I saw Haunt The Woods a few years ago opening for Wille And The Bandits. That night it was essentially singer Jonathan Stafford alone, but tonight the full band were out in force.
You couldn’t argue with the power or the textures in their music. At times they sounded like Radiohead, but there was progressive rock here too, making them an entirely natural fit to open for Marillion.
“Fever Dream” built from its atmospheric beginnings into something genuinely huge, while “Helter Skelter” and “Ubiquity” underlined the ambition that runs through everything they do. The 35 minute set reached right back to their early days for “Said And Done”, too.
Stafford told us they had been together for 14 years and, given the intent with which they attacked this opportunity to perform before Marillion’s larger crowds, they clearly weren’t going to waste it.
As Stafford finished by saying, “Hopefully we’ll see some of you again,” there was every chance he meant it. Judging by the reception they received, plenty here probably will.
“When you’ve been a band as long as we have,” says Steve Hogarth as he steps up to the microphone about halfway through this show at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall, “it gets boring playing the same songs.”
So, he explains, Marillion decided this would be the tour where they played no hits because nobody wants to hear them. And if they do? Well, fuck’em. “This is the setlist where we please ourselves with scant regard for those who’ve paid for tickets.”
He is joking, of course. Sarcasm is rarely too far away when Hogarth is talking, but there is a fundamental truth underpinning it: this is Marillion doing things precisely the way they want to do them. They know they have an audience prepared to follow wherever they lead, and that affords them a freedom few bands possess.
They underline that from the very beginning with the epic “Gaza”. More topical now, perhaps, than when it was written years ago, it finds Hogarth suggesting that he should have kept his mouth shut before singing it with such passion that the anguish feels palpable. “It just ain’t right,” he sings, and the power and theatricality of the performance, not to mention Steve Rothery’s solo, make it an astonishing opening.
“Seasons End” offers depth and a glance back to 1989, when Hogarth joined the band, but this is not simply a nostalgic show. “Ribbons And Lace”, a low-key new song, provides a hint of what might be coming when the next album arrives in the spring – and suggests it could be something special.
Before “Lucky Man”, Hogarth asks: “If I’m not lucky, then who is?” The sounds Mark Kelly creates are remarkable and, by the time it reaches its climax, the whole thing feels genuinely euphoric.
A section of “Hotel Hobbies” follows, but one thing that cannot be escaped tonight is the passion with which Marillion perform these songs. “Afraid Of Sunlight” is sung as though every word still matters, while “Enlightened” becomes an epic almost by default.
“Here’s a song you’ve never heard of,” says Hogarth before “Built-in Bastard Radar”, later asking: “Was that any good? Would you rather have heard ‘Kayleigh’?”
It was good. Very good, in fact. They can leave the “Kayleigh” business to other people tonight.
The four-part “Care”, from An Hour Before It’s Dark, forms the centrepiece of the set. From the cowbell-assisted “Maintenance Drugs” through the title section and “Every Cell” to “Angels On Earth”, it unfolds magnificently. Ambitious, emotional and utterly engrossing, it is the work of a band still creating music that deserves to stand alongside anything from its past.
“The Crow And The Nightingale” allows for a costume change and brings a welcome sense of fun before Hogarth tells the crowd they will have to sing “Easter” because he needs a break. Nottingham duly obliges.
“Wave” leads into “Mad”, where Kelly’s synths come to the fore and Hogarth’s anguished cries cut through everything around them. Then comes “The Great Escape”, sung in a way that somehow feels fragile and stoic at the same time. It is an extraordinary piece of music, delivered with total conviction.
Hogarth returns for the encore wearing a magnificent sparkly shirt and introduces “The Release” with the words: “Here’s another song you don’t hear every day.”
It provides another opportunity for Rothery to demonstrate his prowess on guitar. There is nobody quite like him and, if he is not the finest guitarist of his kind, then he is surely among the very best. His playing is never about excess. It is about tone, emotion and finding exactly the right note.
Finally, “The Space…” soars to fill every inch of the Royal Concert Hall and brings the evening to its conclusion.
This has been a show largely shorn of the biggest hits, played by a band choosing the songs they want to play for an audience that completely buys into what they do. Marillion are among the finest exponents of following their own instincts and making music for people who genuinely care about it.
I have seen them many times, and they are never less than compelling. Yet this was one of the most interesting shows I have watched them play. When they perform with this much passion, belief and freedom, there are very few bands that can touch them.
