Marillion with Friends from The Orchestra

Tonight’s venue is pretty much the perfect setting for the Scottish leg of Marillion’s current tour, which sees them joined by Belgian string quartet In Praise of Folly plus Sam Morris (French horn) and Emma Halnan (flute). For the band, the Royal Concert Hall has superb acoustics and a generous stage. For the generally middle-aged audience, a comfy seat for the near two hour show. Not that we were actually sat the whole time of course - at the end of many songs, sections of the crowd got to their feet to show their appreciation.

The show, which started with the 18 minute epic ‘Gaza’, spanned the 30 year Steve Hogarth era - from Season’s End through to F.E.A.R. The lighting was impressive throughout and screen behind the band used to great effect in helping the story telling - particularly so during the four song set that makes up ' The New Kings', clearly a highlight for many tonight.

Steve Hogarth commands attention, often theatrical in his performance, and interacted well with the Glasgow crowd. This inevitably descended into nonesense at times... but in a good way. There were clothing changes - “They don’t sell many of these north of the border” he joked after putting on a pretty unusual jacket with added flaps - and he occasionally strapped on a guitar or joined Mark Kelly on keyboard duties.

In contrast to Hogarth and the lively Pete Trewavas, Steve Rothery is fairly static at stage front. But he has the ability to take songs to another level with his soaring, melodic, Gilmour-esque playing. And when coupled with Hogarth adding some power to his vocals, it can be incredibly effective.

And the orchestra? Well, many bands have tried to cast new light on their material by the addition of an orchestra. More often than not, it doesn’t work well and it feels like they’ve clumsily shoehorned in the orchestration, or it becomes overblown. Not so with this show. Marillion have found the perfect balance, with the strings, horn and flute complementing the band perfectly rather than dominating. Each element has their own brief moment in the spotlight at some point, but it’s all done very tastefully.

The main set ended with ‘The Great Escape’ in which Hogarth and Rothery both really shone and they returned with ‘Fantastic Place’ before the rockier ‘Separated Out’ got the majority of the crowd to their feet. This along with the upbeat ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ were the highlights of the night for me. Mid-song the string section got to their feet as they added in a bit of Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ - a nice touch.

The band left the stage to huge applause and, for a minute, it appeared like they may return again. But sadly the house lights eventually came on and that marked the end.

The collaboration ‘with friends from the orchestra’ has clearly proved to be a great success. As if it was ever in doubt.

On the back of the tour, a new release ‘With Friends From The Orchestra’ will be available on CD, 2LP gatefold on heavyweight vinyl, limited and coloured 2LP and on digital and streaming platforms on November 29 through earMusic.

Glasgow setlist: Gaza/Seasons End/Estonia/A Collection/The New Kings: I. XXXX Everyone and Run/II. Russia's Locked Doors/III. A Scary Sky/IV. Why Is Nothing Ever True?/Man of a Thousand Faces/The Sky Above the Rain/The Great Escape/Fantastic Place/Separated Out (with a snippet of Kashmir)

LH