Venue:

Lighthouse Brewery, Lunenburg

Date: 02/08/2025

Warning and apologies, this was written in August, left for far longer than it should have been in part as i was waiting for some information but more recently because other things got in the way. Anyway, I’m posting before the year’s over…….. just.

So, I have a date with The Fabulously Rich, no, I haven’t been added to the guestlist for a High Society Do, as if that would ever happen although there is a Super Yacht in the vicinity but more on that later. Instead my wife and I have come on holiday by mistake (sort of) and are taking in a tribute band whilst we’re here. Let me explain…..

We weren’t intending to be here but a combination of growing children with their own plans and some cheap flights has seen us swap Yorkshire for the other Halifax and a roadtrip around Nova Scotia. Even though this was a relatively last minute decision and the itinerary is relaxed, I have done due diligence in checking whether there are any sporting or musical attractions to take in and as luck would have it with a slight tweak to our initial » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Manchester Bridgewater Hall

Date: 04/11/2019

Taking to the stage the band are joined by a six piece ensemble for what is to be a Marillion and Friends from the Orchestra evening. If anyone thought that this would see things taking a sedate turn then those ideas were soon put aside as the band launch into a full on version of Gaza from Sounds That Can’t Be Made. This is followed by Afraid of Sunlight (one of my favorites)  and Seasons End which was introduced as a song written 30 years ago about a subject that only now seems to be making the news. Estonia with an introduction telling the story of how it came to be written after a chance meeting with the sole UK survivor is as beautifully haunting as always and makes way for Hollow Man  along with background projections of certain politicians – Hello Mr Gove – before the centerpiece of the main set The New Kings from last Studio album F.E.A.R. I can’t claim to have listened to FEAR more than a handful of times but on the evidence of tonight I’m inclined to go back and give it another chance. Then its The Sky above the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

O2 Apollo Manchester

Date: 09/06/2019

“We had to play Too Much Sunshine because it’s the opposite of what you’ve got here and because we waited such a long time to come back and play to you”. So spoke Peter Garrett the imposing 6ft 4inch lead singer of Midnight Oil two songs into their set. He wasn’t wrong either, and on a grey Sunday evening the “Oils” were making their first visit to Manchester since ’93. Even allowing for the band being put on a lengthy hiatus whilst he pursued a career in politics it has been a long, long  time. However, buoyed by the reaction to 2017’s The Great Circle tour they’re back  for a rare visit with three shows in Manchester, Dublin and London before spending the next month playing festivals across Europe. So the faithful duly gathered, family’s with under 10’s sporting serious (and sensible) ear defenders rubbed shoulders with aging rockers wearing 80’s denim waistcoats adorned with Rose Tattoo patches. As the lights went down for the start of the show twenty-something’s rushed down the aisle  to get as close to the front as they could whilst us slightly older ones stood our ground in » Continue Reading.