Marillion - Somewhere In London
Marillion is a band that the majority of the people know because of their hit single ‘Kayleigh´. The average Joe doesn’t even know that the band that wrote that song is called Marillion. I have been introduced to the band by my father, who played their albums many times on the turntable and later on the cd player when I was younger. The band then was still fronted by Fish and his characteristic voice and feel for dramatics. The band grew on me, but you’re young and you won’t let your father notice. Because as a rule all music played by your parents is plain boring.
Since then, time has past and after ten years I was reintroduced to Marillion when they played a concert in Zoetermeer (see the live review somewhere else on Metalrage). I was amazed how they sounded and how they created an excellent atmosphere. I wasn’t familiar with their “new” song material, because frankly I stopped caring for Marillion when Fish left the band. But here was a new singer, Steve Hogarth, with excellent vocal capabilities. Therefore this DVD was for me an excellent tool to catch up with lost time and find out if the “new” material was something that I liked.
The material is divided on two different discs. Disc 1 shows a concert recorded at The Forum, Kentish Town in London and Disc 2 offers a variety of songs that they have played on different locations. Normally such a second disc isn’t more than an extra, but the stuff that you can find on this disc is definitely more than just an extra or a bonus. Songs like for example ´Estonia´, ´Ocean Cloud´ and ‘Afraid of Sunlight´ are just too good to be considered an extra. With this second disc, Marillion really offers the fans value for their money.
Disc 1 shows us a well oiled band, who bring their music with a lot of enthusiasm and humour. Something that is greatly appreciated by the fans. The DVD really gives a good impression how the atmosphere is at a Marillion gig. An excellent capture of atmosphere and sound.
But to be honest, as a big metalfan I missed the jumping and aggressiveness at times. Of course that isn’t something that you would expect from a band playing progrock like Marillion, but because of that lack of dynamics I noticed that I got bored at times. This really hasn’t got anything to do with the quality of the DVD, but mainly with my personal preferences.
Conclusion:
This DVD gives an excellent impression of a Marillion concert and both DVDs contain a lot of quality songs. But I came to the conclusion that I missed the Marillion of old, and that albums like Misplaced Childhood do more for me than albums like Marbles. But for the Marillion fans this is a must have, with that in mind I gave them the above mentioned score.
82/1001Details Racket Records
Released on Tuesday Nov 30th, -0001
Progrock
Writer @Neurotic on Saturday Dec 13th, 2008
Tags: #Marillion
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