Marillion Weekend - Prelude

Marillion Weekend Canada 2009. Oh. Fuck. Yes. If you don't know Marillion, congratulations. You are a part of the majority. In fact, Sound on Sound once described the band as "the best kept secret in the music industry". Anyways, how about a little bit about the band...

Marillion were formed in the late Mezozoic era (the late 70's), so it's fair to say that they've been around for a long time. Their music can best be described as progressive rock, but that's not really the point. This is a group that has always done things their own way, and has always defied the odds. They peaked, as most bands do, with their third album, 1985's Misplaced Childhood, a concept album featuring a series of suites interlaced with spoken word passages, released at a time when Madonna and WHAM! topped the charts.

In 1988 the Marillion's front man and lyricist Fish left the group, which for many observers marked the end of the band. But, in what would become a common theme over the years Marillion soldiered on, hiring a new singer, Steve Hogarth AKA h. After proving to their fans that Marillion wouldn't go away with two strong albums, Marillion did what very few bands do by peaking for a second time in their career with the albums Brave and Afraid of Sunlight. And they did it by breaking the rules once again. Released at the height of the grunge/alt rock movement, 1994's Brave featured eerie sounds, barely audible vocals, and several complex song arrangements. But in spite of heavy critical acclaim, the decision to make a single 50 minute music video featuring most of the album's material was a good indication of how the material was to be marketed, and the public was not given access to it. The follow up album Afraid of Sunlight spawned the tour which gave the author his first Marillion in Montreal experience, which would forever change the way that he looked at live music and the relationship between performer and audience.

The next few years would see Marillion struggling to maintain creative control over their music, which cost them a great deal of label support. Due to a lack of funds, the band were unable to tour in North America to promote their 1997 album This Strange Engine. But in this challenge a silver lining was found, and the Marillion fan community really came into its own. Marillion fans in North America actually started a fund raising campaign, and people payed $60,000 out of their own pockets to fund a Marillion tour in North America. It was the first sign to the outside world that Marillion fans are not your average music lovers. As the label troubles continued, Marillion were forced to stop playing in North America, but the dedication of the fanbase and the ability to communicate directly with them via the internet would be the key to the band's success.

In 2000, Marillion made an unprecedented move by marketing their next album to their fans before it was even recorded. The idea was that the fans would pre-order the album, and the money from the pre-orders would finance the making of the album. More than 12,500 fans pre-ordered the album which would become Anoraknophobia, which greatly diminished the band's reliance on finance from the label, leaving them with complete creative control over their work. The result was something that is almost unheard of in the music business. Marillion peaked a third time. The follow up album, 2004's epic double CD Marbles, is considered by many fans and the band itself to be Marillion's best record, making them the only band that the author has ever heard of who can say that about their 13th record. Marbles also had a strong pre-order campaign, though the pre-orders financed the promotion, not the album itself. The result was Marillion scoring their first UK top ten hit since 1987 with "You're Gone", and embarking on their first North American tour in 7 years.

The return to Montreal was breathtaking for the band and the fans, who showed their appreciation after the first song with such an ovation that the band could not start their next song for probably 5 minutes.

Over the past 6 years, Marillion has continued to provide a different experience for fans, by putting together Marillion Weekends. These are events which feature 3 days of concerts, often with different themes, and normally including a past album performed in its entirety. For 6 years these weekends have been held in the UK and Europe, but when it came time to have a Marillion Weekend in North America, there could be only one choice for the city. And so Marillion fans from Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Connecticut, Denver, and Jesus knows where else, descended on the Olympia in Montreal, PQ....

(some of the facts and figures contained are from wikipedia)