The Watch - Green Show

De Bosuil, Weert, 13 March 2011

Last year I attended a good show from The Watch, where they played Genesis' Blue Show, performed songs from Foxtrot album and beyond. This year, this Italian band did it again with Genesis' Green Show, where the majority of songs are from Selling England by the Pound album.

I missed the show at De Pul, Uden, where I watched the Blue Show last year. Luckily there was another date at De Bosuil, Weert, which also quite close from my home at Eindhoven.

This concert also marked as my first concert photography. With two simple e-mails to The Watch and De Bosuil, I got green light to brought my camera to the show.

The show was on Sunday afternoon. I drove from Eindhoven pretty early and I arrived at De Bosuil when the door was still closed. From outside, I could hear the band was still rehearsing, playing a section from Firth of Fifth.

When I got inside, it was very relax environment. No one bothered to check my camera bag. The band just finished the rehearsal, I saw them still walking around on the stage.

The hall was quite small, comparable size with De Pul and W2 Poppodium at Den Bosch. The stage was simple, proportionally raised from the audience area. The lightings were not so complex. Too bad there was no background slides that could be used by The Watch as in other shows from this Green Show.

I checked the merchandise table and spotted the new album. I asked the guy to reserve one and a shirt for me until end of the show. Then I bought drink on the bar at the side of the stage, sat there observing the stage and figuring where to get good pictures.

The hall was getting crowded until almost full when the show begun on time at 16:00. I got a good spot at the guitar side, but I did not have to worry, the front area was basically always clear so we photographers could move around easily. At least there were three other people with long zoom lenses and heavy camera body wandering around in the front.

The first song, like last year in the Blue Show, was more for warming up. They played Medley Sirence, taken from their Primitive album. It was applauded warmly by the audience.

Second song was the famous Watcher of the Skies from Foxtrot album. It was performed very well. The Mellotron sound was nice and even though there was no make up ala Peter Gabriel, I could hear almost the same vocal style from Simone Rossetti.

Simone Rossetti

After that, Simone told us that they were performing Selling England album, opened with the very first song, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight. He translated the title to Dutch when announcing, responded with laugh and applause from some audiences.

I Know what I Like was opened using typical lawn mowing action. Simone pretended to start the lawnmower several times, then he joked that it was an Italian lawnmower :). The song was cheerful as usual and always crowds' favorite.

Still following the track order of the album, piano intro of Firth of Fifth was wonderfully played by Valerio De Vittorio. This song was perfectly played, the guitar solos from Giorgio Gabriel were really good.

Valerio De Vittorio

Breaking the song order from Selling England, they performed One Day, a new song from their latest album Timeless that just released last month. This album is full of nuance from Genesis' first album, From Genesis to Revelation, but with extra energy from The Watch music.

Back to Genesis, they performed The Musical Box. Again in this song Giorgio showed his great guitar skills, performed great solos and sounds as Steve Hackett. After this long song, we had a short break.

Giorgio Gabriel

The second set started with enormously complex song from Selling England, The Battle of Epping Forest. Simone did wonderfully here, fluently sang those thick British accent phrases.

After the Ordeal showed great acoustic guitars duo from Giorgio and Guglielmo Mariotti.

After that, yet another own song, they performed All the Lights in Town from Planet Earth? album released in 2010.

Guglielmo Mariotti

They closed the set with the love song from Selling England, The Cinema Show, followed with Aisle of Plenty. I found The Cinema Show was really perfect, like watching young Genesis performed in the 70's. Marco Fabbri, the drummer, produced energetic sounds like young Phil Collins and the keyboard solo from Valerio was tightly played.

Marco Fabbri

Surely the band would not finish the show without any encore. And it was a really great one, because it was Supper's Ready. To experience this epic song being performed live, with perfection in every notes and transition, was a great way to end the show.

Attending show from The Watch was always an enjoyable moment, and this show was no exception. The performance was top notch even in really complex compositions from Selling England album. I shall wait for more projects from them, as promised by Simone at the end of the show.

