After weeks of careful planning and getting ready, it was almost time to start packing for my train trip down to Germany, excited to see one of my favourite bands again, to take the night train, to meet friends and to visit new places, some of which I have treasured under the form of postcards since my high school days. But… just hours before my departure, because German train driver unions decided to go on strike, my train got cancelled so my 30 seconds of panic were overcome only by the thought that nothing and no one will stand between me and seeing Marillion play live. 15 minutes later my train was rebooked, my holiday rescheduled and my hotel bookings replanned. And the following day after this tiny emotional rollercoaster, I boarded the night train to Hamburg, excited and nervous, and listening to This Train Is My Life on repeat. With my schedule re-shuffled, I had one morning and early afternoon to explore Hamburg, and I chose to go see Miniatur Wunderland, where I really felt like I was in wonderland. Maybe I will write more on that in another post. Maybe not. Soon after, it was time to board my next train to Bremen to catch up with people I haven’t seen in years, laugh, talk, and see bits of the city. This was a brief visit, as the next day I was already on another train heading to Köln. Even if DB managed to delay and re-route the train twice, I was feeling the excitement of approaching Köln. Yes, it was the city where I was going to attend the concert, but it is also home to something that I’ve dreamt of visiting since I was a kid. I kept a postcard I received through mail among my closest and dearest belongings. I kept looking at it thinking that I was going to see it one day. And that day finally came. And in the pouring rain I spent 10 minutes staring at the Köln dome like it was the most amazing cathedral I had ever seen. I am a sucker for gothic architecture, but standing in front of it in the cold, torrential Autumn rain, lit by spotlights, I felt tiny and overwhelmed. And happy. I continued to the hotel, which I specifically booked close to the concert venue, enjoyed a nice dinner that I booked at a place near by (it’s called Shi and the food was delicious), and went to bed early. The second day in Köln was spent visiting the cathedral and wandering the streets, just until it was time to get ready for the concert.
It is amazing how, on a concert day, you see audience members flow down streets from public transportation stations, taxis, bike parkings or simply by walking, drawn to the night. You know where they are going, they know where you are going, you don’t talk but you understand that you are there for the same thing. The venue: Palladium. Huge hall, standing concert, bad visibility from the back, the side view restricted by columns that hold balconies that were not opened for the public. A (somewhat empty) “golden circle” section kept us a bit to the back. People had been there for hours waiting excitedly. I managed to sneak in between some groups to a place from where I could see the stage, and from where I knew that I could sneak in further and deeper into the crowd as the concert went along. A melodic, though a bit depressive opening act (iamthemorning) tried to get us in the mood for Marillion, not that it was needed, but it’s always nice to listen to new music as Marillion has a habit of touring with interesting artists that sound good. Then around 9 pm it was time for the band to go on stage.
They started, as in every gig of this tour, with The Invisible Man which comes with a very theatrical performance. I liked it as an opening piece, it is a good hook to get people into the moment. It was followed by Easter, which probably came a bit too early in the setlist. This song is usually a crowd-pleaser, but this time I feel it didn’t get enough attention from us, as it obviously deserves. After Mr. h’s Summer gigs in Sweden, I got stuck on quite a lot of songs, Sounds that Can’t Be Made being one of them. I was so happy to hear it live again. I think that one of the nice things about the Marillion concerts, for me, is that I don’t know all of their songs, a few of them always catch my attention because they sound unfamiliar, or I haven’t listened to them enough. This was Sounds… last Summer, and Beyond You this time, alongside Lucky Man, Splintering Heart and King, which I know that I’ve listened to but they never caught on or not like Map of the World, the following song, did from the first time I heard it years ago. On to Reprogram the Gene and here we were listening to songs from their latest album, which will soon turn two. It’s unreal that two years have passed already and that the band announced that next year they will start working on new material. Quartz was the song where I finally took out my phone and started taking some pictures. The good thing about it is that it had a really nice background on the screen behind the band, the not so good thing about it is that it’s not one of my favourite tracks, however, people seem to enjoy it quite a bit. It’s nice to have close to ten minutes to observe other aspects of the event rather than taking in every sound coming from the direction of the stage. The Crow and the Nightingale, an emotional ballad with beautiful lyrics and a scent of Leonard Cohen, also coming from their latest album, led us to Care, a four-parts track that closes An Hour Before It’s Dark, the same album released in 2022, a beautiful melodic piece that flows with emotions, carried by the keyboards and h’s voice, with powerful lyrics and a wholesome composition. Or at least that’s how I perceive it. And I totally fell for it after listening to its last part at Mr. h’s gigs last Summer, where you could hear the raw melody of Angels on Earth delivered by only his voice and some piano chords.
