers, another heaping helping of rich, doomy thrash. Sculpted from improvs recorded on their 2023 tour, the trio scrape, scratch and scrawl from the get-go, with Mastelotto laying down off-kilter tribal beats, Gunn rattling listeners’ innards with sludgy bass lines and Reuter slapping down arresting leads and color clusters on touch guitar. Stalking the abstract sublime, the music coalesces as the album progresses, locking in to galvanizing effect on closing stompers “They Call Him Threnody” and “Transistor Valentine”, wispily floater “I Put a Crush on You” and skittering finale “Combat and Courtship”. You may need to be in the right mood for this to grab you — alienation? Righteous anger? — but when you are, boy, does it hit home!
Kamasi Washington’s long-awaited double album Fearless Movement is every bit as kickass and sprawling as previous spectaculars The Epic and Heaven and Earth (the latter my 2018 Album of the Year), but somehow settles in a gentler, more welcoming vein. It kicks off with “Lesanu”, an Egyptian Orthodox chant of Psalm 96 riding first a free-jazz slam, then a finger-snapping, hand-clapping vamp and ends with “Prologue”, an Astor Piazzolla tango that morphs into a blaxploitation movie theme; at all points within and between, Washington on tenor sax, keyboardists Cameron Graves and Brandon Coleman, Ryan Porter and Dontae Winslow on brass, and a platoon of guests play and sing up a storm. But slower burning tracks like “Asha the First” and “Together” provide respite from the intensity of Washington’s sweep and surge, and a looser, relaxed sense of momentum on the Zapp cover “Computer Love” and the extended workout “Road to Self (KO)” helps you catch your breath. Washington and his friends are still making audacious spiritual jazz, building from whispers to screams again and again and dancing across barlines like they don’t exist; but somehow this set feels more like a place to make a home than a monument to visit. And yes, this one’s gonna be on my Favorites list this time around, too . . .
And sometimes, you just need some down-home picking and singing. On the heels of selling out the Ryman Auditorium (documented on record to great effect last year) and duetting with Willie Nelson, Charley Crockett pitches a passel of new songs our way on $10 Cowboy(LISTEN HERE) As with much of Crockett’s recent work, this album leans into soul nearly as much as country; the choogling brass and choral vocals of “America”, the piano-with-strings heartbreaker “Gettin’ Tired Again” and the funky “Diamond in the Rough” can’t help but call Motown and Memphis to mind. But there’s plenty of Nashville/Austin classicism too, in the steel guitar-laced single “Hard Luck and Circumstances”, the Latin-flavored acoustic revenge ballad “Spade” and the honky tonk shuffle “Ain’t Done Losing It” Whether this is the long-predicted breakthrough for Crockett or not, $10 Cowboy is a thoroughly satisfying album, capturing sharply defined snapshots of a nation wondering when things will get better.
And (thanks to the copious music collection found at the main branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library), I discovered that Sierra Ferrell’s 2021 debut Long Time Coming is every bit as good as her new one (Trail of Flowers, reviewed last time). My entire notes for this one consisted of the word “WOW!!”, so I’ll just point you in the direction of this review (from my go-to site for genre news and reviews, Saving Country Music), add Long Time Coming to my 2024 Favorites list and look forward to hearing her live in September!
Two years after their fine debut album, SiX by SiX — Saga guitarist Ian Crichton, Saxon drummer Nigel Glockler and veteran vocalist/bassist/keyboardist/arranger Robert Berry — release their sophomore effort Beyond Shadowland on April 26th. The 11 new tracks hit hard and strong, stretching out in an eclectic variety of directions but always stuffed full of upbeat lyrics, killer melodic hooks, thrillingly crunchy guitar work, and tough, grounded percussive grooves.
