Our city was visited on May 8th by The Pineapple Thief performing for us selections of their two most recent albums, their 2020 “Versions of the Truth”, as well as their hot off the press “Give it Back” and a couple of their previous hits. But before I go into more detail and as I attempt to recall the highlights of the night and pass it through the lens of my experience and life, I am conflicted as to how to frame this text.
How can I talk about The Pineapple Thief concert without filtering it through COVID, masks, normalcy and all other adjectives common to us all during these past 2 years? How can I admire and retell the concert for the concert itself as much as possible? Maybe a few lines sprinkled here are there relating to it, will do and I will get it out of my system given that this was the first concert I have attended since the pandemic began. ( there it goes, that dreaded word.)
Back to our main concern, the 23-year-old ever-evolving musical project started by Bruce Soord back in 1999 and their concert at L’Astral, which was, in my opinion, a great live experience only made even better by a clean enveloping sound and a well-synced immersive light display.
While presenting the songs from their new album, we were told about how it came to be, on how, with drummer Gavin Harrison, they decided to go through the band’s older non-standard compositions (when Gavin was still not part of the band) and rework them to incorporate the present band’s full musicianship and vision, something they called rewiring. In doing so, previous songs with which some of us got to know this band sound, at many times, as brand new.
Another thread I wanted to avoid sewing too much in this review was Gavin himself but it seems that the band not only embraces him as part of their family but also are proud of his skills, fame and the influence he has had in progressive rock in the last 20 years with Porcupine Tree and the latest (and last?) incarnation of King Crimson.
During the concert, the band mainly focused on songs from the “Your Wilderness” and “Versions of the Truth” albums. It was refreshing not having to wait for the encore to hear some of their most popular songs since they played “In Exile” and “No Man’s Land” within the first 30 minutes.
With the hits out of our system, we got to enjoy 15 more songs that showcased why this band is at the forefront of modern prog and why each of its members is there. From intense ballads that transported us to the emotions behind them, all the way to highly instrumental songs that reminded us of the power that had been brewing in the last two years.
It’s good to see live music again, to know that not all has been lost, that normalcy will return, that time flies and that we can still revisit our older selves and rewire them for a new future.
Now that their latest album is out, we will get a chance to digest it fully before they return in a couple of years.
Review & photos – Ricardo D Flores
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