Marillion Work Their Magic in Bologna

With the first signs of the midday sun beating down, our trio of eager prog-melody fans set off for Bologna to catch Marillion live for the first time, on the big European tour they put together after the release of their new album “Somewhere Else”. Marillion hardly need an introduction for anyone who spent most of the 80s glued to the radio, where their two biggest hits, “Kayleigh” and “Lavender”, got the odd spin. Back then they were a big name commercially too, and had no trouble filling an entire stadium. Today they’d rather stick to their famous title of “England’s best-kept secret”. Despite the huge commercial potential of some of their work, they’ve long avoided any kind of media exposure, and on their own independent label they play mainly for themselves and for their fans, who count as some of the most loyal in all of rock music.

I’d say this approach has paid off handsomely over the years, whatever the critics say, the ones who never accepted that constant innovation and change are the guiding principle of every true progressive musician. Marillion haven’t been (just) a neo-prog rock band for a long time (a label they’ve always fiercely dodged), at least not the classic kind. Over the years their music has become far more experimental and broader than that of their contemporaries, who kept most of that typical 80s sound (mainly through the synths and the rhythm section), which in many ways is based on the sound of the symphonic prog rockers of the 70s. Marillion, meanwhile, left genre limits behind ages ago. In recent years they’ve earned respect mainly through albums marked by incredible variety, lofty ambience, a deep sound and expressive lyrics that often touch on current social and life issues. As for their live shows, they’ve always been known as masters of varied moods and stage theatricality, which was already defined by their original singer Fish, whom we had the chance to see last year at around the same time. And their theatricality continues no less successfully with his successor Steve Hogarth, who, as we could see with our own eyes, really is the band’s driving force today.

Full of anticipation, we arrived at the Estragon hall about six hours before the show. It sat in a godforsaken spot that looked most like some abandoned military base. The totally forsaken location was a sorry sight, with no posters or announcements of the concert whatsoever, and the unmarked parking lots, a deserted sports hall and two rusty trailers added to the picture. The whole thing felt more like a ghost town than the site of a sold-out gig. To kill the time before the doors opened, we went for a short wander around town, where we had a hard time tracking down a pizzeria. Before that, though, we took a quick peek through the door and spotted keyboardist Mark Kelly on stage, busy at a computer above his keyboards programming sound samples. When we got back in the evening, about three hours before showtime, the place in front of the hall was already teeming with people waiting for their “goulash coupons”, which is just what tickets typically look like in Italy. While we feasted our eyes on the stage setup and the gear, especially the colorful selection of guitars for both Steves, Rothery and Hogarth, the hall filled up to every last corner, but still in a way that let you breathe and move around without any trouble. It helped that the crowd was mostly graying middle-aged guys, some of them with their families. There were also proud owners of seriously worn-out 80s T-shirts, with the original logo and the court jester, so once again I was one of the few holding up the honor of those born after the band got started.

