It was with great anticipation that me and my friends embarked on the long trek to Cleveland to see Porcupine Tree play live at the House of Blues. I had become a fan of the band thanks to Steven WilsonŐs collaboration with Opeth and I was excited to have a chance to see them in person. The show was part of a US headlining tour in support of the bandŐs new album Deadwing.

Upon arriving at the House of Blues, we were dismayed to learn that our general admission tickets did not admit us to the floor directly below the stage. Instead of the usual standing area, chairs were set up close to the stage for the fans who paid extra. We had gotten in line early with the hope of getting up close to the band but were instead forced to search for a good spot to stand and watch farther back. Steven Wilson even commented on the seats and tried to get the seated fans to stand up but was largely unsuccessful. I can only hope that this does not happen at other stops on the tour.

The crowd that came to see the show was quite a mixed bag. The prog fans that could be expected were there in force but Opeth and Slayer shirts in the crowd provided evidence of metalheads in attendance. Obviously Porcupine TreeŐs move in a heavier direction and their work with Opeth have paid dividends and won them some new fans. In all it was a decent sized crowd, and the band seemed to appreciate the numbers.

As expected, the songs played by the band tended to skew more towards the two newest albums. "Deadwing," the first track off of the new CD opened the set in an excellent way. Other highlights included the epic "Arriving Somewhere but not here," and "Blackest Eyes" and "Sound of Muzak" from In Absentia. The crowd seemed most excited about "Shallow," the hard-rocking leadoff single from Deadwing. I personally thought the heavier songs translated best to the live format but the band still did a more than adequate job on mellower classics such as "Lazarus" and "Fadeaway." Because the band has such a large catalog, some of the older songs were undoubtedly unfamiliar to many in the crowd. However, this did not seem to matter much and the older songs were almost as well received as the newer ones.

As a whole the band did an excellent job performing their songs. Wilson hit pretty much every note he sang and every note he played on the guitar. Watching him perform live has only given me more appreciation for his musical abilities. In addition, backup vocalist and guitarist John Wesley, a member of the band only for tours, added a lot to the vocal harmonies that are so important to the Porcupine Tree sound. He even sang lead vocals on the song "Fadeaway."

The show was closed in a fantastic way with an encore that included "shesmovedon" and "Trains." "Trains" was without a doubt the best track to pick to end the set and send fans home on a happy note. Wilson got out his acoustic guitar for the song to provide a more intimate sound and he and Wesley sang beautiful harmonies during the songŐs bridge. It was a great example of a good song becoming great when played live. In all the show exceeded my expectations and made me an even bigger fan of Porcupine Tree. I highly recommend seeing Porcupine Tree in concert to anyone within driving distance of a tour stop.