Prog Rock Legend Stephen Wilson Concludes North American Tour with Epic Final Show in Dallas, TX

By Andrew Pringle

Saturday, October 11, 2025, U.K based songwriter and producer Steven Wilson brought his 2025 “The Overview Tour’ to Dallas’ historic Majestic Theater for one final show. What followed was a night full of meticulously executed grand compositions, enigmatic time signatures, impressive solos, and an innovative audio-visual presentation.

Best known as the founder of the British progressive rock and metal band Porcupine Tree, as well as his work remixing and mastering countless classic rock albums from bands such as Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and The Who; Steven Wilson has also built a solid catalogue of solo work written, recorded, mixed, and mastered in his home studio in London, England. Wilson’s home recordings date as far back as the mid-1980s, where, as a teenager, he would make experimental rock tapes, which later were released under the name of Porcupine Tree. Over the years, PT became more of a collaborative effort amongst Wilson and his bandmates, yet he continued to write new material on his own. His first solo album under his own name was released in 2008, titled “Insurgentes”. Since then, Wilson has released nine studio albums under his name, one of them even being a video game soundtrack. Additionally, Wilson has delved into several genres, from Progressive Rock to Progressive Metal, to Progressive Jazz-Fusion, to Classic Prog, to Electronic, to Electro-Pop, to Electronic Ambient, to Electronic Prog. Aside from Porcupine Tree’s 2022 “Closure/Continuation” tour, Wilson had not toured North America in support of his solo music since 2018. In the time since, he’s released three albums, each heavily rooted in electronic and utilizing modular synths. Needless to say, this tour was in the works for a long time and had the fans itching for what was to come. 

Joined by a top tier backing quartet consisting of Randy McStine on guitar, Nick Beggs on bass, Adam Holzman on keys, and Craig Blundell on drums; the band opened the show with the most recent album, The Overview, played in its entirety. Though only two songs, this powerhouse of an album runs at over forty-one minutes, containing multiple sections flawlessly knit together. Throughout the album, the two tracks traverse various movements, from spacey soundscapes to synchronized arpeggiators to Wilson’s signature progressive hard rock sound to dark piano melodies to scientific explanations of the size of the universe. While two twenty-plus minute tracks might seem intimidating, it never felt dull or repetitive, and in some regards, felt like the shortest part of the show. Additionally, the mind-bending music was accompanied by equally compelling animated visuals on the screen behind the band, displaying everything from Earth’s natural landscapes to the expanses of the cosmos, to the fabric of reality. At times, it felt as though the band was live scoring an experimental film, precisely hitting every que. 

The stimulating experience was further heightened by the inclusion of an immersive surround-sound system, most noticeably used to simulate acoustics and create a hypnotic swirling effect in the sections driven by modular synthesizers and sequencers, creating the illusion that the sound travels in circles around the room. While live surround-sound has been attempted by artists such as Pink Floyd (quadrophonic), as well as the Grateful Dead (Wall of Sound), none has reached the perfection achieved by Steven Wilson, surpassing gimmickry and only making his brilliance more evident. 

The second set of the show consisted of previous favorites from Wilson’s solo catalogue as well a Porcupine Tree classic. He opened the set with “KING GHOST”, from the 2021 album The Future Bites. While it’s one of the more simplistic songs from the album, he accomplished the task arranging the synth and sequencer parts while singing the soft melodies, falsettos included. After the song concluded, he brought out the band to take on the next lengthy and complex piece “Home Invasion/ Regret #9”. Clocking in at eleven and a half minutes, this daunting composition blends styles and textures of progressive metal and jazz fusion, with a noteworthy extended keyboard solo by Adam Holzman. Afterwards, Wilson gave a stage banter, jokingly apologizing to anyone who might be at the show by accident and not being familiar with his music, because they were ninety minutes into a show and the band had only played four songs. Wilson also remarked how the audience seemed more diverse than the stereotypical middle age male prog-nerd. He then introduced the next song, “What Life Brings”, clocking in at only three minutes and thirty-nine seconds. While being a shorter and more straightforward song, it still accurately reflects Wilson’s masterful ability to craft tones and utilize techniques to emotionally charge his music; this one quite possibly containing his most beautiful vocal harmonies. 

Up next on the setlist was the riveting “Staircase”, the prime example of Wilson’s fascination with sequencers and building off the ideas, like the steps of a staircase. Although it is yet another lengthy song, never in the multiple sections is there a wasted note, the standout section being Nick Beggs’ chapman stick solo. With the crowd’s enthusiasm still high, Craig Blundell ripped into the meticulous drum beat of the Porcupine Tree Classic “Dislocated Day”. In no time, Nick Beggs accompanied the groove with the smooth bassline, Adam Holzman added an additional layer with ominous sounding synths, and Wilson boldly sang the angsty lyrics. The entire band took a step up in the catchy chorus melody. They even took some time with a somewhat jam session, with Wilson conducting Blundell’s playing, allowing him to ease into the groove, then immediately pushing him to his limits. This was easily one of the highlights of the show for me. Afterwards, they slowed things down with “Pariah”, being both a tonal and textural juxtaposition, it was a well-timed breath of air. It was a good inclusion in the setlist; however, I am slightly let down by the decision to play Ninet Tayeb’s vocal parts as a recording as opposed to having someone else sing them live. I understand that her unique voice is special to the studio version of the song, but I would rather have someone make an honest attempt to sing it, even if it’s not identical to the original. That being said, it was still a beautiful rendition. After the song ended, Wilson introduced another sonic odyssey, “Impossible Tightrope”, the second single from 2023’s The Harmony Codex. Yet another lengthy piece, this one, like most, is like a chain with no weak links. Additionally, the sprawling nearly eleven-minute track is, for the most part, instrumental, and if I haven’t vocalized it enough, the trippy visuals were astonishing. Without showing any signs of slowing down, Wilson told the crowd the next song was named after a very strange American director; McStine began picking the intro of the recognizable “Harmony Korine”, a classic Wilson rocker that has held a frequent spot in his setlists since its release in 2008. The song can best be described as the building and tearing down of a wall of sound with an explosive climax, all accompanied with eerie visuals. The band ended the second set with “Vermillioncore”, a heavy jazz-like piece that allows each instrument to shine yet remain in unison.

After a momentary break, the band returned to the stage for one more long song, the dark and brooding “Ancestral”. Beginning with a slow segment, the band takes their time building to a high point, but when they reach the top, there’s no holding back. Each member was pushing harder and harder, playing more and more aggressively. This one is certainly a contender for Wilson’s heaviest song. Around the ten-minute mark, they tone it down for a minute, even including a flute solo, then relentlessly diving back into the heaviness. Before saying goodbye, the band did one final song, “The Raven That Refused to Sing”; a deeply emotional down-tempo song which tells a story of mortality, death, and grief. The mood was further expressed with the inclusion of the bleakly animated music video shown on the screen. As the band exited the stage and the house lights arose, I noticed a woman two rows behind me borderline sobbing. Despite the downer feeling of the last song, the crowd’s response was still extremely positive.

Ultimately, Steven Wilson’s persona as a musician flawlessly carries over to his live shows. The musicianship, visuals, audio presentation, and everything in between were tuned to perfection, with nothing being overlooked. While he is constantly busy with side projects and remixing historic albums, hopefully it doesn’t take him several years to embark on another tour. Regardless, he continues to one-up even himself and both die-hard fans and strangers alike should see him if possible.