March 12, 2005 Grape Street Pub, Philadelphia

We left Baltimore at around 2:30pm and headed on up to Philly. We didn't hit much traffic because it was a Sunday. We made it to the Grape Street Pub on the other side of Philadelphia by around 4:30pm. The staff at the pub were cool, and they let us hang out and listen to the soundcheck which was nice because the band played "Scars" which they had not played on this tour yet. (And they never did.). I ran into a few people who were also waiting. One guy named George was one half of an incredible duo called Science Friction that makes soundtrack music. Another person I ran into was Geoff Kieffer who ran the US street team. He was putting up Blackfield posters and gave me one.


They finally let us in and I got my usual spot by the stage and started talking to some folks that came down for the show from upstate New York. I also saw Joe Del Tufo from Studio M who was there to film this evening's show for a possible DVD release like the "Piss Up In A Brewery" DVD they did for Marillion.
He also tipped me off that Porcupine Tree would be back around in May at the Trocodero in Philly.

The show began and Steven Wilson came out. This time with no shoes which seemed much more normal. There were a few jokers in the crowd with signs and call outs for requests Linton Samuel Dawson. Steven seemed slightly amused, but he knew that wasn't on tonight's agenda. Instead, he played the opening song, "Even Less," on electric guitar. Then, after that, he debuted a brand new song called "Christenings" which I remember being on the list of songs that Porcupine Tree had just recorded during their Deadwing sessions. The song was beautiful to my ears. "I met you in a record store..." After it was over, Steve switched to keyboards for two songs, the latter being "Lullaby," one of the songs from the Blackfield album that had not shown up yet on this tour. Then, he closed his set with the haunting "The Day Before You Came" on acoustic guitar.


Then, a few minutes later, the whole band came out and it was a count, 1,2,3,4, and we were back in the Blackfield again. The trio continued playing the songs from the album as well as "Cover Version I" and the two new songs "Epidemic" and "Miss U." The setlist order was similar to what they had been playing at the other shows with the exception of bringing "Feel So Low" back into the main set and only encoring with "Pain (Again)" this time with an even longer and spacey intro by Jordan Rudess. The whole time, during both sets, the studio M guys had been filming away with two cameras up close next to the stage and a few cameras back behind the crowd.


After the show, the guys all came out and greeted the crowd and very kindly signed the many different things that people had brought along with them. And, they graciously posed for a few pictures with some folks. (Like me!) I got my newly acquired poster signed by Aviv and SW. (Thanks Geoff!) It's now in a frame hanging on my dining room wall. Jason also took a few pictures at this show since the staff was so relaxed about it. There were quite a few photographers at that show if I remember correctly. There were also lots of photos of Steven Wilson playing guitar, but this tour was the first time I ever saw him playing keyboards and it was nice to have that memory.

SET LIST

STEVEN WILSON SET
Even Less
Christenings (debut)
How Is Your Life Today?
Lullaby
The Day Before You Came

BLACKFIELD SET
Blackfield
Glow
The Hole In Me
Pain
Summer
Thank You
Epidemic
Miss U
Cloudy Now
Feel So Low
Hello

ENCORE
Pain (again) (With an extended spacey keyboard intro by Jordan Rudess)