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Venue: The Company Convention, Haddington Corn Exchange
Date: 26 August 2001
Set list: 3D; So Fellini; Medley - Lucky/Credo/Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors; The Perception of Johnny Punter; Our Smile; Tiki 4; Long Cold Day; Pilgrim's Address; Medley:- 'Wall of Guitars' Intro, Assassing,
Fugazi (closing section) White Feather, Market Square Heroes.
Encores: Gie's A Bun; Clock Moves Sideways; The Company.
I tend to blow hot and cold on Fish's studio product; but his gigs are a different matter, and when it's a convention gig for his fan club 'The Company' then it's always a bit special.
Even before the band climb onto the stage there's an atmosphere of anticipation among the faithful, and once the big man enters and begins singing, the crowd are with him, heroically matching him line for line.
Opener '3D' starts off deceptively slowly, not giving any indication of the energetic and upbeat set that lies ahead but, by the time the band hit their stride mid-song, it's become apparent that the emphasis
tonight is on having fun.
'So Fellini' follows, with barely a pause for breath, and its sing along chorus makes it a great live number. The crowd enthusiastically clap along to the beat and, surrounded by so many grinning faces, it's
hard not to get caught up in the excitement of it all.
The medley of 'Lucky' and 'Credo' only reinforces this feeling, and by now the crowd are possibly singing louder than the band. While these songs may have sounded a bit tame on CD, they take on a whole new lease of life when played to such a receptive audience.
Yet it's not all happy-clappy stuff, as the band is then augmented with the two original guitarists (Frank Usher and Robin Boult) coming on-stage to join resident string man John Wesley to present a veritable 'wall
of guitars'. This sound is produced to great effect on 'The Perception of Johnny Punter', with its superb dirty riff blowing away any misconceptions about twee proggy moments.
The heavier songs, like this one and 'Long Cold Day' tend to be played a bit slower live - and come across all the better for it.
It's probably just as well that I made the effort to become familiar with the new album 'Fellini Days' beforehand, as it makes up the bulk of the set.
While this might have been a source of criticism earlier in the tour when the album wasn't readily available, it makes sense now, as the material is strong and is being performed to an audience fully familiar with it.
I have to eat humble pie at this point and admit that when I first heard the new album I disliked it intensely, but with the benefit of a few more plays it has proven to be a 'grower' and now having heard it live I'm
more convinced. It says a lot for Fish that he has the balls and the belief in his new material to play so much of it at the expense of older favourites.
So it came as something of a surprise when the band performed the Marillion medley, but the choice of the faster tempo songs was a good one, bringing the main set to a rousing close.
The encores, unfortunately, were a bit more predictable, but if it's a convention gig then the 'Gie's A Bun' chorus has to be sung I guess - pretty much an established tradition, but one I would be happy to see go if
it meant another song could be squeezed in before the race for band and fans to get to the pubs before closing time. Same with 'The Company', but again, it's a fan thing and as this is a show more for them
than punters off the street like me, I shouldn't complain. Still, the inclusion of 'Clock Moves Sideways' made for a satisfying conclusion for me, particularly with its hypnotic closing section. As the
lights went up it looked as if most folk had enjoyed themselves, in spite of poor acoustics which the band and sound men tried vainly to overcome.
If like me, you're not always convinced by the big guy's studio material then I'd recommend that you catch him live for a new take on the songs - it's a whole different kettle of fish!
John Stout
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