Marillion Weekend, Butlins Minehead, County Somerset. 11-14 March 2005.
Words by Duck : Interview By Sav
Pics courtesy of VAXMan @ www.marillion.com/forum
|
Blue Light Blue
light, piercing blue light. And syncopated computer beats, bleeps,
throbs, pulses. The band stand motionless, facing out, A strange figure takes the stage, suited and booted, bespectacled, respectable yet alien, impeccable though frazzled. The blue light rushes and gathers around him, entering him, radiating back from his skin, spilling like a life force from the ends of his fingers, draining him of solidity. He becomes translucent, invisible almost: "the world's gone mad, and I have lost touch", he speaks with a mumbled urgency as if driven to expel the words before finally disappearing altogether: "I didn't feel myself evaporating…" The techno babble has now been replaced by a soothing lushness, the sound of live music, attempting to give comfort to the almost human protagonist. I am transported by the lyric through a flurry of keyboards and stabs of scything, serrated guitar to the back streets of Europe's less salubrious capitals, lost and searching. And then to St Stephen's Church, somewhere, anywhere, ghostly, dank, candlelit. Rising, all the while rising; the music, the volume, the paranoia, the intensity, the otherworldliness, the fear, the dread. I open my mouth and breath it in, allowing the blue light to enter me and jostle deep inside the atoms of my being. Every possible feeling rushes forth at once, displaced by the blue light. My chest heaves and shudders. The acts of my life warp through my brain in a bilious stream of chemical and blood; good, evil, indifferent, caring, uncaring, hateful, thoughtful, remembered by me, understood only by me, unconnected, disconnected, invisible… White light, blinding white light. And release. A huge euphoric outpouring of almost visible energy greets the white light. Uproarious chants and screams merge into a guttural utterance of devotion. Nothing is said, nothing needs saying. Wave upon wave of emotion crash against the stage, spilling and splashing over the band before receding and rolling back into the throng to be absorbed, connecting everyone with everything else. The laws of physics are suspended and the now one entity is transported to another place, in another country, in another time. Outside is plastic, inside is something else entirely. Marillion have arrived. In
memory of Hunter S. Thompson Marbles
Following on from "Invisible Man", which is undoubtedly the greatest opening to a live concert I have ever witnessed, Steve Hogarth (aka H) positions himself at an electric piano centre stage and peels out the pretty chords to "Marbles I", the first of four short sections which run across the Marbles album and link it together. The sell out audience is already eating out of his hands. What we have here is just short of 3,000 Marillion "freaks" or "anoraks", as we hate to be known, who have come to witness something out of the ordinary in the rock world - a band giving back to their fans and making themselves totally accessible to the man in the street, to the people that pay their wages if you like. Great for the fans and great (plus profitable) for the band. Why more acts with a similar cult following to Marillion don't copy this idea is beyond me. Perhaps it's just too new a concept at the minute, but I reckon it will catch on in the future. In fact the band's innovative approach to selling records and marketing themselves is already being taught in music business courses and is referred to as the "Marillion Model". Anyway, I couldn't give a toss about the economics of the deal; I came hear for the music, pure and simple. The touching and light "Genie" is next and the band give an assured performance of a song never before played live. There are two other such tracks tonight. On the Marbles tour the band stuck to a one-hour selection from the album, tonight those pieces not featured on tour are added in, stretching the Marbles experience to its full 1hr 40min epic length.
