Having
had a recent bout of the ‘not really from these parts’ disease, where you get
all nostalgic for things you’d never known or done in the first place (in this
case GCSEs, which have been big news in Blighty recently) I set myself the
below challenging essay topic (I hope I pass!):
Compare and contrast the
following gigs:
1)
Marillion in Cardiff, Sunday 09
September
2)
Marillion in Sheffield, Friday 14
September
3)
Marillion in London, Sunday 16
September
It
had looked for a while that I might not be up to travelling for this tour, then
that I mightn’t be able to go even to the local London gig, but the evil NHS
doctors who’d threatened further surgery in September were vanquished by the
good NHS doctors who prevented the need for it, leaving me free to take in the first
tour in support of a new album the band had undertaken since my arrival in the
UK in 2010.
That
album – the magnificent Sounds That Can’t Be Made – wasn’t
to be released officially until the final day of the tour (the 17th),
but most fans in attendance had pre-ordered direct from the band (a system
Marillion effectively invented) well in advance and those copies were
despatched from Marillion HQ (just!) in time for the majority to have received
them by the time the tour kicked off in Cardiff. The choice of material from
the new album was impeccable, with the four tracks that currently make up my
favourite half of the album (Gaza, Power (listen below),
The Sky Above the Rain and the sublime title track) being showcased. If that
doesn’t sound like a lot of time being devoted to new material remember that this
is Marillion, so two epics and two shorter, more instantly accessible songs (still over six
minutes each themselves) constituted around a third of the gig.
Marillion
are noted for putting their audience (and themselves!) through the emotional
wringer and both Gaza and The Sky Above the Rain continue this
tradition, though in very different ways. Gaza
is a 17-minute+ visceral plea for an end to the cycle of violence begetting
violence in the district, told from the point of view of a Palestinian child, and
featuring some of the heaviest musical sections the band have ever unleashed. The Sky Above the Rain, meanwhile, finds the band in more familiar
territory lyrically, detailing a relationship seemingly beyond the point of no
return, but with a more optimistic outlook emerging at its climax than many
past songs have featured - possibly a
result of frontman Steve ‘h’ Hogarth’s change in outlook in recent years (see
also the entire Essence volume of 2008’s
Happiness
is the Road). This doesn’t stop it joining the long list of Marillion
songs capable of making grown men get a bit teary in public...(of course I don’t mean me...erm...).
Both
were even more powerful in a live setting, although the ‘false start’ with Splintering Heart’s programmed intro
being played only for the stage to be ‘bombed’ seemed a little too gimmicky to
me to really work as the intro to as hard-hitting a song as Gaza; certainly the pyrotechnic-free
Sheffield version worked better in my book, though that was a decision clearly
made for health and safety reasons (tiny stage in a potential death-trap of a
venue) rather than artistic ones!
The
rest of the setlist focussed heavily on their more recent output (2004 on),
which, for a band that is touring behind their 17th album and peaked
commercially with their 3rd, might seem odd to the casual observer,
as might the fact that they only played two of their 20+ top 40 singles. Few
attending a Marillion gig these days would expect (or want) it any other way
and all three audiences showed suitable appreciation to every classic (of any
vintage) that came their way. While there was a time the band avoided
performing any Fish-era material, perennial favourite Sugar Mice got an airing in the encores, although the split between
how much h sang himself and how much of a crowd-only singalong it became varied
from night to night.
It’s impossible to name highlights without listing the
whole set, so I’ll only say that it was wonderful to have Real Tears for Sale representing the Happiness album and while
some fans have suggested that the likes of Neverland
and Fantastic Place have been
overplayed in recent years (an assessment it’s actually quite easy to agree
with when looking at past setlists), for me at least, any thoughts of wanting
them rested evaporate instantly upon hearing the opening notes. That said,
these were only my 9th, 10th and 11th
Marillion gigs (yep, they’ve finally left Toto in the dust!), so I may yet do a
coalition-style u-turn on this issue in the future!
With
keyboardist Mark Kelly’s recent hearing problems (which he detailed in his blog
HERE), the stage positions of the band members have changed this year, with
guitarist Steve Rothery and bassist Pete ‘Tremendous’ Trewavas swapping sides
to get Rother’s amps as far away as possible. Kelly, who has been side-on to
the audience for years is now facing us directly (which must have been a shock
to the system!) but it’s great to be able to see all the facial expressions and
exchanged glances going on between the band, from one position (just left of
centre is the ideal spot for me – closest to h, but with the ability to watch
Rothers work his magic during his solos and more), although Ian Mosley sadly remains
as hidden as ever behind his drum kit!
