twice around the world : steven wilson tour blogs 2012-13

In 2013 we published some of Theo Travis' blog posts of Steven Wilson's 'The Raven That Refused to Sing' tour (see posts). Now all the posts have been gathered together from 'The Grace For Drowning' and 'The Raven' tours and along with unseen photo's from top photographers and accounts of recording the band with contributions from band members, Theo has published a glossy, soft cover, limited editon book.

"The Steven Wilson 2013 tour was voted Event of the Year in Prog magazine. In this unique and limited edition book written in Travis' candid and relaxed style, he takes you on this amazing road trip, giving unparalleled access to one of the greatest Progressive bands in the world today."

'Twice Around The World' is available early September with a limited additon of only 1000 so advance ordering will be the smart move. Go to Theo's website.

Here's "Luminol" (from the Get All You Deserve Blu-Ray & DVD)
Steven Wilson with Marco Minnemann (drums), Nick Beggs (bass), Theo Travis (flute and sax), Adam Holzman (keys) and Niko Tsonev (guitars). Filmed in in Mexico City. 2013.

theo travis blogs on steven wilson last date of the 2013 tour

Theo Travis' last post entry on the Steven Wilson 'The Raven' tour 2013, They'd been on the road with just a short break during late summer since it began in March. The band begin recording a new album in 2014...

Poznan - Zabrze, Poland.
After our two day journey from Finland to Poland via Vilnius we finally arrived at the venue for the Poznan gig. It was a large exhibition hall in an industrial complex otherwise used for things like tractor fairs. The venue felt like a combination of a massive sports hall and an empty railway station. The day was unremarkable and there was the usual backstage showers, lunch, soundcheck, dinner before the gig. There was a big crowd of maybe 2000 and they were very enthusiastic which was great. Then another overnight drive and I woke up outside the venue in Zabrze. Zabrze is a small town in Poland and from outside the venue I could see two big residential tower blocks, stencilled in big letters ZBR 4 and ZBL 4A. There was a small park outside the venue and in it three or four large and ominous looking hexagonal concrete bunkers with metal grills on them. There was a skateboarding area with ramps pointing at trees (!). The buildings around the park looked austere, grey and forbidding. Furthermore the weather was cold, wet and grim. Altogether it was not a cheery picture. Inside the venue was curious too. The concrete basement had dozens of what looked like school desks with make up mirrors in rows in dark corridors. I discovered later these were for the actors or dancers of the theatre. The theatre itself was attractive but there was a large covered up orchestra pit that we could not set up on because the floor could only withstand a limited weight (though the day following our gig there was to be a circus complete with tigers and elephants!). It was to be a little strange playing on a stage where there was a whole empty floor between us and the audience.
However, the large crowd (about 2000) was great and very enthusiastic. As it was the very last gig of the 79 shows we have done on the whole Raven tour since March 1, Steven said some thank yous and for fun we also extended the song Happy Returns with some extra solos around the band. There was not really a big end of tour party but we did have a bit of a hang and it was cool. The following day we were all flying home so there was some sorting and packing to do.
On the way home, Steven commented that he was really happy how the tour had gone and the response from audiences. He said 2013 has been a great year for him - one of the best. Also I just saw in the British magazine 'Prog' Critics Awards that album 'the Raven that Refused to Sing' has come in at Number 1, and the gig of the year was the Steven Wilson Band at the Royal Albert Hall in October (a gig which I personally loved and felt special), so that is great too. It has been fabulous playing with such a wonderful band and such great musicians and I thank them all - Nick Beggs, Guthrie Govan, Chad Wackermann, Adam Holzman and Steven himself. The crew have been all fantastic too and I thank them all too for their great and hard work.
auf wiedersehen from me....
Theo

Here is the set list for the last gig at Dom Muzyki i Tańca, Zabrze, Poland
Trains (Porcupine Tree song) (Steven Wilson solo on)
Luminol
Postcard
The Holy Drinker
Drive Home
Untitled New Song
(introduced as “Break It and It’s Yours”)
The Watchmaker Video
The Watchmaker
Index
Sectarian
Harmony Korine
Raider II (Shortened first half and ending)
The Raven That Refused to Sing

Encore :
Happy Returns (new song, extended outro)
Radioactive Toy

....

And here part of the audience, fan Karina Balska shows her view of the group with some good extracts of the show.

