Today’s post is a special one. That’s because it was ten years ago tonight that I saw and discovered Marillion. The monumental impact that show had on me is one that I can still feel today. As you can imagine, I have seen a ton of shows in that time. I have witnessed many things, but none of them could compare to the experience of that first show at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills on October 22, 2016. My dad and I went into that show knowing next to no music. My dad remembered “Kayleigh” from the 80s, and I had heard “Neverland” once long ago. The next year of 2017 became the Year of Marillion for me. The Racket Records website was practically my browser’s homepage, as I was gradually buying their discography, soon graduating into exploring solo material and side projects. The show meant so much to me that I wrote a creative nonfiction essay about it for a college class that spring of 2017. I will share that essay in a separate post, but one of the best things the band did for me (and the rest of the fans, really) was have all of the performances from that tour be professionally recorded and then made available to download for a small price. To have that night be preserved and available for me to listen to anytime I want is something truly unique, since there are many shows I wish I could say the same about. I gave that show a listen today on the soundbar hooked up to my TV, and I was reliving the magic all over again.
I do have a few treasures from that night that have stood the test of time, like the 2016 tour shirt I got for Christmas 2016 and the printable ticket stub, the former of which I’m wearing right now, and the latter of which is framed alongside my 2018 ticket stub.
I did take a few photos at the show, most of which were at the very end, as the band took their final bows. My dad and I were so invested in the performance that taking photos/video never crossed our minds.
Being a Marillion fan in the states has left me with minimal opportunities to see the band live since that first show, and I think that’s part of why it’s so special. My last proper Marillion concert was in 2018, with all other times being on Cruise to the Edge in 2022, 2024, and this year.
Chances to see them have been sparse, but despite that, I’ve acquired numerous happy memories involving the band and their music over the last decade. First, in 2017, when I embarked on something I now like to call The Marillion Project. At the time, I had recalled reading about how David Bowie became a big supporter for the band Arcade Fire by buying up multiple copies of their stellar first album, Funeral, and giving them to his friends. I wanted to do something like that for Marillion, so most of 2017 was spent buying copies of their 2016 album F.E.A.R from the Racket store and having them shipped to my music friends around the country whom I felt may appreciate the band’s work. I don’t remember the exact number, but I think I bought and gifted about 17 copies in total. To this day, I have not done that for any other band.
Special memory number 2 happened in 2018, when I flew to Atlanta to see the band in Atlanta, GA. The final part of The Marillion Project was to see if I could get a copy to someone famous. And I did. That someone was Al Stewart. Al had been making his rounds in the Southern California area for awhile, and I had become a regular at his shows and visited with him after a few of them, so I thought he’d be perfect. I visited with him after a show in San Juan Capistrano, CA, where I presented him with a F.E.A.R. Not only had he heard of the band, he also spoke favorably about watching their performance at the Fairpoint Cropredy Festival in England, either earlier that year or the year before. Anyway, it wasn’t enough for me to get a CD to him. Since I had plans to see them in Atlanta, I wanted to do something extra, so I brought along a vinyl copy of Al’s record Time Passages, asking if he would sign it to the band, which he did. I approached Stephanie Bradley after the show in Atlanta, who kindly took me over to Steve Rothery, the first member of the band I ended up meeting.
The third memory only happened just a couple months ago. I wrote about it here, but it was Steve Rothery’s masterclass in Brighton, which was also my first trip to the UK. I shared all my photos and stories from that experience in their respective blog entries. Instead, I will share a small library of photos showcasing some of the other wonderful memories that have accompanied the last decade. I’ve met incredible people along the way, and am eager to continue the tradition of finding a better way of life next March, in Port Zelande, where I will finally be attending my first Marillion Weekend.
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