- Aug 11, 2007
- 2,573
- 1
- 38
Hey everyone.
Just got back from my trip to L.A. to see Fish, and wow! What a great show.
As most of you here at OSA know, I broke my knee 6 months ago. The last several months have been constant hard work at recovery, and I was unsure how long it would take before I would be back at another concert again. When I got the news in February that Fish was coming back to the States for the first time in 8 years, I resigned myself to being unable to go. At that time I was barely mobile enough to go from room to room, let alone 150 miles to see a concert!
So, I put the thought of going out of my mind, figuring it just wasn't possible. But as I recovered and felt better, I started wondering if maybe there wasn't a chance for me to go. Then, a couple weeks ago, my friend said that he would take me if I wanted to go. I was twice as happy, because not only was I going to the show, but I was meeting up with another friend of mine at the show whom I have not seen in 8 years (she lives in the U.S. only a few months out of the year, when she is not in Europe, where her husband is from). As soon as I got the word that we could go, I sent my friend a message to tell her that I would be there. June 10th couldn't come fast enough!
On the afternoon of June 10th, we drove out of hot, dusty central Cali and headed up the mountain where L.A. lay on the other side. Our goal was to get to a restaurant called Red Rock by 6 o'clock, because Fish was doing a meet-and-greet there, open to the public for anyone to come. (Not like some bands who make you buy "special" tickets from some strange website run by invisible people...but I love them anyway!) We left about 1 o'clock, which gave us plenty of time to get there and maybe walk around Hollywood for a while...or so we thought. The people at the House of Blues gave us such crappy directions that we didn't end up at Red Rock until about a quarter to 5. We made it in time, but we spent more time trying to figure out where we were, so that was kinda lame.
But, the wrong directions actually worked in our advantage, since the jackass on the phone told us to turn left instead of right, and as a result, we ended up right at Red Rock. Good thing too, because our original plan had been to park at the House of Blues and then walk to Red Rock. That would have never worked, because it was WAY too far for me to walk. Even though it took our friends 15 minutes to walk from House of Blues to meet us at Red Rock, I'd probably still be walking now.
So, as we filter into the Red Rock, we find more people with their heads up their asses. We ask about the meet-and-greet happening at 6, and everyone appears to be totally clueless. The Laker game is on at the same time, so everyone is so concentrated on that, they have forgotten there is an entire world outside of hometown sports. 
After we ask, someone else comes into the restaurant and asks the same thing. Eventually the Fish fans all congregate in a corner of the restaurant, waiting to find out what is going on. The room upstairs is reserved for the event, but none of the people here for the meet-and-greet are allowed to go up there and wait (why, I don't know, it would have been less crowded than being shoved in a corner downstairs). At that point, my other friend and her buddy show up, so we all wait together. Since none of us had time to eat in our hectic attempt to get here, we ask if we can order some food while we wait. In the meantime, Fish walks into the front door, up the stairs, and we know it is time to make our way up to the lounge.
Getting upstairs sounds easier than it was, for me! Mind you, I am still working with a broken knee and climbing stairs is twice as hard for me as it was before (stair-climbing has always been a challenge, even more so now). The stairs are way too steep for me to climb, so I'm at a loss of what to do. The building is an old site built in the 1930s, so there is no elevator or any other means of handicapped access. Unless I find a way up the stairs, I'm not going to the meet-and-greet.
When I called the week before, the staff said for me not to worry and that they would help me. Of course, when the day comes, everyone there is looking the other way like I don't exist. Finally, two very cool guys who are also going to the meet-and-greet offer to help my friend and I...by carrying me up the stairs in my wheelchair! Needless to say I was a little nervous by the prospect. What if they dropped me? What if I went flying down the stairs? But, I figured I could at least give it a try. It felt weird to be suspended in air, but in a few moments we made it to the top. I was ready to rock!
So the room at the top was a sort of lounge with tables, chairs, sofas, and a bar. By this time our waiter finds us and brings our food. The Fish fans are congregating in the room, so we decide to eat and let the crowd have their way with the big man first. There were also t-shirts being sold; they were being sold for $5 cheaper than at the actual gig so I decided to buy them there. Finally, I have more than one Fish shirt and I can retire this old, beat-up Sunsets on Empire tour shirt that I bought from the first tour in '97!