The last bow and farewell of 2013

theo travis blogs the latest steven wilson tour

After Theo's last blogs from March - July he's been persuaded to pick up his posts and send some more in as the Steven Wilson band go into the October/November European schedule. Here's his first entry

Here we go, here we go...back on the road with Steven Wilson. 23 October 2013
So we are now back on he tour bus for another stint touring to promote 'the Raven that refused to sing' album and the new EP/ single 'Drive Home'. In September we went to Australia for 3 gigs. 3 cities, 6 days there, 7 flights and large doses of jetlag. It felt all a bit surreal and if we hadn't stopped by the Sydney Opera House I am not sure it would have felt like we were actually in Australia at all. Hotel, dinner, backstage, gig, bus, airport. It is like travelling in a bubble. But the gigs were good, and there were some very appreciative fans. Good to see Daevid Allen and Orlando from Gong in Brisbane too (even if Daevid did tell Steven all the things he thought were wrong with the gig!)

Then we had the UK dates. I always enjoy touring in the UK. In my jazz life I have played hundreds of gigs around Britain, from jazz clubs to Arts Centres to rooms above pubs; a brewery visitor centre in St Austell, Cornwall to the library on Iona in Scotland. I love it! I seem to have done less of it and have been touring abroad more in the last few years since I have been doing more Prog type gigs (Steven Wilson/Soft Machine Legacy) and also the ambient experimental gigs with either Robert Fripp or Cipher. We had one day rehearsal to learn the new song (which has been going well) and for Chad to play in 'Sectarian' which he had not played with us before. It was good to visit Wolverhampton, Bristol (where I played a lot in the early 1990s with Andy Hague and others), Newcastle (an alreet toon!) and then the Royal Albert Hall, London. The Albert Hall was a highlight for me. Such a stunning venue and big crowd. Lots of friends there (including Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Steve Hackett, Jakko, Davide Giovannini, Robyn Koh, Maggie Docherty) and my family too - which was lovely. The sound was really good and pleasing to get lots of comments that the flutes and saxes were particularly clear and audible, and we all felt we played pretty well. We all came off feeling really good about it and there was a cool aftershow hang too- one of those special nights. I have just found out today that there is a four star glowing review of the gig in the Guardian which includes a reference to the 'preposterously honed and proficient band'. Cool.

Then a couple of days off before off to Europe for another run - Netherlands, France, Poland, Scandinavia, Austria, Spain and a gig in Tel Aviv, Israel which should be fun. I have not been to Israel since playing at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat in 2000 with my own jazz quartet - which was an amazing experience.

The tour has geared up as we are now travelling not just with a night liner tourbus and trailer but a whole other truck carrying our own full PA, lighting rig, and back line, and we have also extra crew to help with all of that. As the backstage rider gets refined I have noticed that it seems to be dividing between the rock 'n roll half and the health farm half - so we have vodka, beer, red wine, rum, and then blueberries, smoothies, nuts, humous and yes, Manuka honey!

So on Tue we met up at K- West hotel in Shepherds Bush (named after the sign on the Ziggy Stardust cover) to get on the tour bus to set off to Dover. Adam brought a DVD box set of 'Breaking Bad' which we watched a couple of episodes of (pretty good in a dark sort of way) and at about 11 pm we got the ferry to Calais to continue on to Nijmegenfor the first gig. And here we are, ready to go. Soundcheck in one hour.
Theo

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt10)

With the European leg of the tour finishing in Milan tonight the next stage will be the American tour beginning 16 April in Tampa, Florida when Theo will pick up the tour blog again...

"Last couple of days have been a bit of a blur, because of a head cold and taking every opportunity to rest more. Although I was not too terrible really, being ill when on the road is not much fun because you are almost always on the go. I seem to be on the mend now, which is good because after tonight's show in Milan, we have an 18 hour drive back to London.

The gig in Munich was a good one and Marco's parents came along again to this one. My strongest memories of the gig are watching Marco's mum dancing away in the front row like a teenager. I think she is about 75, but she has some cool moves and was grooving way with the kids!

Zurich was a lovely theatre venue. It was a standing audience and they loved it. It is noticeable the difference in audience response when they are standing. Very animated, vocal and shouting and cheering. A difficult gig for me, but a very good gig overall I think.
Then the Sherlock club convened for one final time on the European tour for the final episode. Adrian, Adam and I have been watching the BBC Sherlock series, 6 episodes in all. I saw them all on TV, but they are so good it was great to see them again. Adam had not seen them before but knows all the original books very well and also the Jeremy Brett TV adaptations. Most excellent and what a cliffhanger at the end!

