Fish performs Misplaced Childhood for its 20th Anniversary
April 30, 2024 8:46 PM Subscribe
Shockingly, the 20th Anniversary of Marillion's album Misplaced Childhood is over twenty years ago! Anyway, FISH - Return To Childhood 20th anniversary tour of misplaced childhood [3h12m] is an odyssey, with Fish's solo career dominating the front half and a full playthrough of Misplaced Childhood and a rundown of other Marillion songs in the second half. It's a really delicious feast of this particular style of prog rock. If you're a fan of early eighties Genesis and don't know about Marillion/Fish, check this out. It's what you're looking for.
I still think the original run of 4 Marillion albums with Fish as frontman and then the first Fish solo album Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors all work together as a sort of meta-Concept Album. That might be the subject of a different post, but those four plus Vigil... closing with the love song that Fish talked about wanting to try to write on the first album? I mean, it's all a bit of a tidy bow. There are even melodic elements being reused across all four albums.
anyway...Marillion: the story of their dark masterpiece, Misplaced Childhood [Louder, longread]
I still think the original run of 4 Marillion albums with Fish as frontman and then the first Fish solo album Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors all work together as a sort of meta-Concept Album. That might be the subject of a different post, but those four plus Vigil... closing with the love song that Fish talked about wanting to try to write on the first album? I mean, it's all a bit of a tidy bow. There are even melodic elements being reused across all four albums.
anyway...Marillion: the story of their dark masterpiece, Misplaced Childhood [Louder, longread]
My first experience with a Walkman, and the first cassette I bought.
(I was due to play soccer, but got dropped when a better player recovered faster than expected. To soften the blow - I wasn't even on the bench now - someone lent me their Walkman. This was the cassette inside it. Till then, I had mostly liked classical.)
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 11:37 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]
(I was due to play soccer, but got dropped when a better player recovered faster than expected. To soften the blow - I wasn't even on the bench now - someone lent me their Walkman. This was the cassette inside it. Till then, I had mostly liked classical.)
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 11:37 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]
Oh boy. Programming in Macromedia Director and listening to Marillion - it was a time. One live album (La Gazza Ladra or the Thieving Magpie) stands out as exceptionally good - Marillion (ie Fish) hooked you with sweet references to classic prog like Genesis and VDGG (clearly a big influence). Some great stuff here - will check out the full set.
And thanks hippybear - love yer muzik posts.
posted by whatevernot at 2:28 AM on May 1 [4 favorites]
And thanks hippybear - love yer muzik posts.
posted by whatevernot at 2:28 AM on May 1 [4 favorites]
Fish out of Marillion! Derek Dick? A stalwart of the old Viz. comic
posted by chavenet at 3:41 AM on May 1
posted by chavenet at 3:41 AM on May 1
Rush chose Marillion to open for them in parts of the US back in 85-86, pretty sure it was in support of this album. The crowd....didn't care for it much. I kind of felt bad for them.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:55 AM on May 1 [3 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:55 AM on May 1 [3 favorites]
When I started the headline, I thought this was a chariot pulled by cassowaries post.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:11 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:11 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Slightly more seriously, I might have seen that Rush/Marillion tour. I had a friend around that time who was a big Marillion fan, and I have vague memories of seeing them live.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:17 AM on May 1
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:17 AM on May 1
When I think of Marillion, and this album specifically, I think of "Childhood's End?", because a friend of mine got into the album as a sort of replacement for Peter Gabriel-era Genesis and played this song repeatedly. Such a great bass groove.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:21 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:21 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
I will have to listen to this later but pleasepleaseplease tell me that Fish performs the entirety of Grendel at some point in this concert.
posted by KingEdRa at 7:29 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
posted by KingEdRa at 7:29 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]
Also, I second Whatevernot's enthusiasm for the The Thieving Magpie live album. It's an exceptional live album (even if you're not a Marillion fan) and one of the their albums (along with B-Sides Themselves because, Grendel) that I go back to regularly.
posted by KingEdRa at 7:32 AM on May 1 [3 favorites]
posted by KingEdRa at 7:32 AM on May 1 [3 favorites]
I still love Fish-era Marillion, even though they're an 80s version of 70s Genesis in a lot of ways.
