Marillion - Hammersmith Odeon, London.
Marillion
Hammersmith Eventim Apollo
27/11/2021
By Paul Davies
Removing the downstairs seating for this evening’s standing show made for a boisterously good-humoured event in which the rammed stalls room of fans - many of whom have seen this long-standing prog entity for the Marillionth time - played as much of a blinder as the band. Marillion has a rapport with their fans like no other that's recently reflected by the band crowdfunding their tour insurance from their dedicated followers known as Lightsavers.
More a roiling, melodramatic purveyor of atmospherics than the once bright, melodious, impressionistic interpreters of sound, tuneful melodies are few and far between as tonight's still impressive set emphasised. Contrast third song in the set Easter - with its hummable musical motifs - with the final encore of The Leavers or powerful new song Be Hard On Your Yourself from their upcoming album An Hour Before Its Dark, and the arc of the Hogarth years is evidently built upon both raw and refined elements of melodrama over melody. Not that their fans mind as the banter between band and crowd kept each other entertained all night.
With Steve Rothery melodically excelling on guitar, especially his solos, and Mark Kelly's layers and swells of dark and amorphous soundscapes, not a proper synth solo in sight alas, created the contrasts of musicality that are now the imprimatur of this band. Heavily plundering early Hogarth era albums Season’s End and Brave, with Splintering Heart from Holiday’s In Eden also getting a look in, was an early Christmas treat for diehard Marillion fans as Berlin, The Release, Bridge, Living With The Big Lie, Runaway and Made Again also having a long-awaited public airing. An animated Pete Trewavas was clearly revelling in playing these not often heard musical movements as much as the excitable throng in front of him.
The remarkable moment when the audience conducted a singalong to the opening song Sounds That Can’t Be Made - not allowing the band to finish it - and the eventual standing ovation that followed will rightly be seared into the memory of everyone who attended this evening’s celebration of when a band and their fans came together as one.