What with the pre-release singles “The Arms of a Word” and “Obiliex” – the pronunciation of the latter somehow becoming a running gag below) already out in the wild, Robert Berry – who I first interviewed in 2022 – was ready and eager to talk about the band’s working process, their hopes for the new album, and their coalescing plans for live work! (One confirmed live date was announced after our time together, at New Jersey’s annual ProgStock festival in October.) As before, Berry proved gracious, genial, and genuinely interested in my reactions to SiX by SiX’s latest material. The video of this interview is right below, with a transcript plus the videos of the singles following the jump.
2024 is out of the gate hot — three of the albums below are already on my Year-End Favorites list, and there are no duds in this bunch! As usual, purchase links are embedded in the artist/title listing, with a partial or complete streaming preview below the review.
Anchor and Burden, Extinction Level:MoonJune Music mainman Leonardo Pavkovic has labelled this brutal beauty “uncompromising progressive avantgarde doom-jazz post-metal”. That pretty much covers it! Kicking off with opener “Fractured Self” and “Body Expansion”, touch guitarists Markus Reuter and Alexander Dowerk spend the next hour launching knife-edged slabs of sonic concrete into sub-orbit; drummer Asaf Sirkis pulverizes any semblance of a steady beat into terrifying quick marches (“Mutual Assured Destruction”), hyperactive polyrhythms (“Nine Gates to Dominion”), or just lethal, unanticipated deadfalls; and electronics wizard Bernhard Wöstheinrich provides both breathing space for a comedown, as on the closing “The Crust of This Earth”, and crash pads for droning, sludgy guitar plunges throughout the extended title track. Absolutely bonkers, already a favorite; you may have to be in the right mood for it, but Extinction Level’s free-for-all improv (not far removed from King Crimson’s outer limits) turns out to be a heady, head-banging good time.
The Bardic Depths, What We Really Like in Stories (released March 7): both more direct and more varied than their previous releases, TBD’s third is a first-class album that delivers generously on its title’s promises. Brad Birzer’s graceful lyrics effortlessly transport us into the minds of creators as diverse as Ray Bradbury (“You’ve Written Poetry, My Boy”), Willa Cather (“Old Delights”) and Robert E. Howard (“The Feast Is Over”) — then into the creations themselves (the Orwellian dystopia of “Vendetta”, the postapocalyptic “Stillpoint”, the high adventure of “Whispers in Space”). In turn, Dave Bandana and Gareth Cole’s compositions are appealingly streamlined, giving Cole’s guitars, Bandana’s guitars & synths and Peter Jones’ keys & saxophones plenty of room to shine but never straying into aimless jams. Add a warm vocal blend from the quartet (with Jones and Bandana at the forefront) to Tim Gehrt’s steady, sparkling grooves, and you have a prog album that’s accessible without compromise, thought-provoking without pretension. This one’s charms might sneak up on you, but repeated listens will thoroughly repay your kind attention. (Check out our Bardic Depths roundtable here.)
Big Big Train, The Likes of Us (released March 1): the wonder here isn’t that indefatigable founder Greg Spawton and his international crew have regrouped with such power and panache; it’s that they’ve tackled the struggles and sorrows of recent years head-on, forging them into the band’s most direct, integrated album since Grimspound. From mission statement/overture “Light Left in the Day” through epics “Between the Masts” and “Miramare” to killer ballad “Love’s Light” and finale “Last Eleven”, new singer Alberto Bravin fares forward into the unknown, summoning the essence of friendship and the pain of loss, calling on all in earshot to seize the day. There’s tons of musical variety, too, from the hard-rocking “Oblivion” to the playful “Skates On” and the 12-string weave of “Bookmarks”, with all seven players (five of whom sing) each getting their time to shine. And yes, that brass section pops in at just the right moments, to bring a tear to the eye or lift the spirit as required. Familiar yet fresh, and destined for that year-end faves list, BBT fans can be well satisfied with this latest excursion – and The Likes of Us is well turned out to welcome new Passengers onboard as well! (Check out our interview with Alberto Bravin here.)