Musicians:

Giorgio Gabriel - Electric guitars, 12 strings acoustic guitar

Guglielmo Mariotti - Bass, bass pedals, 12 strings electric and acoustic guitars, vocals

Valerio De Vittorio - Pianos, Hammond L122 organ, mellotron, arp and moog synths, vocals

Simone Rossetti - Vocals, flute, tambourine

Marco Fabbri - Drums, percussions, vocals

Setlist:

Medley Sirence

Watcher Of The Skies

Dancing With The Moonlit Knight

I Know What I Like

Firth Of Fifth

One Day

The Musical Box

----

The Battle Of Epping Forest

After The Ordeal

All The Lights In Town

The Cinema Show / Aisle Of Plenty

----

Supper's Ready

Bon Jovi, Royal Beach Concert, 5 June 2010

Scheveningen, NL, 5 June 2010

After releasing The Circle, Bon Jovi toured at many cities in USA and several consecutive nights at London. When first I heard a date for Holland, I did not directly believe it. Indeed it was true, Bon Jovi had planned to headline Royal Beach Concert at Scheveningen beach, Den Haag.

Surprisingly, I had been offered for pair of free tickets to the concert by very kind lady, who won a lottery and privileged for free tickets.

It was a nice sunny day when me and Tony (I got him from the whole gang of Bon Jovi fans who watched the previous concert) arrived at Scheveningen. We need to walk quite a distance to reach the concert area. From afar we could here Kane begun to perform.

Entering the area after ticket checkpoint, it was great atmosphere. Nice weather, sunny but breezy from the sea. People enjoyed the concert in various ways, some sang along and danced, some just sat or lied on the sand. Very relax audience.

I could enjoy bit of Kane performance, although not knowing many of their songs. After break and setting up the stage, exactly as being scheduled, at 5 Bon Jovi hit the stage.

They started the show with couple of new songs from The Circle. Then they rocked the beach with good old songs from Slippery When Wet and New Jersey era. Further on, the songs selection mainly consisted of upbeat songs. Personally I thought it was perfect with the condition where it was still bright and sunny. I don't think it was nice to listen to Bed of Roses or Always, for example.

Bon Jovi seemed to enjoy the show as well. At one point Jon commented it was rare moment for them to have a show in afternoon, on the beach with lots of nice girls.

Performance wise, Bon Jovi was good as usual. Tico was very tight and powerful in his tempo. David was cool behind his keyboards. Richie still rocked with his guitar sound and gave his nice second voice. Jon was energetic as always, moving to all corners of the stage without losing a key in his voice.

After Keep the Faith, they disappeared behind the stage for a while. When they're back, Jon announced the next song as a song they had not played live for a very long time. It was Only Lonely from their second album. I think the last time I heard that song was most likely around 15-20 years ago from my Bon Jovi tape.

They closed the show with their most favorite songs as usual, Wanted and Livin' on a Prayer. It was too bad that the show was ended only around 7. Even Jon said that we should just play and play until the next day.

It was a nice concert, unusual setting, very relaxing.

Set list:

Last Man Standing

We weren't Born to Follow

You Give Love a Bad Name

Born to be My Baby

Lost Highway

Raise Your Hands

We Got It Goin' On

When We were Beautiful

In These Arms

Captain Crash and Beauty Queen from Mars

Bad Medicine

It's My Life

Lay Your Hands on Me

I'll Sleep when I'm Dead

Runaway

Work for the Working Man

Rockin' All Over the World

Who Says You Can't Go Home

Keep the Faith

---------

Only Lonely

Wanted Dead or Alive

Livin' on a Prayer

Valentine's Day with Level 42

Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, Eindhoven, 14 February 2009

In Holland it is very popular to see '2 halen 1 betalen' promotion, which is the same as 'buy 1 get 1 free'. Although I didn't really expect it, this was also the case for the recent Level 42 show in Eindhoven. Sri saw this promotion on the local newspaper about 2 weeks before the concert date. I called the ticket office the day after and we got the ticket.

The concert was on Saturday evening, held at Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, the concert hall where we normally watch classical music concerts. We know exactly where the best seats are, so we decided to arrive half an hour before the show. We managed to get very good seats with direct view to the stage. The hall was getting full, most of the seats were taken including the upper level. The standing area next to the stage was also full with the audience.

The stage was already set in a simple layout. Mike Lindup's keyboards rack filled the left corner, drums set at the middle a bit to the back, and three microphone stands for Mark King, Nathan King (guitar), and Sean Freeman (sax). The background was only curtain, no projection slide. The lighting was also pretty standard, although it would provide nice effect during the show.

