SUSHI: LIVE IN UTRECHT

Going Dutch

"Sushi" is an official live album by Fish recorded in Utrecht, Holland at the end of the "Songs from the mirror" tour. That album was of course made up entirely of cover versions of songs he enjoyed, thus this performance too has a large proportion of covers. Songs such as "Fearless" (Pink Floyd), "Boston Tea party" (Alex Harvey), "Jeepster" (T Rex) and "Five Years" (Bowie) all get the Fish treatment. The recording purports to be exactly as it was performed, with no re-dubbing, although the sleeve notes do confess to some "re-enforcement" of the sound.

Intermingled with the cover versions are tracks from Fish's earlier solo albums, and one track from each of the four albums he recorded during his time with Marillion.

Fish is of course a great live performer, with a large following of dedicated fans. The fans know every word, and participate in virtually every song. While this makes his gigs something of a party, it does tend to render audio only recordings of his concerts something akin to a karaoke night. Right from the early "Big wedge" and "Credo", the audience are in full swing, with master of ceremonies Fish whipping them up with shouts of "louder". The crowd in turn are in full party mood, breaking into football anthems, and helping Fish out on the occasional fluffed line.

The band are given little opportunity to act as anything other than backing musicians, even during the brief instrumental interludes, Fish feels compelled to make his voice heard. If you're a fan of Fish, and especially if you have attended one of his gigs, this album will be an enjoyable memento. Its value for those with a passing interest is however more limited, especially if you already have the Marillion and Fish studio albums from which the tracks are taken.

Sushi is considered an art form. It is elegantly arranged to enhance it's simplicity, and natural beauty. Making sushi is easy, but most people prefer to leave it to the hands of the experienced sushi-chef. Fresh fish that's eaten raw must be prepared from fish that's not been out of the water for more than 24 hours, and must be properly chilled.

Does this intro apply to this live album from Fish? Yes, i think so. the music played is rather simple in structure which enhances the natural beauty of the played songs, and left in the capable hands of the band, and the experienced chef. Fish pulls off a great live show, brilliantly he plays the audience to participate in the singing, he sweps them up to a point the audience almost take over the show, with a football anthemic chant, fabulously picked up by the band, who just go along for the ride.

The songs on this liveset are taken from his first three studio albums, and some Marillion songs are played aswell, also the formerly unreleased track Poet's Moon is played, actually a highlight for me, since I didn't know that song prior to this purchase. Fish takes the time in between the songs to tell some short storie's including "The Harold" which is a dance he learned where you can dance while safe-guarding your beer, but most fans already know he has a nice sense of humour.

It's a nice live-set, but i think at this point of his solo carreer Fish has been a little too long out of the water, only to be thrown back with the release of "Raingods with zippo's". Though I like this live show, I am hesitating in recommending it. So it's a nice show, but only for fans of Fish I think. i'll reward it with two stars, but don't be surprised if you like it when you listen it yourself.

If you like Fish, try Sushi, if you don't like Fish stay away from it.

Looking at the CD packaging, this one is much more better than the official bootleg "For Whom The Bells Toll" which I gave four stars in overall rating. This is more official release on Fish concert but the content is not that attractive. The big fallacy with this live album is to open the concert with a cover song "Fearless" which does not project Fish' confidence with his own material from his solo albums. It's too bad that he starts with this and with less-attractive performance. It flows to another "not good" song "Big Wedge" from his first album. I have lost my patience actually because I do not understand why he started the show with these two bad songs? It even worse that he continues with another cover "Boston Tea Party" and there is a bit entertaining when he sings "Credo" and it reaches the peak with "Family Business". Yes, "Family Business" is a great track and I had to wait four mundane tracks to get my adrenalin runs faster with "Family Business".

He continues with mellow track "A View From A Hill". Marillion's "He Knows You Know" is performed very badly and I cannot bear to listen this track in its entirety because I got bored with his singing style and also the band can not emulate the soul of original Marillion. The rest Marillion tracks are also so bad: "She Chameleon" (3:59), "Kayleigh" (4:12), "White Russian" (9:19). The disc concludes excellently with great track "The Company" (7:10).