Steve Hackett, The Circus and the Nightwhale: Prepare to have your ears pinned back here: Hackett leaps out of the gate with freshly energized songwriting and ferocious guitar work and doesn’t let up throughout this compact, compellingly listenable concept album. The restless opening sprint of “People of the Smoke”, the “Squonk”-like stomp of “Taking You Down” (with standout lead vocal by Nad Sylvan and towering sax from Rob Townsend), the lush orchestral interlude “These Passing Clouds” are all full to bursting with devastatingly melodic, wildly spraying six-string excursions from Steve; even lighter tracks like the harmonious “Enter the Ring” and luxuriant 12-string centerpiece “Ghost Moon and Living Love” overflow with prime solo licks, mind-melting and heart-gripping in equal measure. Add Roger King’s richly scenic keyboards to a succession of marvelously eclectic tunes that waste no time and a coming-of-age narrative that climbs from the gutter to the stars (braced with a dose of the marvelous — there’s that Nightwhale, after all). And voila! You’ve got a Hackett opus that immediately goes to the 2024 favorites list, ranking right up there with Spectral Mornings,At the Edge of Lightor whichever of his 30 solo efforts you prefer best.
No-Man, Housekeeping – The OLI Years, 1990-1994:Ben Coleman, Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson’s earliest singles for One Little Indian (oops, Independent), “Days in the Trees” and Donovan’s “Colours”, are the perfect sneak peek/summation of this compilation’s garishly romantic delights. Just as you start thinking “ho hum, fey indie Nineties dance-pop”, the heavens – or are they the abysses? – open, accompanied by lush squalls of immaculately recorded dissonance. As if Roxy Music and ABC had somehow wound up co-headlining a vaudeville show, Bowness’ desperate vocals and Coleman’s slashing violin work match up swoon for swoon, while Wilson toughens the grooves and hoists ambitious synthesized backdrops, colorful splatters of guitar punctuating the aching pantomimes all the while. Containing the first two No-Man albums (the singles-oriented Loveblows and Lovecries and the ravishing, guest-heavy Flowermouth) plus the early EP Lovesighs, a singles disc and radio sessions, Housekeeping is a generously filled, beautifully designed boxset that points unerringly toward Bowness and Wilson’s more mature achievements (whether together or apart), but is also thoroughly listenable and intriguing in its own right.
The Pineapple Thief, It Leads to This: more badass guitar loops and riffs (spaghetti westerns and surf music entwined in a Steve Reich soundscape); more bleak musings on our pervasive inability to connect, crooned with Bruce Soord’s trademark tenderness and fury; more moments of tasty, laterally-inflected drumming from Gavin Harrison. The current edition of the Thief’s fourth studio album is its own self-contained world, set in motion by the Soord/Harrison team’s moody interplay and rotating on Jon Sykes and Steve Kitch’s steady axis; undeniably of a piece with their recent catalog, and all the better for it. If none of the eight songs particularly stand out, they’re all honed to sleek perfection, building through seductive, bracing miasmas of dread and determined pursuits of flickering light to the knockout punch of the last two tracks. Whatever nightmare Soord is sleepwalking through, his eyes and heart are wide open as he edges forward, with Sykes, Kitch and Harrison urging him on all the while. (Soord’s recent “unplugged” solo CD/DVD, the already out-of-print Caught in the Hum, is an even more distilled example of this melancholy, coolly yearning aesthetic.)
Note: Artist/title links go to purchase options; streaming previews follow reviews.
Mary Halvorson, Cloudward: Trailblazing guitarist Halvorson gathers the sextet from her 2022 classic Amaryllis around eight new avant-jazz compositions. Trumpeter Adam O’Farrill and trombonist Jacob Garchik sizzle on opener “The Gate”; Patricia Brennan’s vibraphone lends a rich shimmer to “The Tower”; Nick Dunston launches an epic bass solo to kick off the closing “Ultramarine”. And Tomas Fujiwara? He’s everything you could imagine in one drummer — meditatively punctuating “Unscrolling”, driving the riff-fest “Tailhead” and covering all points in-between. Set these folks loose on their leader’s sinewy, elegant concoctions of yearning and abstraction, and you never know what will happen next. All the while, Halvorson sets the pace on her instrument, with a woody, delay-laced sound and a skittering, percussive style all her own. Whether Halvorson’s and company are swinging like mad on “Collapsing Mouth” or coalescing like electrical static around Laurie Anderson’s guest violin on “Incarnadine”, Cloudward is another head-spinning, laugh-out-loud delight.
