TARTAN SPECIAL
The return of Derek William Dick or FISH to you and me. Yes folks, the ex-lumberjack, ex-vocalist/catalyst with MARILLION is back amongst London's seething masses. The big man is here to round off his first UK tour with his new band. Tonight is the band's second and last night at the town and Country Club; and the place is near capacity; not bad considering that his debut solo platter Vigil in the Wilderness of Mirrors is not out in the shops until January.
Only days earlier Marillion had played a one-off gig at the Astoria, quite a performance too with new singer Hogarth in fine fettle. A case of one upmanship? Perhaps, but if this had any bearing on Fish's performance, then it was positive!
Fish took to the stage resplendent in a black outfit that resembled a Russian Cossack uniform. Oh well, at least he doesn't paint his face any more.
We were led into the first song by a thunderous ominous sounding bassline and suitably atmospheric keyboards. The song is called "Faith Healer," which happens to be a cover version of an old ALEX HARVEY number. Another Scot who had that X Factor (now sadly deceased). The song built impressively on a monumental structure, punctuated by some piercing guitar from Frank Usher; and Fish sounded in fine form with that unmistakable vocal delivery, rasping edge and urgency still intact.
What followed from that point was a satisfying mixture of Marillion material and the songs from the forthcoming album.
"Punch and Judy" was the first Marillion song of the night which fish aptly described as "Mills and Boon meets Hammer Horror." The band gave the song a harder, more rhythmic treatment! Let's not forget the band that fish has assembled. We have the Brzezicki brothers forming the tight rhythm section (Mark Brzezicki, formerly with BIG COUNTRY). Fish's co writer Mickey Simmonds (formerly with MIKE OLDFIELD) is on keyboards. To complete the line-up, we have Frank Usher and Robin Bolt on guitars.
The current single "State of Mind" was dedicated to the people of Berlin. Fish, always one to take the weight of the world upon his shoulders, informed us that a lot of recent events in the world have "disturbed" him, however recent dramatic events have renewed his faith in what he calls "people power." The Neanderthals and naïve would argue that politics doesn't mix with music. Well, whether you like it or not, politics is inextricably tied up with our daily lives!
Anyway, Fish kept it brief and succinct -- no patronising lectures. One of the lyrics on the song, "we the people are getting tired of their lies," does seem very apt as a new decade dawns and a wind of change blows over Eastern Europe.
Another new song "The Company" followed and Fish explains that it was to do with the situation he found himself in with Marillion. A lyric like "we work for the company until we die" leaves us in no doubt about Fish's feelings on the matter! These days, of course, fish no longer works for "the company," and has his artistic freedom, but, judging from his wicked laugh, he obviously enjoyed his little dig. The song itself was quite folky, vaguely reminiscent of JETHRO TULL.
It's good to see Fish enjoying himself, and the sight of a 6-foot-6-inch balding ponytailed Scotsman attempting to dance is something else. MICHAEL JACKSON eat your heart out!
Fish's audience see him as an almost Messianic figure, and that old rapport with the crowd was very much evident. One girl at the front even fainted, but Fish came to the rescue. However, there's also a great deal of humour involved; like when the crowd cheekily started chanting the title of a certain song... yeah, that one, er, "Grendel." Fish, with a wry smile, shrugged his shoulders and hissed out that the said track didn't come out to play any more! That didn't shut them up so Fish bellowed out, "Gies a break!"
The mood became decidedly more serious on the next song "Family Business," a tragic tale of violence in the family becoming public. The song displayed a delicate arrangement and Mickey Simmonds provided some subtle touches on keyboards.
With proceedings in full swing, Fish got well into the drinking songs, and he had a nice line on self-depreciatory humour when it came to his predilection for writing songs about the Devil's brew. The subliminal "Warm Wet Circles" is, in my opinion, the best drinking song Fish ever did with Marillion. A sombre Fish explains to us that it's about "dreams you lose by talking too much," and, powered along by Mark Brzezicki's epic backbeat, it really took my breath away. The theme of the drunken lost soul is extended to the title track of his forthcoming opus Vigil in the Wilderness of Mirrors, which is a song about when you don't know who your friends are - another dark song from 1988 (Sounds like a night at the St Moritz Club - Ed). Vigil started out with an eerie intro and that folky sound was again evident.
The gut wrenching "Fugazi" rounded off the set before the encores. Fish recalled that the crowd in Glasgow went ape-shit when it was played, so how can you expect a London crowd to compete with hordes of drunken Celts! Although, in fairness, the crowd did try to create a Celtic Shindig, urged on by Fish and his spirited band.
For the encores we were treated to the singalong, bittersweet romantic stuff like "Kayleigh" and "Lavender," and the more abrasive "Heart of Lothian." Two more songs followed: "Internal Exile," featuring Bruce Watson from Big Country on mandolin, and the wistful and catchy "View from the Hill."
On this showing the big man with the BIG personality still has plenty to offer! The new songs, on first listening, sound very promising and are certainly more experimental than the new Marillion material on offer. Going back to Scotland seems to have rejuvenated him!
I can see him now, sitting in some wee pub in Scotland coming up with yet another classic drinking song.
Have one on me anytime, Fish.
Mark Liddell
Live Shot: Nigel Hinkes
Live Shot: Nigel Hinkes
Riff Raff
January 1990
0 comments:
Post a Comment