It was a sad moment when Fish announced the plans for his retirement back in January. Having been a fixture of the progressive rock scene since rising to prominence in the early 80s as the talismanic vocalist of Marillion, he evolved into an eye-catching and unique frontman, penning the lyrics to the band’s best known material, even dragging them into the top ten with a pair of hit singles. He walked away from the band at the height of their commercial success to carve a path as a solo artist and become a trail-blazer through the music industry, being an early adopter of the internet as a medium for communicating with his fans, and effectively set up a cottage industry, self-releasing albums and playing to devoted audiences whenever he toured.
In January he announced that following this year’s tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his biggest commercial success, Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood, in which he’ll play the celebrated album in full, he would release one more album in 2016, before stepping away from the music industry to pursue other interests.
With a loyal fanbase, as well as the added interest of him performing his former band’s biggest selling album in full, there’s no doubt that tickets for Fish’s final tour will sell out, so if you haven’t already got your ticket’s you should do so at the first opportunity.
The tour dates are as follows:
August 14th – Cropredy Festival, Cambridgeshire
September 12th – Midstock Festival, Dalkeith
December 3rd – Bristol, O2 Academy
December 4th – London, Islington Assembly Hall
December 5th – London, Islington Assembly Hall
December 7th – Cambridge, Junction
December 9th – Birmingham, Town Hall
December 10th – Sheffield, City Hall
December 11th – Manchester, Academy 2
December 13th – Glasgow, O2 ABC
www.fairportconvention.com/cropredy.php
www.midstockfestival.com
24 Hour ticket hotline for the December shows – 0844 478 0898 / www.thegigcartel.com
Fish will also be releasing seven re-mastered and repackaged solo albums. The first four – Sunsets On Empire (1996), Raingods With Zippos (1998), Fellini Days (2001) and Field Of Crows (2004) – will be available for pre-order in May and released in July.
Internal Exile (1991) (a personal favourite), Songs From The Mirror (1993) and Suits (1994) will follow at the end of 2015.
Each release of these albums will be the definitive 3CD versions containing demos, live recordings and rare exclusive material. Each album will be housed in a unique hardback book with 48 pages of sleeve notes, lyrics, artwork and photographs.
With a storied career that spans well over 30 years, and a sure to be crowd-pleasing live show, the ‘Farewell To Childhood’ tour will be one of the most un-missable episodes of Fish’s long and remarkable career.
Official Website – http://fishheadsclub.com/