Around ten o’clock the long wait was finally over and it was time for the show to start. The lights went down, and after a short ambient intro on Kelly’s programmed samples, five familiar figures marched onto the stage and launched into the first bars of a thrilling surprise, “Splintering Heart” (Holidays In Eden, 1991). They let it unfold gradually from a calm intro to the first transition, when a punchy guitar riff hit and put the crowd on its feet in an instant. The figure that undoubtedly stood out most was the one at the microphone. With his hunched frame, a tight 19th-century-style coat and long, shoulder-length black hair, he looked a lot like the grim Professor Snape from Harry Potter (Rawsa in our translation), but only for the length of that song. Before us stood a visibly aged Steve Hogarth (the years catch up with all of us), one of the most expressive and charismatic singers in (progressive) rock. Hogarth (known to friends and fans as H’) is marked not only by an excellent voice but also by outstanding stage acting, backed up by plenty of facial expressions and costume changes. He doesn’t skimp on witty banter between songs either, which chips away a bit at their traditional image as a “serious” band. The guy completely lived the message of every song, whether he was standing at the mic, the electric piano, the guitar, or “playing” the percussion. With his stage antics he worked tirelessly to make sure the hall never dozed off, even during the longer ambient sections. That’s when we got a clear look at the rest of the band too. The slight (slight only in build, not in playing, where he pulled off a string of thrilling passages) Pete Trewavas, whose occasional jumps helped keep the energy from ever dropping among the human battery packs, stood with his bass on the left side, right in front of us. On the right he was joined by a guy of imposing build and full cheeks, who was often completely lost in his own world with his spacey guitar passages. That would be Steve Rothery, the band’s only original member, who kept proving throughout the show why he belongs among the most refined guitarists of our time, alongside David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Andrew Latimer (Camel). Mark Kelly, behind his huge rig of keyboards, where besides triggering samples he served up quite a few first-rate synth solos, looked by far the most youthful of the lot in his sports shirt. From the highest point of the stage, with a permanent smile on his face, he made sure everything was “under control”. Ian Mosley, a drumming legend who in the past has worked with musicians like Curved Air, Daryl Way and Steve Hackett, stayed hidden the whole time behind his gigantic kit, which bent pretty badly under the hail of his hits. Marillion tailored most of the setlist to the new album “Somewhere Else”, playing six songs from it, which didn’t bother us in the slightest since it’s yet another top-notch record. The sight of Mosley’s drums, which carried the album’s main symbol (a standard practice at their shows), added to the effect. Still, with some of the older material they also pulled off a few interesting and welcome surprises. Everyone who came only for their neo-progressive era and the two hits mentioned above went home unlucky this time. At one point Hogarth picked up an unusual instrument that seemed like a cross between a synthesizer and a flute, and let off some steam on it (he used it only once). Without a word they carried on with “The Other Half”, the first song from the new album, which with its mid-tempo and slightly esoteric pulse relaxed the mood and got hands up high in the air again. At the end of the song, Mr. H’ sat down at the electric piano and blessed us, papal style, with his percussion. Then, with words “of gratitude to all those who realize they can contribute their bit to righting the world’s wrongs”, he introduced “Thank You Whoever You Are”, the first ballad from the new album, which calmed the mood in the hall down a notch again. Fittingly, the high-energy “See It Like A Baby” (Somewhere Else), during which H’ also grabbed an electric guitar, got the hall back on its feet with its high-voltage choruses. Then came “Fantastic Place” (Marbles, 2004), where Rothery, with his countless spacey solos and slides (which he didn’t skimp on all night), impressed me most and carried me off for the first time into a trance-like state that came back quite a few times during the show. In recent years Marillion have also become very active in calling out the delusions of globalization. That’s a general trend among most musicians today, but they do it in a fairly unpretentious way. H’ introduced “A Voice From The Past”, which also comes from the new album, by saying that “while our planet gets more littered every year and there are ever more broken promises, the time has come for real change.” A great rendition of “The Damage” (Marbles) once again created a cosmic atmosphere in the hall. The title track of the new album also whisked me off “somewhere else” for a moment. The band showed tight chemistry all night, with great acoustics and honest performances that didn’t differ much from the studio originals. The next song from the new album, “The Last Century For Man”, H’ introduced as a critique of modern tyranny led by the two famous Anglo-Saxon countries, which have caused no small amount of grief in recent history. Those words, of course, earned a roaring applause. For the next song, “Mad” (Brave, 1994), H’ dressed the part as a “fool” in a coat covered in mirrors and accompanied the whole performance with a string of cheeky facial expressions that matched the song perfectly. Two songs from “Anaraknophobia” (2001) followed, “Separated Out” and “Between You And Me”, which brought the mood in the hall to a boil and showed off their heavier side, with the latter really wowing the crowd. At that point they threw big balloons into the hall, Jethro Tull style, and the crowd happily batted them around among themselves for the entire song. In that moment the band and the audience truly became one. To close the main set, they surprised us with an excellent version of the classic “King” (Afraid Of Sunlight, 1995), where Kelly especially shone, devoting himself entirely to the synths this time and creating that sound typical of early Marillion, which sent all the old fans into raptures.

Then came the first break, which dragged on quite a while, since H’ had to change into his new “role” before they returned to the stage. After a tense intro he finally shuffled back out, this time in Armani, with a hearing aid and a wooden cane, and the look of a man with a really bad toothache. Playing this “invisible man” helped make “The Invisible Man” (Marbles) one of the highlights of the night. Rothery, who had already swapped guitars several times, now picked up a 12-string headless electric guitar and delivered some of the best solos of the evening on it. Another encore followed. After a short joke where they started playing “This Boy”, one of the Beatles’ classics, they moved on to an excellent rendition of the gorgeous ballad “Beautiful” (Afraid Od Sunlight), which, mainly through the sound of the acoustic guitar and H’s expressive vocals, enchanted us with incredible magic. It reminded us that true beauty usually hides right where it’s most ridiculed and despised, and of the narrowness of modern little man, obsessed with endless hoarding and destruction.

After a long and ecstatic encore, during which colorful confetti rained down on us, came the second encore and the closer, the esoteric “Neverland” (Marbles). With its fragile, beautiful atmosphere and dynamic rhythm, it was without a doubt the high point of the show and the final revelation, where Marillion once again proved why they’re still among the greatest masters of drama and ambience, two things that are often so closely intertwined in their music.

The Marillion show was a truly superb experience and a real treat for all lovers of dynamic melodies, lofty ambience, rich sonic textures, stage acting and full sound. Marillion confirmed their reputation as an excellent live band and lived up to all my expectations. They proved themselves a truly great band, able through music and stage communication to build a close bridge to the audience in an instant, and with plenty of surprises to deliver a pure fairy tale, marked by a top-notch performance, a great atmosphere and an incredible flow of stage energy. In the end, all three of us were glad that the long and exhausting drive had been richly rewarded. So I’d like to thank Marillion once more for this unforgettable evening, which will stay a fond memory for a long time.

 

text: Peter Podbrežnik

photos: Andrej Leben