Show #49: Fish – Syllables of Slaughter (Mini)

January 26th, 2006

Willkommen to Donnerstag! The work week is winding down and the weekend draws nearer…

Our little prog marathon marches on and today we have some Fishy action. Fish, as some of you may know, was formerly the singer for Marillion and left the band in 1988. This performance at hand took place about 9 years later on 28 June 1997 in Berlin. With 4 albums as a member of Marillion and 5 solo discs to his credit, this left Onkel Fish with quite a bit of material to choose from. In an attempt to be inclusive, Onkel Fish (as he’s affectionately known to fans) devised a medley of some Marillion tunes and older solo songs. Genesis became infamous in the mid-1980s for taking bits from their pre-Top 40 days and stringing them together. (Cobbling, some would say.) And so many prog fans are weary of any kind of medley.

However, I think Fish put a rather good one together here. It contains excerpts from a trio of Marillion songs (“Assassing”, “Fugazi”, and “White Feather”) along with a couple early solo tunes (“Credo” and “Tongues”). Everything flows together well with some similar rhythms and the anthemic melodies & vocals of “White Feather” and “Credo” melding together perfectly.

While the music here and Fish’s music generally is quite serious, Fish concerts are really a barrel of laughs. Today’s mini-show didn’t really give me the opportunity to showcase Fish’s sense of humor. He is infamous for his lengthy banter between songs. For instance, at the Milwaukee show I attended, he told a story about cruising into town and seeing a holistic health joint just down the street from the venue. He then proceeded to go on about his exploits there which included “colonic irrigation”…

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Fish

I was lucky enough to catch Fish twice on this tour, which was for his Sunsets on Empire album. It was the first time he’d toured the United States as a solo artist. The first time was at Shank Hall in Milwaukee on the 14th of August and I then went down to Chicago for his show at the Park West the following day. Both were great but I got to meet the man himself before the Milwaukee gig and then dance a jig with him during the encore! Thanks to that new invention, the Internet, pre-show meetups were scheduled by fans at taverns near the venue and Fish did his best to attend them. The Chicago show was special as well. (The first picture above is from that show.) It was a reunion, of sorts, for me as it was a chance to get together with my friend Pete for the first time in years. (I blathered on about him for my Genesis show earlier this month.) He and I drifted apart during college and it was really nice that our mutual affection for music brought us back together.

For the American leg of the tour, J.J. Belle played guitar. (Keith More is featured here.) I thought he brought a little sumpin’ sumpin’ to the music that is missing from recordings of the other legs of the tour. He had a style of playing that gave the music a somewhat looser feel which I like quite a bit. J.J. died in November of 2004 and, unfortunately, never recorded with Fish. This is a shame as I think it would have been a very interesting collaboration.

(J.J. Belle)

Related posts:

1. Fish's Misplaced Trust
2. Show #4: Fishy Tales From a Former Cicisbeo
3. Show #47: Genesis – It's Been A Long, Long Time (Mini)
4. Show #25: Steve Hackett Acostic Trio
5. Marillion Head West