Steve Rothery Band / Iamthemorning - Oran Mor, Glasgow 7th & 8th June 2024

So, a quick recap if you never read the review, the Cologne adventure was a Fish Era-tastic experience where the set lists were built around the Misplaced Childhood and Clutching at Straws albums. Both were fantastic gigs. This time, all we knew was that Forgotten Sons would get an outing and that the sets would be different each night. Otherwise, the band were tight lipped about what was in store.

We arrived bang on 7:00 o’clock and joined the small queue of middle-aged men who were waiting to get in. The Oran Mor is a nice wee venue which holds around 500 in the space Steve Rothery was using tonight. We found a spot down the front and had just got planted when the support for the evening came on.

Iamthemorning, are a four-piece prog outfit fronted by Russian songstress Marjana Semikina. With long, long red hair, a flowing black robe and bare feet, Marjana had a real prog presence about her. Her songs were dark, and centred around death, dying and electric shock therapy! Heavy stuff but the voice that delivered those dark themes was beautiful and light. I really enjoyed both nights. The guitarist certainly knew his onions too, Gregor was impressed by the technical work in the solos and you don’t get much more prog than playing an acoustic on a stand whilst an electric is still strapped to the back for a quick changeover. If you like a bit of prog, a gorgeous voice and some dark themes, Iamthemorning are a band you need to go and see. I’ll certainly be along to see them when they next come by.

So, to the main event. The support said good night at 7:45 both nights and at 8:00 on the dot, the Steve Rothery Band appeared. It just demonstrates that if bands put in a good sound check, know what they are doing and don’t hang around, a turnaround can be done in jig time!

Both nights started with three tracks from Rothery’s 2014 instrumental album The Ghosts of Pripyat. The band who recorded that disc are band Rothery has with him tonight, and what a set of musicians they are. Throughout the weekend they carried both the music and the vibe. Steve made the point that “gigs with this band were not like work but more like going on holiday with your mates”. This was a set of guys who evidently got on; every time one caught another’s eye they smiled, they laughed together, and they really bounced off one another musically. It was a privilege to listen to them.

After the instrumentals, Martin Jakubski joins the stage to add a vocal to the night. ‘Cinderella Search’ kicks of the 13 song set. This is a bit of a personal favourite, and it was great to hear it live again. ‘Script for Jesters Tear’ followed with ‘Incubus’ hot on it's heels.

Everything was going great, possibly with the exception of a couple of comedians who couldn’t help themselves request ‘Grendel’. This drew a wee titter the first time they yelled for it, by the 73rd time the crowd and, visibly, the band were getting a bit tired of it.

I really enjoyed Steve explaining how he first produced the chords for ‘Kayleigh’. This was done sitting in a pub with his girlfriend and, as a consequence of shifting two million albums on the back of that, he didn’t have to work in a supermarket anymore.

The Steve Rothery Band was not the only notable gig in Scotland on Friday night. The same two connoisseurs who were keen to hear ‘Grendel’ also wanted a bit of Taylor Swift. What they missed however was drummer Leon Parr breaking into the opening beats of ‘Shake it Off’, much to Martin’s amusement. It's worth saying Parr absolutely bossed it on both nights. His rhythm held the music together, he was powerful, measured and underpinned everything that was being played around him. A great drummer.

The rest of the set featured a couple of Fish era songs, ‘Heart of Lothian’ and ‘Forgotten Sons’ but also leaned heavily on the music Marillion have made with Steve Hogarth. I really liked it. ‘Runaway’ preceded fantastic renditions of ‘Easter’ and ‘Afraid of the Sunlight’. These are not normally songs I hear Martin sing. I though his voice gave them a different feel to Hogarth’s whilst maintaining the beauty of the words and blended really well with the music.

‘Assassing’ and ‘Fugazi’ brought a great night to a rocking end. For us, a long drive lay ahead. Marillion was our soundtrack for the next couple of hours, along with a great chat where we dissected every song and lick we had heard that night. Tomorrow night was a night to look forward to.