Marillion leave the stage to rapturous and sustained applause, taken aback just as much by the audience's reaction as the audience are by their emotional music. They return briefly for the classic "Easter", the only non-marbles track of the night and H barely has to utter a word, instead allowing the appreciative crowd to sing the song in surprisingly good tune. In
short, a spectacular performance of one of contemporary rock's most
spectacular recordings. The Party
The evening starts with the "Swap the Band" section where those musicians deemed good enough get a chance to play with the band. "Cover My Eyes" gets things going and to be honest I can remember nothing about it, I must have been at the bar. A very young looking guitarist gives a brilliant reading of "Go" and an excellent singer called Kali, who just happens to be Neil Armstrong's granddaughter, hits all the right notes on "Waiting To Happen". Also particularly memorable was H's daughter Sophie singing "Angelina", H looking on with pride from the side of the stage. Throughout the Swap The Band section H continually teased the audience about a mystery song coming up to round the jam off. Well, mystery song time had arrived. H left the stage and was replaced by an imposing Scottish fan and quite unbelievably the opening notes to "Fugazi" echo around the room. The title track to the bands second album, not played live since the 1980s and Fish's departure. It was one of those songs where the lyric was too personal to Fish for H to consider tackling when he joined the band. But the fan on stage now, he can tackle it, he is ripping into the angst filled lyric like it's the last words he will ever speak. The entire hall is going mad, jumping up and down and screaming every word. It just goes to show the affinity Marillion's fans still have with the big Scot who originally fronted the band. Turns out the guy singing is from Forgotten Sons, as far as I am aware the worlds only Marillion tribute band. One of the highlights of the weekend for sure. Swap
the Band has ended and great fun it was too. Its now time for Marillion
proper to close out the night and in keeping with the title It's
around this time that the venue management make a request to Marillion
to ask their fans to stop jumping. It seems those in the bar downstairs
have evacuated, so shocked were they by the ceiling of the bar moving
and looking like it was about to collapse on top of them. I'm afraid
their request largely fell on deaf ears. "Deserve" a piece
of soulful pop from the .com album follows and when the sampled
Sax solo in the middle fails to materialise the band look panicked
for a moment. Not to worry, Steve Rothery glides across The modern era Marillion rockers keep coming, most effective of which is the big beat version of "Memory of Water". On the Strange Engine album this is a reflective folk ballad but here it is transformed into a huge techno monster, with amazing rhythms from Mosley. The band encore the night with two old school classics. "Slainte Mhath" is first and H really puts his heart and soul into Fish's lyric. The band is ready to leave the stage but take requests for one last track. "Garden Party" is called for and Marillion duly oblige, belting it out at frenetic pace with obvious glee on their faces. A brilliant, fun and upbeat performance from Marillion. A Collection
Quite sensibly Marillion, being old hands at this convention carry on, are aware of the type of atmosphere to be expected on a Sunday evening, and have tailored the set accordingly. Rather than trying to outdo previous evenings the band give their fans a collection of beautiful chilled out and relaxed trip inducing music, designed to send everyone home in a peaceful mood. Special mention must go to the set designer and lighting engineer for this evening, who provided a beautiful backdrop for Marillion's more wistful tracks. The bands only known blues ballad "Born to Run" is first and Rothery's guitar mesmerizes everyone present. The nights title track "A Collection" follows, a lilting acoustic ballad that always leaves you feeling uneasy due to its rather creepy lyric. One of the standout tracks of the night for me is "Faith", a track yet to be committed to an album and only available live. It's a simple number with a brilliant lyric where H tries to make sense of believing in something in the modern secular world. The lyric just sums up the Marillion experience to me.
That's it so we think the Convention has ended. But the band return to the stage for one last song and rather than give us something short and sweet we are treated once again to the epic "Ocean Cloud" from latest album Marbles. It first ever live performance was on the Friday night and now the band are into it once more, rising and falling like the waves of the ocean it depicts. Much more assured than on the first night, this time the song simply soars, stunning the audience. It's a song that has a little bit of everything that makes Marillion what they are, and as such acts an effective Coda for the weekend. We got everything Marillion has to offer over three days. They gave their all not only by playing three nights in a row with different sets each night, but by spending their spare time in signing sessions and band question and answer sessions. By the end of it all, the band are spent and so are the audience. I head back to my accommodation realising this has been one of the greatest musical experiences of my life.
DUCK Sav's
10 questions
Q.
How are you, where are you? Q.
What's currently happening in Steve Hogarth's / Marillions world? Q.What
has been the best concert by one of your peers you ever Q.
What was the first song you ever wrote/performed? Q. Do you Q.
What performer are you in awe of? Why? Q.
What would be the high point & low point of your career? Q.
What is you favorite city/town to have a show in & Why? Q.
If you could do something else what would it be? Q.
What colour is the sky in your world?
|
nervous, scanning. The audience shift imperceptibly, three thousand
as one, expectant, urgent, moving forward unbeknownst to themselves.