Neal Morse, The Restoration — Joseph, Part Two:The conclusion of Morse’s latest rock opera takes Part One’s rough and ready swagger and turns it up to 11, with grit even in the proggiest moments (Jacob’s sons’ vocal fugue a la Gentle Giant on “The Argument”) and fresh muscle propelling the Latin groove “Everlasting”. There’s heft to the lyrics too, as the showdown between a newly-powerful Joseph and his off-balance brothers displaces Neal’s usual conversion narrative. (Don’t worry, though; reconciliation and revival are just a title track away.) With tight melodic/thematic connections to The Dreamer and a beefy sound recalling George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen, The Restoration is also a spectacular vocal showcase; ensemble highlights include Ted Leonard’s emotive Judah and the Nick D’Virgilio/Ross Jennings cameos as Pharaoh’s butler and baker, and Morse puts his newly darkened tone to thrilling use at dramatic highpoints like “I Hate My Brothers”. Together, the Joseph albums are easily my favorite Morse-related releases since The Similitude of a Dream and The Great Adventure, and The Restoration goes straight to my Official Faves List for the new year.
PAKT, No Steps Left to Trace: Another year, another heaping helping of cutting-edge free improvisation from MoonJune Records, courtesy of indefatigable impresario Leonardo Pavkovic! Now in their third year as a collective, bassist Percy Jones, guitarist Alex Skolnick, drummer Kenny Grohowski and guitarist/electronicist Tim Motzer unleash their first double album, created entirely from scratch both in the studio and live. It’s a genuinely explosive set, especially when Jones (best known from Phil Collins’ 1970s fusion band Brand X) ramps up the double-time grooves and his compatriots lock on! But the intensity doesn’t slacken when the music spaces out, either; listening hard and leaning into their deep, uncanny sense of interplay, PAKT also conjures some of the most arresting ambient jams I’ve come across recently. Bursting every genre boundary you can think of, No Steps Left to Trace isn’t for the musically faint of heart — but, for those with ears to hear, it’s a trip well worth taking.
Porcupine Tree, Closure/Continuation. Live Amsterdam 7/11/22: The show I saw in Chicago a couple of months before but bigger, scaled up for packed European arenas instead of partially-filled Stateside auditoriums and rush-released on video before Christmas. The sum of all the prog-metal parts here is flat-out engaging: Gavin Harrison’s percussive impossibilities and Richard Barbieri’s synth squelches ground Steven Wilson’s driven singing and sardonic patter, while utility players supreme Randy McStine and Nate Navarro slam the songs home. Newer material stacks up well against PT’s classics, with pensive slowburns “Dignity”, “Chimera’s Wreck” and “Buying New Soul” nicely offsetting thrashy frequency-eaters “Blackest Eyes”, “Herd Culling” and “Anesthetize”. A solid introduction for anyone who missed the Tree’s initial, spiky flowering, this one will probably resonate deeper with longtime fans (like me) who took Wilson’s long-term “never again” PR onslaught at face value – until we no longer had to.
