SIZE MATTERS

For the Sunday gig of the 2009 Marillion Weekend convention, the band chose to put together a setlist focusing on their longer tracks. (No, before you ask, they didn't get around to playing Grendel!) It's actually mildly surprising how varied the tracks they have to select from are, and from what a wide range of albums they are drawn from, underlining the point that the band have never really turned their back on long, epic compositions to the extent people have accused them of.

Hardcore fans might find room to quibble over the finer points of the setlist - for instance, I'd have rather had the evening's nod to the Fish era have consisted of the opening triptych from Clutching At Straws (Hotel Hobbies/Warm Wet Circles/That Time of the Night) as opposed to the rather tired Kayleigh/Lavender/Heart of Lothian workthrough, not least because Steve Hogarth generally does a really good job of interpreting the Clutching songs. A more significant problem with the set stems from the very nature of the experiment - with no shorter pieces thrown in to act as palate-cleansers, it can feel like a bit of a slog. (Owners of the Live In Montreal Sunday set should be aware that this is essentially a different rendition of more or less the same setlist - it's down to you whether you think that this set would neatly complement the Montreal gig or simply be redundant.)