Around half past eight, the Level 42 entered the stage and Mark King greeted the audience. They kicked in with Fashion Fever from Running in the Family album, followed with a newer song, Forever Now.
The sound quality was very good. We got very clear bass sound and good mix of keyboards and vocal sounds. In the beginning Nathan's guitar sound was mixed too low but it was improved along the way.

They pleased the crowd with more old tunes, Turn it on from their first album and Heaven in My Hands, their hit from 1988. Besides his agile fingers on the bass fret, Mark King delivered good voice. Nathan and Sean also provided nice backing vocals.

Mark King made short comment about giving concert on Valentine's Day and (ironically) they sang the ballad Leaving Me Now. Sean gave nice saxophone sound here. This calm song was followed with another hit, Running in the Family. The vocals harmony was very nice.

After an unfamiliar song for me, The Machine Stops, Mark King played the bass intro of Dune Tune followed with his bass solo. He used loops to create multi-layer bass sounds. The effect did not work at the beginning but finally he succeeded after couple of tries.
The solo was followed with their first single ever, Love Games.

Not enough playing hits from 80's, they performed Something about You. After that Mark introduced Gary Husband on drums, who then delivered powerful drumming in Man and the instrumental Mr. Pink. The latest one also highlighted the skills from each player.

Then another slow hit, It's Over. After that Mike Lindup got the opportunity to deliver his nice falsetto in Starchild, which also got nice clapping from the crowd. It was followed with their biggest hit and also crowd's favorite Lessons in Love.
Before disappeared backstage, they performed the only song from the latest Retroglide album, Dive into the Sun.

For the encore, we got The Chinese Way followed with wonderful instrumental from the same album, The Pursuit of Accidents. Finally they closed the show with another crowds pleaser, Hot Water.

In general it was a good concert. It was very nice remembrance of the 80's era. The band still showed very strong skill. Moreover, I really enjoyed the sound quality of the hall. The atmosphere was not as intense as rock concert but more sober and calm, which is typical in jazz-funk concert. To conclude, Level 42 still could deliver nice show.


Level 42 are:
Mark King: bass, vocals
Mike Lindup: keyboards, vocals
Gary Husband: drums
Nathan King: guitar, vocals
Sean Freeman: saxophone, vocals

Setlist:
Fashion Fever
Forever Now
Turn it on
Heaven in my Hands
Leaving Me Now
Running in the Family
The Machine Stops
Mark King Bass Solo
Love Games
Something about You
Man
Mr. Pink
It's Over
Starchild
Lessons in Love
Dive into the Sun
-----------
The Chinese Way
The Pursuit of Accidents
Hot Water

Marillion - Happiness on the Road

Vereeniging, Nijmegen, 24 November 2008

Happiness is the Road (HitR) is the latest album of Marillion, released on 20 October 2008, only can be bought at Marillion web site unless you are in Poland or North America. Continuing the success strategy of deluxe edition campaign with Anoraknophobia and Marbles, the new album was available for pre-order since last year. Moreover, smart as ever, Marillion also pioneered the legal peer-to-peer free distribution of the digital version of the new album (yes, free...with a twist). This was even online before the release date of the album.

I had considered to pre-order HitR, but held back because it was pretty expensive and I was not sure about the quality. In the end I downloaded the digital version, blown back by the wonderful new songs, and decided to watch them live (where I presumed I could buy the CD).

With very loyal fans base in Holland, the Happiness on the Road tour included 4 dates in a row in Holland. The Tilburg show had been sold out, which was a tradition. I chose the show at Vereeniging, Nijmegen, where I watched The Musical Box before. I liked the Vereeniging theater, very old and classic so that I thought it would be perfectly suitable with the ambience of the new songs.

The show was on a cold Monday evening after a snowy weekend. I went directly from the office to the show. Vereeniging was a nice location, lots of parking places nearby. I arrived there few moments before the door was open, around 19.30. The checking was very minimal, just the ticket. My backpack with camera was untouched. I spotted the tour merchandises corner and walked there. As I predicted, the new albums are abundant there, even the deluxe edition (although the price is exactly the same as buying on the marillion.com). The t-shirts had nice designs, particularly the asylum satellite. Lucky that I had my backpack, the deluxe edition box was so thick!