So, after we have some food and drink and check out the scenery for a while, we decide to get in line. Fish is outside on the balcony area smoking cigarettes and signing stuff out there. My friend who came with me to the show decides to figure out a way to get us ahead in the line (unbeknownst to me), and goes out to the balcony area. When he comes back, he brings Fish with him! I have not seen Fish in 8 years and the last time we met he couldn't have been sweeter. Time has not changed things at all. He greets me with a big hug and kiss and we talk for a little while. I give him a present I brought him (a t-shirt from a Scottish restaurant in my town). He loved it. After a few minutes he excuses himself to take pictures with fans and then eventually go back outside to have more cigarettes ("because that's what I do!").
A little while later, we get back in the line to get stuff signed and take pictures. My friend from San Diego forgot all her CDs and had nothing for him to sign, so I gave her the sticker that I brought. Fish signs my Fugazi vinyl and a Marillion glossy. That picture took him back! He proceeded to tell some stories about those days, and a fan approaches him with a story about how he saw Marillion in the early '80s and asked Fish if it was OK to take pictures at the gig, and how Fish talked to his management to help the guy out. Long story short, the guy made a promise to Fish never to share the photos, and he was the first person to see them in 25 years. Very cool. It was cool to see so many fans, I was not sure of the magnitude of Fish's popularity, especially in a city like L.A., so ruled by all things mainstream. But there was a sh*tload of people there, many of them with tons of stuff to get signed. I had a ton of stuff too but kept it to a minimum since there were other people in line who wanted their albums signed too. Fish sat and chatted with us some more, and eventually we went back into the lounge. By this point it is almost 7 o'clock, and the doors at the House of Blues open at 7:30. We decide we should probably cut out of the meet-and-greet and get to the venue.
It was about 7:15, 7:20 by the time we find our car and go down the street to House of Blues. We are escorted inside and get a place right up front. Sweet! Inside there is a merchandise booth with more stuff for sale. I get copies of the last 2 Fish albums (before this new one) since I did not have "real" copies, and a 2-disc DVD for $25. Not a bad deal!
The clock ticks down, and on a giant projection screen, the Laker game is being shown. People in the crowd are wondering if Fish is delaying the show until the game ends. It certainly seemed that way, as the game wound down and there was no sign of the show starting. It is getting close to 9 p.m. and people are getting antsy. (Then again, some of these people did not realize that the meet-and-greet was going on until 8, and it probably took a while for Fish to leave the building and get back to change into his stage clothes, etc.) I was just happy enough to learn that there would be no more wasted time with things like an opening act. If the Laker game was the closest thing we would get to an opening act, I was happy enough for that.
But, when the clock read 9:01, the lights went down and the voices of Bart and Lisa Simpson came on and told a story about a man named Fish who introduced them to Guinness and how it made them feel. Then the opening notes of Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra" came on, and that only meant one thing...Fish!
Here is the setlist, in perfect order:
Intro/La Gazza Ladra
Slainte Mhath
Circle Line
Square Go
So Fellini
Manchmal
Hotel Hobbies
That Time of the Night
Warm Wet Circles
Arc of the Curve
Dark Star
Faith Healer
White Russian
Cliché
Incommunicado
The Last Straw
Wow! What a kick-ass show! Fish rocked his ass off, and his band was tight. He proved himself, once again, as one of the best frontmen I have ever seen live. And it is a totally interactive show, he talks to the audience and they talk back, speaking their minds in any way. Some people requested songs. Other people told Fish to stop talking so much. When he introduced the song "Dark Star", he told a funny story about his ex-girlfriend's love of fairy figurines and how he broke one of them on the day she dumped him. When he mentioned his ex, I couldn't resist speaking my mind: "F*ck that bitch!" (I'm normally not vocal like this at shows, but if you have ever been to a Fish show or have ever met the man in person, you would know that the shows are like one big congregation of old friends and people feel totally open to shout out any old thing that crosses their minds.)
To further emphasize this point, the crowd was singing along so loud that sometimes I could barely hear Fish! During "Incommunicado", the wires in his microphone accidentally popped out, so the crowd sang the verse while he was plugging it back in. Awesome.