There's no arguing with 'Forgotten Sons', like.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 8:33 AM on May 1 [2 favorites]
There's no arguing with 'Forgotten Sons', like.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 8:33 AM on May 1 [2 favorites]
as 1970s teenage prog head, I imagine I was in Marillion's target market. But when I first heard them (before that first album got a proper release here in the Americas, a friend had an import -- call him Joel), I was at best bemused. A second (third?) rate Peter Gabriel era Genesis at a point in time when I was well past all that, far more into the likes of The The, Violent Femmes, various hardcore and thrash and proto-industrial outfits, the current version of King Crimson, and oh yeah, what Peter Gabriel himself was currently up to.
So yeah, deaf ears. And even some embarrassment for old friends like Joel who really did seem to be into them.
And being in the Americas, it was pretty easy to ignore them. They weren't on the radio. They never got close to my burg on tour. But then, 1985 I guess, Joel tracked me down and forced a cassette rip of Misplaced Childhood on me. "You need to hear this," he said. "The music's getting better but it's more than that. It's about us. People like us that grew up with the glory days of prog rock, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull at their peak, pouring over all those album covers and lyrics and ... "
Anyway, I gave it a listen, not expecting much. And the first few tracks seemed awfully pop, similar to the current Phil Collins Genesis (who I did not care for) ... but then maybe ten minutes in, something started to happen. I started to get it. I started to relate. Suddenly all these obvious throwback Genesis-isms made sense, they were clicking for me ... because like Joel had said, this album was about us, about me, what I'd lived through as a not particularly cool 70s teen, born too late to be a hippie, too thickheaded to really "get" punk etc (at first anyway), so lost in this sorta half-light of fading pomp, glory, passion ... all the stuff that Marillion's re-appropriated Genesis-isms were so vividly, somewhat sorrowfully illuminating.
IT WAS A GREAT FUCKING ALBUM.
It spoke to me. It spoke for me. I played it a lot, though usually when I was alone. It certainly wasn't considered remotely cool. And then, strangely, unexpectedly, Marillion came to town, played a gig at probably the best venue we've got ... and it just wasn't that good. They weren't that good. They didn't pack near the punch that they did on that record, which they played in its entirety. And everything else they played that night (from their previous two albums) -- that left me as cold as it ever did.
So yeah, that pretty much concluded my Marillion sidetrack. Kind of a head-scratcher. Not that I don't give Misplaced Childhood a listen every now and then, because it does still click for me, it does speak for something. And, as for the concert in question here, I do kinda wish I was there ... particularly from about this point onward ...
Now that's drama, and glory.
posted by philip-random at 11:02 AM on May 1 [5 favorites]
So yeah, deaf ears. And even some embarrassment for old friends like Joel who really did seem to be into them.
And being in the Americas, it was pretty easy to ignore them. They weren't on the radio. They never got close to my burg on tour. But then, 1985 I guess, Joel tracked me down and forced a cassette rip of Misplaced Childhood on me. "You need to hear this," he said. "The music's getting better but it's more than that. It's about us. People like us that grew up with the glory days of prog rock, Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull at their peak, pouring over all those album covers and lyrics and ... "
Anyway, I gave it a listen, not expecting much. And the first few tracks seemed awfully pop, similar to the current Phil Collins Genesis (who I did not care for) ... but then maybe ten minutes in, something started to happen. I started to get it. I started to relate. Suddenly all these obvious throwback Genesis-isms made sense, they were clicking for me ... because like Joel had said, this album was about us, about me, what I'd lived through as a not particularly cool 70s teen, born too late to be a hippie, too thickheaded to really "get" punk etc (at first anyway), so lost in this sorta half-light of fading pomp, glory, passion ... all the stuff that Marillion's re-appropriated Genesis-isms were so vividly, somewhat sorrowfully illuminating.
IT WAS A GREAT FUCKING ALBUM.
It spoke to me. It spoke for me. I played it a lot, though usually when I was alone. It certainly wasn't considered remotely cool. And then, strangely, unexpectedly, Marillion came to town, played a gig at probably the best venue we've got ... and it just wasn't that good. They weren't that good. They didn't pack near the punch that they did on that record, which they played in its entirety. And everything else they played that night (from their previous two albums) -- that left me as cold as it ever did.