It was pretty empty inside the hall at that time. The stage was nicely set and the standing area had no boundary with the stage, very nice. Quite some distances to the back, behind the soundboard area, there were permanent tribune seats. There were already some people occupied the seats, also few seats on the balcony. I had good experience sitting on the balcony, so I decided to move upstairs. I chose the left wing, which I slightly regretted later because I could not have complete view of Steve Rothery.

We waited quite some times before the opening act, Sine Star Project, performed. They were quite good performer with adequate progressive style. Some songs were mellow, dominated with keyboards and pedal steel guitar that reminded me of David Gilmour and Pink Floyd songs. The other songs were heavier style, fast tempo and lots of low guitar riffs. They performed about 40 minutes, gained lukewarm applause from the crowds.

We waited again after that, while the stage was rearranged. It was nice to watch the crew setup the stage with high precision and agility. The stage layout was Marillion standard. Ian's drum set and Mark's tower of keyboards at the back, Pete at the right side, Steve Rothery at the left, and Hogarth's keyboard at the middle, side by side with mic stand attached with different kind of percussions.

Around 9.30 the lights were dimmed, Ian and Mark ready on position, and then Pete, Steve, and Hogarth entered the stage. They opened the set with a new song, Dreamy Street followed with This Train is My Life. Hogarth wore long robe, barefoot, very relax. Mark Kelly wore the same shirt, I think, as the one at Snow-where Else tour last year (..duh..). Pete looked a bit older but very agile as always. The projection screen was nice, displayed different images related with the songs. The sound quality was very good, no echo, not too loud, I could hear almost all details. The train background sound was very nice.

After a quick hello from Hogarth to the crowd, they performed another sequence from the new album, Nothing Fills the Hole and Woke Up. The crowd enjoyed the crunchy guitar sounds and deep bass sound here.

After another small chat with the crowd, they gave The Other Half from the previous album. Then came Essence, one of my favorite songs from HitR. Hogarth's voice soared nicely in this song.

Then came an old song, Beautiful from Afraid of Sunlight (AoS) album. I think the whole theater sang together the whole song.
If I remembered correctly, after that Hogarth announced that the next day would be Steve Rothery's birthday. After a long clapping, we sang happy birthday and For He's a Jolly Good Fellow together for him.

Another new song, this time from the second part of the HitR, The Man from the Planet Marzipan. It was beautiful song and Hogarth was very expressive as the Planet Marzipan man. He opened his robe and showed his skin because the air was so thin :).

Another song from AoS, Hogarth gave a short introduction about Donald Campbell, racer who had died on his attempt to break water speed record for the 9th time. He, and Bluebird-the boat, had become the inspiration of Out of this World. The back screen displayed a black and white video footage of the day back in 1967, from the preparation until when the boat was flipped and crashed.

Then they performed two songs from Brave, Mad followed by The Great Escape. Once again it was very obvious that Hogarth really improved his theatrical expressive skill. His face expressions reflected the deep emotion of the songs.

The crowd went crazier when they performed Afraid of Sunlight. It was a nice view from the balcony to watch the crowd dancing and singing. The nice song was followed by Asylum Satellite #1, another brilliant song from HitR. I understand that some people judge the album as 'too mellow', but those are nice songs there!

Another crowd favorite was Between You and Me from Anoraknophobia. This song is always nice for live show, energetic and easy to sing. Hogarth also became more energetic, he climbed the speaker and sat there singing.
After that, finally we got something from Marbles, the magical Neverland. It was the third time I experienced this song being performed live and I liked it more than before. Steve Rothery delivered brilliant guitar solos.

After this song they went backstage, which surely could not be accepted by the crowd. But apparently they needed to do that because Hogarth changed his clothes to old style suit complete with eyeglasses and a walking stick. Pete started the groovy line of Invisible Man. This song was performed very well, one of their best performance for me. Hogarth really showed touching emotional expressions, very detail reflection about being invisible.

It was half an hour to midnight when they finished that wonderful song. Once again they went backstage, Hogarth changed back to his white shirt and pants. He explained that they had reached the time limit, but he said that he could not leave us yet...then he sang the main message...Happiness is the Road! This song started very calm, getting more and more powerful along the way. Pete shook the whole theater with his bass pedal. In the end Hogarth led the crowd to sing the 'Hapiness is the Road' line again and again, while the rest of the band disappeared backstage. Finally he embraced all the happiness from the crowd.
On the way back home, that line still echoed repeatedly in my head.