Disc Two also does no better than Disc One even though I really love "Cliché" being played. This is a great track from his debut album.

I can only say that this CD is only suitable for die hard fans of Fish. If you just wanna enjoy the music, this is not a good one to start. Not recommended for newbie, it's only for die hard fans. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I like the big man very much. Especially on stage. Nothing comparable with the dull Hogarth experience. At least this is how I feel.

This live set, recorded in Utrecht (The Netherlands) is a very good example of the maestria of the man. So at ease in front of the assistance, he is really communicating with his fans. And they are grateful for this.

Of course, some karaoke exercises are available, but this has always been the case during genuine "Marillion" concerts as well; so, there is no wonder that the big man just went on the same path while touring in "solo".

This live set is a very good compromise between his solo catalogue ("Credo", "Family Business", "Big Wedge", "The Company) some great "Marillion" songs ("He Knows You Know", "She Cameleon", "White Russian", "Last Straw"). And who else better than him could sing "Kayleigh"? (even if I have my overdose of it).

This set is completed by some very good cover songs available on his cover album "Songs From The Mirror" but "Fearless" could have had a bit more support from the audience (the "Never Walk Alone part at the end).

And I particularly like "Five Years" from whom you might know. It is one of my fave from the original singer and when you listen to the warm speech at the end of the song, one can understand why Fish's fans are so found of him. So much respect for the audience. What a great man you are!

What a pleasant album. Three stars.

In the early years of the Dick Brothers record company, as Fish adjusted to life outside the confines of the major labels and tried to regain something resembling a viable financial footing, Fish would issue a fairly extensive series of "official bootlegs" - cheaply-packaged official releases, largely sourced from good soundboard tapes, of live shows of his. The idea was that, since bootleggers were clearly making bank on crappy audience recordings of Marillion and Fish concerts, why shouldn't he beat them at their own game? Sushi is the last of this initial burst of live releases, and is the only one to include a show from 1993 and the Songs From the Mirror tour.

If you are flatly not interested in hearing Fish play cover versions, you might consider that a minus - though I would say the renditions here have a bit of spark that the more sedate Songs From the Mirror performances lack. However, I consider it a strength of the setlist compared to earlier live shows, since it gives Fish a deeper bench of songs to work with - the covers don't predominate, and the old Marillion material is used selectively in order to fill out a set which casts the Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors and Internal Exile nicely.

By this stage, Fish's repertoire has reached the point where he and the band can experiment with some fairly involved medleys; a particular treat is offered here, in which they start with Vigil and then go on a whistle-stop tour of the four Fish-fronted Marillion albums, moving from He Knows You Know through She Chameleon and Kayleigh to White Russian. It's a nice way for Fish to draw on his past whilst not being ruled by it, the medley format allowing him to interestingly reinterpret and recontextualise the songs.

Between this and decent sound quality, you're already onto a good thing, but the other edge this set has over some of the more tepid releases in the official bootleg series is the atmosphere. Fish, band, and audience are all in a grand mood, and it really comes through. This is a little bit of a surprise, because Fish was at a very delicate point in his career.

Despite some talk of a Five Years sequel with a live recording of The Company from this concert as its B-side, this would never manifest, and Fish must have known that it was likely to never happen - for this concert happened mere days before the deadline when Polydor would have had to exercise their option had they wanted to keep Fish under contract. As Fish tells the story (in the liner notes to the deluxe remaster of Songs From the Mirror), the day came and went without any contact, ending his career as a major label artist and beginning his career as an independent operator.

If I were in Fish's shoes at the time, I would have been full of anxiety at this stage, but Fish and band show no sign of it. Perhaps some explanation for Fish's ebullient mood comes from his enjoyment of the, shall we say, herbal freedoms that the Dutch authorities permit - but a bigger reason is likely the good news received by Phil Tame, the front-of-house sound engineer, that his wife had given birth to their child a few hours before. Either way, despite the behind-the-scenes headaches, Fish and the band deliver a buoyant performance which makes this my favourite of this early wave of Dick Brothers live albums.