Fish - Frome Review

Fish is one of the acts that I have seen live the most over the years. He is my third most-seen act (now tied with Touchstone on eleven gigs each), behind only Mostly Autumn and The Quireboys, and an evening out with Fish is always a lot of fun. I first saw him live back in 2008 at The Wharf in Tavistock, and I have now seen him a further 10 times (including the two days of his 2012 convention in Leamington Spa) - with the 11th coming last night at the Cheese & Grain in Frome. Fish's current tour, which is celebrating both his 1990 debut solo album Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors and his 2020 release Weltschmerz, has unsurprisingly been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. I was supposed to see him at the Cheese & Grain back in March of 2020, but the tour was cancelled after the opening night as the band could sense that lockdowns etc. were looming. The tour was then rescheduled to include an Exeter date, only for the shows to once again be cancelled. The current tour was then announced, with the South West offering being at the SWX in Bristol. Tickets were once again bought, only for the venue to catch fire a few months ago! Luckily the show was able to be moved back to the Cheese & Grain - bringing things full circle. I had not visited Frome before and, while the town did not really impress, the Cheese & Grain turned out to be a great venue. It was much bigger than I was expecting it to be, as I had pictured something similar to The Wharf - but the stage was much larger, as was the actual room itself. Frome seems a strange place to have a venue the size of the Cheese & Grain, but it is one of a number of similar venues across the South West - all of which deserve to be utilised more due to their excellent facilities. I am not likely to return to Frome regularly, as there are likely to be more accessible options on most tours, but should I need to return to the Cheese & Grain I will know that the venue is at least excellent - even if there is little-to-no affordable food available to weekday gig-goers in the town. Considering how long Fish has had to wait for this tour, it was great to see the venue packed. Given that the show was originally supposed to be in Bristol I had wondered if this would affect the attendance, but the hall was pretty full throughout. Fish is known to attract a certain breed of annoying fan to his shows too, but the Frome crowd was easily the most well behaved of any Fish crowd that I have been a part of - which was a real treat as sometimes the behaviour his 'fans' can spoil parts of the evening.

Opening the show, as was the case when I last saw Fish live in December 2018, was Doris Brendel and her band. Brendel is, once again, singing backing vocals with Fish's band on this tour - so her being the support act made sense, even if I find it a bit lazy when artists take the same support act out with them on multiple tours. Perhaps if I was a fan of Brendel's then I would have thought differently, but her 2018 set did little to win me over. She has a sound that mixes somewhat punky rock with prog, which sometimes works well - but other times the combination works less well. That being said, however, the former Violet Hour frontwoman is certainly a charismatic performer. She and her band put on a strong showing throughout the 40 or so minutes that they were on stage in Frome - and I certainly enjoyed her more this time than I did three years ago. Much of the set seemed to come from a newly released album, so it is possible that Brendel's new music is more to my taste. There were still some songs that did little for me, but a few (particularly early on) did pack a bit of a punch - with Brendel's smoky voice mixing nicely with the guitar playing of Lee Dunham. I cannot say that I was really converted to Brendel's music, but it was nice to be pleasantly surprised and enjoy her set more than I was expecting to. Her bouncy music and infectious personality certainly helped warm the crowd up for Fish - which is the goal of any support act.

Half an hour or so following Brendel's set, the house lights went down and Fish's band gradually took to the stage while the slow-burning intro of The Grace of God played over the venue's PA. Brendel, Steve Vantsis (bass guitar/vocals), and Gavin Griffiths (drums) are all still a part of Fish's band, with newer faces John Mitchell (guitar) and Spencer Cozens (keyboards/vocals) joining them. Fish has had a few people come and go from his band over the years that I have been following him, but the current five-piece that back him up might be the best configuration that I have seen with him. Considering that the Frome show was only the line-up's second show together, the band was extremely tight - and Fish sounded the best that he has in years vocally following an extended break from touring. As mentioned above, this current tour is celebrating two different albums. The whole of Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors was played throughout the evening; while five songs from the mammoth, recently-released double album Weltschmerz were also played. A couple of old Marillion favourites were thrown in for good measure, and were enjoyed by the crowd, but I liked it that the set was very Fish-centric following a few tours that focused a lot on his Marillion past. It was great hearing a good chunk of the Weltschmerz album played live too; and the slow-paced The Grace of God was a good opening number with its atmospheric build up and emotionally-charged vocal. The set was well-paced too, and it mixed rockier numbers and more atmospheric pieces throughout. Big Wedge certainly injected some pace early on, as did the groovy and percussive Man With a Stick, but the next portion of the set was pretty much focused on some of Fish's slower, more progressive pieces. The highlights here were a powerful rendition of Vigil, which has always been a live favourite, and the meandering new cut Rose of Damascus. I was not sure how the 15-plus minute Weltschmerz centrepiece was going to work live, but the atmospheric song came over really well - thanks to some snaking Vantsis bass playing and a great solo from Mitchell.

There was then another injection of pace with the punky Marillion classic He Knows You Know, a song which brought the best out of new keyboardist Cozens. Fish has always struggled get the right keyboardist on board, but Cozens is an experienced professional who impressed throughout. His old-school synth leads during He Knows You Know were just right, and I felt that his presence really lifted the band in general throughout the gig. This energy continued on through the heavier Weltschmerz and the energetic but more low key This Party's Over, before things slowed down again with a stunning rendition of Cliché. The song was previously seen as a bit of a centrepiece of Frank Usher, one of Fish's long-standing guitarists, so it has not been featured live much of late. Mitchell's renditions of the classic leads and solos were excellent however, and the song really soared - with Fish's well-rested voice bringing the best out of the relatively simple lyric. The main set was then rounded out in muscular fashion with the hard-driving rock of View From the Hill, and the large crowd cheered loudly as Fish and his band left the stage. Not one but two encores followed. Fish and Cozens eased the crowd back in with a great version of the piano ballad A Gentleman's Excuse Me, which should have convinced the whole room that Cozens is one of the best keyboardists that Fish has ever worked with, but it was a punchy rendition of Marillion's Fugazi that impressed the most. Fish has not performed the song that much in recent years, but with the new special edition of the album still being digested by many it seemed fitting to dust the track off once again. The ending section proved to be a big sing-a-long, as is to be expected, and the song was one of the highlights of the night as a result. Following another brief walk off-stage, the band were back once again for The Company. The folky number has always been a live favourite of Fish's fans, and it proved to be the excellent coda to an excellent evening - and the large crowd made their appreciation heard while Fish and his band were taking their bows. The setlist was:

The Grace of God

Big Wedge

Man With a Stick

State of Mind

Family Business

Vigil

Rose of Damascus

He Knows You Know [Marillion material]

Weltschmerz

This Party's Over

Cliché

View From the Hill

-

A Gentleman's Excuse Me

Fugazi [Marillion material]

-

The Company

Due to a great setlist, a great performance, and a great atmosphere, yesterday's Fish gig in Frome was one of the best from him that I have seen. It was so refreshing to go to a Fish show that was not plagued by people shouting out inane things throughout the evening or by incessant talking throughout the less well-known songs too. I do wonder if his recent more Marillion-centric setlists have attracted a lot of casual fans who were only interested in hearing the Marillion songs and making their presence felt - whereas a more Fish-focused set only attracts those who want to actually hear the songs being played. Either way, the crowd were great throughout - and the atmosphere in the room was electric. With Fish winding down to an eventual retirement, there may be relatively few opportunities left for me to catch him live, and if the future gigs are as good as last night's then he will certainly go out on a well-deserved high.