spectoremg Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 My head's full of rant but I'll keep it short. Two hours of that whiney vocals pretentious crap they became when Fish* left. I appreciate that they have an enormous back catalogue but to avoid anything from your most commercially successful and popular album - you know the one I mean - really?! *Nothing from the Fish era. Also the worst concert sound I've heard for decades. Three beautiful Warwick Thumbs anonymous in the mix. Shameful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 4 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: Did you really expect anything from the Fish era? It happens, but rarely. Looking forward to seeing them next week. I shall report back 😀 It stinks of band politics to me. Take a pillow with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 They usually do a Fishy song or two - but I'm in Scotland so they probably feel they have to. That said, last time I saw them was Newcastle & they did Garden Party. Wouldn't mind in the slightest if they didn't though (although the first 3 albums had their moments), and looking forward to seeing them next week in Glasgow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 For a second I read this as Pompeii.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marillionred Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 A real pity you didn't enjoy it. I was at the Nottingham gig earlier in the tour. Might be because I was only two seats away from the mixing desk, but the sound was spot on. Loud and clear but not deafening. And those Warwick basses sounded awesome. Other fans of the band have suggested your venue can be hard to get a good sound in - maybe just bad luck. I agree the setlists on this tour have been uncompromising and somewhat of a challenge to those new to band (or who haven't kept up with the "h" era. But also great they haven't turned into a cabaret band stuck in the 80s and are still making fresh music. I loved every minute, but then again I would 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 I would probably have liked Marillion more than I do, but I just can’t get past the drummer. All of his fills sound like he’s tripped over his kit. Max respect to them for doing what they do, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 My mate Dave Foster plays with them sometimes, either as an opening act or guitarist. He’s one of those musicians and you think “eh?” Just a bit special, and a bloody marvellous and humble chap. Seems ridiculous that the only time we’ve shared a stage was at a mates 40th where we played blues and stereophonic/killers songs. As for Marillion generally, I’m not that clued up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marillionred Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 18 hours ago, Bassassin said: They usually do a Fishy song or two - but I'm in Scotland so they probably feel they have to. That said, last time I saw them was Newcastle & they did Garden Party. Wouldn't mind in the slightest if they didn't though (although the first 3 albums had their moments), and looking forward to seeing them next week in Glasgow. These days they generally save the "Fish" era songs for festival slots and fan club shows. As this tour is billed as "With friends from the orchestra", none of the gigs on this tour so far have featured a Fish era song so far as I know, though they have pulled out some exceptional deep catalogue tracks. Glasgow may be the exception, but I doubt it. Hope you enjoy it 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marillionred Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 19 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said: Did you really expect anything from the Fish era? It happens, but rarely. Looking forward to seeing them next week. I shall report back 😀 This. Have a great time - prepare to be mesmerized...…. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) I feel sorry for H. He's been in the band for 30 odd years (Fish was only in it for 10!) and people still call him the new guy. If you want to hear more old Marillion you are better off seeing Fish, who is touring again also (for the last time before retiring). I love both 'versions' but I think you have to see them as two slightly different bands. H singing Fish songs just dont sound right to me. Steve Hogarths lyrics are better in many respects than Fish's ever were and musically the band are wonderful to hear. Ps does he still do the white gloves thing? Edited November 8, 2019 by Muppet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marillionred Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Muppet said: I feel sorry for H. He's been in the band for 30 odd years (Fish was only in it for 10!) and people still call him the new guy. If you want to hear more old Marillion you are better off seeing Fish, who is touring again also (for the last time before retiring). I love both 'versions' but I think you have to see them as two slightly different bands. H singing Fish songs just dont sound right to me. Steve Hogarths lyrics are better in many respects than Fish's ever were and musically the band are wonderful to hear. Ps does he still do the white gloves thing? The "white gloves thing" was a passing phase - the tips of the gloves had midi switches which were used to trigger samples from Mark Kellys keyboard rig., but there were reliability issues ocassionally. In more recent years, and for one of the encore songs at the Nottingham gig on this tour, h uses a repurposed cricket bat with the midi switches inset into the meat of the bat for the same purpose. Clearly visible in this video from a fan convention gig in Holland a few years ago, midi triggering at 8:30: Lovely bass playing by Pete Trewavas on this video - the Cort bass I believe. Edited November 8, 2019 by Marillionred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) Oh my cod! You mean there's no Fish? I'd have got myself straight outta that plaice. You won't have a whale of a time if he's not there, eel be sure of that. It's a damp squid without him. Edited November 8, 2019 by Bassfinger 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I think it's 18 albums with H and four with Fish. I'm taking a little break from them though as the Marillion tribute band I was in, which was rehearsing towards the first gig, decided that they would dispense with my services (I don't think they yet have a replacement). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) I was at the Nottm gig too, sound was fine. To be fair the venue was mainly designed to give excellent acoustics for things like orchestras so if a sound engineer can't get a good sound there they need taking round the back and put out of their misery. To defend the band a bit they were trying to pick songs that leant themselves to an orchestral backing, it's the whole point of the tour. I've seen rock bands go out with an orchestra as an add on before and just do a regular set and completely drown out the orchestra for most of the song so you need to pick the set list carefully. Also as previously pointed out Marillion now do these weekend fan jollies where they will do 2 or 3 gigs and it's a different set list each night so they cover a lot of ground doing those that they then avoid in the main tour. All that said I didnt think it looked like my sort of set when I did find out what they were going to play (persuaded to go by a mate ages ago who bought the tickets and I promptly forgot about it until about 2 weeks before the gig). I think this is why I haven't seen them since the Brave tour (which was also a bit hard work from what I recall). They seem to have a habit of choosing to play songs from albums that I don't think are personally that strong and if they do it for enough albums it's generated set lists which I've found just a bit too weak for me to stump up money to see. As I said this one was always going to be a bit odd because of the orchestra but it was just too dominated by too many long or mid-to-long songs in a slow or medium tempo that don't have enough variety within them to keep up the interest, they seem to get a bit stuck in a rut with the 8-12 minute format though branch out a bit more with ones longer than that. I'd probably have to go to one of the fan weekends to hear the Hogarth era songs I like but would probably have to go to all 3 gigs and last time I looked at one it was a lot of money. I don't expect any fish era songs at their gigs now, that material is better covered by tribute acts these days. Edited November 9, 2019 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 In reply to KevB's observations I found long, dull and weak songs to be tiresome one after another. And the orchestra thing seems to be a gimmick. Also if you're tailoring the set for the classical players isn't the tail wagging the dog? I was gagging for an upbeat song like Uninvited Guest or Hooks in You but they didn't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleat Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I lost interest in Marillion when they started the crowd funding thing with Anaraknophobia, and have been consistently disappointed with the output since then. Everything from Season's End up to Radiation however nothing short of brilliant, the highlights being Brave and This Strange Engine , with the exception of .Com which I found a bit of a chore to listen to all the way through. I saw them on the original Brave tour and they are without a doubt a fantastic live band. I did have a look at the song Estonia on YouTube, and I think that one definitely lends itself well to being orchestrated. The fact is the band's sound has evolved over the years and seem to cater to a different sort of audience these days maybe? I wouldn't expect any band to just churn out the same thing for 30+ years to be honest. Shame it's just not really to my taste anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ednaplate Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 On 08/11/2019 at 18:44, AndyTravis said: My mate Dave Foster plays with them sometimes, either as an opening act or guitarist. He’s one of those musicians and you think “eh?” Just a bit special, and a bloody marvellous and humble chap. Seems ridiculous that the only time we’ve shared a stage was at a mates 40th where we played blues and stereophonic/killers songs. As for Marillion generally, I’m not that clued up. I saw him and the drummer from his band enjoying themselves at the Bridgewater Hall gig in Mcr the other night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 13 minutes ago, ednaplate said: I saw him and the drummer from his band enjoying themselves at the Bridgewater Hall gig in Mcr the other night. Ah right yeah - he’s just announced some dates of his own. Not seen him for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 18 hours ago, spectoremg said: In reply to KevB's observations I found long, dull and weak songs to be tiresome one after another. And the orchestra thing seems to be a gimmick. Also if you're tailoring the set for the classical players isn't the tail wagging the dog? I was gagging for an upbeat song like Uninvited Guest or Hooks in You but they didn't happen. Me too but as I said they did all that sort of stuff during their fans weekend gatherings earlier in the year so presumably picked other material for this tour that fans didn't hear at those gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted November 10, 2019 Author Share Posted November 10, 2019 11 hours ago, KevB said: Me too but as I said they did all that sort of stuff during their fans weekend gatherings earlier in the year so presumably picked other material for this tour that fans didn't hear at those gigs. I think everyone at these gigs are fans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blink Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 I'm seeing them in Southend on Friday. The tour is in part to celebrate 30 years of H being in the band so no Fish era songs. If you want to hear the olde stuff I can recommend StillMarillion. I saw them in Newcastle last year. Excellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattbass6 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 On 07/11/2019 at 23:42, spectoremg said: My head's full of rant but I'll keep it short. Two hours of that whiney vocals pretentious crap they became when Fish* left. I appreciate that they have an enormous back catalogue but to avoid anything from your most commercially successful and popular album - you know the one I mean - really?! *Nothing from the Fish era. Also the worst concert sound I've heard for decades. Three beautiful Warwick Thumbs anonymous in the mix. Shameful. If you want to hear FISH era songs, go and see The Steve Rothery Band, live. They always cover the FISH era music, and their singer who happens to be in Marillion and Iron Maiden tribute bands, does a fine FISH impersonation. Also, as @AndyTravis mentioned, the superb, and also a good friend, Dave Foster plays 2nd guitar. They put on quite a show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 As I mentioned before, if you want Fish era songs, you can still go and see Fish on tour! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marillionred Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 On 10/11/2019 at 19:25, spectoremg said: I think everyone at these gigs are fans? Word from the Facebook "Marillion and fans" page is that there are quite a lot of lapsed fans reinvestigating the band again and plenty of newcomers, judging by the variety of posts. Many seem to love the "with friends from the orchestra" format, naturally not all do. But more seem to like it than don't. I can't see them repeating the format too often for future tours. Maybe for fan club conventions and the occasional "special" gig. Next year they are working on the next studio album, so in 2021 they are likely to be touring again, but this time with an emphasis on the new release. Personally I'm loving that the band is getting the wider recognition they deserve. But I do understand they are musical marmite and not to everyone's taste. In the meantime Fish has started to announce 2020 tour dates. Looking forward to seeing him again, and watching Steve Vantsis's bass playing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Marillion. A 40 year career with a large percentage of it doing the DIY thing. Much respect is due. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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