This one is a little bit special. Why is it a little bit special you ask? Maybe because it took place in Italy, maybe because it came with other small travels that made it special? Maybe because after missing the one from 2023, it was finally time to see the band play live here? Or maybe it was an opening act that added the sprinkles on top of it all. Or maybe it was all of these reasons in one. But irrelevant, here I was, on Friday evening, walking happily to Gran Teatro Geox in Padova ready to see Marillion live again for the first “album evening” of the Weekend, knowing that they will most likely play Marbles, just like they did in the previous events this year.

I was so impatient and excited that I kept walking around, looking at people, watching them socialise, looking at the merch, checking out the details of the organisation and watching the RanestRane guys interacting with fans. It was so cool to see them mingle and take the time to talk to anyone who wanted to say hi. And as much as I wanted to go say hi, I was too nervous and timid to even dare to take a step in their direction. More about them later.

At 9 pm I was at my seat, eagerly waiting to see Marillion again. One month from Paris and it felt like I just saw them live a week ago. The familiarity of the mood of their concerts was setting in. And so, at the expected time, they started with The Invisible Man. One by one, some of the songs of Marbles were ringing in our ears until Cannibal Surf Babe made its way in the setlist all the way from Afraid of Sunlight. That was a nice surprise. You’re Gone followed it, and I was happy to hear it live again. I don’t think I will ever get bored of this song. And then, another surprise: they played King, which was usually an encore song until now, in the main body of the concert. After taking a short break to allow us to cheer a bit more loudly, they came back and continued with Waiting to Happen which is one of my favorite songs from them. They ended the first night with Marbles IV and the beautiful Neverland which is the perfect cliffhanger when knowing that there’s another concert the next day.

After hearing them live in Paris, I tried to take the time to snap out of the spell of the music and observe other details too, like how Steve (R) and Pete change places and greet fans from their opposite sides of the stage. Or how Mark looks at Ian. Mr h is all over the place, and he is such an amazing frontman that he tends to capture all our attention. You can also see how the guys communicate with their tech team and observe the interactions with the crew helping them to change instruments or tape a loose paper or cable to the stage. It’s all part of their show. And you can see all this while singing along, of course. You can also glance at the people seated around you, like the lady behind me with a teddy bear dressed in a Marillion t-shirt that “danced” its little body out all evening. Or the man in front of me that seemed to allow each song to run through his veins. Or the guy sitting next to me that was so kind and even said hello the next evening, though all we shared was some good times to good music and no other words at all. And that was only the first day.

Now, another fun aspect of this event is, especially in smaller places like Padova, meeting other fans on the street. Whether we wear the band’s t-shirts or just recognise each-other by the bracelet we get for the access, on Saturday, we ran into each-other repeatedly: at the terraces, on the streets, visiting landmarks. So it was more than just heading together to and from the venue and spending some hours there listening to music. I even had a lady working at the Pallazo della Ragione reading the info on my bracelet and sharing amused that she saw so many people with these, she became curious to know what they were for. 

The second evening for me was a bit more than just Marillion. After seeing that they played around with the setlist for the first evening, I was expecting changes from previous weekends for the second concert as well. And I kept wondering: what if they bring on the choir? But even before getting to Marillion, I knew that I was going to see RanestRane live, finally, with their very own setlist. I somehow haven’t managed to see them in this formula before, but I’ve been listening to them. The closest they got to Sweden lately was The Netherlands and Germany, and since they play mostly in Italy and in Italian, the chances of getting to see them more often are slim, though they exist. Prog band, with a quite special concept attached to their live performances – CineConerto – their music is quite elaborate, energetic, entwined with melodies that stick to you, parts that have the talent of turning into ear-worms, making them a fascinating live act. They are well known to Marillion fans, having worked with both Steve R and h, having been opening act for Marillion before, played with h on the Roman stage for his solo shows. Their keyboard player Riccardo Romano is most likely known better as a member of SRB, a project that he’s been part of for more than 10 years. Now, any other details about them are available online, what I would really like to say is that I was so happy to see them live. The venue was almost full for their opening gig but I still managed to find an empty seat a bit more to the front of the stage and got to see them a bit up close. It’s quite a pleasure to hear their harmonies blend, watch them navigate songs so easily, focus on a guitar riff one moment and smile and encourage us to clap the other. Being Italian, they were received warmly by their home crowd. Being used to Italian music ever since I was a kid, I find it easy to listen to them, but I am still a bit far away from singing along. They really represented the best way that second evening could have started. And at the end of their quite short gig (45 minutes), even Mr h came up on stage and gave them a clap in front of us all. And they got a well deserved standing ovation. Don’t think words do them justice. And now maybe you can understand why this Weekend was a bit more special for me.

Now going back to the essence of the trip: the Marillion concert, second night. The setlist followed the same structure of the previous Weekends, with a journey through more albums. This time I was really caught up by The Great Escape, but the glacial anticipation of the song’s climax from Paris was replaced with cheers in Padova. And the tune itself paved the way to the encores. And the first stop in this part of the concert was The New Kings, a personal favorite track from a personal favorite album (F.E.A.R.). A bittersweet recollection of my first Marillion concert as well. But after The New Kings, the curtains of the theatre fell, a not very subtle hint that something was cooking, and that’s when I knew that my gut feeling was right and we were going to see the Flowing Chords choir again. What my gut feeling couldn’t predict was how much we’d be spoiled by the second encore: we got 6!!! more songs. With The Crow and the Nightingale as a first stop, to Go!, Beyond You, Easter (I was so caught up in the event that I hadn’t realised they haven’t played it yet to that moment of the concert), to Man of a Thousand Faces that I had hoped to hear live again with Flowing Chords after hearing it during the Naturally Peculiar Evening last year in Rome, and ending with Care IV (Angels on Earth). One thing that was so obvious was the joy of those present on stage. Though the choir was focused on following the lead of their conductor, they were charming and encouraged us to sing and clap. At certain moments Pete and Mark seemed just as excited of what was happening and of how the music sounded as we were. Mr h seemed so proud. The blend of harmonies between the choir and the group was mesmerising. And I don’t think any of us would have liked the evening to end. But it did, and Get Back from The Beatles led us all out the venue doors and into the night, back to our hotels and homes.

And with the risk of turning this into a very long post, I need to take a moment and write about how well the concert was organised. Padova is a great location, for some of the reasons that I stated above but also because it is so close to so many cool places in Italy. The hall is big enough to host us all (and still sell out), the theatre is also quite accessible by foot, and for those who don’t want to walk, the organisers even put together shuttle services. We were also lucky to have sunshine and warmth, and that helped. At the venue one could find everything: from food and drinks at reasonable prices for an event, to a very well organised merch-stand line. People were friendly and the access was smooth. Prior to the event, all possible questions were answered by The Web Italy staff, so no confusion arose whatsoever. And I do have to say that it is fun to come down to breakfast and see that we’re (almost) all at that hotel for the same reason.