Location: Verona / Teatro Romano / Italy
Date: Saturday, September 10, 2016
Verona, one of Italy’s most picturesque cities, with an incredibly rich history and a beautifully preserved old town that still draws crowds of tourists from all over the world, played host to the legendary English band Marillion in the bosom of the former ancient Roman theater, Teatro Romano. For some they’re heroes of (neo)progressive rock, for others the most carefully guarded secret of British music, still churning out excellent studio albums. On the current tour, Marillion have already started presenting their new album »F*** Everyone and Run«, or (for short) »F.E.A.R.«. Even before the art rock veterans arrived, we knew this night would be something special, since it’s almost impossible to imagine a better setting than a former ancient Roman theater.
The members of Marillion marched onto the stage without their charismatic singer Steve ‘Mr. H’ Hogarth, kicking things off with the »Marbles« (2004) classic »The Invisible Man«. Great song though it is, it was no big surprise, since they’ve opened shows with it on plenty of other dates over the last twelve years. When the first verse came around, Hogarth first showed up on the stage projections, and only then did he finally stride out in front of the faithful crowd. This time too he was dressed up as the grim, gloomy ‘invisible man’ from the sharply socially critical lyrics. It has to be said that Hogarth was in superb vocal form all night, although there’s a reasonable suspicion he dipped a little too deep into the glass this time, since he forgot the start of the lyrics twice. The first mishap came right before »Sounds That Can’t Be Made« from the studio masterpiece of the same name, where he half-jokingly improvised vocally at the start and tried to wriggle his way out of the mess with some humor. In the end he managed to find the right ‘words’ and catch up with the rest of the band. A similar problem hit at the end of the main set with »Neverland«, which they had to restart from the top after a short stumble in the intro.
Otherwise, those were the only ‘incidents’, if you can even call them that, all evening, because the English masters of music wowed us with a fantastic selection of songs, phenomenal sound, and a practically flawless run through plenty of gems from their colorful career. On top of that, ‘H’ made up for both slip-ups with excellent singing, even on some vocally pretty demanding numbers. He had solid backup in bassist Pete Trewavas, who, as usual, handled the backing vocals. Some backing vocal help also came from keyboardist Mark Kelly, who diligently watched over his keyboard kingdom the whole time and looked far younger than he actually is. Drummer Ian Mosley, despite his respectable years, is still remarkably lively, precise and supple, while the only original member, guitar master Steve Rothery, once again justified his status as one of the most refined (and sadly unfairly overlooked) rock guitarists. Many of his guitar solos have an almost transcendental power and are one of the key factors behind the incredible atmosphere that only Marillion can conjure at their shows.
The unbreakable quintet from Aylesbury played standards from almost every chapter of their colorful discography in a wonderfully charged yet relaxed way (they only skipped the late eighties and the end of the nineties). From the new album, they played the more than sixteen-minute »The New Kings«, one of their most socially critical pieces ever, with lyrics that sharply take on today’s grabby yuppies and their ever-faster destruction of human society and planet Earth. Praise is also due for the excellent stage video projection with actors, who vividly brought out the central message of the superb lyrics during »The New Kings«. From the cult concept album »Brave« (1994), Marillion also played three cult songs, namely »The Great Escape«, »Wave« and »Mad«. Among the main surprises of the regular set were »Marbles« treat »Fantastic Place«, the vocally very demanding »Afraid of Sunlight« from the album of the same name, the effects-laden »Anoraknophobia« (2001) classic »Quartz«, and the »Afraid of Sunligt« (1995) evergreen »King«. They hadn’t played the latter in quite a while, and the crowd reacted loudest while images of famous late musicians and film actors rolled by, when Lemmy and Robin Williams appeared in the video projection.
Marillion wrapped up the main part of their show with the aforementioned »Neverland«, which, despite the short hiccup at the start and the restart, ended up perfect. In the encore, Marillion went back to the eighties with their one big hit »Kayleigh«, straight into the so-called Fish era. In an old interview from 2000, Hogarth compared that era to a millstone around their necks that Marillion could never shake off, because they hadn’t decided to change their name when he joined. He’s surely changed his mind quite a bit since then, as recent shows almost never go by without at least a short nod to their still most famous phase.
It was downright fun watching the Italian security guys run after Hogarth like annoying mosquitoes when he jumped off the stage and started strolling through the fired-up crowd. Even though the security hindered him more than they helped, Mr. H didn’t let himself get flustered and sang Marillion’s most beloved evergreen the way it should be done (when Mr. Fish isn’t on vocals, of course). »Kayleigh« was followed, as expected, by its obligatory companion »Lavender«, while almost nobody in the crowd expected the switch into a shortened version of »Bitter Suite« (they only played the third section, called »Blue Angel«) and then straight into the triumphant »Misplaced Childhood« (1985) energy catalyst »Heart of Lothian«. Hogarth confidently sang the classics from the ‘romantic’ neo-prog era in his own way, although because of the very personal lyrics and the nature of these songs, it’s always a bit strange when someone other than his no less charismatic predecessor sings them.
The second encore brought one smaller and one bigger surprise. The album »This Strange Engine« (1997) is often considered one of their most neglected, so it was nice to hear »Estonia«, which fans consider the most beloved piece on it and which Marillion played live quite often on past tours. Even so, the tragic story of the Estonia ship disaster hit hard once again. Marillion surprised us way more with the more than fifteen-minute title masterpiece, that is »This Strange Engine«, with which they closed their fantastic show in Verona in epic fashion. One last time that evening they managed to put the crowd into an ambient trance, and as they left the stage they were rewarded with thunderous ovations from their loyal fans.
Marillion have had the same lineup for twenty-seven years, and with a stat like that it’s hard to think of another band that can boast a similarly remarkable feat. The enviable chemistry between the band members on stage is simply stunning, and sometimes it seems like they could play even the most demanding song in their catalog under the most impossible circumstances. Even though they hit their biggest successes back in the mid-eighties and most of the British media keeps stubbornly ignoring them to this day, you can see at every step that all the members still have incredible motivation and creative fire, which is why they enjoy every single performance immensely. Their show in Verona was one of those art rock spectacles that leave a strong impression long after it ends, and this time they were certainly helped by the amazing ancient Roman setting, the kind you don’t get at just any gig.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. The Invisible Man
2. Power
3. The Great Escape
4. Fantastic Place
5. Sounds That Can’t Be Made
6. The New Kings
(I.) Fuck Everyone And Run
(II.) Russia’s Locked Doors
(III.) A Scary Sky
(IV.) Why Is Nothing Ever True?
7. Wave
8. Mad
9. Afraid of Sunlight
10. Quartz
11. King
12. Neverland
—encore I.—
13. Kayleigh
14. Lavender
15. Bitter Suite (III. Blue Angel)
16. Heart of Lothian
—encore II.—
17. Estonia
18. This Strange Engine
