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Thread: Marillion sells out Royal Albert Hall

  1. #76
    Member Top Cat's Avatar
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    Anyone else watch this yet?
    My wife and I watched Part 1 Friday night and I have to say it's a joy to see Marillion perform at a proper large venue such as The Royal Albert Hall.
    I've been a regular buyer of the fan club weekend DVD's which are excellent, and the infectious fun the band and the fans have always adds another element to the concert.
    But this concert was HUGE! it would be easy for any band to seem small in a place like TRAH, but Marillion fits in comfortably.
    The production, lighting and visuals equals the quality of any of the upper tier bands I've seen, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Peter Gabriel to name a few.
    I thought while watching the concert how Marillion may have just gotten a lot more people's attention after doing this concert.

    The music as always is wonderful, I've always thought Marillion as great as their studio albums are, are at their best playing in front of an audience.
    They've developed the ability to connect with their fans and at the same time channel that energy into the performance on stage.

    I couldn't be happier to see how one of the hardest working bands in the business were able to finally fulfill their dream of playing Royal Albert Hall.

    The audio and performance are fantastic(I don't have 5.1 but stereo sounds awesome). As I said, I thought the visual projection and lighting is equal to the top concerts I've seen in the past.
    As far as material, I don't have their latest release FEAR, so much of it was new to us on first listen. But it's powerful, heavy stuff and by the end of Part 1 we were ready to take a break and watch Part II tonight(Sunday). Had to lighten it up a bit and followed the show with Steve Hackett Live in Birmingham DVD).
    Last edited by Top Cat; 04-16-2018 at 07:10 AM.
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  2. #77
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    I watched it yesterday too. Audio and visuals are excellent. How was it that Marillion was able to sell out RAH in a matter of minutes? And if they could sell it out so quickly, why are they still performing in mostly small theaters? Anyway, it is great to see them in such a nice, proper venue.

  3. #78
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    ^^ I think they viewed it as a one-time thing, with an eye towaard fulfilling a dream and also producing this live concert video. It’s apparently an expensive venue to book and film in (and make a mess with confetti in).

    Still waiting for my deluxe edition, which I expect to have in about a week or so.

  4. #79
    I'm going to watch it sometime this weekend.
    Already listened to the CDs a few times. I'm loving it already, well most of it.

    DVD should be great too.

  5. #80
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Listening to a bit of this show this morning. What’s standing out most are Trewavas’ beautiful bass lines and the bass sound. Lovely!

    Think another Neo-Prog band will ever play the RAH? Another 80’s Neo-Prog band? I doubt it. Pendragon MIGHT fill it, but it’s a big might I think.

  6. #81
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Listening to a bit of this show this morning. What’s standing out most are Trewavas’ beautiful bass lines and the bass sound. Lovely!

    Think another Neo-Prog band will ever play the RAH? Another 80’s Neo-Prog band? I doubt it. Pendragon MIGHT fill it, but it’s a big might I think.
    If you had Pendy alongside IQ, you might just fill it, but not on their own anymore, sadly.
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  7. #82
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    Didn't VDGG sell out this venue a few years ago too? I think people were surprised because back in the day, at least, they were apparently never that big in the UK. I've read that was the case for GG too though.
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    Quote Originally Posted by lazland View Post
    If you had Pendy alongside IQ, you might just fill it, but not on their own anymore, sadly.
    What about IQ by themselves? Also, what about Ozric Tentacles. I guess it's a safe bet PT could fill it and sell out though.
    Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)

  9. #84
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    What about IQ by themselves? Also, what about Ozric Tentacles. I guess it's a safe bet PT could fill it and sell out though.
    IQ play 400 seaters, not 5,000 seaters.
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  10. #85
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    Quote Originally Posted by Progatron View Post
    IQ play 400 seaters, not 5,000 seaters.
    This is absolutely right. The last time I saw Pendragon in Wales some 12 years ago now, it was at a 500 capacity venue, and IQ have only played The Met in Bury and The Venue in London for a while now, and are the capacity above.
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  11. #86
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    Quote Originally Posted by Progatron View Post
    IQ play 400 seaters, not 5,000 seaters.
    Indeed. IQ were never very big, even in the 80s/90s. I'm not sure anything of theirs has ever charted in the UK and the same goes for Pendragon. Really of the so-called 'neo' bands, it was only ever Marillion who crossed over into mainstream success. Whilst Marillion were admittedly on EMI, most of the others did have brief periods on bigger labels in the 80s, even if via subsidiaries like Harvest etc.

    Porcupine Tree were definitely knocking on the door of mainstream success at the time they originally split. And Wilson's subsequent solo stuff charts well, I think.

  12. #87
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    Indeed. IQ were never very big, even in the 80s/90s. I'm not sure anything of theirs has ever charted in the UK and the same goes for Pendragon. Really of the so-called 'neo' bands, it was only ever Marillion who crossed over into mainstream success. Whilst Marillion were admittedly on EMI, most of the others did have brief periods on bigger labels in the 80s, even if via subsidiaries like Harvest etc.

    Porcupine Tree were definitely knocking on the door of mainstream success at the time they originally split. And Wilson's subsequent solo stuff charts well, I think.
    I don't think anything by IQ or Pendragon charted either (and according to wikipedia that seems to be the case) but if you can count It Bites as neo prog (which they sometimes are considered to be), they had some chart success in the UK also. It looks like Pallas had some success too(with their first two albums making number 41 and 70 on the top UK album charts respectively) but nothing compared to Marillion.

