Almost three years ago I witnessed for the very first time a performance of one of the best Marillion tribute bands, that keeps the music alive that they released with Fish as their lead singer. What the Italian band Mr. Punch achieved at the stage of 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel (see review) made me and many others just speechless. I guess nobody in the Netherlands had seen anything that so well replicated the original music Marillion released during the years 1982 until 1987.
 

The line up at the time was just a perfect match been many well know Italian musicians. The rhythm section comprised of two musicians who were both once members of The Watch-drummer Roberto Leoni and bassist Guglielmo Mariotti. Lead singer Alesandro Corvaglia (Delirium, Höstsonaten and La Maschera Di Cera)

Marco Vincini

was almost a real copy of Fish while doing all his gestures and wearing his make-up and outfits. On keyboards was Luca Scherani (Coscienza Di Zeno and Höstsonaten). Finally on guitar was probably the most surprising person of all. A female going by the name of Marcella Araganese (Ubi Maior), who knew all the tricks on her instrument to make her sounds exactly like Steve Rothery. But what if any of those quit the band? Would the same chemistry be present? Well one year later I find that a replacement of any of the band members has not been a problem at all. At the Pul in Uden (see review) Scherani was replaced by another keyboard wizard. Namely Daniele Fuligni. A musician who normally plays in La Fabbrica Dell'Assoluto. With him in the band they continued to shine on stage doing the Fish years in a perfect way. But what if the bands lead singer out of the blue is no longer part of this successful line-up? Well it really happened early 2019 when they were ready to do some European concerts. Corvaglia had to be replaced at short notice. And guess what? The band managed to come up with another Fish. Within three weeks Marco Vincini managed to learn all of the songs to be done for the 'Back To The Circus Tour'. So the band was again ready to kick ass

Daniele Fuligni

and to entertain everybody who wanted to hear all those songs again which the real Marillion hardly perform anymore!

The first performance with Marco on stage, copying the vocals of Fish, turned out to be a fantastic feast for everybody who enjoyed all those incredible songs. The first set was dedicated to Marillion's second studio album. The Fugazi album has its 35th anniversary this year. They did the complete album in the same track order as it was originally released back in 1984. Therefore, the first set was opened with Assassing and ended with the title track. Strangely enough after doing a superb version of Jigsaw the musicians played once again (as in many of their other concerts) an incredible version of Chelsea Monday before they continued with Emerald Lies. Probably to give the first set a total time of one complete hour. The next piece, She Chameleon, was introduced by Vincini as a song which in the early days of Marillion, was hardly was done in concert. A song which gave Arganese a moment to rest on stage, because it doesn't contain that many guitar parts. The final two compositions of the first set, Incubus and Fugazi, once again showed how perfect the band could copy

Roberto Leoni

the great neo progressive rock songs of a band which during their first years perfectly copied the music of Genesis with Peter Gabriel in their line up.

The second set started with one of the oldest and most beloved Marillion compositions. Grendel is of course an amazing epic which in my opinion sounds even better than when the original band performed it. One of the songs which always gets the audience singing is of course Script For A Jester's Tear. Several times Marco gave them the chance to sing the lyrics by holding the microphone towards them. During the performance of He Knows You Know he also made the same moves as the original singer did with his right arm. Playing the role of a drugs addict. One of my all time Marillion favourites was next. Namely The Web. A song on which Marcella could shine on her electric guitar. The last part of the second set was for the three Marillion singles taken from their most successful album. I guess everybody knows what the songs are. Kayleigh, Lavender and Heart Of Lothian from Misplaced Childhood that grew their fanbase .

For the old die-hard fans, the only encore probably meant a lot more than the earlier mentioned singles. Because Market Square Heroes is for them a real classic piece which started it all for the band. It was again a song which made the crowd sing-along and gave the band a chance to say goodbye to all the people who made it to the Bosuil in Weert to see once again the best Marillion tribute band on the planet. Even with a new lead singer in their line up they managed to bring lots of joy and entertainment to all the Marillion fans in the Netherlands. Even people from Belgium came to see this amazing live band. Because amazing they are, again and again. See them if you can!!!

Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith)