meta: Steven Wilson, no cameras allowed
I was in Hamburg briefly, just for the Steven Wilson show.
I’m writing this now from my apartment in Prague, sipping wine I just picked up at a local grocery store. I can’t read the label, and I’m okay with that. I love adventure.
It reminds me of Beaujolais — a style of young wine from France.
Beaujolais was ruined for me: I read a glowing review before opening the bottle. I expected X, but got Y. Ever since, it’s carried notes of overhype on the nose and disappointment on the finish. It’s a beloved wine, to be fair. Maybe I’d have appreciated it more without the expectations.
Anyway — how was the concert?
You just had to be there.
…but I’ll try to explain.
First thing: no photos.
Upon entering the Sporthalle in Hamburg, a massive message was projected behind the stage asking the crowd to put their phones away. Of course, I was a bit disappointed. My youngest, Makelle, is a HUGE fan, and a few photos of the show would have delighted her.
The first show I attended with a strict no-phone policy was Puscifer’s Conditions of My Parole tour. At first, it felt pretentious. Part of me was offended — how dare you deprive me of the right to document my life, especially after I paid good money to be here?
But then… the show began.
Maynard James Keenan had crafted a deeply intentional performance. And like that Beaujolais, he didn’t want your shitty pictures and shaky video to taint the experience for the guy in Kansas City seeing the show next week.
It’s a growing trend.
Chris Rock tried it in 2018. Since then: Dave Chapelle, Joe Rogan… and more musicians are catching on. As mentioned – TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan is infamous for his zero-tolerance phone policy — TOOL, Puscifer, A Perfect Circle. If security even sees your screen, you’re out.
No questions.
Now, Ghost has joined in on their “Skeletour” run. Frontman Tobias Forge said the phone-free atmosphere during their LA filming of Rite Here, Rite Now (their recent concert film) created the most electric crowd energy they’d ever felt. Because people were, aptly, right here, right now — not filtering it through a 4” screen.
I once pissed away a RUSH concert through a camera lens. I’d smuggled in a small digital camera and spent half the show trying to get sharp shots of Geddy, Alex, and Neil. I watched an embarrassing amount of the performance through an LCD screen. Now Neil’s gone, and I’ll never get to see them again. I wasted the reality of the moment trying to cling to it through a device.
I stopped trying to live Rush concerts through a screen.
The best part? I actually did get to photograph RUSH one year – for real. Photo pass and everything. I have pictures of Neil looking me right in the eyes. I was 24 inches away from Geddy & Alex. Peak experience. I digress….
That night, on the way home, I realized: there’s a time for cameras — and there is a time to just be an awake, aware, deeply feeling human in a moment that I’ll never get back.
As Steven and the band took the stage, the arena was full of people not just watching, but taking it in. No phones in the air. No obstruction. Just eyes locked on the stage, and a current in the air you could feel but not photograph. The energy was different.
Present.
Electric.
Gracious.
A room full of people who know that this moment will pass by quickly and never happen again, so they had better be fully present to this moment, right here, right now.
They opened with The Overview, the ambitious new album — performed straight through with no breaks. The crowd sat silently, eyes glued to the stage and the surreal visuals behind the band. It felt more like a symphony than a rock show.
Photographs wouldn’t just fail to capture the moment — they’d misrepresent it. Cameras don’t capture what’s in the air.
The album itself is inspired by a phenomenon astronauts describe: looking at Earth from space with no borders, no divisions, just one luminous living thing. It’s often described as a spiritual epiphany referred to as “The Overview Effect”.
The album has only two tracks, each about 20 minutes long, with multiple movements — and they performed the entire piece in one sitting, no applause breaks.
Afterwards, Steven addressed the crowd:
“That was an intense 45 minutes, not just for you, but for us, performing it. So we’re going to take a 20-minute break to refresh and come back with more music for you.”
And return they did — with a second set full of deep cuts from his solo work and Porcupine Tree’s catalog. Some of the tracks were so obscure, I didn’t know their names.
As he introduced the virtuosos accompanying him on stage, he joked,
“My goal is to be the worst musician on the stage.”
Sage wisdom recontextualized for the stage: If you are the smartest person in a room, you are in the wrong room.
During long instrumental sections, Steven walked the stage barefoot, waving, pointing at his bandmates mid-performance — part orchestra conductor, part mystic, part rock star.
They played two of my personal holy grails:
“Voyage 34: Phase One” The first movement of a larger body of work about the psychedelic experience. This song includes some spoken word narration, a Pink-Floyd-esque hypnotic phase, and then dives into a darkly gorgeous section with the band churning like a massive steam locomotive at full tilt, and Steven’s solo line soaring over the top of it all.
And the encore: “The Raven That Refused To Sing” showcasing one of Steven Wilson’s prime gifts: the ability to make the melancholy shimmeringly beautiful. It’s part ghost story, part poem about aging, fear, loss, and the hope for reunification in the hereafter.
That whole arena of German speakers sang along.
I may have leaked some testosterone from my eyes.
Seeing Steven in a country I’ve never been to — the only familiar face in the room — was surreal.
(Yes, I’ve spent time with him. Yes, I’m bragging a little. Years ago, I had him on my podcast.
My daughter Makelle joined us. Peak moment of my life. Check it out here:
https://soulanarchist.com/steven-wilson-in-slc-hopes…/
That night, I did get to take photos. But this week?
No images of the show. Just memory, and one pic of Steven waving good bye seconds before leaving the stage, honoring the spirit of his wishes.
I got back to my hotel close to midnight – starving.
It’s an odd thing to see American brands everywhere in Europe. Like, a Starbucks shop right next to the Cathedral at the Prague Castle complex? Fucking serious? Is nothing holy?
Next door to my hotel: Burger King. Just like home.
I was hungry enough to walk up to the drive through and see if anyone in there would make me a Whopper.
No such luck.
Tonight, I dined on beer & popcorn from the hotel lobby.
This was my third “no phone / no photo” moment on this European trip. As someone who pays the bills with images — it’s got my wheels turning:
We need less pictures.
More stories.
More “you had to be there” moments.
More legends.
As we plunge headfirst into this AI enabled world where we can no longer trust what is real and what was machine made – authentic human experiences will become even more of a premium.
ACTUAL art galleries with paintings made by real humans who had to deal with the fact that they only get 29,000 days to live.
Real humans playing real instruments, singing songs they really wrote about a time their heart broke really bad.
“Is this real?” will be the question of the decade.
There’s something about being forced to experience something ONLY with your eyes, ears, and nerve endings – no devices – that forces one into the fact that this is VERY real.
This thing, right here, right now.
And, If I want to share it with anyone, I had better soak it all up so that I can describe it in the office next week.
“You just had to be there”
will become the statement of the decade.
Can’t bring a camera or a phone in?
Now you’ve got my interest.
P.S. There’s no way I’m going to talk about a Steven Wilson concert without also coming to you like a brand new missionary out in the field:
Excuse me, but do you have a moment to hear a message about our Lord and Savior, Steven Wilson?
Here are some into playlists I’ve assembled on YouTube & Spotify:
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