The Smile, Wall of Eyes: Admit it: does Stanley Donwood’s latest album cover look like a psychedelic Lord of the Rings paperback cover from the 1960s or what? And the title track kick-off of this Radiohead-facing project is every bit as disorienting: a understated bossa nova from Tom Skinner to which a balefully depressive Thom Yorke lyric, tightly wound orchestral smears and Jonny Greenwood’s arhythmic guitar plinks attach themselves like disfiguring barnacles. No forthright kicks to the head in the style of A Light for Attracting Attention here; The Smile beckon us toward dystopia ever so gently — odd-time licks over the ominous vamp “Read the Room”, Greenwood and Skinner gouging a trench below Yorke’s mewling protests on “Under Our Pillows”; the Beatlesque ballad “Friend of a Friend” delicately dissolving the boundary between courage and despair in less than five minutes. In the face of lives ever more trapped onscreen, are the only options self-destruction (as “Bending Hectic’s” dissonant strings erupting into unmistakable Greenwood power chords) or resignation to Technopoly’s embrace (the closing “You Know Me!”)? Whatever our take, Yorke, Greenwood and Skinner once again prove brutally honest guides to the expanse of beauty and abyss of horrors lying before us.
TesseracT, Live at the Red Flag, St. Louis, MO, October 21, 2023 Opening acts: Alluvial and Intervals TesseracT Setlist: Natural Disaster, Echoes, Of Mind – Nocturne, Dystopia, King, War of Being, Smile, The Arrow, Legion, The Grey, Juno Encore: Concealing Fate Part 1: Acceptance, Concealing Fate Part 2: Deception
Hot off the heels of the release of their best album to date, TesseracT lit up St. Louis last night – quite literally. You’d be hard-pressed to find a band with a more interesting and atmospheric lighting setup. Between the strobes and the many light bars set up along the stage, the band creates a unique stage vibe with their light show. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I’m a toddler TesseracT fan, having really only dug into them with the release of the brilliant livestream turned live album PORTALS in 2021. I’ve been aware of them since at least 2015 with the release of live album Odyssey. I would always give their records a chance, but at the time I didn’t really get it. I suppose the combination of my maturing tastes and the release of PORTALS perfectly coincided, and TesseracT have since become one of my favorite bands. I was very excited for the release of their latest album, War of Being (yes, I need to review it). With tickets pretty affordable, even for premium balcony seats at a small venue, I decided this show was not to be missed.
I hadn’t been to a show at the Red Flag before. It’s essentially a rectangular-shaped club with the stage on one of the long sides and a balcony on the back side and the left-hand short side. I got there early and was able to get a spot just to the left of the sound booth. I generally dislike these club-type shows because you have to stand for 4 hours, but the balcony had seats and a rail with a little table, so it was a super chill spot to watch the show, and the view was absolutely perfect.
The venue is in St. Louis’ midtown next to Saint Louis University. As such I figured there would be more options for food. Nope. The only two restaurants near the venue had stated closing times of 7pm on a Saturday, which is beyond lame, but even lamer was they were both closed by 6:15 because they sold out of food. So if you ever come to the Red Flag for food, don’t come hungry. Clearly I should have planned better, but come on. You expect food to be available near a concert venue on a weekend.
The guy behind me in line had a Soen shirt on, and after I had a run-in with a praying mantis that dropped onto me from the tree above, I struck up a conversation with him. Turns out he was from Chile in the US temporarily on business and had driven down from Milwaukee primarily to see Intervals, one of his favorite bands for a long time but that he had never had a chance to see. He also had a balcony ticket, so we hung out for the rest of the night chatting about prog and metal. It was great to meet you, Sebastion. I told him I always meet somebody cool at these prog concerts, and he commented about how chill prog and metal fans tend to be. I saw this in action when part of the crowd turned into a mosh pit multiple times during the night and every time someone fell down, the others in the pit immediately picked them up and made sure they were ok.
I was unfamiliar with both Alluvial and Intervals, but both put on solid performances. Alluvial could be described as more death metal, and as such I didn’t understand a single word of the vocals. But the band played heavy and tight and brought a solid energy to the room.
Intervals really surprised me. They are an all-instrumental melodic progressive metal band with some djent influences. They reminded me a lot of Polyphia. They played a blend of their old and new music, and even that reflected the changes Polyphia has made, with the older music being heavier and the newer far more technical. Intervals is the brainchild of lead guitarist Aaron Marshall, who can really shred. Sadly they had some tech issues multiple times. At one point, their entire sound went dead, so the drummer used it as a chance for an impromptu drum solo. Then during another song Marshall’s amp went dead. There wasn’t much he could do while his techs worked to fix it, so he played his solo anyways even though nobody could hear it. Despite the setbacks, they put on a solid show and are definitely worth checking out.
