Blackfield | Bowery Ballroom | 3.16.2007

posted by Pete on March 29th, 2007 in Blackfield, Tour

Steven Wilson of Blackfield On a night when sleet and hail made crossing Manhattan streets a ten-minute excursion, and hidden puddles lurked at every street corner, the Bowery Ballroom was more inviting than ever. However, it was the epic set by BLACKFIELD and the emotional atmosphere it created that made me completely forget about the weather outside.

With a stomach full of baked ziti, a beer in my hand and soggy sneakers on my feet,

I struggled to sustain consciousness as the opener Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater gently caressed the keyboard in front of him. It truly was very beautiful music but I was just not into it at the moment. As I looked around I noticed that the sea of progressive rock fans and piano aficionados certainly embraced it.

After a short break, Blackfield’s drummer sat down, alone on the stage, and began the bass drum-heavy intro to one of my favorites of the night, “Once”. This was my first time seeing Blackfield perform live and they certainly did not disappoint. Frontmen Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen create an amazingly harmonious duality out of their distinctive vocals and guitar styles. The dichotomy of their other individual projects alone, with Steven Wilson fronting prog-rockers Porcupine Tree, and Aviv Geffen a huge pop star in Israel, is enough to warrant checking out this band.

Halfway through the set I remember thinking to myself, “how the hell does this band sound so good live?” This is what professional musicians are supposed to sound like. Not one song failed to hold my attention. The highlights of the night for me were when the band played “Christenings”, a hauntingly beautiful song that has since stuck in my head, and a surprising cover of Alanis Morissette’s “Thank You”, which clearly resonated Wilson’s vocal abilities and immediately grabbed all the girls’ attention in the room. Steven Wilson and Aviv certainly have something here and if they’re not careful it may just surpass their other projects someday.

So who are Blackfield?

This certainly was not a question being asked by the sell-out crowd at Manhattan’s Bowery Ballroom Friday night, but rather Bowery’s promoter. It was the first time that his room had been sold-out by a band whose name he had never heard of before.

Well, now you know. Prepare to hear the name a lot more often.