The H Band with support John Mitchell
Venue: The Mean Fiddler, London      Date: 3rd January, 2002

H Band Set List: Really Like, You Dinosaur Thing, The Green Manalashi, Dream Brother, The Old Wild Men, Better Dreams, Life's A Long Song, India, Man Of The World, The Deep Water, Zen and Now, Cage, The Loving, 80 Days, Life On Mars.
Encores: Estonia, All Things Must Pass.

As any Marillion fan will know, H is the name by which Steve Hogarth seems to like to go by.  Hogarth has actually only released one "solo" effort during his time with Marillion, 1997's 'Ice Cream Genius', but he's managed to keep the core of the band who played on that record together to play a number of sporadic shows over the last few years.

I liked the album when it came out, but then went through a period where I was 'down' on Marillion (after 98's weak 'Radiation' album and a dull concert on the 'marillion.com' tour) so hadn't bothered seeing the H Band gigs before. However, 'Anaraknophobia' and a great live gig in October have rekindled my interest in all things Marillion related, so thought I'd check this one out - mostly out of intrigue as to what he'd actually play!

As no support band was advertised, it was a (pleasant) surprise to see Arena guitarist John Mitchell take the stage for an acoustic solo spot.  John played a few tracks from his own alternative-rock inclined band, The Urbane's first album, including 'Fading Out' and 'Mary Jane', plus a couple of new songs and a couple of great covers: Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes' and Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time'.  Yes, you heard that last one right, but credit to Mitchell for an excellent version, and this is probably the track that went down best with the crowd.  Throughout, his voice was impressive and his guitar playing top notch as you would expect, and this stripped down set went down well.

In contrast, Steve Hogarth's performance is anything but stripped down, as could by surmised immediately as no less than seven fellow musicians, including a tabla player and a cellist, trooped onto the stage.  Notable names in the H Band are guitarist Dave Gregory (ex-XTC) and keyboardist Richard Barbieri (of Porcupine Tree).  Having been a big XTC fan but never having seen the band live (they don't tour) the chance to see Gregory, a great guitarist, playing live was another good reason for going along to the gig.

The night started with a lengthy, middle eastern-inspired introduction to opener 'Really Like' (from 'Ice Cream Genius').  This is a slightly funky track which has hints of latter-day Peter Gabriel, and gives the whole band a chance to gel and improvise a little.  The band then rocked out on the catchy 'You Dinosaur Thing' before the first cover, an impressive (and pretty faithful) version of Fleetwood Mac's 'Green Manalashi (with the two pronged crown)'. This is the second time I've seen this played live in the last couple of weeks (Judas Priest played it at their Brixton show) and I've got to say that Hogarth and company probably did the better version, retaining the subtleties of the original.

After this, things slowed down for a while.  The highlights of the midsection of the set were probably a wonderful version of the moving 'Better Dreams' (from 'Ice Cream Genius') which features a great performance from the female cellist ( I didn't catch her name). Steve then dug out a track from the 'How We Live' (his immediate pre-Marillion band) album, 'India', before going down the ambient-meets-psychedelic route for 'The Deep Water' and an excellent instrumental wig-out by guitarist Aziz Ibrahim called 'Now and Zen'.  These tracks really benefit from the psychedelic images which are projected onto the backdrop behind the stage all evening, adding to the atmosphere.

Steve then appears to yield to audience pressure and plays an XTC song, 'The Loving' - Dave clearly enjoyed playing this track, but Steve didn't seem to know all the words! However he could probably be forgiven for this given his excellent vocal performance throughout the gig.  The first Marillion track of the night followed - '80 Days' (from 'This Strange Engine').  This isn't one of my favourites, but the crowd (clearly all Marillion aficionados, somewhat unsurprisingly) cheer every word.

The final three tracks were, for me, the highlights of the gig.  Final track before the encores was a wonderful version of the Bowie classic 'Life On Mars', with Hogarth clearly putting his all into a very impressive performance.  For the encores the first track up was another Marillion song, 'Estonia' (also from 'TSE') - a very emotional track which Marillion don't play much anymore, so it was great to hear The H Band do it full justice.

Having gone off again after this Steve is cheered back on and finishes with a version of George Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass', a track which has obviously taken on more resonance recently.  Backed by just Dave Gregory's guitar for this track, it was a fine and majestic way to end the gig.

I've got to say that this was a superb gig which was right up there with the recent Marillion show in terms of enjoyment and quality. Hogarth seemed relaxed (so much so he was almost vertical at times!) and to be enjoying himself on stage immensely, as did the whole band, who appear to have a surprising degree of understanding amongst themselves, given that they don't play together that often.  Take my advice; if the H Band play anymore shows, take a chance and go along - you won't be disappointed!

Tom