We just made it in time to see the support on Saturday. After leaving he gig the night before we travelled to play in a pipe band contest in Forres then headed back to Edinburgh before the trip west again…dedication to all types of music, us fans are all just a bit mad eh?

So, night two. Wow!

Once again, the instrumental tunes at the start of the night were great. Watching Yatim Halimi go up and down his bass was a joy to see, even though I wondered if he would bea able to reach the machine head end of the instrument. I don’t think I’ve seen a longer bass that wasn’t played as an upright.

Tonight there were a few songs from the first three Marillion albums, but Steve Rothery has been writing great stuff for 45 years. Tonight, reflected that and reminded the crowd

how deep and wide his back catalogue was. Taking of the crowd, last night’s raconteurs were nowhere to be heard and Saturday’s audience lapped up every song and every word without the need to shout for the any one called ‘Grendel’.

‘King of Sunset Town’ got the sung part of the night off to a fantastic start. ‘He Knows You Know’ and ‘Jigsaw’ were next before ‘This Town’ a great cut from 1991’s Holidays in Eden kicked in a bit of power chordage, and who doesn’t love a power chord! ‘This Town,’ and the next five songs got the joint jumping. One of the things I most enjoyed about tonight’s set was the greater presence of guitarist Dave Foster. Dave is one of the best guitarists you will ever get to hear. One of the things I felt about Steve Rothery was that he is no diva and it was great he shared many solos with Dave. Gregor was quick to point out how magnificent his shredding was, he also liked the jigsaw guitar Dave was playing. It looks like only 60 were manufactured so hearing it being made to produce such great sound is as close as Gregor is likely to get to having one!

Back to the music, ‘Warm Wet Circles’ had the crowd belting out the choruses for all they were worth. Riccardo Romano was at the back of the stage, his keyboard stack was modest and that was a good thing as it meant we were able to see this affable Italian loving his part in the play. He led the crowd in handclaps and smiles whilst producing some fantastic music and commanding his solos.

If anyone hadn’t worked out how good a singer Martin was, ‘Cover My Eyes’ would have left them in no doubt. He gave what, I thought, was his performance of the weekend.

The evening ended with ‘Garden Party’ and an extended version of ‘Market Square Heroes’ that contained smacks of the ‘Margaret’ for those with particularly long memories.

You see, that’s what you need on a night like this, a long memory. Rothery is the sole survivor of the original Marillion lineup. He has been with the band for a staggering 45 years and in that time produced some of the music that has soundtracked my life and the lives of many in the room. I have seen him headline massive festivals and play in small rooms, like the Oran Mor; what I have never seen is Rothery playing badly. As Gregor pointed out, Steve is a guitarists guitarist who clearly takes a joy in the music he plays as well as in listening to others do their thing.

A Steve Rothery Band gig is very different to a Marillion show. Marillion gigs are curated and produced to such a high standard it's like listening to the album, and that’s a good thing. Tonight’s band were equally as polished musicians but just seemed a bit more relaxed and a bit more in it for a fun night with their mates. It felt like they were a group of guys getting together to play some tunes they all enjoyed and we, the crowd, just happened to be in the room when they were doing it.

I loved that vibe.

Walking up Great Western Road afterwards I looked at my boy and smiled. The evening had simply given me a massive feeling of joy. Gregor survived the school year between the SRB gigs we’d been to and he is off to plough a new furlough at university soon.

Tonight’s music took me back to 1983 and the optimism of my own youth. Gregor discovered Marillion all by himself, well maybe with a little help from his dad, and it is now something we enjoy together. Hopefully Steve and his pals will decide to play again in 2025 and Gregor and I can go on tour to see them. Music is important on so many different levels and, this weekend, the Steve Rothery Band took me on a wee journey through a good few of these. All of them made me smile.

I can’t wait to experience the Steve Rothery Band again and if you get the chance to see them on this limited run, grab a ticket, your younger you will thank the current you for taking them along!