To conclude, it was another great live performance from Marillion. The production was generally better than their Christmas Tour, maybe because this tour was to promote the new album. The lights and screen were being used optimally. It was also nice idea to put small cameras close to each musician and projected the video on the screen.
The best part that night was the expressiveness. Hogarth really made me think about Peter Gabriel style on the stage. Pete was always moving everywhere. Even Steve Rothery walked to the other side couple of times. Ian Mosley was always consistent with his drumming. At last, as you noticed from HitR, lots of musical aspects were strongly built by keyboards sounds of Mark Kelly.
Marillion, thanks for bringing the happiness on the road!



Set list:
Dreamy Street
This Train Is My Life
Nothing Fills The Hole
Woke Up
The Other Half
Essence
Beautiful
The Man From The Planet Marzipan
Out Of This World
Mad
The Great Escape
Afraid Of Sunlight
Asylum Satellite #1
Between You and Me
Neverland
----
Invisible Man
----
Happiness Is The Road

The Shrine of Banneux Notre Dame

Banneux, Belgium, 25 October 2008

Our wonderful friends from IYCE (International Youth Community Eindhoven) proposed a pilgrimage trip to the Shrine of Banneux Notre Dame in Belgium, where Mary mother of Jesus appeared to a small girl in 1933.
We had heard about Banneux before and we thought it was a good plan to do the trip. In the end there were 7 of us who went. We used two cars, mine and a rented one driven by Marco.

We started from Eindhoven around 9.30 in the cold autumn morning. There was foggy and misty when we drove the highway to Maastricht and further passed the border to Liege in Belgium. I liked the route around Liege, where we drove beside the river Maas. After Liege we went out from the highway and followed a hilly route, where Marco practiced his rally driving skill, until we arrived at Banneux around 11.

The Shrine complex was quite big. We tried the information center but it was closed. Based on 'agenda of today' pamphlet, we entered the Chapel of Message, expecting a French mass. There was an option to join Italian mass in a smaller chapel, but it was empty. It turned out that the French mass was also delayed, so we walked out and visited the spring that was reserved for the sick, from the message of the apparition.

Marco and Caecilia in front of the Esplanade Altar

While we were there, Marco found out that lots of people gathered in the chapel so we joined them. There was preparation of mass in French, coordinated by an African community. So, amazingly we joined African-French mass in Banneux. It gave a very warm feeling for me, typical African mass that was expressive and joyful, although I did not understand a single word of it.

The choir of the African community

After the mass we sat down near the statue of Mother Mary to have our lunch. As certain as always, Agnese prepared enough nice sandwiches for all of us.

The IYCE people


With nicely filled stomach, after lunch we walked around the complex. Our next activity was the Way of the Cross, led by Caecilia who prepared the reading and the prayer.

After that, we did the Rosary in Marie Mediatrice Chapel. It was very nice, also because it was getting cold outside :). This time Marco led the praying in his full holiness.

Sri in front of the Spring

Before we went out from the Shrine complex, once again we visited the spring and visited the Chapel of the Apparitions where people ask for blessing and pray for health.

The Chapel of Apparitions

Outside the complex, we visited a souvenir shop that was full of Christian decorations. Our last agenda in Banneux was warm chocolate and coffee. We drove back home after that.

We arrived back in Eindhoven around dinner time. Safe and full of peaceful feeling after the trip.

Bon Jovi Lost Highway Tour 2008

Amsterdam ArenA, 13 June 2008

Actually I had no desire to watch Bon Jovi in concert because I hadn't continuously followed their activities after Crush. Surely I still bought Bounce, Have a Nice Day, and even the not-really-right This Left Feels Right. I even have the nice 100 Millions boxset. But I wasn't really into their music anymore these days. Somewhere in my head I kept thinking that the Bon Jovi era was their first 6 albums. For me Crush was already on the edge.

The idea to watch the concert was coined by Fajar and back then it was directly agreed by two more friends. Another attractive point was that before the concert there would be football match on the big screen between Holland and France in the Euro 2008. First I was still doubting, since I also had no desire to watch the match on the big screen (what's the difference with my TV anyhow?). But then I thought, never mind, let's watch Bon Jovi. So we bought 4 tickets.

Then the plan was spread among more friends. Finally 4 more girls wanted to join, including Sri. So we bought 4 more tickets, luckily at the same seat section but just one different row.