Some other killer highlights were when Fish jumped down into the audience during "Faith Healer" and started interacting with his fans even more. Then sometime during the night his bass player brings out some drinks and a huge bottle of wine, which the big man proceeds to drink, loosening his tongue for some more funny stories.
I really didn't know how many people to expect at this show, but I can say honestly that Fish packed them in nearly as much, if not more, than Nightwish did in November. There were people everywhere. This is truly an artist who has survived in this country, at least, on word-of-mouth. There is not a radio station anywhere here that has a format for his kind of music, he or Marillion were never famous enough here to have any kind of media attention when he comes to town (as he said, "it's not like there's a big billboard on the Sunset Strip saying, 'come see Fish tonight'.") Yet there were a bunch of people there and all of them knew his music and knew every word to each song. I was surprised to how many young people I saw there. I thought for sure I'd be the youngest person at the show! But Fish is that kind of artist; he reaches people of all different kinds. It was cool to talk to some of the people throughout the night and see the various walks of life that they come from.
The setlist mostly contained new stuff and Marillion material from the Clutching at Straws album, so if there were any disappointments, it was that the setlist was not more varied and offered material from different albums. But seeing as how Clutching is my favorite Marillion album, I could hardly say I was disappointed by the lack of variety in the setlist. "The Last Straw" was the final song of the night and it was so high-energy and intense. Judging from the hearty shouts of approval, applause, and smiling faces at the end of the night, I don't think anyone went home disappointed. This was my 3rd time seeing Fish and it was just as great as the first time. He gives his all to every performance and totally kicks your ass doing it. For a man who just turned 50 years old, he can take any of these young whipper-snappers to school any day.
The show ended at about 11:30, and since we had a long ride back home, we didn't spend much time socializing after the show. We waited for most everyone to leave before getting in our car. Not to mention I wanted to spend as much time with my friend from San Diego as possible, since neither of us were sure when we'd see each other again (hopefully not another 8 years, anyway!). We hugged each other tight when it was finally time to go. It was 1 in the morning when we hit the freeway and started in on our hour-and-a-half journey home, bringing our magical adventure with Fish to a close.
Pictures to come later.
Just got back from my trip to L.A. to see Fish, and wow! What a great show.
As most of you here at OSA know, I broke my knee 6 months ago. The last several months have been constant hard work at recovery, and I was unsure how long it would take before I would be back at another concert again. When I got the news in February that Fish was coming back to the States for the first time in 8 years, I resigned myself to being unable to go. At that time I was barely mobile enough to go from room to room, let alone 150 miles to see a concert!
So, I put the thought of going out of my mind, figuring it just wasn't possible. But as I recovered and felt better, I started wondering if maybe there wasn't a chance for me to go. Then, a couple weeks ago, my friend said that he would take me if I wanted to go. I was twice as happy, because not only was I going to the show, but I was meeting up with another friend of mine at the show whom I have not seen in 8 years (she lives in the U.S. only a few months out of the year, when she is not in Europe, where her husband is from). As soon as I got the word that we could go, I sent my friend a message to tell her that I would be there. June 10th couldn't come fast enough!
On the afternoon of June 10th, we drove out of hot, dusty central Cali and headed up the mountain where L.A. lay on the other side. Our goal was to get to a restaurant called Red Rock by 6 o'clock, because Fish was doing a meet-and-greet there, open to the public for anyone to come. (Not like some bands who make you buy "special" tickets from some strange website run by invisible people...but I love them anyway!) We left about 1 o'clock, which gave us plenty of time to get there and maybe walk around Hollywood for a while...or so we thought. The people at the House of Blues gave us such crappy directions that we didn't end up at Red Rock until about a quarter to 5. We made it in time, but we spent more time trying to figure out where we were, so that was kinda lame.
But, the wrong directions actually worked in our advantage, since the jackass on the phone told us to turn left instead of right, and as a result, we ended up right at Red Rock. Good thing too, because our original plan had been to park at the House of Blues and then walk to Red Rock. That would have never worked, because it was WAY too far for me to walk. Even though it took our friends 15 minutes to walk from House of Blues to meet us at Red Rock, I'd probably still be walking now.
So, as we filter into the Red Rock, we find more people with their heads up their asses.
