Marillion's Anoraknophobia Tour
May 23, 2001
Just got back from a Marillion concert at The Forum, Kentish Town, London.
After leaving Bristol yesterday to drive to Poole to pick up Matt (who isn't a h2g2 researcher yet!), I drove from Poole to Swiss Cottage in London where we were lucky enough to find a free space next to a parking meter. We parked there and continued by tube to Kentish Town where Marillion were performing.
Arriving at Kentish Town a little early, we ventured into the first pub we came across after the tube station exit (of which I can't quite remember the name...) and enjoyed a swift beer before joining the queue outside the Forum.
In the queue, there was a copy of the Evening Standard being passed around with an **appalling** "review" of this tour. I can't remember the exact wording but I think it went something like this...
"Marillion used to have a lead singer called Fish. He's not with them any more, but when he was they used to sing about goblins and trolls and pixies and stuff..." (Apologies if I've done the Evening Standard a disservice there, but really.... Which year is this????)
Anyway, at around 7.00PM the doors opened and we were let inside. Because we'd been queuing for quite a while, we got a place right at the front, about one row of people back from the stage.
The support band, "White Buffalo" came on at around 8.00PM. I'm not normally a big fan of support acts, however in this case I was **really** surprised. They were without a doubt the best unsigned act I have *ever* seen, and if I had a large enough chequebook, I would be signing them tomorrow. The lead singer/guitarist/keyboard player was absolutely astounding and they performed some wonderful songs. Apparently they had an album out a few years ago which I'd really like to get a copy of if anyone knows where I might find one (nothing on Amazon or Ebay at the moment...)
At 9.00PM, Marillion took to the stage, kicking off with a blistering version of "Separated Out" - the song that features samples from the 1930's Todd Browning Movie, "Freaks" and merges them with a relevant and contemporary rock song.
Following on from this exciting start, the show also contained several other tracks from the new album "Anoraknophobia": "Quartz", "Fruit of the Wild Rose", "Between You and Me", "Map of the World" and "If My Heart Were a Ball, It Would Roll Uphill". H should be commended for his performance on "Quartz", particularly through the sequence that is as close to "Rap" as Marillion have ever come, which despite the complexity of the lyrics and the timing required he got word perfect. (The album, by the way, is well worth the investment if you should come across a copy - no pixies, trolls or goblins involved or your money back!!!) It's a pity they didn't play "This is the 21st Century" from this album, as it would have been sure to have been a crowd pleaser. I guess, it just features too much electronica, too many drum loops and not enough "real" instruments to be viable to play live AND keep the musicians busy...
Also featured in the performance were most of the highlights from 1995's "Afraid of Sunlight" album: "Cannibal Surf Babe", "King", "Afraid of Sunlight" itself and the absolutely beautiful "Out of This World" - the song written about Donald Campbell's 1964 tragic breaking of the water speed record.
Other songs included, "Rich" and "Go!" from 1999's "marillion.com", "The Answering Machine" from 1998' "Radiation", the absolutely fantastic "Mad" and "The Great Escape" from 1994's "Brave" (complete with H's mirrored trenchcoat, seemingly reflecting his entire soul back at the audience in a pure act of performance art), "Man of 1000 Faces" from 1997's "This Strange Engine" and "Waiting to Happen" from 1991's "Holidays in Eden". Unfortunately 1989's (and first Steve Hogarth) album "Season's End" was not featured at all. Neither were any Fish songs despite the press' protestations that he's only just left. (maybe 12 years isn't that long in journalism...)
Following the second and final encore where they played "The Answering Machine", H seemed to be genuinely moved by the unrelenting cheers of the audience, did a brief "Goodnight and thank-you London", and stood there - just for a moment - apparently stage-struck for the first time in his career. It must be very difficult to have to walk of stage when you are leaving behind that many people hanging onto your every word.
I don't normally believe in dishing out advertising slogans, but, if anybody is reading this, in my opinion there really is a bit of advice everyone should at least try once before they knock it...
"Find a better way of life / [URL Removed by Moderator]"
I'd really like to write an official guide entry on Marillion. It's just that there is one (albeit short) entry already in the edited guide and a very good entry on the Steve Hogarth years that hasn't been edited (and needs a little help here and there in the English department), but I *really* don't want to tread on anyones toes. What do you think I should do?
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