Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Whoever the person was that first suggested that Steve Hogarth first come to Liverpool when doing his H. Natural sets must surely have known something about how he would be received by fans of Marillion. Whether at the iconic Cavern, or as has become in recent years a sort of natural second home to him at St. Bride’s Church, the fans pack out the venue, they sit in almost breath taking awe, they good naturedly heckle when the time is right and yet all the time the beautiful voice punctures the often still air and visibly moves the audience in such a way that is barely repeated elsewhere in the world of rock.
The crisp cold weather that seeps into the bones at this time year is enough to make some musicians think of warmer climes in which to draw an audience too but Steve Hogarth seems to take advantage of the December freshness to wipe away any cobwebs that have built up and do three nights in three cities, sometimes in a venue that wouldn’t at first thought be a venue in which to show off his delightful talent.
Liverpool, the home of some of heroes, a place in which the musical ley lines must suit his sense of spirituality and sense of purpose always receives him as if he was one of their own. As he performs the first song of the night which is dominated by music but isn’t adverse to wandering wonderfully off track in the odd story, diary entry and brave fan placing a bauble upon a handily placed Christmas Tree, even stopping to share a moment, a stolen gesture in which the musician gleefully takes pleasure in, it is hardly any secret that the man loves the city almost as much as any of those fortunate to call the city home.
On the night it didn’t seem to matter if there was a set list or not, the gig in St. Bride’s is hardly about conformity and dull rigid structure. What mattered was if the song performed spoke in any way to each person, not just as a collective feeling and with tracks such as the wonderful Fantastic Place, No One Can, which in the spirit of the evening saw Steve Hogarth moved as much as the audience as one valiant soul took the opportunity to propose to his girlfriend, the stunning beauty of Season’s End and the brilliance of Easter were as emotionally received as there were utterly charmingly played.
Of course those who over the years have made the journey to one of Steve Hogarth’s nights in which the focus is deservedly upon him can never be failed to be impressed by the spontaneous, the way a song about great depth and life can become a moment in which to share a story about receiving a hug of Meat Loaf or a member of the audience sharing a drink with him and a moment’s discussion about Marillion’s first convention in 2002. It is these moments that bring people back for more and more.
The music though is what drives both audience and performer and from the subtle stirrings of deep emotional quality of Beautiful, the appearance of the sanguine but disturbing undercurrent of Genie, to the coming of age song in The Party, no one could have left St Bride’s with a sense of displeasure, if they did, then surely they must have missed the point of it all.
An excellent evening in which to once more dip a toe, a soul, into a world of joyful creativity and sense of spirit.
Ian D. Hall