And so here we are backstage in Milan. Seems like a massive warehouse type of a place in the middle of nowhere. The rain is beating down on the roof. Last gig of the European leg of the tour. Had some Tortelloni, a nice cuppa tea, a shower, am listening to Spirit of Eden by Talk Talk and feeling a bit human again. Should be good tonight."
Theo Travis
photo by Diana Nitschke.

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt9)

Stuttgart
"The tour bus was scheduled to roll out of Frankfurt at 3 am to drive to Stuttgart, so there was plenty of time after the gig to hang out backstage. I was sitting with Adam and Guthrie and we got onto the subject of Alan Holdsworth, guitarist extraordinaire. I have not met him, but heard innumerable stories about him from the other guys in Soft Machine Legacy who all recorded and toured with him for ages. I introduced both Adam and Guthrie to Alan's amazing solo on Hazard Profile on Soft Machine 'Bundles' which blew them away. Adam also played Proto-cosmos from Tony Williams' 'Believe it'. The thing I love about those solos on Bundles is there is still a gritty earthiness to them. Alan played a Gibson SG guitar then and he 'digs in' with the rhythm section playing very rhythmic phrases that the band latches on to. Later on he became more ethereal and his glistening solos would float high above the rest of any band he played with. Great too - always incredible playing, but to me less connected to the other musicians than on those early to mid 1970s recordings.

We then had an interesting discussion about great drummers and the difference between drummers with a metric and square approach to time and those with a more circular approach. Subdivision versus alchemy, elasticity versus tight precision and how both approaches work differently in a band context when you are trying to play with them. And between Guthrie, Adam and me we have worked with Marco, Chad Wackerman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Gadd, John Marshall - some serious drummers!

We arrived in Stuttgart for our day off and proceeded to have a 2 hour VISA 'party' with a bunch of us going through the long and complicated online questionnaire together that has to be completed prior to the interview at the US Embassy. Dull but necessary. Fingers crossed I got it right.

Then chilled in my room and finished reading 'Neverwhere' accompanied by Brian Eno's 'On Land' - one of my favourite albums of all time (yes, really). Great book. I then popped out to get a bite to eat. On the way back I found a stall that sold 'Berliners'. Now famously JFK made a speech in 1963 in which he said 'Ich bin ein Berliner' meaning 'I am a Berliner', trying to show solidarity with the West German people but in fact it meant 'I am a jam doughnut', as a Berliner is indeed a special doughnut (donut if you are American), very soft, round and filled with a strawberry sauce in the middle. Well here it was, and I felt a moral and historical duty to try out this delicacy. It was indeed most delicious.

Went to sleep - no snow. Woke up the next day, snow everywhere. Just as we thought we were done with it. And it is nearly April. The gig was in a venue we played at last year. Good sound. Full house. I felt rested after a day off. I always particularly enjoy the first few notes of sound check after a day off. It feels like 'yes - here we go...' The gig itself went well though there were a couple of technical glitches behind the scenes. Probably nothing that would have been noticed though. Great response by the crowd. I subsequently heard that more UK autumn dates have been announced and posted, including Bristol (15 Oct) Wolverhampton (17 oct) Newcastle (18 oct) and the Royal Albert Hall, London (20 Oct) That is going to be really special.

After the gig, the film on the bus was Quadrophenia. Absolutely love it. Love the original album by the Who, love the film. Something important was pointed out to me at the very beginning of the film that I had not seen before. Tonto our excellent guitar technician is a proper mod. Scooter with all the mirrors, trips to Brighton on the bank holidays, has the gear, knows the people and the places. It was great to hear his inside knowledge as I watched the film again. Then I seemed to stay up rather later just chatting on the bus before retiring to bed at 3.30 am."
Theo Travis

photos by Diana Nitschke.

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt8)

"Woke up on the bus in Frankfurt feeling a bit rough. Oh dear. Not good at all. With a bit of extra rest, an Aspirin, a walk to get some fresh air and a shower I felt much better and all was fine in time for the soundcheck. Phew. There was a bit of extra pressure on this gig as Steven had decided to film it with a full film crew, not for anything in particular and certainly no plans for a DVD to be released so soon after the last one, but just to have 'in the can'. So we needed to get it right and also sound check a bit longer just to make sure that the recording equipment was all functioning 100%.

Anyway, some interesting things happened on the gig. First of all, I have found hearing myself in the monitors quite difficult for my sax solo in 'No Part of Me'. It is during the loud part at the end of the song and there are heavy guitar riffs and the drums go crazy. So although I need to hear myself more, instead of turning me up, we tried turning my whole monitor mix of everything down and hey presto, much better. I could I hear everything more clearly and when we played that song tonight (one of my personal favourites), it felt better than it had done in a while.

Another curious thing occurred to me, which is that with all the very complicated music this band plays with changing time signatures and tricky melodic lines and the big solos I play, the part of the set which I am most nervous about is none of the above but in fact those exposed fragile clarinet notes at the very beginning of Raider 2. Very simple music really, but very exposed, surrounded by silence, and I am, to be honest, less of a clarinet player than a sax player and flautist.

The soprano sax solo in Raider 2 went fine and during it Steven came over, stood right in front of me and started pointing at the ceiling and around the room with a sort of 'explore the space' kind of gesture. Now I did not mind this at all and in fact looked him in the eye and started improvising following his gestures a little. He smiled back and it took the solo somewhere new and fresh. Then it occurred to me that maybe that is the difference between an improviser and a soloist. The soloist will often have their solo ideas largely prepared, a vocabulary of their 'licks' and favourite patterns and deliver them in a musical way that creates the finished product of 'the solo'. The improviser on the other hand is always open to immediate stimuli and will respond to whatever is going on around them - more like a boxer who has to be 100% alert at all times and change direction on a fraction of a moment's notice. I think that I, like many, am a combination of both but it is interesting how different musicians will clearly tend towards one or other approach and respond in different ways when a curve ball is thrown while they are soloing.

Some amusing heckles and shouts tonight by the audience I think Steven responded well and appropriately too. That is quite an art being able to deal with all that stuff on the fly and in the moment and doing it well.

Incidentally, there was a guest of one member of the band who came to a gig a few days ago but who had not seen him for several years. When he asked what they thought of the gig, they responded in luke warm terms. Not 'it was great', not ' I really appreciate the amazing playing and music', not even ' it is not my thing but it was well done '. More just "...meh" and a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. The musician concerned was taken aback and most unimpressed. We all thought this was v. poor and rude - especially with having had a guest ticket. So '....meh' has become a regular band comment and response - applicable in all situations! What was dinner like '....meh' etc. So while hanging around in the dressing room before the gig today I wrote and recorded this little ditty, with extra production input by Guthrie...the 'Meh song'".
Theo Travis

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt7)

"So after a day off in snowy Berlin during which the snow did not stop, half a dozen of us including Steven went for a very pleasant Greek meal and then relaxed in the hotel bar where a live duo was playing a mixture of classic songs and instrumental jazz. The lady drummer/singer who was American walked over to us and said 'You are clearly musicians!' and she seemed most interested in the band and wrote everything down so she could check out the new album later.

The gig itself was the following day and was in a big hall, where I believe Porcupine Tree have played before. I met fans who had come to the gig from Peru and Brazil! There was a relaxed vibe onstage and I thought it was a good gig. This band is so tight and so professional that the sort of musical disasters that often happen onstage in a band just don't seem to happen with this lot.

Steven asked the audience whether they liked to sit or stand and in response got everyone to stand up for the songs Harmonie Korine and No Part of Me. In fact I don't think they sat down for the rest of the night. It certainly increased the audible excitement in the room. For the encore we played 'Radioactive Toy' again which worked really well (I thought so anyway). After the gig I went out to the merchandise stall to sign some CD's and programmes etc.

On the tour bus after the gig the film for the evening was 'the Business' a Danny Dyer film about South London criminals in the Costa del crime and Gibraltar. Not my regular sort of film but I liked it. It was funny and had strong characters. It reminded me of the Phil Daniels character in Quadrophenia and that is a film I love.Then we finished off the Sherlock episode Hound of the Baskervilles before bed. Woke up in Essen. Hey no snow!

The Essen venue was a huge theatre called the Coloseum. Plush red velvet seats and a massive upper tier too. It was full for the gig and I got that distinct feeling that this band is so good it is ready to take on the world....and win! Very responsive crowd. I am still finding new musical areas to explore during the sax and flute solo sections eg the big soprano sax solo in Raider 2. It is great that these sections change so much every night, and that makes the music feel very much alive."
Theo Travis

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt6)

The Scandinavian leg of the tour rounds off in Oslo and Copenhagen. Theo Travis gives us the inside view..

"I have played in Oslo many times and always in the same square in the centre of town where there are two venues next to each other (I think run by the same management) called Sentrum Scene and Rockerfeller. Today was at the former where I last played in 2007 with David Sylvian. That Sylvian gig was particularly memorable as the wonderful trumpeter Arve Henriksen sat in on the gig, and came out for a drink afterwards too. Great player with a wonderful sound and very fresh approach to playing the trumpet.