For preparation, I tried to update myself on Bon Jovi. I couldn't get the latest album but luckily got the Lost Highway DVD. So I knew all the songs! The tour was already started in the US and from their website I got the setlists. Apparently they kept it slightly change so we could expect few surprises. The good news for me, mainly they played old songs.

When the day came, 5 of us arrived around 8 at the Amsterdam ArenA, the other 3 came later during the football match. We had plenty of time to queue, buy t-shirt (well, only me), toilet, and drink before we went to our seats. It was pretty good seat, not too high and not too far from the stage. They only sold the lower-half of the tribune seats because they placed wide screens facing the tribunes.

The atmosphere was like a football match. Lots of orange attributes. Then the match begun. As I expected, I didn't feel any difference than watching the match on my TV. Good thing was that Holland devastated France with wonderful goals.

After the match, all the lights off, then suddenly Jon, Richie, David, Tico, and Hugh appeared on the stage. Jon put on an orange shirt and they kicked in with Rockin' All Over the World.

After Lost Highway, they continued with Born to be My Baby, which is always my favourite. Then Jon screamed the most popular opening line...'Shot through the heart..and yours to blame..you give love.. a bad name..'. I think everybody stood and shouted together with him. Richie still rocked in this song, it reminded me to their glorious time with those long hairs.

Still from Slippery When Wet album, they played Raise Your Hands. This song was really good to raise the audiences' hands :).

Then they played their first hit ever, Runaway. I couldn't imagine that I still remember the songs in my head after more than 20 years and sing along just came out that easy.

During I'll Sleep when I'm Dead, Jon sang few lines from Jumpin' Jack Flash.

After another new song from Lost Highway, Jon introduced David Bryan on keyboards, whom then sang In These Arms in his barritone.

After that the stage was darkened and only Jon and Richie stood at the front. Jon announced that the song was never performed before on this tour, from These Days album...Diamond Ring. It's really a brilliant duet from them.

Always was the crowd's favourite, the whole stadium sang this song. Then they performed two songs from Crush followed with Someday I'll be Saturday Night, again another sing along song.

After that Richie extensively used the talk box in We Got it Going On. Then another big hit from Crush, It's My Life was performed. Not enough rocking, the deep intro of Keep the Faith was shocking the whole arena. It was amazing to see their stamina and energy.

After Keep the Faith, it was time for Jon to have a rest. Richie performed I'll be There for You. Surely he could sing so good.
Jon back on the stage and they played Blaze of Glory, followed by my other favourite song from New Jersey album, Blood on Blood.

Then they played some more recent songs, Have a Nice Day and the country style Who Says You Can't Go Home. In the last song we finally went home to catch the last train. It's a pity that we couldn't stay until the end of the show. While walking outside the arena I could hear Livin' on a Prayer sang by the crowd.

In general it turned out to be a very good concert. I really enjoyed the sing along part especially the old songs. Bon Jovi performed way above the standard, very energic and lively. Jon and Richie were still very attractive on stage. Tico Torres was very powerful with his drums. David did some nice solos on his keys during Keep the Faith.

The stage was quite simple with nice backscreens and also two side screens. The light show was also pretty simple, with some nice colors and audience shots. The sound quality of ArenA was bad as usual, although it was bearable after first couple of songs.

Setlist:
Rockin' All Over The World
Lost Highway
Born To Be My Baby
You Give Love A Bad Name
Raise Your Hands
Runaway
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Gimme Some Lovin'
Whole Lot Of Leaving
In These Arms (David in vocal)
Diamond Ring
Always
Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars
Just Older
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
We Got It Going On
It's My Life
Keep The Faith
I'll Be There For You (Richie in vocal)
Blaze Of Glory
Blood On Blood
Have A Nice Day
Who Says You Can't Go Home
Livin' On A Prayer

Encore:
Stick To Your Guns
Wanted Dead Or Alive

Marillion Snow-where Else Christmas Tour

8 December 2007
Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany



This year I was quite desperate to watch Marillion Christmas show. First I aimed to watch the show in Zoetermeer, but it was sold out in no time. Some other dates in Holland were impossible for me because they were on working days. Then I looked at a possibility on the date in Cologne, which was Saturday. I proposed the plan to Sri in different wrapping: Christmas market visit to Cologne. She agreed with the plan as long as we could ask some other friends to join us so she would not be alone while I have fun with the show.
In the end two of our best friends decided to go. We arranged the hotel, rented the car, and ready to go. Oh, surely I had my ticket as well.

