Good morning!
I just wanted to bring up some issues about In-Ear monitoring and clicks vs live music. Both you guys and a lot of other bands as well use In-Ear monitors these days. I have tried it myself and although I can see (or hear actually) the advantages (better mix, less bleed into the mikes, ear protection and so on) I felt it affected the way I played both in the groove, tempo, looseness and in the way i hit the drums and cymbals. The lack of presence from the room/stage and certain frequencies (even though I mixed in room mics) was too obvious. You could say that the sound in a way was "compressed" into my in ears and I missed the sound of the other instruments including my own, or the natural acoustics/sound of the music. It might have sounded technically perfect though.
Now my theory is that bands that use In-ear with click-tracks, have to sacrifice some of the natural interplay at that particular gig, we all respond to each other from the sound (or lack of sound) we hear around us, even small nuances. And watching bands today, especially bands that have been around for a while like you guys in Porcupine Tree, it feels that they become so "obsessed" with controll over stage sound and tempo that the concert lacks a certain x-factor, it doesn't have that spark or the variation and becomes a sterile and tecnically perfect reproduction (which I suspect some live acts and sound crews these days strive for).
Do you sometimes wish you could play more in the moment without being in sync with any videos, without click-tracks and let the stagesound and the general emotion of that night dictates the tempo, the dynamics, the way you play and how you guys respond to each other at that particular gig (like a more jazz-oriented approach perhaps)?
Or do you think the Porcupine Tree music is so challenging and hard to reproduce right that a different approach would not serve the performance and that exact tempos, video sync, intrumental and sequenced passages, balance, dynamics....are key elements at every PT show?
As a long-time admirer and frequent concert attendee, I'm not even sure (or would that be shure, ha-ha) myself.
Kind regards
KB