The stage was cleared for TesseracT, leaving them with a clean workspace, much appreciated I’m sure by the barefoot Amos Williams (bass). The stage setup featured a lineup of vertical light bars behind the band and several light boxes at the sides of the stage and around the drum kit. These were used to great effect throughout the set, along with the overhead lights and the smoke machine. Despite being a small stage, the clean layout and lighting made it seem much bigger.
The band jumped right into it with the first two tracks off their latest album, both of which are heavy and full of energy. These songs gave vocalist Dan Tompkins a great opportunity to show the range of his voice and the heavier edge that the new album has compared to their last few records.
Despite playing for only about one hour 15 minutes, the band played songs from every album, and every one was expertly performed and equally well received by the excited crowd. The band even got my lazy butt out of my balcony seat. The setlist on this tour includes “The Smile” and “The Arrow” played back-to-back for the first time. Those songs close off 2018’s Sonder, and they sounded fantastic live. That album also was well represented at the show with “King” and “Juno” getting played.
Some bands have musicians that stand out with flamboyant and virtuosic performances, but TesseracT’s members work together to create a wall of sound. The technicality is on full display when you watch the fingers of lead guitarist Acle Kahney, rhythm guitarist James Monteith (who looks like he’s 7 feet tall), and bassist Amos Williams. But they aren’t particularly showy about it – they let the music speak for itself. Williams is probably the most mobile of the band aside from Tompkins. Jay Postones is also a machine on the drums.
Due to the wall of sound style of production TesseracT uses, the band uses sequencers to fill out the background of their sound. The result is their live shows sound very similar to their albums, which is a win in my book.
The vocals are also heavily layered on the records, and you can hear those backing tracks in the live show too, which gives Tompkins some wiggle room if he isn’t feeling a particular note on a particular night. He easily has one of the best voices in the business. His range is impressive, and he has added new styles of distorted vocals on both the new album and in the live show. That was most pronounced on the tracks from the new album. My favorite is “Legion,” which I think may be my favorite TesseracT song overall. The performance certainly grabs your attention on the record, and it was equally impressive live. He hit some very high notes on that song, and the distorted vocals on the track are some of his best.
His banter with the crowd was also solid, giving him a firm command of the stage and the crowd. He mentioned the long five-year gap between albums, promising that it wouldn’t take that long for them to make a new album. He also hinted at a return to the US and St. Louis next year for another tour.
The light show certainly adds to TesseracT’s overall stage presence. If you’ve watched PORTALS or seen them live, you know what I’m talking about. The lighting often makes the band stand out as silhouettes, which furthers the idea of TesseracT’s sound coming from the whole rather than any one player. It can make it a little difficult to see clearly at times, but the total result is an impressive headbanging affair.
My only complaint would have to be with the length of the setlist. I definitely wanted more. Sure, it was a long night with two opening bands, but I really wanted to hear more from TesseracT. I was surprised to see how many people left after the band walked offstage after “Juno.” They gave it a minute or two before coming back on for an extremely heavy closer of “Concealing Fate” Parts 1 and 2. Even though it may have been short, it was a solid set. Every song was stellar, and the band played their heavier moments. With a longer set, I would expect some more extended atmospherics from the band, as we saw on PORTALS.
Overall I had a blast seeing TesseracT, as well as their openers Alluvial and Intervals. This was the first concert I’ve been to this year, and it didn’t disappoint. If you get a chance to see them on this tour, don’t miss it. The prices are reasonable, and the performance is stellar. They’re touring the western US and then the southern states over the next few weeks before traveling back to Europe for some shows in early 2014 and then a tour leg in Asia and Australia.
Progarchy 