    I don't know if you are in the UK or US but Porcupine Tree had some albums in the top 100 in both the UK and US. Although it's hailed as a classic and influential album now, In Absentia didn't crack the UK or US charts (although it did in a few other countries) but Deadwing made it to number 97 in the UK and 132 in the US. Not too bad for a prog band. They did even better later on. You can look up exact details on wikipedia under PT's discography page. I suspect their next one will crack the top 20 in both the US and UK also.

    Knocking on the door is a good way to put it for PT but I only heard them on the radio once and that song was "blackest eyes" when In Absentia first came out. I remember how shocked I was when I heard it since I had never heard any modern prog on the radio before. For some reason that album didn't chart at all. I think the general public had no idea who they were although they did open up for Yes on that tour so that probably helped them get some wider recognition at that time. Other than that you don't hear PT or even Opeth on the radio and the same goes for any other modern prog bands. IMO, in order to have mainstream success you usually need to have at least some radio play.
    Last edited by Digital_Man; 05-26-2022 at 10:35 AM.
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  13. #88
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    It was when Porcupine Tree signed to Roadrunner that the chart positions improved, much higher positions than those Lava albums. I remember being surprised by how relatively well The Incident was doing worldwide (particularly as I personally found it a weak album, compared to earlier ones). But the plug was pulled after that.

    The progressive metal-leaning bands do better commercially.

  14. #89
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    I remember being surprised by how relatively well The Incident was doing worldwide (particularly as I personally found it a weak album, compared to earlier ones).
    Same here, but I think that was the public playing catchup on the strength of the previous albums. Sort of like Topographic Oceans going to number 1 before it had even been released.
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

  15. #90
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    Indeed. IQ were never very big, even in the 80s/90s. I'm not sure anything of theirs has ever charted in the UK and the same goes for Pendragon. Really of the so-called 'neo' bands, it was only ever Marillion who crossed over into mainstream success. Whilst Marillion were admittedly on EMI, most of the others did have brief periods on bigger labels in the 80s, even if via subsidiaries like Harvest etc.

    Porcupine Tree were definitely knocking on the door of mainstream success at the time they originally split. And Wilson's subsequent solo stuff charts well, I think.
    One could say that the measuring stick of mainstream success by the so called "neo-prog" bands mentioned, shows that only Porcupine Tree (or as Steve Wilson band), Steve Hackett (not so-neo) and Marillion have played the Royal Albert Hall (feel free to add more if you recall them).

    Of course, there have been a few more prog bands from the 70's like ELP, Yes, Moody Blues and Camel that have played the RAH but they came before the neo-prog wave. So we can say that the post-prog movement did not create a much larger wave of popularity as their predecessors did in their Halcyon days. There have been dozens more but are more at RAH in the rock category: Deep Purple, Stones (4 times) and Cream are good examples.

  16. #91
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Opeth too, in the Rock category.

  17. #92
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    I told you Marillion were sell-outs.

  18. #93
    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    Didn't VDGG sell out this venue a few years ago too? I think people were surprised because back in the day, at least, they were apparently never that big in the UK. I've read that was the case for GG too though.
    The only VdGG record to chart in the UK was indeed The Least We Can Do in late '69, barely reaching the top 50 and rumoured to have sold some 10,000 copies at that. But this in itself was something of an accomplishment back then, as six out of seven so-called progressive artists in Britain - and yeah, the term was very much active already by the turn of the decade - were primarily considered "underground" acts. Soft Machine, East of Eden, Man or Edgar Broughton Band, for instance, drew substantial crowds to hall without turning any notable numbers in record sales.

    VdGG featured among the most acclaimed assets of a burgeoning scene abundant with eclectic colour and experimentalist diversity. They arguably never reached the status of Family or Colosseum or Curved Air, at least not until Pawn Hearts saw them safely to superstardom in Italy, but I remember Vernon Joynson's words of how Hammill & co. were always ubiquitous on the club circuit both in London and their hometurf in the Greater Manchester region as well as Yorkshire ridings in general. Many artists survived and endured through performance, not through revenues on recorded material. By the time of their reformation in the mid-70s (Godbluff/Still Life era), VdGG were effectively headlining grand domains such as Rockpalast in Germany and appearing on the main bill of festivals all over Europe (Midtfyns and Roskilde in Denmark for starters). By '77 they were scheduled alongside upcoming punk groups in DIY-showcases all over the UK, memorably in Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove and the Stonehenge events. VdGG were known, if not exactly household.

    However, VdGG as of today fall back on not only the band's story but also that of half a century worth of Hammill solo plus seemingly endless series of artists who check them as influence in one way or another. They could easily assume a distinguished distortion of "cult band", yet you rarely see that tag applied on VdGG. Cult bands usually didn't sell 200,000 marks of mayhem to Italian audiences.
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  19. #94
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    By the time of their reformation in the mid-70s (Godbluff/Still Life era), VdGG were effectively headlining grand domains such as Rockpalast in Germany and appearing on the main bill of festivals all over Europe (Midtfyns and Roskilde in Denmark for starters).
    As well as crossing the pond for the first time and playing NYC as well as the esteemed Massey Hall right here in Toronto. During my many trips to that venue, I've long pictured Hammill on that intimate stage, spitting those lyrics to Masks and jerking about in his manic frenzies. And of course more importantly, their six-date run in La Belle Province where the general public's taste was always par excellence and welcomed the Graafs like old friends.[/QUOTE]
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