And then it was time for the first encore: Splintering Heart and, to my joy, Neverland, played after Mr. h told us that they would have liked to play Gaza on this tour, but chose not to, as to not bring everyone down. I already added the first track to the list of songs that I was not very familiar with, but Neverland is another story. From the first notes, to the lights, to the lyrics, the piano part, having the chance last Summer to hear the story of how the song was written, the audience’s total silence, almost no phone in sight, everyone listening, and the explosion of cheer after Steve Rothery’s guitar part and after the song’s ending. Definitely one of their best live pieces. And one of the songs that yes, I got stuck to after hearing it live for the first time. Because you cannot truly like it until you hear it live. I was totally lost in it.
Quick break for us to cheer and demand more, and after a short fun jam of Seven Nation Army, we got King as an evening closure. A very rock’n’roll piece to close with, a performance that sees Mr. h grabbing a guitar and joining in on the fun alongside Steve Rothery, Mark Kelly, Pete Trewavas and Ian Mosley. And it was over. How did a bit more than two hours pass so fast, I have no clue. It was a great setlist, and yet I know that I would have liked to hear so many more songs. I think that’s the fun thing about the Marillion weekends: you always know that you may get a second chance to hear a favourite, but not in one-evening events. In this situation you need to settle for what you get. After the last goodbyes and thank yous and a nudge to get back to where we belonged, it was time to go home, or to the hotel, same one for many of us, trying to walk back into the life of a regular evening, but knowing that this was nothing close to a regular evening, not even a regular day or a regular trip.
I departed Köln the next day, after a lazy morning at the hotel and a last glimpse at the dome from its front, its side, the Starbucks café while taking shelter from the rain, and the train window. I boarded a train going back to Hamburg thinking to myself: what a fantastic place I visited!
Last weekend it was time to immerse myself again into the beautiful music of Marillion. This time it was to listen to their older works, performed flawlessly, as I was about to find out, by The Steve Rothery Band. Steve R. is Marillion’s guitarist, and he takes the opportunity to celebrate Marillion’s early releases by performing them together with an amazing bunch of talented musicians, which are, obviously, not his regular band mates. We had the privilege to attend two consecutive concerts and listen to songs from The Ghosts of Pripyat, his 2014 solo album, the full Misplaced Childhood on the first evening, the full Clutching at Straws on the second evening, as well as songs from Fugazi and Script for a Jester’s Tear.
Fryshuset Klubben has a capacity of maximum 800 people. The first evening the venue was packed. I am certain that everybody came particularly to listen to Misplaced Childhood, which is the band’s most successful and well known album. From the first notes of The Ghosts of Pripyat I knew I was in the right place. A fully instrumental 3 opening tracks got us into the mood and pumped us up for what was about to be a trip down musical-memory lane to 1985. The whole set of Misplaced Childhood was more of a sing-along and the artists delivered a perfect performance. A lot of laughter, interaction with the crowd and passion on both sides. The songs were flowing one after the other and it was quickly time to say goodbye to Misplaced Childhood and get ready for the final tracks before the encore. The first song to make us snap out of it was Assassing which sounded amazing and made all of us dance. It was followed by Jigsaw, Freaks, Incubus, Garden Party (I must say I enjoy the video more than the song itself) and Market Square Heroes. And just like that the evening was over.
The second evening had a slightly smaller audience, which I honestly didn’t quite understand, as Clutching at Straws is a great album. While Misplaced Childhood is a bit more catchy, this album is a bit darker, with maybe a bit of a more complex composition, more intertwined sounds and a deeper grip on the listener. Or at least this is how I hear it. While the evening started with a few more songs from The Ghosts of Pripyat, with Morpheus opening the night again, the continuation into the full-album moment of the evening caught me completely, and it was easy to disconnect from everything and just breathe in the music. I figured out quite early in the setlist that I was enjoying this second evening better, and I was breathlessly waiting to hear live all the familiar songs on the album. And somehow I enjoyed the closing tracks of the second show better than the ones they played the previous evening (Cinderella Search, Script for a Jester’s Tear, Grendel and Fugazi). Were my expectations for the first evening too high? Did it take everybody a whole day to warm up? Or is simply Clutching at Straws‘ grip on me? People around me seemed to have enjoyed the first evening more. Maybe live Misplaced has more guitar solos that Steve R. hypnotises us with, while Clutching is more homogenous as a musical piece? Or maybe I just like it more, hence the stronger impression the second night made on me. Lots of brilliant keyboard parts in this one though and an impeccable performance on that from Riccardo Romano. And so many good vibes from David Foster whose smile and good mood was contagious. And they are the two new artists added to my playlists after this weekend. Great vocals and a total privilege to see Steve R. at the centre of the stage and hear him joke and interact with us.
