Marillion at 20 Monroe Live, Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 18, 2018.

Waiting for Marillion to take the stage, my thoughts drifted to the rest of those gathering in this well-appointed concert club.  Why were they here?

Doubtless, there were locals who, when they heard Marillion was returning to Grand Rapids after 20+ years, anticipated pure nostalgia — “Kayleigh,” “Incommunicado,” “Hooks In You,” “No One Can,” fixtures of local rock radio in the early 1990s.  After all, why else would a band with no more than a cult following tour the States, if not to play the hits?

Then there were the hardcore fans, the ones I’d hung with in Facebook groups for a couple of years now.  People from GR, Kalamazoo, and Detroit who’ve traveled nationally and internationally to see the band since their last Michigan stops — some 30, 40 or more times.  The folks who converged on this mid-size Midwestern city from (for example): Bangor, Maine; Hillsboro, Oregon; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Baja, Mexico; and Stoke-on-Trent, England, telling stories of their first Marillion experiences, sometimes stretching back more than four decades.  Not to mention “The Nine,” as they named themselves, who’ve seen every show on the current US tour.   They all have their favorite songs — but they knew that much more was coming than a rote run-through of career high points.

And then there was me — a Marillion fan since Seasons End, but only on my fourth show (still way behind King Crimson and Rush), bringing my wife and two friends for their first experience of the band, ten minutes away from my house.  I couldn’t help but wonder: what connects us?  Why this band?  What’s at the heart of this experience?

Continue reading “In Concert: The Heart of Marillion” →

With their USA tour winding down, Marillion have announced street dates for the rest of their 2018 limited edition live reissues through earMusic,  listed below with original years of release:

• March 23: Unplugged at the Walls (1999) and Tumbling Down the Years (2010)
• May 25:  Smoke and Mirrors (both 2006)
• July 6: Happiness Is Cologne (2009) and Popular Music (2005)
• September 21: Live in Glasgow (1993) and Brave Live (2013)

Merch copies of the “Limited USA Tour Edition” of FEAR (which includes a sampler of the live reissues) sold out at Marillion’s recent Grand Rapids show, but it’s still available from Amazon at this writing.

Other confirmed upcoming releases include:

• March 9: Brave Deluxe Edition
• Spring: Live at the Royal Albert Hall
• Fall: Marillion Weekend 2017: Chile
• ??? (nope, can’t say any more …)

Finally, watch this space for a review of that Grand Rapids show, coming soon!

 

— Rick Krueger

As Marillion tours the United States (stopping at my home town this coming Sunday night!  SQUEEEEE!!!),  I’ve found the mechanics of marketing this band in a country where they’re at best a cult act fascinating.  How do you sell albums beyond your core fanbase, especially at retail, when your last album came out 16 months ago?  And, what else might that core fanbase want, or have missed?  As Marillion manager Lucy Jordache commented in the group’s North American Fan Page on Facebook, “Many retailers wanted something ‘new’ to sell and therefore advertise the tour and also press didn’t really want to cover any tour dates unless they had a ‘new product.'” So Marillion and their retail distributors earMusic (the rock division of Germany’s Edel Group) have responded with a twofold strategy.

Continue reading “Marketing Marillion” →