We ask about the meet-and-greet happening at 6, and everyone appears to be totally clueless. The Laker game is on at the same time, so everyone is so concentrated on that, they have forgotten there is an entire world outside of hometown sports. After we ask, someone else comes into the restaurant and asks the same thing. Eventually the Fish fans all congregate in a corner of the restaurant, waiting to find out what is going on. The room upstairs is reserved for the event, but none of the people here for the meet-and-greet are allowed to go up there and wait (why, I don't know, it would have been less crowded than being shoved in a corner downstairs). At that point, my other friend and her buddy show up, so we all wait together. Since none of us had time to eat in our hectic attempt to get here, we ask if we can order some food while we wait. In the meantime, Fish walks into the front door, up the stairs, and we know it is time to make our way up to the lounge.Getting upstairs sounds easier than it was, for me! Mind you, I am still working with a broken knee and climbing stairs is twice as hard for me as it was before (stair-climbing has always been a challenge, even more so now). The stairs are way too steep for me to climb, so I'm at a loss of what to do. The building is an old site built in the 1930s, so there is no elevator or any other means of handicapped access. Unless I find a way up the stairs, I'm not going to the meet-and-greet.
When I called the week before, the staff said for me not to worry and that they would help me. Of course, when the day comes, everyone there is looking the other way like I don't exist. Finally, two very cool guys who are also going to the meet-and-greet offer to help my friend and I...by carrying me up the stairs in my wheelchair! Needless to say I was a little nervous by the prospect. What if they dropped me? What if I went flying down the stairs? But, I figured I could at least give it a try. It felt weird to be suspended in air, but in a few moments we made it to the top. I was ready to rock!
So the room at the top was a sort of lounge with tables, chairs, sofas, and a bar. By this time our waiter finds us and brings our food. The Fish fans are congregating in the room, so we decide to eat and let the crowd have their way with the big man first. There were also t-shirts being sold; they were being sold for $5 cheaper than at the actual gig so I decided to buy them there. Finally, I have more than one Fish shirt and I can retire this old, beat-up Sunsets on Empire tour shirt that I bought from the first tour in '97!
So, after we have some food and drink and check out the scenery for a while, we decide to get in line. Fish is outside on the balcony area smoking cigarettes and signing stuff out there. My friend who came with me to the show decides to figure out a way to get us ahead in the line (unbeknownst to me), and goes out to the balcony area. When he comes back, he brings Fish with him! I have not seen Fish in 8 years and the last time we met he couldn't have been sweeter. Time has not changed things at all. He greets me with a big hug and kiss and we talk for a little while. I give him a present I brought him (a t-shirt from a Scottish restaurant in my town). He loved it. After a few minutes he excuses himself to take pictures with fans and then eventually go back outside to have more cigarettes ("because that's what I do!").
A little while later, we get back in the line to get stuff signed and take pictures. My friend from San Diego forgot all her CDs and had nothing for him to sign, so I gave her the sticker that I brought. Fish signs my Fugazi vinyl and a Marillion glossy. That picture took him back! He proceeded to tell some stories about those days, and a fan approaches him with a story about how he saw Marillion in the early '80s and asked Fish if it was OK to take pictures at the gig, and how Fish talked to his management to help the guy out. Long story short, the guy made a promise to Fish never to share the photos, and he was the first person to see them in 25 years. Very cool. It was cool to see so many fans, I was not sure of the magnitude of Fish's popularity, especially in a city like L.A., so ruled by all things mainstream. But there was a sh*tload of people there, many of them with tons of stuff to get signed. I had a ton of stuff too but kept it to a minimum since there were other people in line who wanted their albums signed too. Fish sat and chatted with us some more, and eventually we went back into the lounge. By this point it is almost 7 o'clock, and the doors at the House of Blues open at 7:30. We decide we should probably cut out of the meet-and-greet and get to the venue.
It was about 7:15, 7:20 by the time we find our car and go down the street to House of Blues. We are escorted inside and get a place right up front. Sweet! Inside there is a merchandise booth with more stuff for sale. I get copies of the last 2 Fish albums (before this new one) since I did not have "real" copies, and a 2-disc DVD for $25. Not a bad deal!
