Perfectionism is big ask, especially after six years away. “You get to hear all the fuck ups that no one else on the tour gets to hear,” says Steven Wilson, three songs into his first full solo show since March 2019. “All the wrong notes, all the malfunctioning technology, all the wrong lyrics.” He grimaces. “There’s been plenty of that already tonight. I hope you didn’t notice.”
He’s shouldn’t worry. A Steven Wilson crowd is a forgiving one, especially when they’ve waited this long for his return. This is the opening night of the tour in support of this year’s The Overview album. A combination of Covid, a Porcupine Tree reunion and a creative rush that produced two albums in little over year meant that neither 2021’s The Future Bites or 2023’s The Harmony Codex got the live treatment, which explains the sense of expectancy in the air.
