Porcupine Tree

Porcupine Tree hit the stage at the Cleveland House of Blues last night and rocked the house.

Our evening started with a wonderful dinner at the House of Blues restaurant. The employees were so friendly, and treated us like special guests. I highly recommend taking advantage of the pass the line option when attending shows at the House of Blues. Dinner guests are escorted directly to the auditorium, without having to wait in line with everyone else.

We brought along our daughter, who is a huge fan of Porcupine Tree, and was attending her first concert. Because this was a non-smoking event, at the request of the band, it was a good environment for her first show. It was such a wonderful experience to look over and see our little girl rocking out at the show.

The opening act was Robert Fripp from King Crimson. His show was disappointing to much of the audience, many of whom were very vocal about their displeasure. His show could best be described as a senior citizen with a guitar and a slide show. There were some funny moments with people yelling Fripp and headbanging \m/ \m/. Some of us got the giggles and had to go get some air.

Porcupine Tree was as amazing as ever. They played a heavier setlist than the last time they were here. They played several tracks from their latest CD, Deadwing, a few favorites from In-Absentia, and thrilled the crowd by playing songs from their soon to be re-released CD, Stupid Dream.

Cleveland Setlist:
Open Car
Blackest Eyes
Lazarus
Deadwing
Don't Hate Me
Mother and Child Divided
Gravity Eyelids
So Called Friend
Arriving Somehere But Not Here
Heart Attack in a Lay-Bye
The Start of Something Beautiful
Halo

Encore:
Radioactive Toy
Trains

John Wesley added so much to the show with his beautiful vocals and guitar work. Front man, Steven Wilson commented on the numerous Dream Theater shirts in the crowd and stated that Meshuggah was better. He also noted the smattering of John Wesley shirts in the audience, as well.

The volume at the House of Blues was quite a bit higher than it was last time. For my older ears, it was comfortably loud, but it was a bit much for my daughter, who was struggling with earplugs in her tiny ears. The merchandise table had a lot of goodies, including limited edition CDs and three new T-Shirts.

Our little one went to school this morning, a bit tired, but anxious to show off her new T-Shirt. She now owns three Porcupine Tree shirts, and she tries to wear them every week. I wonder what she will do when winter hits? Layer them over sweaters, perhaps?

If you missed this show, Steven announced that will be back in the Spring to promote their first ever DVD, which they will be recording in Chicago on this tour.

Visit Porcupine Tree @ Squidoo

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