There was some free time before the gig so I had contacted my friend the singer Anja Garbarek to see if she was free to meet up for a drink. I met Anja in 2001 when Steven Wilson was producing her album 'Smiling and Waving'. Despite her dad being Jan (Garbarek)..., she wanted someone else to play flute and sax on the album and Steve brought me in. I was then in her live band and we toured around Europe for a while. It was a really wonderful band and a great experience. Steve Jansen on drums, Dudley Philips on bass, Sue Balingall on additional vocals and guitar amongst others. Everyone got on particularly well and it was very special music. I digress. So Anja was free and we met up for a drink which was great, as she is lovely and I rarely see her. I fear the glass or two of champagne may have adverse affected my performance though as I missed a couple of simple things which I should not have done.

The sartorially elegant Nick Beggs changed his stage outfit again for the show - from his original dandy highwayman Count von prog, to yer regular rock bass man to the one and only 'Fu Chinn' . Good to see him back say I. Nick's outfits are great. Gig was good and some very appreciative fans. A noticeably younger audience than usual and also a definite higher percentage of males than females for this one. Although progressive rock is well known to be generally more followed by blokes than women, Steven's gigs always have lots of women there. Maybe because his music is not 'traditional' progressive rock, has some short songs, has more thoughtful lyrics than many, or maybe because women think he (and maybe others in the band??) is cute. Dunno. Maybe some women can say why they like SW but not King Crimson, Yes or Gentle Giant... Or maybe I have got it all wrong!

It was a late concert and afterwards we got on the bus to drive through the night to Copenhagen. Woke up feeling a bit rough. Not sure why, but definitely not so good. I had arranged to meet another music friend who I had not seen for years, the Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, who has made lots of ECM albums and famously composed and arranged an award winning album with Miles Davis called Aura. Palle came to London in 2001 to record on my CD 'Heart of the Sun'. It was all a wonderful experience and his contributions are stunning. We have been in touch since but only usually when I have visited Copenhagen on tour. We had time to catch up and grab a coffee and he heard the band too. Really fantastic to see him - a kind, gentle and thoughtful man. We both agreed it would be great if one day we can do something together again.

The gig was at a grand theatre called VEGA and it was full and enjoyable. Jonas Reingold from the Tangent was my guest and he seemed to like it which was cool. I have not seen him for a few years now but was recording my parts for the new Tangent album listening to his bass parts very recently. Gavin Harrison is on drums on the album and Jonas and Gavin make a formidable rhythm section.

After the gig more Sherlock on the tour bus and off in the snow to Berlin for a day off and a hotel. Nice. "
Theo Travis

'The Raven That Refused to Sing (and other stories)' is available from StevenWilsonHQ

steve wilson tour 2013 (pt5)

Despite Theo's mail going into to seizure once the band left Hamburg the tour unfolds into Scandinavia...

Hamburg
Still lots of snow when we reached Hamburg. As we had a day off, we stayed in a hotel - a smart one actually right next to the venue which is very handy. The venue in Hamburg was CCH Saal 2 and it was huge. A large concert hall that looked like it was usually for orchestras or choirs or maybe one of those great German radio bands like the NDR band.

Anyway, the gig was seated and as I say in a huge room. These things did not help the vibe, though the sound was good. I think we played well but there was not much of a buzzy atmosphere. Marco's parents came to the gig and they are lovely and were in good spirits. I met some musician friends of Adam's too who were cool. They all enjoyed the gig a lot. After the gig had a nice hang with Guthrie and Marco in the hotel bar and had a good chat with them accompanied by a modest amount of Oban single malt whiskey. Then sleep, before our long drive to Stockholm that was going to involve a short ferry ride, a very long tunnel and the huge Malmo bridge taking us to Sweden.

Stockholm
The venue in Stockholm was one of the most striking so far. A large church with a very wide stage and a dress circle and top balcony. At the back of the stage were pipes from the organ and in huge letters the word JESUS. The dressing room facilities were lavish with candelabras, comfortable sofas and very ornate fire places.

