Well. Was that fun or what?
As I said: It's always nice to have the family back together.. Huge thanks to all who attended Marillion Weekend 2005 at Minehead - my favourite so far. Never known a vibe like it (and that's against some very stiff opposition i.e. sky-high past-vibes). Most of you have written this week to say what a great time was had.. in fact, if emails were real mail, I wouldn't be able to get out from under the mail-bags to say any of this. Congratulations to all who got up and swapped the band. You were very good. And congratulations to the Cakey Boys for beating us in the quiz (bastards!).
The five of us still can't quite believe we managed to play for so long without forgetting any of it. I can't quite believe I can still talk and walk upright! (7 hours of music and 9 hours of autographs and chat.. not including an interview with The Independent - see http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/story.jsp?story=621191 for the results of THAT chat..) AND (for the third time running) THE SUN SHONE!!
And now some statistics: 2700 people. No security. No backstage security. No trouble. Whatsoever. We salute you. You rock.
For those who couldn't make it, well, there is the new "Wish You Were Here" 4 DVD super-box set of the 2002 and 2003 Marillion Weekends (including 3 Marillion live shows, band and fan interviews, support bands - you name it!) AND an audio CD "Popular Music" from the 2003 "Top Ten" set list vote - both are on sale now from Racket Records (of course!) at www.marillion.com/racket
We also have the rest of the new goodies that debuted at the Weekend 2005 - mugs, baseball caps, art prints, polo shirts, and the remaining Weekend 2005 t-shirts - on sale, too... PLUS we've lowered prices on most of our DVDs, remastered t-shirts, and loads of CDs and other merchandise! Check out www.marillion.com/merch
Finally, there are no Marillion gigs planned for a while - but rest assured when we have something to announce it will go straight onto the touring section of our website. In the meantime, if you want to see Pete and his new band Kino in action, he's playing at the Mean Fiddler in London on Friday April 22nd - tickets are still available from www.wayahead.com
See you soon,
h, Steve, Pete, Ian, Mark