Steven Wilson Tickets

From supernatural prog narratives to ambient electronics and metal explosions, Steven Wilson defies genre in his unwavering commitment to change – to the delight (and occasionally dread) of devoted fans who have propelled his works to the charts.

In the strange and sublime universe of self-taught singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Steven Wilson, the flurry of different bands and monikers — Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Storm Corrosion, No-Man, Bass Communion — and the elastic boundaries of electronica he explores under his own name are not enough to contain his ever-shifting vocabulary and visionary ambition.

Wilson’s restless explorations include the 30-minute, LSD-inspired “anti-single”, as he called it, “Voyage 34” with Porcupine Tree before the band’s acclaimed, highly influential In Absentia (2002) set a new course for 21st-century prog with its bold, alternative-powered mix of metal and melancholia. If it hadn’t already been obvious to fans less familiar with his underground experiments and evolution through the 80s and 90s – it all began with handcrafted tape machines in his teen bedroom – this time they were finally taking notice. There had been Krautrock, ambient, synth-pop and psychedelia. With No-Man he had ventured into violin-laden art rock in the ‘90s; Blackfield combined the subgenre with poppier structures at the dawn of the new millennium. And while the prolific sonic adventurer had always found time for solo pursuits, the need for a proper Steven Wilson album was growing louder.

Enter 2008’s Insurgentes. Having by then turned 40, it was time to give his creative instincts free rein, untethered by past expectations. Starting with the first track and official single ‘Harmony Korine’: rather than forging clear ties with the eponymous boundary-pushing American director – as if Wilson was ever that obvious – the ominous guitars and hauntingly ethereal chorus usher in the musician’s post-punk, new wave and 4AD-fuelled dream pop and gothic obsessions, rummaging through an imaginary treasure chest of beloved vinyl to offer glimpses through Wilson’s unique 2000s lens.

The album opened the musical floodgates, as the prog-rock alchemist continued to refine and liberate his vision. Strumming in the footsteps of ‘60s-‘70s music heroes and their full-bodied creative statements, Grace for Drowning (2011) made room for a jazz fusion epic that clocks in at over 23 minutes and got a Grammy nod for Best Surround Sound Album. Prog tour de force The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) amped up the narrative with poignant ghost stories woven into majestic, multilayered rock suites. Inspired by the tragic real-life case of Joyce Carol Vincent, a young woman who died in her London bedsit but went unnoticed for over two years, 2016’s Hand. Cannot. Erase. loosens its grip on jazz to explore poppier confections. He paid homage to art-pop inspirations Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush (To The Bone) and laid out danceable, pop and funk-inflected surveys of personal identity and technology in the gloomy-looking era of social media and excessive shopping — while cracking the UK Top 5 for the second time in a row (The Future Bites).

Instead of beating him into fan-imposed compliance, chart success seems to give Wilson creative license to get more out there, with 2023’s The Harmony Codex, described by its creator as “cinema for the ears”, packing evocative melodies, free jazz-inflected epics and intergalactic electronica. If anything, it sounds galaxies away from chart-friendly fare but as curious or complex as his musical vehicles sound, this prog-rock voyager has an impeccable ear for the times.