Like a shoal of fish forced to the surface by a predatory chorus
of Dolphins, rising unrelentingly with a single mind toward the
blue light.
We
are treated to the entire double opus that is Marillion's latest
and greatest achievement on Friday 11 March, the first night of
the third ever Marillion weekend, played largely, though not exactly,
in chronological order.
"Fantastic
Place" follows and really transports the audience to a different
place with its longing lyric and soaring lead guitar break. The
second of the never before played tracks "The Only Unforgivable
Thing" musically sounds a bit hesitant, though H rescues it
with a moving reading of one of his most personal and mysterious
lyrics. After "Marbles II" which now includes a superb
lead break not on the studio equivalent, the band launch into the
upbeat section of the Marbles experience, blasting out "The
Damage", "You're Gone" and "Don't Hurt Yourself"
in quick succession. The whole audience bops along, rising and falling
and causing the venue floor to vibrate quite disconcertingly for
the first, though not last, time this weekend. The between song
banter is great and both band and audience are in jovial form. The
trippy, dreamlike "Angelina" is next and Steve Rothery's
off kilter solo is particularly effective. The band remains in LSD
mode for following track "Drilling Holes" one of my personal
favourites from Marbles. Full of Sgt Pepper sound effects and fun
lyrics, this really showcases the kind of thing Marillion can come
up with when they work more off the cuff, instead of in their usual
more studied manner. The main Marbles set climaxes with the peerless
"Neverland", already an all time classic. The faux echoed
vocal section of the song has to be seen live to be fully appreciated.
H's voice soars and falls in repeated rhythmical patterns, cracking
with emotion as he reaches for the payoff line. This is interspersed
with a ripping guitar motif in classic Rothery mould. An astounding
piece of music, by any standards.
The
band are quickly back in action and everyone knows what is coming,
the massive "Ocean Cloud", moved from its closing spot
on CD one of Marbles to the end of the set. This is a sprawling
seventeen-minute narrative, lyrically recounting the story of Don
Allum who single-handedly rowed both ways across the Atlantic. Musically
it's not far away from Animals-era Floyd, showcasing a number of
lead breaks and heavy rock sections interspersed with hushed radio
recordings and a melodic chorus. It's certainly an achievement,
though not a personal favourite. The more prog element of the band's
audience however love it and lap it up in its entirety.
Saturday
12 March, day two of the Marillion marathon and I'm definitely in
party mode. Having got engaged that afternoon and then met the band
(in that order of importance, just!) I am suitably refreshed as
we enter the arena for another dose of ethereal music.
of
day two (The Party) the band peel out rocker after rocker, leaving
their longer mood pieces for another day. "Separated Out"
blasts forth, probably about as heavy as Marillion ever get, and
is quickly followed by "Under the Sun" and then "Accidental
Man". Everyone is up and the venue floor is taking a severe
bashing from 3,000 pairs of feet jumping as one. The brilliant 9
minute jam piece "If my heart were a ball, it would roll uphill"
is next and probably my favourite song of the evening. The high
note in the chorus is almost in dog whistle frequencies but H hits
it effortlessly.
to
centre stage and whips out a superb guitar solo to keep the song
going. Just one of many eye-popping guitar pieces from the big man
over the space of the weekend.
Sunday
14 March, the final night of three, and I am well and truly knackered.
Arriving in the hall its clear I'm not alone in feeling this way.
The fans are relaxed and chilled, contemplative. Thinking back on
a great weekend and reflecting on what the last night might bring.
Other
standouts are the dub classic "House" from .com and the
epic "When I Meet God" from recent album Anoraknophobia.
The venue owners have no worries about the floor collapsing tonight
as the audience by and large stand still and concentrate on the
music, and the mood it creates. "A Few Words For The Dead"
sounds majestic, a song that always works a lot better live than
on album. Moving through a number of sections and slowly building
from a tribal opening to a full on rock conclusion, it really showcases
Marillion's approach to constructing multi-layered songs. It's a
talent they have always had and refined greatly over the years to
the point now where it seems they sometimes find it harder to write
something at 3 or 4 minutes. But the final pre-encore track proves
they can still be effective when they keep it simple - the three-minute
acoustic ballad "Made Again" that rounds off the deep
and dark Brave album. Simple yet stunning.