So, there I was sat in the rear circle of the beautiful (and also sold out) Liverpool Philharmonic with my Brave T-shirt on, eagerly anticipating the start of the show. And what a way to open the show, with ‘Gaza’ from Sounds That Can’t Be Made which I always call a ‘heavy’ Marillion song; those crunching guitar chords certainly set the energy high in the venue. With the addition of the orchestra doubling Rothery’s guitar part, the overall sound was huge; they were made an integral part of, not only the music, but also of the aesthetic. I hadn’t thought about where the orchestra would be positioned before the gig, but it was nice to see that they were placed at the rear centre of the stage with the band. I’d say one of the most powerful moments from the orchestra came at the end of the gorgeous ‘The Sky Above the Rain’ in which the dynamic at the end was completely altered. Instead of the band entering full throttle on the line ‘Maybe they’ll talk’, the entire band kept this last section quiet and reflective as the orchestra outlined the lushest chords underneath. Instead of sounding intense and angry, the orchestra made this section into a rich soundscape of emotion - it certainly had an effect on me. My other favourite moment was the performance of ‘Ocean Cloud’ from Marbles, a song that I’m glad I got to see played live especially by one of my favourite guitarists who blew me away with his guitar tone on this song - t’s something I wish I could imitate in my own guitar solos. All the songs I have mentioned so far have been the Marillion epics, usually around the 10-minute mark. It was interesting to observe that most of the songs were of this length with the exception of ‘A Collection’ and ‘Hollow Man’. Therefore, the setlist featured less songs than typically expected which at the end left me yearning for more (more so than usual) - This truly was a very progressive gig in that respect.

As mentioned, the inclusion of ‘Hollow Man’ from Brave was a nice breather in between the longer songs and I was certainly glad that a song from my favourite Marillion album was played. However, I was a little disappointed that Brave made no other appearance as my wish in life is to see ‘The Great Escape’ live or better still, the whole album live! In all fairness, this tour is to promote their new album and therefore it wasn’t a surprise to notice that nearly all the songs played were from the new album with the exception of a couple. One exception was the first encore, ‘Separated out’ from Anoraknophobia which is another headbanger. The band cheekily slotted in an excerpt of ‘Kashmir’ by Led Zepplin but who wouldn’t do that when you’ve got an orchestra at your fingertips - it sounded awesome. For the final encore, the audience were treated to a performance of ‘This Strange Engine’ - a sublime way to end an awesome gig. If I had to find any negatives, it wouldn’t be with the band but it would be with the audience who couldn’t stay in their seats for some reason. At times it felt like a museum exhibit, people walking in and out as they please, disturbing my view and experience of a band I’ve never seen live before - I wonder what was so important for people to have to keep leaving? Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to let the audience ruin my experience of a band that played such complex music effortlessly; Rothery for example, I’ve never seen a man as composed as him. And of course, I was in awe of the challenging vocal parts that Hogarth conquered on every song - I love his unique voice. All in all, this is a real spectacle not to be missed and especially with the unique addition of the orchestra for this tour. If you haven’t got a ticket yet for the remaining dates of the tour, do the obvious thing and buy one - you’ll thank me later!