To me Marillion has the voice of Mr. h, their live performances is what got me so caught up in this. But this was not about that Marillion. This was about a small stage holding in its middle a titan of a guitar player whose talent is surpassed only by the incredible sounds that he creates with his guitar, a singer who is a walking miracle (Martin Jakubski), a focused bass player who exchanges messages in gazes and rhythm (Yatim Halim), an invisible drummer whose only presence on stage is given away by the drum set and regular beats (Leon Parr), a guitarist having the best time of his life on stage while making sure the circle of sound is fully closed (Dave Foster), and a keyboard player spellbound by the music (Riccardo Romano)… and me by him and everything else.
Two days after the amazing event in Linköping, it was time to go see Steve “h” Hogarth in Stockholm. I was still riding the wave of energy from the previous gig and I was ready for another evening of stories, laughter and good music. I also wanted to get a seat as close to the stage as possible, so again, I got to the venue before the doors opened and took my seat in the queue, and yes, there were a lot of people in front of me already, but I still managed to find a seat in the second row, behind fans who had been sitting in front of me in Linköping as well. The venue in Stockholm was more lively, colourful and very cozy, with rows of chairs but also sofas and armchairs in the back, as well as a bar in the same room. I knew from before the event that I want to buy some merchandise and go to the autograph/meet & greet session after the concert.
Steve showed up on stage a bit after 7 pm, with the laptop under his arm and a wide smile on his face, scanning the whole audience in a glimpse, and he was greeted by a full house of around 100 people who were cheering and smiling back excitedly. And the show started. Not that much chit-chat in this one, and not as much laughter, just some giggles every now and then. The first song was The Evening Shadows, and right after we got Fantastic Place, which I got stuck with on repeat quite a lot after the Berlin weekend in June, so of course I was thrilled to hear the raw version of the song. And after two more tunes we got to the questions part of the evening. I already mentioned in my post about the Linköping gig that, when purchasing a ticket, you could request 10 songs and ask a question. With a bit of luck, you’d get some of the requested melodies played live (according to Mr h, he didn’t take the time to read through the spreadsheet that collected all the requests), and get an answer to your question (which were in the spreadsheet that he took the time to read through). And though I was out of ideas for questions for the first evening, I snuck one in the purchase form, together with my 10 requests for the Stockholm concert. So after discussing owning a pet skunk, but ending up getting a skunk fur coat, or talking about questions he wouldn’t like to be asked, came an answer to the following question: What is your dearest Marillion/music memory? My question. I froze and melted in the same time! So this is how we got into memories of playing Estonia at the Royal Albert Hall (2019, With Friends From the Orchestra), and how amazing that moment was for him, as well as the story on how Neverland was written (it might have involved some creativity incentives at the pub). And we got this with a live demonstration on how the process went like, from Mark Kelly’s creation of the chords around which the song was built, to how Steve Rothery ends up writing amazing guitar riffs accidentally, to coming up with other melody bits and pieces that turned into the beautiful Neverland, which he played and teased us with throughout the whole story.
The gig continued with covers from Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd and many Marillion songs, as well as with a short moment of taking requests directly from the audience. I got to listen to another song from my list of requests (made the same list for both gigs), and that was White Paper, from the 2016 album FEAR. Of course we all sang to the chorus of Easter and the crowd was delighted to listen to a medley of Ocean Cloud and Estonia. People asked me why I wanted to see the same artist twice in a row, and I had to explain every time that the setlists are different from one evening to another. Yes, some songs were played in both places, but who wouldn’t want to hear Seasons End twice? I could never get enough of this! I just sat there for two and a half hours listening… and writing down the name of each song, only to be able to put this post together as setlist.fm doesn’t always get updated, for example, I have no idea what was played in Gävle, where I really wish I went as well.
It was a very nice feeling to attend this event and the previous one. It is such a different take on the music and it is quite hard to put in words what you experience. You get very emotional and happy. It is also nice to exchange glances with other members of the audience, to see that people travel from other countries for this, to hear them comment that you are surprisingly young to be at such a gig. And the awesome part was waiting in the queue to get an autograph, a photo and to say thank you in person. And just smiling and keeping that smile on your face and the feeling with you for as long as possible, even if a few minutes later you just run for the bus in the pouring rain and step in all puddles on the way.
After June’s Marillion Weekend in Berlin, which I wrote about here, it was now time to see Steve Hogarth. Though his Holidays in Sweden tour had a date scheduled for Stockholm too, I couldn’t resist the temptation to travel to another location and catch an extra show. I had to choose between Linköping and Gävle and I made my choice by thinking: do I want to see The Swedish Air Force Museum or The Swedish Train Museum? Airplanes won and so did Linköping.
After getting off the train from Stockholm, I got straight on the bus and went to see the planes. I scheduled my train ride in such a way that I’d have enough time to visit the place just before it was time to check-in at the hotel. The museum is a piece of Sweden’s history, and besides all the cool aircrafts and their stories, it also paints a very interesting picture of Sweden’s relationship with war, peace and offers some depictions of what life was like in Sweden during and after the Cold War. So after learning some new things and standing a few meters under a real SAAB A-32 Lansen jet fighter aircraft, it was time to head back to the city centre and get ready for the concert (Side note: war sucks and I wish there was never a need for army planes).
I arrived in front of the venue at 18:02. There was already a queue… but not a very long one. I went in soon after and found a seat in the second row in front of the stage. There were very few people in the crowd, but slowly the seats started to get occupied. At a certain point, quietly and without a big fuss, Steve passed us all and went up to the backstage area. It was almost time for the concert to start, and right after 7 pm, with a laptop under his arm and a big smile, cheered by the audience, Steve Hogarth took his seat behind the piano. And the show began, though the first 10-15 minutes or so felt more like a stand-up comedy rather than a music show. To explain: besides the concerts with Marillion, their lead singer organises some events in which he spends time chatting with the audience and playing his songs, Marillion songs, other artists’ songs accompanied by a piano. My third such event, so I know the background story. The fun part about these events is that they’re unscripted and things can go either way. The main idea about last evening is that after the first 15 minutes my cheeks were hurting from all the laughing. Between chats with the crowd and stories about Happiness Is the Road the music started: Seasons End. In the blink of an eye we were all caught up in the song. Sympathy next, then Sounds that Can’t Be Made. A story about a song, a totally unrelated pun, a Marillion song, some tracks from his solo work (yay for Nothing to Declare), some Bob Dylan, some Kate Bush, some more laughs and a very, very happy crowd of people, both off and on the stage.
At a certain time during the show, Steve told us that the crown on the previous evening was rather quiet, partly because of him and his quarrel with two chatty persons from the audience, and that he was impressed by the fact that we were quite loud. We might have been asked to be a bit more involved but I don’t think we needed much extra motivation to cheer as loud as we did than the great music, the conversations, the intimate vibe of the event. It was a fantastic place to be! It is incredible how different the perception on the artist is in such events. From leading a rock band in front of thousands of people with Marillion, where the music is blending with the lights, the atmosphere, turning the concert into an epic gig, these events shift the focus. You hear the music differently, the lyrics are clear, you hear every word, there is no guitar riff to cover the verses, no melodic piano to carry you through the rhythm of a song. The sounds are raw, the voice is strong (and what a voice). I said it before in different contexts: it’s a distinct way of living the music. It is hypnotising.
I wrote down on my phone the setlist. I managed to count 18 songs, but I am sure there were bits and pieces of more tracks here and there, in-between chats and giggles. But to make it a memorable night, the ending of the event brought us Afraid of Sunlight, Easter, Care (Angels on Earth), and Life on Mars. So much emotion in one evening!
When buying the ticket, one had the option to suggest 10 songs for the evening of the concert, and to ask a question. I am the worst at asking artists questions as most of the times all I want is to hear them play. But I did list 10 songs, and I got to listen to 3 of them: Nothing to Declare, You’re Gone and Afraid of Sunlight. I still have a chance to hear some of the other 7 and I really hope that some of them make it on the setlist at the next gig.
I went to the hotel after the concert but not before taking a short detour to see how Linköping looks like in the evening, and I spent the next morning enjoying some good brunch at Wayne’s Coffee, walking around the streets and visiting Linköping Trädgårdsförening, a lovely park full of pretty flowers and lovely fika places. But early afternoon it was time to return to a cold and rainy Stockholm and leave behind the sunny and cozy Linköping city centre, and the concert at Wallenbergsalen.
Spinning Words 