Mostly Fish: Clutching at Stars
Just bought a ticket for Fish at Manchester Academy on September 15th, for what might be my 18th gig of the year.
As well as promoting the new album 13th Star, he’s going to be playing the twenty-year old “Clutching at Straws” in it’s entirity. That’s one of my favourite Fish era Marillion albums, and marked the point where they left the ghost of Gabriel-era Genesis behind for good. Although it was to be the last album Fish recorded with Marillion, it seems to me that it set the template both for Fish’s subsequent solo career, and the music Marillion produced after Fish. While I’d like to hear more of Fish’s lengthy solo back catalogue, it will still be great to hear CaS live again.
The band will include four-sevenths of Mostly Autumn; Gavin on drums, Heather and Angela on backing vocals, and Chris Johnson as the second guitarist.
I’ve been listening to the excellent live album Communion (available from The Fish Shop) recorded at the Fish fan convention last year, also featuring Heather and Angela on backing vocals. It’s giving me some idea as to what ‘Mostly Fish’ are going to sound like. Will Angie be playing any flute this time round, I wonder? It would add a new dimension to “Brother 52″, if they play that song. And what about flute replacing the widdly keyboard solo on “Just for the Record”? I know there are purists out there wanting to hear a note-for-note reproduction of the original album, but sometimes I like to hear bands creatively reinterpret older material. And when you’ve got a great flautist in the band….
Whatever they do, I expect it to be good.
October 7th, 2007 at 11:19 am
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