A couple of years back, fan club concerts were a guarantee to a very special night. Nowadays the members of the fan club are so spoiled that the ultimate vibe is usually missing (this year’s convention was an exception). I therefore decided to go to the regular concert.

Due to troubles with the trains to Tilburg (again), I arrived too late to catch a glimpse of the support, but just in time for the main act. The concert hall was nicely packed with nearly 2000 people.

The band entered the stage a quarter of an hour late and started off with “Season’s End” including the magnificent “Emmanuelle” introduction. This song is so fragile, and then again, so powerful. It contains all elements of Marillion and is a great opening track.

Next up was “Between You And Me”, taken from the latest album Anoraknophobia. This rock song has so much more power on stage than it has on the record. The band seemed to be really in the mood.

It’s hard remembering Pete Trawavas as a low profile introvert bass player. Nowadays he’s jumping around on stage looking for interaction with the other band members and between band and audience. I wonder if this is something he picked up during his time with Transatlantic.

“Quartz”, another live killer, was followed by the Afraid Of Sunlight single “Beautiful”. I loved the way the band added power to the latter, just by some small changes. Steve Hogarth was definitely having fun on stage. He even attempted to explain how strange ‘Sinterklaas’ is to the English. I have no doubt someone had tried to explain ‘Sinterklaas’ to him but Hogarth clearly still had no idea.

After “Beautiful” came “Map Of The World” and “21st Century”. “Man Of A Thousand Faces” and “Uninvited Guest” were brilliant; these are songs that were definitely written for live performance. The reaction from the crowd, huge applause, said it all. This was the first sign that this was going to be one of those nights.

Next up was the trilogy “This Town – Rakes Progress – 100 Nights” followed by all time favorite “The Great Escape”. During the quiet parts you could hear a needle drop, during the heavy parts you could see and hear the crowd enjoy the band.

From these songs on the rest of the night went from climax to climax with songs like “Mad”, “Afraid Of Sunlight” and “Cover My Eyes”.

The band even had two major surprises. The first was “This Strange Engine”, a twenty-minute epic that is without a doubt one of the best things the band has ever written. The second, “Gabriel’s Message”, a Christmas song they recorded for the 1999 X-mas present for their fans.

After two and a half hours of Marillion, the show ended with “Easter”, a massive sing along with great guitar playing by Steve Rothery. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard his solo, but it still gives me the shivers.

Tonight everything just seemed to fall in place. The band’s performance was probably one of their best. The sound in 013 was crystal clear, the lights were great.

Marillion took a totally different approach in the set list. During the first hour, the band played straight up-tempo rock songs to bring the audience in the right mood.

After that they switched to songs with more tension and emotion. The entire gig was one big building up to its climax. This was a night to remember.

(Pics by Ronald den Dekker - www.wacon-images.com)

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)