Porcupne Tree continuing to tour with NO bass player

[leroydiamond]

The band released the following.

'You may have heard that in Bonn yesterday Porcupine Tree unexpectedly performed as a 4-piece, as sadly our bass player
@Nathan_Navarro
had a serious family crisis and needed to fly home to the States to be with his loved ones....
Rest assured that all our Summer shows will go ahead as planned! Through the magic of technology Nate’s bass will continue to be heard at the shows even if you can’t see him. We hope this won’t spoil your enjoyment of the PT live experience.

[White Cloud]

Lame...

[Chris2112]

'The magic of techology' in this case being a pre-recorded bass track. Jeez...

[Bolo]

1 hour ago, Chris2112 said:

'The magic of techology' in this case being a pre-recorded bass track. Jeez...

Nah they're probably using chatgpt

[Len_derby]

Interesting. If they are using pre-recorded bass tracks it suggests to me that Navarro’s absence was known in advance. In which case there was probably time enough to draft-in a deputy. Personally, I’d much rather see a real person play, even if they were below-par. The world-view of Porcupine Tree fans may be different.

[Mudpup]

1 hour ago, Len_derby said:

Interesting. If they are using pre-recorded bass tracks it suggests to me that Navarro’s absence was known in advance. In which case there was probably time enough to draft-in a deputy. Personally, I’d much rather see a real person play, even if they were below-par. The world-view of Porcupine Tree fans may be different.

Just playing to a click and probably recorded some previous shows. 

[Burns-bass]

Most bands at Glasto are on backing tracks. Royal Blood being a good case in point. Makes sense.

[pst62]

They should have just given Colin Edwin a call. I can't imagine seeing them without him. On the subject of Glastonbury PT, are a band who to me just seem a little outside of the loop to play there, yet I do think they would go down a storm, especially with a set comprising of songs Stupid Dream through to Fear of a Blank Planet, and also convert a good few people who may have previously avoided them on account of their name.

 

[warwickhunt]

Am I missing something (I know I am btw) but a click track is barely acceptable IMHO for a live show but to then play to a click AND have the bass on some form of recording... just be done with it and do karaoke... or stick Spotify on and play the album through the PA!  Before you ask 'YES' I'm old.  LOL 

[Doctor J]

Weak sauce.

[leroydiamond]

So the moral of the story is you can do the gig without a top musician but not a laptop. 

I have seen the band with both Edwin and Navarro. Edwin is the man by a distance for me, when it comes to PT.

[toneknob]

Agree no Colin = no PT

but they have recorded a live album from the recent tour and I bet that was all on a click.

 

Godspeed to Nate though, what a player.

 

[acidbass]

6 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

Am I missing something (I know I am btw) but a click track is barely acceptable IMHO for a live show

Click tracks are very common on the touring circuit and very necessary as very often lighting, visuals and even guitar patch changes are synced to automatically change at an exact point in a song/live show.

 

Backing tracks however are a bit of a bone of contention. I wonder why artists don't hire an extra session cat or two to cover parts, particularly at something like Glasto.

[TheLowDown]

I think if artists wish to use backing tracks for instruments and/or vocals then they should be free to do so, but they must state clearly on the ticket or otherwise what their setup is so that the paying audience knows what they're getting.

Edited June 24, 2023 by TheLowDown

[Waddo Soqable]

I've been in a number of bands where backing stuff, either tape, or in later era incarnations laptop, was a fundamental part of the whole thing, ok we're not talking karaoke singlong backing tracks, but lots of layered sounds synths and whatnot, the whole thing wouldn't have been viable without it tbh. 

[leroydiamond]

I guess I come from an era when backing tracks were never an option. Live meant live, end of but times have changed obviously. I wonder would PT have opted for the same option if Gavin Harrison was unable to perform.

[Leonard Smalls]

I'm playing tonight in my other band who haven't played for 8 years. A few weeks ago we discovered that our singer wouldn't be able to make it, nor would rhythm guitarist.

So we hastily assembled a rhythm backing, sent it to the singer who recorded his bits. 

So we've been rehearsing all day with click and backing/vox recording, which is going to be messed about with lots by a DJ as we play.

And we've got a blow up Johnny Rotten as front man 😎 

We're on at 2200!

[leroydiamond]

As a general query, in the case of having to replace a bassist in a decent touring band. How quickly can it be done? I am retired from the 'weekend warrior' circuit and know very little theory. Could a competent player walk in and sight read there and then?

[Newfoundfreedom]

2 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

As a general query, in the case of having to replace a bassist in a decent touring band. How quickly can it be done? I am retired from the 'weekend warrior' circuit and know very little theory. Could a competent player walk in and sight read there and then?

 

Absolutely! Professional deps do it all the time. Although it's well beyond my ability and somewhat resembles voodoo. 

[mike257]

On 24/06/2023 at 17:19, leroydiamond said:

I guess I come from an era when backing tracks were never an option. Live meant live, end of but times have changed obviously. I wonder would PT have opted for the same option if Gavin Harrison was unable to perform.

 

What era do you come from? They've been an option since the 80s at least. 

[jonno1981]

All depends on who has to miss the gig. Mr Harrison is one of the main draws for the band, a non-original, touring band member missing some shows isn’t the same. 

[fretmeister]

5 hours ago, leroydiamond said:

As a general query, in the case of having to replace a bassist in a decent touring band. How quickly can it be done? I am retired from the 'weekend warrior' circuit and know very little theory. Could a competent player walk in and sight read there and then?

yes…

 but only if someone has actually transcribed it all! How many bands do that?

[toneknob]

When Tony Levin was taken ill on the ABWH/Yes tour, Jeff Berlin stepped in with less than a weeks notice and took his place, playing a two and half set of Yes and related music. From interview at http://www.nfte.org/interviews/berlin_interview.html "I wrote them [the charts] out on Sunday and Monday night. Wednesday we were rehearsing and Thursday I was on the gig. Now if I didn't have the background and experience I probably would never have been able to do a Yes show in two days"

Any advance on two days?

[diskwave]

On 24/06/2023 at 08:24, Burns-bass said:

Most bands at Glasto are on backing tracks. Royal Blood being a good case in point. Makes sense.

So Glastonbury is just one big Karaoke event. You could not make it up. Be cheaper and easier to have holograms of ur favourite bands, save a whole lot of hassle and money ...Oh sorry its marketed as a "live music event", silly me.

[Wolverinebass]

I think it depends on context. Are backing tracks wrong? Not if it's sitting in stuff like synths or backing vocals where there is only 1 singer. However, as much as I love Porcupine Tree, they've "done a Periphery" by replacing one of the core musicians with a backing track. They did that when Nolly decided to stop touring and at various times when Mark Holcomb had to bail on a tour after getting caught cheating on his wife and also when Jake's father was ill I believe.

 

Margins for tours being as they are these days, it's not a surprise. Why pay for someone to play when you can just sample someone and play along to their performance. Hence not paying for another person on the tour. Music will soon be reduced to idiots like David Guetta who had a cancel a tour after he lost his set at an airport. It was on a USB stick. Turn up with a laptop, press play and pretend you're fiddling with things and rake the cash in. We're so in the wrong game here.

 

Ian Brown doing a tour with a laptop was another new low even for him. I guess he should have just mimed totally as his vocals seemed to have hit an even more startling nadir.

 

Steven Wilson is a tosser though and I think Colin Edwin doesn't want to work with him anymore which is why they haven't been in touch for years.