Fantastic Place

Marillion Live at the Vic Theater, Chicago, 2016.10.27-28

For this US tour, Chicago was Marillion's only two-night stop.  Both the new album and tour have been highly rated by the fan base.  Personally, I found this tour, while always a welcome experience, to be have less of an impact than the last four US tours.  First playing at the Vic seemed "off." The Park West always seems like a home for Marillion, and its a very classy place.  The Vic is a bit more of, um, a historical-garage ambiance. I would expect hip goth bands would be well received there.  And, I thought the sound was not very good- too loud and distorted. 

Secondly, the setlist centered around a large portion of the new album FEAR, the longest and densest three songs.  I would have much preferred to hear the other two tracks - White Paper, and The Leavers, which I consider the highlights of the album.  They are the most "musical" and Marillionesque, as they don't seem to try so hard to conform to the thematic theme of the album.  Hearing the three 15 minute epics left little room in the set for material from the other 17 albums.  Moreover, keeping the set relatively similar both nights seemed a little repetitive. Although we heard everything played on the tour, (Edit: such as Kayleigh/Lavender, played only in Toronto).  This consistency throughout the tour is a little disappointing after the interesting 2016 South American tour, which featured some rare tracks, such as Afraid of Sunrise and Dry Land. Additionally, the constant inclusion of the long Invisible Man and Neverland take up another considerable part of the setlist. These shows make five times (in three tours) in a row that they have opened with Invisible Man, and it seems like its time for a rest.  Hearing each of these five mentioned tracks once would have allowed for another hour of material that was rehearsed from the South American tour. Marillion is now in the unenviable state that most long-time artists are in, with such a large back catalogue.  Rather than falling into a greatest hits act, and still producing interesting new material, a lot of the latest release is played, and some early tracks have to find their way in to please the casual old fan.  But that leaves a vast collection of middle material forgotten. However, its always great to see the band be able to play anything, and as well received as the new album is, many people found the show to be a excellent one.

The first night had the band in the most relaxed state I've seen them, with H going off on an extended ad-libbed Three Minute Boy.  This looseness came back to haunt the band on the second night, when Power went bad (either through timing or monitors) and H stormed off the stage.  They picked up with the next song and tightened up, but there still seemed (at least as an audience member) for soem tension.  Given the difficulties that Marillion has had in returning to the US in the last few years, along with the apparent situation of less turn-out, the status of future US shows seems in question now more than ever. Hopefully, a new tour, now slated for 2018, will go ahead. The stand-out performances from these shows would have to be Fantastic Place, Sugar Mice, King, and, as always This Strange Engine.

10.27:
The Invisible Man/ Power/ Fantastic Place/ Living In F E A R/ Mad/ Afraid of Sunlight/ The New Kings/ Quartz/ Neverland/ El Dorado/ Easter/ Three Minute Boy
10.28:
The Invisible Man/ Sounds That Can't Be Made/ Living In F E A R/ Sugar Mice/ The New Kings/ Man of a Thousand Faces/ King/ Neverland / El Dorado/ This Strange Engine