The sound was surprisingly good in the room and the audience was pleasingly responsive. During the song 'Harmonie Korine' I leave the stage as I do not play on it. Sometimes I watch the video projected on the backdrop as it is great - very strange, evocative and powerful with weird imagery. So I noticed while this was on, I was standing next to a ten foot high wooden cross which seemed to accentuate the symbolism and imagery. "Whoa..."
Talking of what I do during the gig, a few people have asked me what I am doing when I go up to the front of the stage and sit by the keyboard on the song 'the Raven..' Facebook? e mail? computer stuff? No - I play the extra top line piano part, as Adam is already playing the main piano part which takes two hands. On the last tour I played about three songs on keys, but this tour just the one. I enjoy it.

After the show and the traditional 'white Russian' drink at the end of the gig, we chilled for a bit then got on the bus as we were heading off to Oslo that night. Had a really interesting chat with our excellent tour manager Harv about his time touring with U2 during the Zooropa tour in the early nineties. Interesting to hear what it is like on the inside and at the centre of a tour by such a huge band. Then on the bus then to sleep.

I woke up in Oslo where we got off the bus at 10 am and checked into our hotel. The snow was deeper here and the temperature lower. As I got to my room, I felt really exhausted and crashed out, not waking till lunchtime.
No gig tonight, so off for a meal with some of the chaps. Looking forward to the Oslo gig tomorrow and catching up with an old friend too.
Theo Travis

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt4)

The Steven Wilson tour continues into Europe. Theo Travis picks up the story...

Cologne - Amsterdam - Antwerp
The Cologne gig went well. I remember the venue from Steven's last tour. A big hall and it was more full this time than last. Particularly memorable was the great catering backstage! Some kind of vegetarian parcel was amazing and the desert was a sort of creamy strawberry tiramisu goo with dark chocolate bits in. Nice. My guest was Luc from the Gong family who enjoyed it and hung out afterwards. Thomas from Inside Out records was also there and after the gig was hanging with the band talking Prog...Inside Out is the label the Tangent is signed to, and I have amazingly played on 7 Tangent albums on the label since 2005 as well as a couple of other independent releases. They are a very effective niche label and Thomas knows his stuff. The gig itself went well and had a large audience. For the first time on this tour, I played the gig without any notes to remind me of things I might forget. There is a lot to remember on a two hour set when you are playing complex music (and six different instruments). So that felt like an achievement. Marco threw in a couple of particularly memorable moments when he started throwing in a disco back beat in the middle of some wild keyboard solo in Luminol. Very cool.

Woke up in a freezing cold and snow covered Amsterdam outside the Melkveg venue. The band 'Living colour' were also playing in another room in the same venue on the same night. I last played at the Melkveg in November 2006 at the amazing Gong 'Unconvention' which featured about 10 Gong related bands. About 40 musicians and others had piled onto a big bus in London and driven to the ferry and then to Amsterdam. The weekend of gigs culminated with the first concert by the Steve Hillage Band in about 25 years and the first set of him back with Gong in about 29 years. I remember looking out from the stage and seeing people crying with happiness! A DVD was made of the gigs which was fine but it did not capture the magic that was in the air in that room that night. It was quite special.

Before the gig I met up with my friend Steve Hubback who is a percussionist and ace Gong maker. I had not seen him in some time so we caught up over a pizza near the venue. Steve showed me this great conch shaped Gong he had made which sounded amazing. Actually Marco bought it off Steve after the gig when they met.

The Amsterdam gig itself was a big one. About 1500 people and the most smiley audience of the tour so far. I don' t know if it was the dope in Amsterdam or if people we just happy, but definitely more smiling all around the audience than previously. It was the second gig of the tour where the audience was standing and that may have contributed to the excited atmosphere. I thought the band played great and after packing up and relaxing a bit after the gig, off into the night towards Antwerp.

Antwerp
So this was an interesting gig. A great theatre in the same building complex where I had played at a small festival of experimental music a couple of years ago called the International Festival of Looping. The theatre was all seated, and smaller than last night's gig in Amsterdam. Just before we went on, Steven said that he had read on Facebook that several people said they could not come to the gig because of the bad weather. He was worried the room might be half empty which would be bad as all gigs so far have been full. As it turned out it was fine, and the room looked pretty full to me. This was a relief and the fact that the venue was smaller than previous gigs and was seated made it feel quite relaxed. He said jokingly before we went on 'explore the space, explore the space, man' meaning reach out a bit further musically and 'fill' all the corners of the room. I think it is actually a quote from a film, but not sure which one. So with such encouragement, we tried some different things, and did do a bit of musical exploration. Some really different things were played and improvisations went in new directions. It felt really good, refreshing and fun. Marco also set up his new mini gong in his kit which he bought yesterday from my friend Steve Hubback. He used it in a few choice places (making sure he did not overdo it) and we all agreed it sounded fab! Thanks Steve. Also before we went on, Adam was playing Tale Spinnin' by Weather Report in the dressing room, which is wonderful and quite inspiring too.

