Entering the sold out Vredenburg venue the first notes of opening act Gazpacho came out of the hall. After a drink we tried to make our way onto the arena floor. Without success. The place was packed. So, we decided to have a few more drinks and wait for the band to close their set, hoping that people were getting out of the hall to get some drinks or other refreshments. So, I didn’t catch a single glimpse of Gazpacho, but noticing from the reactions from the crowd, it was obvious that most people had seen this band play before and the support is really starting to grow. I must say that the stuff I heard in the corridor, sounded quite good. Even Steve Rothery paid a contribution to the set by playing a typical Rothery guitar solo.

After finding a spot in the hall, it was waiting until Marillion entered the stage. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a more energetic entrance of the band (and I’ve seen a few!). From the first seconds it was very obvious that Marillion were in the mood for a great party. To give you an example: Pete Trawavas and Steve Rothery switched places after only two or three bars played. I mean, I’ve seen gigs where Rothery didn’t even move at all! It was great to see the smiles on the faces of the musicians, clearly enjoying the enthusiastic response from the crowd. So, you must be wondering whether this night was going to be my best Marillion gig ever. Well, not quite. OK, I’ve seen the band at its best (even the few mistakes made we’re hilarious), but I’m sad to say that this wasn’t quite the case sound wise. All the music seemed to be mixed through the left stage speaker, creating a totally off balance mix. To remind you, I was standing in the center of the arena floor. To make things worse, on my right side stood a horrible singing fan, constantly terrorizing my ear with his crunching, off tone backing vocals.

The set list gave me mixed feelings. The band opened with half an hour of my least favorite Marillion tunes such as ‘Accidental Man’, ‘Beautiful’ and ‘…’. On a more positive note, the good songs weren’t interrupted by an occasional, relatively bad song. Things became more interesting after the first couple of songs from Marbles, the best album of the last ten years, were played. The first surprise of the evening was the performance of ‘Out Of This World’, one of my all time favorites. For the second surprise we had to wait until the first encore; ‘Cathedral Wall’, an ultimate live song. ‘Neverland’ was the final song of the evening. This song has become a classic Marillion tune (possibly the best song the band has ever written) in a few months time. I can even remember which day it was, and what I was doing, the first time I heard the track! It’s simply amazing to actually see Rothery play his guitar solos. You can almost see this one hundred kilo man hover a few inches above the stage floor, blowing the most angelic notes into the crowd.

After ‘Neverland’ the band returned to the stage once more. I felt fear that the Marillio’s would decide on playing another track after ‘Neverland’. This would have been a bloody shame, The fact that Steve Hogarth was dressed up as Santa took away part of my fears. The band played an actual Christmas song medley. Helped by the guys of Gazpacho, the band went absolutely crazy. The crowd was turned into a laughing, dancing and waving mass, reminding me how a Frans Bouwer concert would be like. I’ve never, ever seen this band crazier, more relaxed and more enthusiastic. At times I even found myself wondering whether this was the same band I’ve seen so many times before. So in conclusion, not the best Marillion gig, but surely the nicest performance to watch.

(Review: Geert Oldenmenger)