Porcupine Tree
London Royal Albert Hall
14th October, 2010

A special recorded one-off show saw the quintet led by Steven Wilson open with a five-song acoustic set, the first of 21 rendered over 170 minutes. Stranger By The Minute was followed by the psychy tablas and double-bass of Small Fish, while Futile featured some deft interplay. Even Less kicked off the electric sets in rousing fashion, chugging riffage over Floydian synths leading to the spoken-word intro and headbanging of Open Car. Throwing in favourites old and new, the singalong, Coldplay-esque Lazarus, with film backdrop, was followed by the vintage Eastern-tinged Dislocated Day and Sky Moves Sideways, with its six-string zephyrs and swirling Tangerine Dream-like synths, propped by impressive lattice lighting. The dystopian-tone Bonnie The Cat presaged pause, with the ominous psych synth spirals of Incident 1 marking the band’s return, Wilson taking to piano for Incident 2 and acoustic guitar over organ on Time Flies. Up The Downstair showcased Gavin Harrison’s percussive chops, while the pulsating crescendo of Sleep Together trail-blazed an encore topped by the chorale Trains.