Fish saying goodbye during one last tour Road to the Isles. Next year he shall move to Berneray and than calls it a day for touring for good. Of course I had to see this tour and Haarlem it became. So before sharing some words on the show this evening, let me explain why I could not afford missing this tour. Some 42 years ago when it was late 1982 or early 83 I started reading about Marillion in Kerrang. I was 16/17 and moved from the great hardrock bands of the seventies more and more into metal with the rise and still rise of NWOBHM those days. Now I did not understand why a band that was compared with Genesis would make it several times to Kerrang. I had never heard of the Gabriel years and to me Genesis were a Collins driven pop band. Still when Script got released I remember heading to Supertracks in town and give the album a listen. Well that did not take long to realize I had gold on my ears here. Picked up the album and quickly thereafter bought the Market Square Heroes EP. To my joy soon hereafter Marillion were announced opening band of Parkpop and there I was with maybe some 100 fans who already heard of the band. They blew us 100 and a few thousand unaware bypassers away that afternoon. From there Marillion became one of my absolute favorites and I did not miss any tour during the eighties. The band grew fast too and than there was the split. I read in a Marillion book that by the split they lost a part of the hardrocking fans and I saw this happening around me. Not me though as I now had two bands to love and follow closely in Marillion and Fish. I was not the only one as Aardschok, Holland's leading metal magazine still reviewed Fish albums, confirming that same soft spot for Fish that I have.
When Fish released Vigil January 1990 it turned out to be possibly the best progrock album of that decade. Well Progrock or not, he moved into other waters and basically became the storyteller over music. I loved all his albums and attended most tours still. This century I saw him in several forms either playing Misplaced in full, doing an acoustic show or a general overview of his dicography. The last highlight came in 2019. I had tickets for his show in my hometown The Hague, but could not make it and gave my ticket away to a friend. Than by chance we were in Edinburgh as Tiago visited the University Open Day the very weekend Fish played in town. Sold out I was lucky to bump into two Dutch fans, who helped me getting a ticket at original price. So seeing the big man in his hometown was another one to never forget. And then Corona struck, when with Weltschemerz his last absolute beauty was released. So no touring around after this stunner of a double album. This year the farewell tour was announced. I was in Portugal at the time and the first batch of shows sold out very quick. Slight panic took hold of me, but when more Dutch shows were announced I could skip my travelling abroad plans and got myself tickets for the Haarlem show. Josie does not join me to all shows, but she likes her some Fish. That was untill work got her on a course and Pieter took over her ticket. With Yvon and Bday boy René, we headed early to Haarlem for some warm-up drinks and a nice meal. Ready we were to look for Phil, a new venue to me in Haarlem. When the stream of people became men in their fifties and sixties and bold or grey like us, we knew we were heading in the right direction and Phil turned out to hold a beautiful large hall. Inside Pieter notced the small amount of band shirts in the audience. Well not me, as I proudly wore my Iotunn longsleeve as their new one is senstaional, but more on that next week. A sold out evening, still did not mean uncomfortably packed and we were ready in all ways for one last trip through Fish's discography, with some old Marillion to spice matters up.
La Gazza Ladra warned us we were kicking off at 20:30. On came the band and with a calm version of Vigil we got the very first high of the evening at the very beginning. Sometimes I read reviews comparing Fish voice today with 40 years ago. As that is pointless a train that passed decades ago I loved his performance in combination with background vocals by Elizabeth. She took especially Just Good Friends to an amazing highlight duetting with Fish, Actually the full band were top tonight. Steve Vantsis on bass and Gavin Griffiths (another Bday boy this evening) laid the solid base, while Mickey Simmonds was great on keyboards. Robin Boult on guitar as always gave us shivers at times. The Marillion songs he adapts to a more bluesy format, but always justifying the songs and Fish' current vocal range. Fish himself was having a cold, but in good shape for his 66 years as he stated himself. The first four songs were needed to warm him up and than he started talking with the audience like only he can. If there was one downside this evening it was that because I follow some pages on FB, the setlist held no surprises to me being posted many times before. So when Plague of Ghosts was announced, I knew it was coming. But what a version we got, with another high by Elizabeth in Are You Happy Now?. Those who did not feel the end of We Can Make It Happen sung by the crowd through their whole body, must have lost their soul long ago. What an ending of the set continuing until the encores.
And encores we got with a beautiful Mickey Simmonds carried version of A Gentleman's Excuse me. This followed by the Misplaced Childhood singles, before the band left the stage. Already 130 minutes down Yvon was surprised they would come back for even more. Well The Company was not played yet and if there is one song representng the Fish oeuvre best it must be this shout along drinking song. That is where I lost my voice for good, halfway up halfway down. A wonderful end, to this fine evening of one last time Fish for me. The writer that sings stops singing, so now I wait for the book. When I came home Josie woke up and asked how it was. I mumbled can't speak. left me bloody voice in Haarlem (or was it the cold bicylce ride home from the station). What a way to go out for me and Fish. He does not know me, but he was 41 years very present in my life celebrating some of my highs. consoling some of my lows. So one big thank you Mr. Fish and enjoy the isle.
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