Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
One of Liverpool’s own, a performer who has been long associated with the city, a musician of high integrity and blushing music, one who for quite some time has deserved the accolades that come with a night at the Philharmonic Hall; in Roxanne de Bastion’s supporting of Marillion on this tour, to come back to Liverpool, to immerse herself within the friends she made and in the city where her latest album is held as an example of the heights that can be reached, that is now the position that all should be attaining.
The coveted position of playing support to one of the great British bands of the last 40 years is one to be taken seriously, one that holds the elements of magic and electricity within its palm and the sweet serenade of music as a passion, everything that Ms. de Bastion does with a relish and one that asks all of the Heirlooms & Hearsay’s at her disposal.
Despite having had an unfortunate accident before her own tour of America, Ms. de Bastion has proved once again across the tour with Marillion, and on this night in particular, that she has everything you could ever hope for in a performer, the solo that encompasses the many, the memories of the stepping stones taken and one to whom being overwhelmed by the larger audiences is not part of the script. From humble beginnings, through to performances in venues such as Leaf on Bold Street and onwards, Ms. de Bastion is the virtue of the point of biding your time and plugging away, for in that self sacrifice lays true heroism and one that is appreciated now by the wider audience who have taken in her shows.
With songs such as Train Tracks, Wasteland, a smashing cover of the Regina Spektor track Baobabs, Thicker Skin, Rerun Run and Red & White Blood Cells all sparking and illuminating the Philharmonic stage, for those who always engage in the delight of the opening act and defend and reinforce the belief in such intrepid souls, Roxanne de Bastion would surely rate towards the very top of those to whom Marillion have had support them in their illustrious career.
It may have been unexpected, a wonderful surprise for her fans, but for Ms. de Bastion it is no less than what she deserves, a credit to the city she lived in, a recognition for the esteem she is held, Roxanne de Bastion has once again proved to be a light in which shines brightly.
Ian D. Hall