Marillion’s Steve Hogarth reflects on “amazing” Royal Albert Hall show

Steve Hogarth onstage at the Royal Albert Hall
Steve Hogarth onstage at the Royal Albert Hall (Image credit: Getty)

Marillion frontman Steve Hogarth has spoken about the band’s “amazing” show at London’s Royal Albert Hall last year.

The landmark performance took place at the iconic venue on October 13, 2017, with tickets selling out in minutes – the fastest selling gig in the band’s 37 year history.

The set will be screened in Everyman Cinemas at Kings Cross, Esher, Chelmsford, Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol on March 26, with a DVD and Blu-ray titled All One Tonight released on April 2.

Reflecting on the night with eonmusic, Hogarth says: “People flew in for it from all over the world and it just had the most incredible atmosphere.

“We decided to film it and we decided to spend a lot of money on the production, so we put on a big show in there. The whole thing just came into phase on that one day, and proved to be such an amazing occasion.

“What I hadn’t really realised until after the show and talking to people and hearing the buzz on social media, was how the people who were there, the audience, had actually arrived there with the determination to make it a special night for us – which is kind of the wrong way around, really. We’re supposed to be doing it for them!”

Hogarth continues: “Not only had they bought tickets, but they’d arrived with a mission to make the night truly memorable for the band. I don’t think there’s a lot of bands on earth that have got fans that well looked after like us, in their hearts. It’s quite extraordinary.”

The vocalist says the pressure on him and the band to produce something magical that night was “colossal” and adds: “I’ve said before I felt a bit like Charles Atlas walking out there – I felt like I was holding the entire building up.

“I so wanted it to be extraordinary – I wanted everything about it to be the ultimate. As singer and frontman and all of that, that pressure probably weighs a little heavier on my shoulders than everybody else’s.”

He adds: “The reaction walking on stage from that sold out crowd, to see that there didn’t appear to be an empty seat, and to feel that vibration from everybody was really moving.

“Again, it was tempered all the time by a desire to live up to the vibe. It’s lovely to be adored, but you want to earn it. You don’t want to just stand back and go, ‘Oh yeah, cheers, aren’t we great?’

“You’ve got to leave people at the end of the night going, ‘My God, I always knew they were good, but they’re better that that, aren’t they?’ That’s what you want to aspire to.”

Marillion have just launched a deluxe edition of their classic 1994 album Brave and will embark on a run of UK and Ireland tour dates in April.

  1. Eldorado
  2. Living In Fear
  3. The Leavers
  4. White Paper
  5. The New Kings
  6. The Space
  7. Afraid Of Sunlight
  8. The Great Escape
  9. Easter
  10. Go
  11. Man Of 1000 Faces
  12. Waiting To Happen
  13. Neverland
  14. The Leavers

Marillion 2018 tour dates

Apr 08: Belfast Ulster Hall, UK
Apr 09: Dublin Vicar Street, Ireland
Apr 11: Gateshead The Sage, UK
Apr 13: Cambridge Corn Exchange, UK
Apr 14: Birmingham Symphony Hall, UK
Apr 16: Brighton Dome, UK
Apr 17: Bristol Colston Hall, UK
Apr 19: Reading Hexagon, UK
Apr 20: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, UK
Apr 22: York Barbican, UK

David Bowie statue set for Aylesbury - Marillion to headline benefit show

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.