We spent the Saturday afternoon in the Cologne city center after checked in at our hotel. The area near the Dom cathedral was full with people enjoying the yearly Christmas market. We enjoyed the atmosphere, had our bratwurst and browsed the small booths to see the Christmas decorations that they sold.

After that we walked along the shopping area of Cologne until we reached Neumarkt area where we found another Christmas market. It was a bit less crowded than at the Dom. After a plate of sauerkraut (sour cabbage), I took the U-Bahn (German underground) to Live Music Hall in Ehrenfeld area.

The hall was about half full when I arrived. It looked like an old storage building that turned to a music hall. Just a square hall, flat floor, with two drink bars on both sides. I even could not spot the wardrobe directly, which was at a hidden corner after the small entrance.

The tour souvenir corner was not really impressive this time compared with Christmas show two years ago. I just bought a long sleeve shirt and the new released Somewhere in London DVD. After that I tried to sneak my way until near enough with the stage, slightly to the right so I could easily enjoy Steve Rothery in action.

Albeit the announcement that there was no opening act and the band would start the show one hour after the hall was open, we waited quite a while until the dark moody intro of Bridge was played. It was worth waiting though, as the band played the first four songs from Brave, the darkest album of Marillion. Steve Hogarth stayed sit behind his keyboard and his voice was full with emotions.

After the songs from Brave, Steve Rothery changed guitar and they played the bluesy The Fruit of the Wild Rose from Anoraknophobia. After the song H spoke to the audience. He said the previous song was not very often being performed. Then he drank from an alligator-shaped jar and told us that they would perform two shows that night.

After the short conversation, H introduced the Out of this World, a calm song from Afraid of Sunlight. After a tight performance from the band, they gave us a new song from the next album, titled Real Tears for Sale. H asked the audience about the song after that. When someone asked who's writing it, he answered "Kylie Minogue..." with further comment "she's deeper than you think...". But the song was pretty good, quite a promising new album.

Maintaining the atmosphere of the 'first show' to be calm and relax, they performed the best track from their latest album, Somewhere Else. The first set was closed with the brilliant winter song Seasons End, with H inserted short excerpt from O Come, O Come Emmanuel at the beginning of the song.

I enjoyed the first set very much, especially I liked the nuance of the songs to be very calm and dark. The lighting supported that very good with the color gradation filled in the whole stage. Unfortunately the stage was a bit too simple with no background images or slides.

After the break, we knew that the second set would be different when they started with the rocking Hooks in You continued with Most Toys. The mood was a bit calmer when they sang The Other Half from the new album, then it was back with another up-tempo song, Cannibal Surf Babe. Steve Rothery used his double neck for this song.

They then performed songs from Holidays in Eden album. This Town was rocking as usual, followed by The Rakes Progress and 100 Nights. The set was closed with This Strange Engine.

The encore was started with powerful bass lines from Pete Trewavas, the famous intro of Quartz from Anoraknophobia. Then they performed Neverland from Marbles. This beautiful song is always perfect for closing the show.

Ups..did I say anything about closing? After Neverland, the stage was darkened. Then the stage crew set a nice white christmas tree and some christmas lights on the stage. Not long after that, there were two Santa's on the stage! One was extremely fat until he could not stand properly behind his keyboards..poor Mark Kelly.

They threw away some kazoos to the audience and asked us to help in the next song. It was pretty useless, the kazoos were wet because they were kept inside the alligator jar together with H's beers. Pete got a dry one and he showed us the tune.
Then all of us sang Let It Snow, and we got fake snow all around the stage. Well, that's make the party perfect.

In general it was a pretty good show. The band played perfect as usual, Steve Rothery was really brilliant with his guitar. The sound quality was not very good, most likely because of the acoustic of the hall. On the other hand the audience was great, lots of sing along and interaction with the band. The songs selection was good, with some rarely performed songs. Good job guys!


Complete set list:
Bridge
Living With the Big Lie
Runaway
Wave / Mad / The Opium Den
Fruit Of The Wild Rose
Out of This World
Real Tears For Sale
Somewhere Else
Seasons End
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Hooks In You
Most Toys
The Other Half
Cannibal Surf Babe
This Town
The Rakes Progress
100 Nights
This Strange Engine
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Quartz
Neverland
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Let It Snow