I’ve honestly had no idea Israel had so many progressive rock fans until yesterday. Many people of various ages and styles filled Shuni Amphitheater and most of them knew all the lyrics to every Steven Wilson song ever written (a thing I will understand later).
The concert is divided into two parts: the first part is actually the performance of all the songs in Steven‘s latest album, “Hand Cannot Erase“, according to their order on the album (where Ninet is also featuring). The second part is comprised of older Steven songs and some Porcupine Tree songs.
Steven Wilson is an enigmatic character. I’m not quite sure whenever he is serious or joking, I can hardly see him smile, but I am pretty sure that this guy has huge talent and can easily do everything he wants to do on stage. He is running with his guitar (he is switching between few guitars throughout the entire gig) across the stage, interacting with his incredible musicians and basically sounds amazing. It’s not that he is the most phenomenal singer, but there’s something about him when he sings, that one simply cannot ignore.
In the middle of the first part of the show, Steven brings Ninet on stage to sing her most featured song on the record, ‘Routine“. Ninet, who recently played an incredible SXSW showcase and instantly became one of the artists to watch in 2016, sounds so powerful and the crowd cheers for both of them with love and respect. She joins him for few more songs, including a beautiful version of “Space Oddity“, dedicated to David Bowie along with Steven‘s solo song, “Lazarus“, which he explains he wrote years ago about a guy named David (“My David don’t you worry, This cold world is not for you“).
Almost two and a half hours later and everyone seems to want more. “Do you like miserable music“?, Steven asks and then replies to himself, “Well, you obviously do because you are here right now“. And then he ends with his saddest song, “The Raven That Refused To Sing” and I can see few teary eyes around me (including my own).
TRACKS:
