Late 2021’s Hammersmith gigs gave a taster of what Marillion had in store for 2022 when they played a sneak preview of the ‘Be Hard On Yourself’ suite. Nine months later the band is back at the venue to play the album from which those tracks came in its entirety.

That November evening gave us a fine show. This September one surpassed it.

‘An Hour Before It’s Dark’ was released in March and rocked up to No 2 on the actual charts. Only ‘Misplaced Childhood’, of course, achieved a higher position back in the heady days of 1985. The new album, like its predecessor ‘F.E.A.R.’, is full of longform pieces of immersive, cinematic and lyrically conscious music. However live, its moods and textures are given a jolt of power and energy.

Take the previously mentioned ‘Be Hard On Yourself’. Immediately Pete Trewavas on bass finds fat, pumping lines to drive the rockier sections, alongside Ian Moseley’s intricate rhythm patterns. It already sounds different to the November show.

‘Reprogram The Gene’ is another episodic Marillion track, by turns engrossing and edgy, where each musician brings sparkle and shine. The wraparound sound is augmented by Lewis Jardine on percussion in a backline trio between Moseley and Mark Kelly. Jardine played on the new album and has been drafted in for the tour. A good move.

Steve Hogarth’s voice is dramatic, resilient and assertive. And he’s giving off thespian vibes, offering life to words describing over-consumption, environmental vandalism and pandemic desperation.

There is plenty of chat from Hogarth tonight, but it comes later in the set. Maybe the frontman is as submerged in this full-album rendition as we are. The ebb and flow continues with a strong ‘Murder Machines’ and then one of the highlights of the evening. ‘The Crow and The Nightingale’ might not leap off the deck on the studio cut, but it is transformed on stage.

The song is a tribute by Hogarth to Leonard Cohen, which might not be an obvious point of reference. It is filled with delicate melodies, keyboard swells and rising backing vocals. Steve Rothery, already exemplary throughout, finds a sharp, pure tone not often heard from his Stratocaster for the mid-song solo.

He then works with Kelly’s genius to bring home the most uplifting extended solo that has the audience springing to its feet in a spontaneous moment of bliss. Marillion have a knack of finding live classics from unremarkable sources. I’ll never listen to this track the same way again.

Hogarth wrings out the emotion across the five parts of ‘Sierra Leone’, donning a second guitar for the ‘Freetown’ section. Kelly’s piano is often calling the shots throughout this piece and Rothery consistency adds colour and vibrancy.

Speaking of colour, I notice the light show for the umpteenth time tonight. From the balcony, the choreographed lasers, light patterns, strobes and illumination wizardry are seen in full effect. An important part of the show’s theatrics, albeit something I largely take for granted in these tech-heavy days.

The ’Care’ suite is stunning. The music weaves and flows around Hogarth’s Covid narrative, before the band shows its ability to turn on a sixpence and pluck exaggerated time changes and spikes of musical drama from nowhere.

‘Every Cell’ begins with poignant keyboards around a tender vocal that rises to carry another searing guitar solo. The ‘Angels On Earth’ part picks up those threads to bring a stirring, emotional climax. Almost hopeful in character despite the haunting lyric.

There is a standing ovation on completion of the recital. An odd thing, mid set. And hard to follow. ‘Somewhere Else’ tries hard, though the opening passages feel light-weight in comparison. It is another deep-dive track that amply demonstrates the wealth of Marillion’s material. Apart from nine minutes of ‘Be Hard On Yourself’ in a two-hour show, this is a completely different set to that I had seen at the end of 2021.

‘Wave’ and ‘Mad’, snippets from ‘Goodbye To All That’ on ‘Brave’ are very fine. That album continues to age well and the percussionist adds a new dimension to this duo of cuts. ‘Afraid of Sunlight’ is a firm crowd favourite and hit the spot surely.

Back to ‘Brave’ to close the set for the excellent, slow burning and plaintive ‘The Great Escape’, with the Apollo choir in full voice on the opening verses.

There’s the usual encore pantomime before the band return for the now near-classic ‘The New Kings’ and its bile-laden dismemberment of post-Brexit Britain. I caught the glances and smirks of many around me as Hogarth delivered with a renewed irony the lines “Oceans of money high in the clouds/But if you hang around/More often than not, it’ll trickle down…”

‘Sugar Mice’. What to say? Well the crowd says it all really, verses and chorus, leaving Hogarth to join the dots with the odd phrase or passage. And then Mr Rothery moves for the first time this evening. Shifting centre stage, tracked by a spotlight, to deliver the song’s centre-piece withering solo. A magnificent track on which to end the gig and the tour.

I once mildly criticised an otherwise excellent Marillion gig in a GRTR! review because I felt the pace of the show was marginally affected by some indifferent song choices. I got slaughtered. There are die-hard fans and then there are Marillion die-hard fans! No such minor quibbles this evening. The material on the new album sees to that. It demands to be played end-to-end and the quality shines through in the live arena. After 40-odd years, maybe Marillion are still getting better.

Review by Dave Atkinson

Album review (Holidays In Eden, Deluxe Edition, 2022)

Gig review (November, 2021)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Josh Taerk Sunday Session - 1 December 2024

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 17 November 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 25 November 2024

KING KRAKEN Chainsaw Saviour (indie)
BEBORN BETON American Girls (Dependent Records)
SMASH INTO PIECES Maze Of Feels (indie)
WELSH WOLF When You Cry (indie)
DREAMING OF CITRA Bitter (indie)
OFF LIGHTS Love You Sober (indie)
THUNDERMOTHER Dead Or Alive (AFM Records)
SKAM Selfish Friend (indie)
SORRY X Bring Me To Life (SBG Records)

Featured Albums w/c 25 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)