Hellfest 2023 – Saturday – Porcupine Tree. Some bands are made for festivals, with an easy set of feel-good anthems and sing-alongs to keep the crowd moving for an hour or so. It takes a very brave band to work in multi-part progressive soundscapes at eight minutes a piece.
Porcupine Tree is just such a brave band. With their spiralling melodies and hypnotic riffs, Steven Wilson and company take to the main stage of Hellfest to play something genuinely different.
Mixing new songs like Harridan along with seldom played gems like Open Car (for the first time since 2010), Porcupine Tree approach this festival slot as they do all things – in their own inimitable fashion.
“This one is about the state of rock music in the 21st century,” deadpans Steven Wilson as the band goes into The Sound Of Muzak
They end with Chimera’s Wreck into Trains and surely leave with some new fans in tow.
While not a typical festival set, it was a thoroughly enjoyable Porcupine Tree show, and one thinks that’s the way the band prefer it.
Take Part: Are you at Hellfest this year? Who are you looking forward to see? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Hellfest@MetalTalk.net
Hellfest 2023
MetalTalk Hellfest 2023 coverage can be found at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/hellfest-2023
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