Yep for sure.
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I have seen Nightwish live in Melbourne, they are awesomeđ
Hope you enjoy it,
Cheers Brian
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I saw Nightwish at Bloodstock. What a show! They were great
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Just secured tickets to see Patti Smith and her band at âThe Palaisâ in Melbourne on the 21st April 2022, should be a blast to finally get to see a live show.
Cheers Brian
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Last night, I went to see Porcupine Tree at the Greek Theater up in LA. This was my first post-COVID anything-with-a-large-crowd.
For those of you unfamiliar with Porcupine Tree, theyâre a prog-adjacent, alternative-adjacent band of great quality. They were formed in 1987 and were active until 2010, when all the members split up to work on solo projects. Last year, three of the four members got back together to work on a new album, and it was released in June. For the tour, they brought on an additional guitarist - Randy McStine - and a new bassist - Nate Navarro.
We had amazing seats, maybe 20 rows back from the stage. They requested it be a âno recording or photosâ show, but I snagged one before-hand just to document our seating:
Porcupine Tree is an awesome band, no doubt about it. And the show last night⌠I mean⌠wow, it was one of the best shows I think Iâve ever seen. The musicianship was top-notch, the lighting and visuals were amazing, and the sound mix was just perfect. The show started at 8:00 PM with no opener, then they played to about⌠9:15 PM or so. They took a 20 minute break, then came back to play until about 11:00 PM.
I cannot tell you enough how incredible of a show this was. They opened with Blackest Eyes, from In Absentia, and then played the entirety of their new album. Then they ran through a gamut of songs including The Sound of Muzak, Collapse the Light into Earth, and Trains (all from In Absentia), Fear of a Blank Planet, Anesthetize (a 17 minute EPIC song), and Sleep Together (all from Fear of a Blank Planet), Bonnie the Cat from The Incident), Last Change to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it is Recycled (from Lightbulb Sun), and probably a half dozen other songs from albums Iâm not as familiar with.
Hereâs how I know it was a great show: normally, in the past, when Iâve gone to shows and the band plays songs I donât know, Iâm anxious for them to finish and get to stuff I do know. This was not true last night. I was fully engaged with everything they were throwing at me; it was awesome to watch and listen to them play stuff I didnât know as well as stuff I do know.
Now, on to the more BassBuzz-centric notes on the concert. The tour bassist Nate Navarro was really good. I was really hoping to see their original bassist - in videos and the like he always looked so happy to be playing, and was always spot-on in the groove - but Nate was so good that I wasnât saddened that the original bassist wasnât part of this âreunionâ. From where I was sitting on the end of my row, I had a straight, unobstructed view of him pretty much the entire show. The main bass he used was a Kiesel Zeus 5-string, with dual Kiesel radiused humbuckers (which look just like Kieselâs radiused single-coils, but it didnât sound like a single-coil bass). He played many songs with a pick, which sounded great, and just as many finger style, which also sounded great. No slapping, but Porcupine Tree isnât really a slapping kinda band. He also used a really nice fretless 4-string from time to time, single-cut, which Iâm going to try to identify today.
Anyway, so, there it is. Iâm sure my music rotation will be heavy on the Porcupine Tree for the next few weeks. And I got a new hoodie to commemorate the occasion!
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I genuinely do not understand this description. I guess I am old 
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One thing for sure: whatever the music genre/sub-genre is, it is definitelyâŚadjacent.
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So⌠most people consider them a âmodern progressive rock bandâ, but Steven Wilson (the lead singer/guitarist/mastermind of the band) strenuously objects to being associated with progressive rock. And a lot of their music has a very strong âalternative rockâ feel to it, but they donât fly in alternative circles either.
I guess they defy classification, and that was my best attempt at classifying them. 
Go listen to some of their music. Youâll see what I mean.
Your not old, your normal, and from what I can tell, very much a realist.
These sub/cross/sub categories of carving up music are idiotic.
When I go to a record store I generally have to ask where they put things like Poppy, David Lynch, Chrysta Bell and many others. They donât fit a âwell known genre/styleâ, so like many other musicians, they go in an âadjacent categoryâ (sounds most like but not really) or they make up a genre.
KD Lang - country? vocalist? Itâs all dopey.
Even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hasnât a clue what Rock and Roll is (obviously, lol.).
How about just using A-Z?
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Only judging from the few YouTube videos Iâve seen, but Nate is an amazing bassist. I would like to see him live on any project.
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I mean, itâs just words, right? Are they a progressive rock band? No, but theyâre close to it. Are they an alternative band? No, but again, theyâre close to it.
Isnât it easier and more understandable to say âadjacentâ than it is to say ânot really maybe kinda sorta yes and noâ?
Regardless of what words you want to use to describe their genre of music, it was a fantastic show in every way, and thatâs the message I was trying to get across.
Meh.
To me itâs a lot like saying âI like IPAsâ.
Do you like all of them?
Does the label tell you if you should like it or not on the beer or music?
I like (liked) great beer.
I like great music.
I donât care about how itâs categorized.
Just me, Iâm cranky today. Lol
I went with my wife, brother and sister to Iron Maiden in Seattle last Thursday. Roger Waters in Tacoma 9/17, and in Portland 9/10. Red Hot Chili Peppers 8/3 in Seattle, and Jack White 6/6 in Portland. It was a pretty good concert summer.
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The label/category sets expectations. I tend to like IPAs - a beer being labelled an IPA doesnât mean that I will like it, but itâs sets the expectation for me that a label that said âbeerâ wouldnât be able to set.
You donât have to let the categorization decide the outcome for you, but it helps you know what to expect. When Iâm in the mood for a bourbon-barrel-aged stout, it helps to know that âBeer Xâ is a âwheat beerâ, so I know that that isnât what Iâm in the mood for.
I canât try every beer in the world, and I canât listen to every album ever produced. Categories (and other descriptive terms) help me pick and choose which ones might be the best use of my limited time and resources, even if categorization isnât a perfect science.
Saw him in Brooklyn on this tour, and MSG the prior tour. Great showsâŚ
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That reminds me, the other day I had a great IPA adjacent, post-Pilsner shoe-gaze stout. To me it tasted more like a Budweiser 
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âShoegaze is a distorted farmhouse pale ale, bursting with orange zest, lemon, and the grain-forward flavors the farmhouse styleâ
It is very likely built in to human nature to categorize things. We generally learn by association, from a very very young age.
Category labels are useful. Punk rock was definitely different than rock. There was some overlap and a direct genesis from one to the other, but they were distinct styles.
Post-punk was very different from punk. There was some overlap and a direct genesis from one to the other, but they are distinct styles.
And on and on for post-rock, post-prog, post-metal, etc. Post-metal has more in common with post-rock than metal, but is different from either.
Youâre basically describing the big circles on venn diagrams here. Itâs not an individual measure. Anyone that looks at a band and says âeww, I hate southern rockâ without even listening is doing themselves a disservice.
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Donât forget the sweetness and lightness 
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Omg. See!!???!!!