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Steven Wilson – “Home Invasion”

by 20 Comments

Year: 2018
Director: James Russell, Andy Derbyshire

To the Everyman in Kings Cross for the premiere of Steven Wilson’s film “Home Invasion”, filmed at the Albert Hall earlier this year. I went to the gig but on a different night, but I can report that the film absolutely captures what’s great about SW. Often pigeonholed as “prog”, which is not unfair, this shows off his other pretty dominant influences of acoustic harmony, pop and more experimental electronica through to Bollywood. Dipping right back into the Porcupine Tree catalogue as well as the hit albums of “The raven who refused to sing”, “Hand. Cannot. Erase” and “To the bone” the film is an excellent record of Steven summarising his career with his superb band. They are all terrific players but particular mention should be made of Ninet Tayeb, whose second vocals bring the house down every time she opens her mouth, and the awesome Nick Beggs on bass who represents several metric tonnes of concrete in the foundations of the sound, one minute slapping and popping like an 80s bass player (who was that band…?), sitting in the pocket for pure pop mobility or getting all King Crimson on us on the Chapman Stick.

Equally interesting for me was the pre-film VIP area to which my reviewer status gained me entry – at one end, ripped of jean and leather of jacket, long haired rock dudes chatted. At the other, glad to be there liggers like me enjoyed the gratis rioja and felt an uncool thrill at realising Steven Wilson was standing next to them. Passing SW and Nick Beggs in the corridor before the screening, the interesting thing is that Beggs has rock star charisma you can see from space where SW looks like one of the audience. Nice to know there’s still space for an introverted, quite serious music fan with a sense of tradition to have a no.1 album in 2018.

Before the film there was a Q&A with SW being interviewed which was typical of other SW interviews you can find on YouTube – serious, self deprecating, at time hilarious – he admitted a few things had been “fixed” – especially Beggs’ bass parts which had suffered from onstage posing about – cue torrents of heckling from the back row…the second question from the audience was “there are lots of Stevens in rock – so who would be your dream Steven band”? “Whose fucking idea was this” muttered our hero.

The DVD is from one concert end to end so it’s like being there, plus extras filmed at sound check in a spookily empty Albert Hall, so if you missed the gig and are kicking yourself, get in. Apologies for non-NME style shoeing – I’m a fan and loved it.

Might appeal to people who enjoyed:

Of course the film is fantastic. SW is a nerdy perfectionist by his own admission, ready to bring in experts on other instruments or his own, illustrators, directors, animators – but attention to detail runs through the set. If you like Steve Wilson already you’ll love it – if you like a stunning rock show, find a mate with a copy and watch it on a widescreen TV and prepare to be blown away.

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Comments

    • I was at the same concert, really enjoyed it. Funny thing, I haven’t played any Steven Wilson since nor any of his band projects. Neither do I think I’ll be playing them again. My collection of SW/Porcupine Tree/Blackfield are up or going up for sale on Discogs. The Porcupine Tree 8xLP box has already sold.

      I won’t be getting the DVD.

      Still like what he does for others in the studio.

        • That`s a tough question. I have all the Blackfield albums and most Porcupine Tree. I think I have all SW`s albums all on LP. The thing is even when i`m in a Prog listening mood I never play those albums. Some of them have never been played. I suppose that tells you something about my buying habits. In the past I have been an impulsive buyer and will often try to complete an artists discography. I`ve tried to curtail this in recent months, it hasn`t stopped me spending in the last 6 months of 2018 quite a lot on several SE box sets and regular releases. The amount spent many times more than for any 6 month period of my music buying career.

          The thing that got me thinking was where am I going to put the new stuff? I am out of storage space. I then looked at my collection, well the list I keep for insurance purposes, it`s easier that way. I then asked myself which albums have I never played/am I going to play them in future. I must admit picking the stuff I am getting rid of from the list is easy. The hard part has been when I`m packaging the items I`ve sold on fleabay & Discogs. Holding the LPs/Box Sets in my hands and looking at them, I`ve almost changed my mind!

          I`ve managed to sell a lot on those sites. I thought this is where I look a fool because I`ll be selling at a huge loss. For CDs this has tended to be true, not for all, some I sold for a good profit. The LPs, wow! I`ve made quite a lot on those, enough to cover the costs of ALL the stuff I`ve bought/pre-ordered July-December `18. Before people start thinking of me as money grabbing/making money out of fellow music lovers, the prices I ask are always well below what other sellers are asking for similar items.

          For how long this can work I don`t know, when I look at my collection which is moderately big, I think I`ll never get rid of that one or that one. This is true of most of the stuff I own but using the never play/will I play it again rule you never know.

          That`s why @Neil-Jung, that reminds me there are some Neil Young albums of the last 25 years that I never play but those are staying!

  3. I wish I’d gone with you Twang (instead of beering it up in an adjacent part of the capital!). SW is one of the most interesting people working in ‘popular’ music – totally off the mainstream radar yet at the same time able to sell out consecutive nights at the RAH. I know he is generally tagged with the progressive label but if you listen to some of his side projects like Blackfield and No-Man that doesn’t fully represent the range of his music. I don’t like everything he has done but that is true of many of the people I really like.
    If you haven’t heard him I would recommend the following SW releases as being a really good x-section covering a brand range of styles:
    Hand.Cannot.Erase – SW
    Schoolyard Ghosts – No-Man
    Porcupine Tree – In Absentia
    Blackfield V – Blackfield

    I now need to find someone with the DVD!

  4. He’s one of my favourite artists, Hand Cannot Erase is my favourite album, I went to the RAH concert, but I’m not sure I will buy the concert film. I find I just don’t watch my concert DVDs very much.

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