At the end of the gig we did a different encore, segueing two of Steven's songs into one in a really cool way. I won't say which ones, but I think it worked.

Theo Travis

The album available from StevenWilsonHQ

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt3)

Continuing the Steve Wilson 2013 Tour blog written by saxophonist Theo Travis as the band perform their brilliant new album 'The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories)'.
Album available from > SteveWilsonHQ

Paris - Cologne
The venue in Paris, called Le Trianon, was familiar as we played there last year. It is a rather grand music hall type theatre, situated in Montmartre by the Sacre-Coeur. The onstage sound was good and in the soundcheck we had a pretty good jam as well as checking the things that needed checking. The gig itself felt good with no technical glitches and a relaxed vibe. Everyone played well and Steven seemed to have a good time. The audience was the first standing audience of the tour and I think that probably contributed to the excited and upbeat atmosphere. The crowd was really enthusiastic and we all appreciated that.

Afterwards, had a good chat with some of Steven's Scottish fans who are very nice and who I have met several times. They had come over specially for the gig and made a weekend of it. Then back onto the tour bus and we rolled out of Paris and off to Cologne in Germany. Adrian, our splendid merchandise man and fellow Brummie had brought the DVDs of the recent Sherlock Holmes BBC series with Benedict Cumberbatch so we watched one of those (though I could barely keep awake!) which was very good. Then to bed and I woke up in Cologne where the bus had pulled up by our hotel which was situated next to the staggeringly impressive cathedral. We checked in and the rest of the day was off duty, so I took it pretty easy as was feeling a little rough. Grabbed a coffee, managed to catch up on some e mails and had a bit of a rest to the soundtrack of 'Man' by Francis Dunnery, 'Nine Lives' by Steve Winwood and 'On Land' by Brian Eno. All great albums. I did have a wander round the centre of Cologne later and went to look inside the cathedral too. What an amazing building. There was a plan for everyone to go for a Japanese meal that evening, but the restaurant that some of the guys knew of was full. So I ended up going for a Thai meal with Adam which was most tasty.

Gig tonight. Amsterdam tomorrow.

Theo Travis

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt2)

London - Paris
Monday March 4 was the Royal Festival Hall gig in London. It is a great venue for classical, jazz and rock music and I have been many times to see some great gigs eg. Van Der Graf Generator reunion gig, Dave Gilmour, Chick Corea Electric Band, the Brecker Brothers, Stan Getz etc. I live quite near the centre of London so I took the tube to the gig which only took about 30 mins. I get off at Embankment station and walk over Hungerford Bridge from which you get a fantastic view of London, the river Thames and the South Bank where the venue is.

We played in the main hall of the RFH and I think it was completely full. Sold out. Amazing. Sound check was fine and we checked a few things in the set as well as the monitors ensuring we could hear properly. The gig itself felt really good to me. Good sound, good response from the audience, Steve seemed relaxed and was very funny on the microphone with his between song chat (not easy to do!). I think we played pretty OK.

At a 'hometown show' there are usually various friends and family who come along. So there was John Etheridge, Tim Bowness, Jakko Jaksyzck, Steve Hackett, Steve Rothery, Nik Kershaw, Robyn Koh, Steve's lovely mum and various others. Great to see them all at the after show party.

Afterwards, I put some of my things on the tour bus which was driving to Paris and then walked back over the bridge and headed home on the tube.

The next couple of days involved running around like a crazy person, teaching students and sorting stuff and life and everything before the European leg of the tour. Thursday was particularly crazy (and exhausting) but finishing with a wonderful gig in Highgate, London.

Meanwhile Steven's new album 'The Raven That Refused To Sing (and other stories)' is receiving superb reviews. The Guardian gave it five stars out of five, and magazines and papers around the world have been saying it is the ..err....best thing ever. Steve mentioned that one magazine stated 'if there is only one album you ever own it should be this one..!' Others have been giving it 10/10 and 5/5. In the national album charts it has gone in at number 28 and in the rock album charts - number 1, above Muse, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Wow. First time I think I have been on an album that has been in the national top 40!

So now I am on the Eurostar to Paris for the next gig which is tonight.

