aaamusic | On 30, May 2010

We are gathered at the Princes Charles cinema on a Thursday evening to get a first peek of the new 2 disc DVD set from grammy nominated UK band Porcupine Tree, it’s called Anesthetize. The audience is calm, like most film audiences. Except, at the end of every song this audiences claps and cheers like they are at a gig.

The key to this band is that they have built up a loyal following – they’ve been going since 1987 and have 10 studios albums under their belts. Evidence of this exists on screen tonight with a film of the band playing a packed out live gig in Holland, part of their Euro/US tour to support their latest album offering The Incident. Their sound is similar to the progressive rock of the Scorpions spiked with the post rock of Tool and A Perfect Circle. On this DVD the band present themselves as having the depth and meaningfulness of Depeche Mode. But when you hear the lyrics you realise that there is no special messages or life changing words to be had here. Instead Porcupine Tree can pride themselves on their musical talents, indeed they are the sort of musicians you could imagine getting sponsored by big name musical instrument brands. They know how to make atmospheric rock sounds. Well.

As far as the value of the DVD goes to someone who is not a die hard fan there isn’t much here, unless you like beards, must see silly sized drum kits and singers that look like language exchange students.

Author: Alex Hegazy