Steven Wilson – To The Bone Tour 2018

Steven Wilson wows fans with stunning show at Royal Albert Hall.

The unassuming bloke on stage in glasses and bare feet is joking – but it feels like the prog rocker’s time has finally come. Wilson, once described as “the most successful British musician most people have never heard of”, is on a sold-out world tour. And new album To The Bone had him fighting Ed Sheeran for the UK No1 slot. (Ed won, BTW.)

Multi-instrumentalist Wilson kicked off the first of three nights at the RAH by playing most of the unashamedly accessible To The Bone. This tribute to the 1980s arty pop of Talk Talk, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush has divided hard-core fans. But it’s superb live.

Highlights included People Who Eat Darkness and two wonderful duets with Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb – the mournful Pariah and the folky Blank Tapes. The three-hour show was also a trawl through Wilson’s “extensive back catalogue of 947 albums – some of you have all of them”.

There were huge cheers for tracks by his old prog band Porcupine Tree. Wilson’s earlier solo stuff – adventurous and slightly gloomy in the Pink Floyd mould – got a look in too, with Home Invasion and the brilliant The Raven That Refused To Sing. Permanating, the joyous new pop song that’s upset old fans the most, was prefaced with the line: “I want to see bearded, tattooed blokes in Opeth T-shirts disco dancing.”

They did, too – along with the Bollywood dancers Wilson had invited on stage to accompany him.

Add a stunning sound and light show, including holograms and animation, plus a superb four-piece band and you had one of the best shows of the year – and it’s only March.

Source: The Sun
Photo Credit: Noah Goodrich – www.twobytwovideo.co.uk