The clock ticks down, and on a giant projection screen, the Laker game is being shown. People in the crowd are wondering if Fish is delaying the show until the game ends. It certainly seemed that way, as the game wound down and there was no sign of the show starting. It is getting close to 9 p.m. and people are getting antsy. (Then again, some of these people did not realize that the meet-and-greet was going on until 8, and it probably took a while for Fish to leave the building and get back to change into his stage clothes, etc.) I was just happy enough to learn that there would be no more wasted time with things like an opening act.
If the Laker game was the closest thing we would get to an opening act, I was happy enough for that.But, when the clock read 9:01, the lights went down and the voices of Bart and Lisa Simpson came on and told a story about a man named Fish who introduced them to Guinness and how it made them feel. Then the opening notes of Rossini's "La Gazza Ladra" came on, and that only meant one thing...Fish!
Here is the setlist, in perfect order:
Intro/La Gazza Ladra
Slainte Mhath
Circle Line
Square Go
So Fellini
Manchmal
Hotel Hobbies
That Time of the Night
Warm Wet Circles
Arc of the Curve
Dark Star
Faith Healer
White Russian
Cliché
Incommunicado
The Last Straw
Wow! What a kick-ass show! Fish rocked his ass off, and his band was tight. He proved himself, once again, as one of the best frontmen I have ever seen live. And it is a totally interactive show, he talks to the audience and they talk back, speaking their minds in any way. Some people requested songs. Other people told Fish to stop talking so much.
When he introduced the song "Dark Star", he told a funny story about his ex-girlfriend's love of fairy figurines and how he broke one of them on the day she dumped him. When he mentioned his ex, I couldn't resist speaking my mind: "F*ck that bitch!" (I'm normally not vocal like this at shows, but if you have ever been to a Fish show or have ever met the man in person, you would know that the shows are like one big congregation of old friends and people feel totally open to shout out any old thing that crosses their minds.)To further emphasize this point, the crowd was singing along so loud that sometimes I could barely hear Fish! During "Incommunicado", the wires in his microphone accidentally popped out, so the crowd sang the verse while he was plugging it back in. Awesome.
Some other killer highlights were when Fish jumped down into the audience during "Faith Healer" and started interacting with his fans even more. Then sometime during the night his bass player brings out some drinks and a huge bottle of wine, which the big man proceeds to drink, loosening his tongue for some more funny stories.
I really didn't know how many people to expect at this show, but I can say honestly that Fish packed them in nearly as much, if not more, than Nightwish did in November. There were people everywhere. This is truly an artist who has survived in this country, at least, on word-of-mouth. There is not a radio station anywhere here that has a format for his kind of music, he or Marillion were never famous enough here to have any kind of media attention when he comes to town (as he said, "it's not like there's a big billboard on the Sunset Strip saying, 'come see Fish tonight'.") Yet there were a bunch of people there and all of them knew his music and knew every word to each song. I was surprised to how many young people I saw there. I thought for sure I'd be the youngest person at the show! But Fish is that kind of artist; he reaches people of all different kinds. It was cool to talk to some of the people throughout the night and see the various walks of life that they come from.
The setlist mostly contained new stuff and Marillion material from the Clutching at Straws album, so if there were any disappointments, it was that the setlist was not more varied and offered material from different albums. But seeing as how Clutching is my favorite Marillion album, I could hardly say I was disappointed by the lack of variety in the setlist. "The Last Straw" was the final song of the night and it was so high-energy and intense. Judging from the hearty shouts of approval, applause, and smiling faces at the end of the night, I don't think anyone went home disappointed. This was my 3rd time seeing Fish and it was just as great as the first time. He gives his all to every performance and totally kicks your ass doing it. For a man who just turned 50 years old, he can take any of these young whipper-snappers to school any day.
The show ended at about 11:30, and since we had a long ride back home, we didn't spend much time socializing after the show. We waited for most everyone to leave before getting in our car. Not to mention I wanted to spend as much time with my friend from San Diego as possible, since neither of us were sure when we'd see each other again (hopefully not another 8 years, anyway!). We hugged each other tight when it was finally time to go. It was 1 in the morning when we hit the freeway and started in on our hour-and-a-half journey home, bringing our magical adventure with Fish to a close.
Pictures to come later.
