I saw him play live on wednesday night in my local pub (royal hotel, Great Harwood), I wouldn't have gone to see him otherwise, but it's not often that you get suchlike in so small a venue.
It was the smallest venue on his tour and a real coup for the landlady to get him to play there, they sold out the 120 tickets, which was as many as it could hold.
so, the gig.......
fish walked through the crowd in the pub to get to the stage, a big guy, six foot plenty. He proceded to sing many a song from his solo career, split with some stories from his illustrious past, a larger than life character in every sense.
whilst is solo stuff is an aquired taste (not really mine), it is a different thing live.
He sings every song like it means the absolute world to him, with real passion and gusto and is a magnetic presence on stage. It's hot in here and many a real ale is being quashed down.
After carting on for over 2 hours without a rest, we eventually come to the only songs I'd heard, Kayleigh and Lavender.
The crowd sang along, but then again, most of them had all night anyway. Probably 3/4 of the crowd were not locals but had travelled from far and wide to get here.
Fish fanatics......
It takes all sorts, but then again, marillion were huge once of a day and their diehard fans are clinging to it, most of their offspring are called Kayleigh!
Comparisons with the stranglers, not really. Apart from that Fish is doing his own thing the same as Hugh. Marillion have had another lead for years and will probably never reform with the original lineup. If they did, they'd probably get a tour out of it. Couldn't see them doing Glastonbury though.
Still, fairplay to Fish, he's still good live and is pleasing his fans.