Theo Travis

Now see the superb new video to accompany the title track

steven wilson tour 2013 (pt1)

Steve Wilson begins his 2013 tour this week with the new album 'Raven That Refused To Sing' just released.
We'll get a great insight into the band on tour with Theo Travis writing a blog as the tour progresses. The dates run from now until May with some 35 gigs in Europe and States so we'll bring you each report as Theo updates. They'll be in Manchester and Glasgow this weekend.

On The Road. March 1st

"So today is the day it all kicks off. Yesterday was our final day of rehearsal and it was great. All the songs we are playing from the new album are sounding fantastic and the band is smoking...I mean really smoking. I have played with a lot of excellent bands but this is something else. Just to name check everyone there is Guthrie
Govan on guitar (new boy!), Adam Holzman on keys, Nick Beggs on bass and Chapman stick, the amazing Marco Minneman on drums, SW centre stage and yours truly blowing things.
We left London late last night travelling through the night on our night liner tour bus and arrived in Manchester early this morning ready for an early get in and sound check and production rehearsal. We are playing in the Academy 1, which is next to the University Union - the University where I attended late last century (!) to study music (all classical and specialising in Shostakovich actually) . Funny coming back here again. The last couple of gigs I did in Manchester were with the mighty Soft Machine Legacy at the wonderful Band on the Wall (by the way new album coming out 'Burden of proof' March 25) and Gong at Academy 2 which is next door. Both good but very different gigs. Nice to be back here and a few friends coming along tonight. There is excitement in the air as this is a new set, new line up, new show and much anticipation.
The response and reviews of SW's new album have been really excellent so far, including the five star review in the Guardian newspaper. Let's hope people dig the gigs too. Sitting backstage now waiting for soundcheck. Not long now...."

So last night was the first gig. Manchester Academy 1. A good venue and sold out. The band was a bit nervous as there is a lot of new material which we have not played live before. We went on a 8 pm and in the first number there was a small technical glitch with some sounds which was off-putting but not disastrous. The set seemed to settle in as it went on and the new songs got a very good response. I thought the band was on fire and Guthrie did an amazing job on his first gig with the band. Nick Beggs excelled himself with his sartorial elegance unveiling a brand new outfit - a mix of Dickensian grandness and Count von Dracula! Marco played with his usual fire but perfect precision. Speaking to people afterwards who had also seen the Grace for Drowning tour, the opinion was that this set was even stronger and more focused, which is great. And I think as the tour goes on, it will get better and better.

Glasgow. March 2.

Last night we played Glasgow ABC and we all loved it. The nerves and glitches of the first night were gone. The audience were well up for it and noisily enthusiastic (which we like!) In fact Marco had not been feeling well during the day, but he said that when he sat down to play the first number he felt great again. The power of music! The sound was good onstage and I think we all felt more relaxed. Everyone played great and Adam and Guthrie did some particularly good solos. It was good to see some friendly faces in the crowd who I remember from the Grace for Drowning tour too. We changed the encore last night to try something different and played a very old Porcupine Tree song called 'Radioactive Toy' which worked really well. The audience loved it.

Afterwards we hung out for a while meeting friends and fans and just chatting backstage. Some interesting issues came up and it was good to talk through them. Someone mentioned to Marco the Glaswegian speciality of 'deep fried Mars Bar' which is basically a Mars Bar deep fried in batter. Err...sounds a bit strange to me! Ever the adventurer, Marco went out into the night in search of one of these delicacies and indeed found one. I think he found it 'interesting'....

Another night on the bus and back to London for our Royal Festival Hall gig on Monday. Now that is something I am really looking forward to. I last played there in 2007 with David Sylvian on his world tour which I enjoyed hugely and I am sure this is going to be just as special. The Festival Hall is a great venue and being right in the middle of London on e South Bank of the Thames feels like you are playing at the centre of everything.
Theo Travis

travis and fripp

Theo Travis and Robert Fripp have just released their third album Follow.
It's been mixed and mastered by Steve Wilson who Theo was touring with in the winter and spring this year with the Grace For Drowning band.
Follow has been made in 5.1 Surround Sound and threatens to be a bit of a mind blowing experience. The Frippertonic sound pioneered by Fripp has never been produced in 5.1 before although Roberts guitars are usually recorded in quadrophonic, 'Follow' will take the sound up another notch. On the track '1979', Theo recorded his parts on top of some archive Frippertronic recordings made in New York City in 1979. The CD also comes with the only live footage of them on a tour of the South of England, 2010.
The video was also produced by Steve Wilson. You can pick the album up at Theo's website or as downloads from BurningShed.com