While
the set only varied slightly between performances, taking in multiple gigs in
this way proved beyond a doubt that no two shows are the same. While the band
had publicly stated that they’d be opening with Gaza the rest of the set was anyone’s guess in Cardiff, which is
always a thrilling situation to be in, not least when you’re hearing songs
being performed live for the very first time. That said, there were a few
technical gremlins (as h said, ‘It’s great to be at the first night of the
tour...you can say “I was there when that went wrong, and that went wrong and
that went wrong...”!) most notably the sudden absence of keyboards during most
of the This Town trilogy. Despite
this throwing everybody off just a tad (‘He’s lost’ said h, at one point as Ian
played one prominent fill a good few bars early) they managed to keep the
damage to nose-to-tail minor rather than full-blown train wreck – and the crowd
loved it. It was also the only night I heard h use what has almost become a catchphrase
at his solo gigs...’Shall we have a chat?’ (although the answer was we didn’t
really have time, ‘cause he’d gone all Stevie Nicks on us earlier in the night
and faffed about with at least one pointless costume change too many!).
By
Sheffield – the fifth night of the tour – the new songs had bedded in, and were
already sounding like old favourites, the technical hitches (and costume change
issues) were largely resolved and the band were basking in the rapturous reception the
new album had been receiving. h, who is what you might call eccentric at the
best of times, was absolutely, delightfully, mad as a box of frogs on this
occasion. From his between song banter (including his birthday wishes to fans
‘on behalf of the beat combo’), to whatever it was he was trying to do to Mark
(who discovered that it’s not possible to play keyboards and run away from the band’s token lunatic at the same time!) at
the beginning of Neverland he was more
entertaining than ever – though some were a little disconcerted by his
behaviour. After making no sense whatsoever in his spoken introduction of The Other Half he stopped to ask if he
sounded drunk, to which a resounding cry of ‘YESSSSSSSS!’ was the crowd’s
response. I don’t reckon he was though
(and I’ll leave it at that...) and his emotional engagement and vocal delivery
throughout the songs was as consistently excellent as ever.
Sadly, as mentioned
above, the venue was (to be kind to it) a bit of a hole and the audience were
split into those at the front who had a great time, and those at the back who
couldn’t hear the talking (sadly this included at least one of those birthday
celebrators) or the quieter musical passages and couldn’t see much of the stage
at all. Luckily I was towards the front, and I would rate this show my
favourite of the three – apologies to those who suffered a less pleasant
experience – I don’t mean to rub salt into the wound!
 |
| h in London |
I’ve
read a lot over the years about how London audiences are subdued and
unforgiving compared to those in the rest of the UK, but the Forum gig proved
this to be utter poppycock – it was one of the most buoyant audiences I’ve ever
had the pleasure of being amongst (well, apart from the 16-year old girl who
sat on the floor throughout....what was that about??) – and on a Sunday night
too! Neither h’s vocals or the sound generally seemed quite as sharp as the
other nights to my ears, but nor was there anything wrong with them. The band
certainly seemed to be enjoying having space to move around in again after the
cramped set-up of Sheffield and might well have played all night had they not
been recording a live album on the night (ready for punters to collect as they left,
if they so desired), which meant a strict limit to two hours and sixteen
minutes. I’m still not sure how I’ve so far managed to convince myself that I
don’t really need to buy it (but if you’re not as daft as me you can order it
HERE for a limited time only!). Ending with Estonia
(dedicated to Neil and the rest of the Marillion-loving Armstrong family)
was a slightly downbeat finish to my week on the road, but proved my emotional
buttons were still being pressed right up to the very end.
Along
with seeing three gigs and going to a couple of places I’d never been before,
one of the deciding factors in precisely which gigs to attend was the chance to
see three different support bands. The Reasoning, Mr. So and So and DeeExpus
all put in fine performances, and while there wasn’t much between them, it was
The Reasoning who impressed the most – despite my general and irrational
dislike of female-fronted rock/prog/music of any genre. It was sufficient to
prompt me to preorder their forthcoming Adventures
in Neverland album in any case, and showed them to be in fine form after a
difficult year (this was the first gig for their new guitarist, brought in to
replace a predecessor who hasn’t been seen since March). None of the bands were
a match for the headliners though, who reminded me during each song, just why
they are my favourite band, and the fellow fans I met along the way (turns out I have another fan living about half a street away from me!) only added to the experience. Therefore all three gigs can be rated no less than varying shades of 10/10.
Setlist:
Gaza
You’re Gone*
This Town/The Rake’s
Progress/100 Nights*
Sounds That Can’t Be
Made
The Other Half#
Neverland
A Voice From the Past
Power
Fantastic Place
Real Tears for Sale
The Sky Above the Rain
The Great Escape
-----------------------------------------------
A Few Words for the Dead
-----------------------------------------------
Sugar Mice
*positions swapped after Cardiff
#Not
played in London
Extra
tracks closed two of the shows, with Between You and Me and Estonia featured in Cardiff and London, respectively.
PS I’m well aware that
Marillion are not everyone’s cup of tea, and I have no bones with that (I just
pity them what don’t get ‘em!), so in the name of balance here is a (thoughtful)
largely negative review of their Wolves gig.
