I headed off to the airport excitedly while still in a work call that I started on my computer and closed on my phone. After a busy day, and many busy weeks, or even months, it was time to head off to another Marillion Weekend. It is somehow unavoidable to pull out of this once you get into it, and the Weekends (Conventions), seem unavoidable events. And I don’t see any reason why one would want to avoid them anyway.

I’ve eagerly followed the announcement for host cities last Autumn, registered in the social media groups so I could better keep up with updates, and started planning ways to buy tickets, as usually Weekends sell out quite fast. So the day to head off to Paris arrived. With two such events behind them already for this year, Marillion were now heading off to the third. And I was going to be there. It’s the second time when most weekends are scaled down to only tow gigs per event. Compared to the previous times when the band was playing Friday-Sunday, starting 2023, the only event that lasts more is the one in Port Zélande. So we all have to settle for only two evenings in a row, which never seems enough. On the other hand, probably a three day event wouldn’t feel enough either.

Friday evening had Conal Kelly as opening act. I wish I could say that I paid attention to their gig, but I was so excited to be there that I just listened to them on fast-forward. When the time came, which was 20:15, the Marillion gig begun. And in the cheers of the audience gathered at Casino de Paris, The Invisible Man started. For the first time live for some of us, though I am sure not many, as Marillion fans have the habit of following the band around, we saw Mr. h in front of us without his trademark raven hair, but with natural grizzled hair. That was a nice change. But soon after he sung the first verses it was like there was no change at all. The first evening was the “album” evening, and we knew we were going to listen to Marbles. One after the other, the songs took life in front of us, and for our ears. Together with a show of lights and h’s theatricals. Marbles came out in 2004, and one of the singles on it, You’re Gone, was played on the radio even in Romania. Having heard it & recognising h’s voice in a supermarket in Bucharest, the song stuck as one of my favourites. The album itself has quite a few gems on it, with my favourites being Fantastic Place and Neverland, but Ocean Cloud as well. For You’re Gone, the members of The Web France gave us all glow sticks at the venue entrance, and asked us to flutter them high at a certain verse of the song. Which we all did. Sorry, no pics of the moments, I was busy singing and dancing and going along with the moment.

The encore of the first evening was made out of Sugar Mice, which was sung almost entirely by the audience, and King. And that’s how the first show of the Weekend ended, a bit too soon and a bit too fast than what we would have liked and expected, sometimes around 10 pm. But it was ok, we remained hopeful and excited for the second evening.

Saturday came. After a day of going around the city in the warm April Sun, it was time to head over to see the opening act, appreciated French group Lazuli. The French audience was super excited to see them. Not my cup of tea, but nevertheless an act that won the crowd’s cheers. But it was time to see Marillion again, for something that we all knew was going to be an awesome second evening. They took us on a ride through their older songs, from the opening Slàinte Mhath, from the 1987 album Clutching at Straws, continuing with Season’s End Uninvited Guest and all the way to newer songs like The Crow and The Nightingale from 2022’s AHBID. It was the first time for me to hear Script for A Jester’s Tear sung live by h, and he did an unbelievably amazing job with it. Got a bit blown away but how good it sounded. But that was just the tip of the iceberg, because just a few songs later we were delighted by The Space, which got some of us to cheer and stand and cheer some more. And good things just kept coming. One after the other we found ourselves listening to The Great Escape. Wearing my Brave t-shirt, I was waiting and hoping that they would play this song. And while it’s one of the songs that ends up in standing ovations, I was overwhelmed by the silence in which we were all waiting for the song’s last part (Falling from the Moon) to begin. For those few seconds when the song calms down, getting lost in a soft piano part, the audience was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. But we were quiet only enough to erupt as soon as the song was over and cheer frantically.

On the second evening we were spoiled with a longer setlist and three encores. The first one hit hard with The New Kings. Released on F.E.A.R. in 2016, the song is so real and so current that it’s scary. I often find myself listening to it. It saves you from watching the news. Man of a Thousand Faces was a highlight, but nothing could prepare me for the final part of the show. H was joined on stage by accordionist Charles Kieny, and after having played La Marseillaise, with vocals from the audience, the band joined them and they ended the show with Made Again, the ending track of Brave (the album, not the movie).

There is probably something I’d like to say about each song, from both evenings, but that would turn this post into an endless praise. The show was flawless! The band was amazing. As a group but also each individual member, they were all there, doing the same thing that we all pay to see them doing: playing music, singing stories. Somehow they always manage to get our money and of course, our full attention. Is there anything left to say? Well, I’d say: careful when purchasing tickets at Casino de Paris, some seats, even though advertised as regular category, have quite restricted view, making the stage visible only in photos taken while half standing and leaning forward. Uncomfortable for the viewer and disturbing back row neighbours. If you are lucky enough, you can find empty seats to move to, or stand in a spot by the stairs from where the stage is visible in its entirety. Harder for sold out shows like this one, but some of us got lucky to find these spots. The audience was mostly made of cool people and a few who saw the show through their phones or forgot that they were at a rock concert and thought they were at the opera. There was no Phantom there so no, no opera, just an amazing band with cool people in front of them, breathing in every sound. And that’s what matters, so I am going to stick to this really, really close for a while. I am sure I am not the only one.