Porcupine Tree @ The Mandela Hall

Progressive rock is a dying breed of music. With the introduction of and recent worldwide obsession with “Post Rock”, prog rock has been pushed aside for the nerds and freaks to pick away at. The golden days of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes and King Crimson are long gone and will never come back. A genre very much of its time, with the boom of the 1960s psychedelia in the UK and America came a collaboration of creative and free thinking young men and women; making music exciting and interesting, but eventually dying out at the closing of the decade. The 1970s came around and the hippie culture was not as flourishing as it used to be, but a select few continued the culture and developed something else. This sparked a whole new sub-genre of rock and is now seen as one of the most important and well-known genres in rock today: Progressive Rock. Porcupine Tree, one of the few progressive rock bands still going strong, are here for their first Belfast show.

Support comes in the form of North Atlantic Oscillation. With each member excluding the drummer having some sort of electronic devices on a table in front of them, I knew that this was going to be an experimental treat. They play like Kraftwerk but sound like a cross between Flaming Lips and The Pixies. Their songs are highly enjoyable and equally as psychedelic as they are spacey. With all four members doing vocals, fantastic vocal harmonies fill the small room. A fantastic beginning to the evening.

This being the first time progressive rock heroes Porcupine Tree have played Belfast, the room is packed with a variety of audiences stretching from young guitar geeks to old-timer prog lovers from the 70s. Charismatic and overly talented front man  Steven Wilson (without any shoes or socks on…odd)  and his band of merry men enter the stage to a massive cheer. Opening up the set with their old classic “Even Less” which starts soothingly before bursting into a funky and fresh riff. The only word to describe this experience is “mesmerizing”: the music, the lights, the presence, it all grips everyone present and makes it hard to look away from the stage.

They play through songs such as Lazarus, The Sound of Muzak, and the incredible second movement of Anaesthetize (The Pills I’m Taking). Unlike any gig I have been to before, there was an odd but well needed ten minute interval where the audience could go to the toilet, grab another beer or go for a cigarette.

The second half begins with the thundering sound of “Occam’s Razor” leading into the opening track on their last release “The Incident”. The second half consists mainly of newer songs with a few golden oldies such as “Blackest Eyes” and “Arriving Somewhere But Not Here”. As their set closes on “Sleep Together” off the fantastic “Fear Of A Black Planet” they have sealed the deal of impressing Belfast to the very core. Coming out one last time with the acoustically led “Trains”, the entire venue shakes with delight. Porcupine Tree are definitely a band that are one of a kind and it’s a unique experience to see such an incredible band perform live.

By Chris Leckey