So yeah, that pretty much concluded my Marillion sidetrack. Kind of a head-scratcher. Not that I don't give Misplaced Childhood a listen every now and then, because it does still click for me, it does speak for something. And, as for the concert in question here, I do kinda wish I was there ... particularly from about this point onward ...
Now that's drama, and glory.
posted by philip-random at 11:02 AM on May 1 [5 favorites]
For a live document of this era of Marillion careening towards the end, this one gets the job done.
I think they solidified as a live band after Fish left the band. In fact they became a quite different band, less dependent on the Genesis mannerisms. There's a lot of debate among the faithful as to which era/vocalist they prefer, not to mention Fish's stellar solo career. I am enough of a fan boy to like it all. I just wish Fish's stuff wasn't so hard and expensive to track down. The Hogarth era is much easier, this is a band that totally understands its audience and works hard to give the faithful what they want.
Prog on!
posted by Ber at 1:02 PM on May 1
I think they solidified as a live band after Fish left the band. In fact they became a quite different band, less dependent on the Genesis mannerisms. There's a lot of debate among the faithful as to which era/vocalist they prefer, not to mention Fish's stellar solo career. I am enough of a fan boy to like it all. I just wish Fish's stuff wasn't so hard and expensive to track down. The Hogarth era is much easier, this is a band that totally understands its audience and works hard to give the faithful what they want.
Prog on!
posted by Ber at 1:02 PM on May 1
Marillion morphed so much after Fish left that they were one of the very early examples of crowdfunding, with much of their career across decades being supported by fan pledges and other such support.
I really never caught on with Marillion after Fish left, but I've always admired how they've had such amazing longevity. It's proven a model that other bands of various sizes have followed for their own success. But yes, for me, it's those early years that captured my soul.
posted by hippybear at 4:39 PM on May 2
I really never caught on with Marillion after Fish left, but I've always admired how they've had such amazing longevity. It's proven a model that other bands of various sizes have followed for their own success. But yes, for me, it's those early years that captured my soul.
posted by hippybear at 4:39 PM on May 2
One thing I love about this show is that they aren't dressed for the stage, they're dressed to play music. Pearl Jam has done this for years -- they wear basically what they would wear to the studio for a lengthy play session, only they happen to be on stage.
I don't mean to regard this as a Mark Of Seriously Musicianship or anything because plenty who put on fancy stage gear are also serious musicians playing serious music. But it's a thing I appreciate. It's a bit more of "inviting you into the rehearsal space/living room" vibe somehow.
Also, I hadn't realized Derek Dick is 6'5"! It's really really rare for the front man for a rock band to be so effing tall! He must really have to keep his front man swagger in check because he could be terrifying if he starting bolting around the place like Jagger or strutting like Bono.
posted by hippybear at 7:20 PM on May 2
I don't mean to regard this as a Mark Of Seriously Musicianship or anything because plenty who put on fancy stage gear are also serious musicians playing serious music. But it's a thing I appreciate. It's a bit more of "inviting you into the rehearsal space/living room" vibe somehow.
Also, I hadn't realized Derek Dick is 6'5"! It's really really rare for the front man for a rock band to be so effing tall! He must really have to keep his front man swagger in check because he could be terrifying if he starting bolting around the place like Jagger or strutting like Bono.
posted by hippybear at 7:20 PM on May 2
He must really have to keep his front man swagger in check because he could be terrifying if he starting bolting around the place like Jagger or strutting like Bono I don't know - works pretty well for Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett.
I remember seeing Marillion when they opened for Rush in the '80's, and just fell in love with them. Still bummed that my Walkman, with their double live cassette tape in it, was stolen at a college party.
posted by spinifex23 at 8:38 PM on May 3
I remember seeing Marillion when they opened for Rush in the '80's, and just fell in love with them. Still bummed that my Walkman, with their double live cassette tape in it, was stolen at a college party.
posted by spinifex23 at 8:38 PM on May 3
For whomever was asking about Grendel being performed... this is the concert you want for that.
posted by hippybear at 6:21 PM on May 12
posted by hippybear at 6:21 PM on May 12
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posted by Ickster at 10:02 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]