| CHAPTER FOUR, 1982, THE FIGHT FOR METROPOLIS | |
| JUNE
1982 19th, Aylesbury, Friars Hall This was Marillion's first headline at Friars. Actually the were the first unsigned band to appear there on the top of the bill, that above the support acts Cruise and Solstice. Opening Marillion's set was for the first and only time "Three Boats Down from the Candy" followed by the regular opener "He Knows You Know". Continuing were "Grendel", "The Web", "She Chameleon", "Chelsea Monday" and "Garden Party" before "Forgotten Sons" rounded off the main set. "Margaret" and "Market Square Heroes" made up the encore section. Speaking of "She Chameleon" it is more realistic that it was premièred live at this gig, and that fans remember wrong about the Glasgow-gig on 21st April, when claiming that the track was performed then. The fact is that the track had not been included in the set between then and this date, so a debut on this night seems more realistic. My immediate guess it that the band had written the song while having 20 days off from gigging in between this and their show in Cambridge in late May, and that they did so to have a première track to deliver at their first Friars headline! "She Chameleon" would not be officially released until the spring of 1984 when the "Fugazi" album went out to the public, when Fish was also to comment on his ideas behind the lyrics to the track: "About the groupie. The automatic reversal of "Three Boats Down from the Candy", which is about the one night stand where the guy picks up the chick. But, especially in this business, chicks can go and pick up guys as well. They're chameleons in the respect that they can read Record Mirror Profiles, and all the interviews, they can find out what you're like. Then, if they want to, they can gear themselves up to be the image of your perfect woman. They might wander up to you and talk about Stephen Donaldson, Jack Kerouac or every band that you like. She's got the eye and everything; and you can be fooled. You might be coming off stage emotionally very very high, and five weeks into an American tour, when this woman walks in and you think, "Jesus, is this the one for me?". There's always the thing in the back of your mind that says, "No!". You see through the disguise, the chameleon." (Neil Jeffries interview with Pete Trewavas and Fish. Soundcheck!, February 1984.) "But what happens is you're backstage on tour and feeling incredibly lonely, and you get someone who walks backstage and she talks about all the books and poets and films you like, and she's got suspender belts on! And you think shit! This could be it! And you go back and it's just a semenal autograph. Just wanted to trap you. As if by touching you they think they can catch something - as if creativity is a disease that they can catch on a bed in a seedy station hotel." (Neil Gaiman interview with Fish. Knave, 1984.) The debut-version was far from the official version, being an uptempo rock-track, lacking the wonderful hypnotic scenery created by Mark on the "Fugazi"-album. The second verse was followed by a frantic guitar-solo from Steve, which was not included on the original version, and Fish had a verse that never made it to the album: "Playing their game never knowing their name / It could be real this time / I open my heart I'm playing my part searching for the right / The She-Chameleon / I love you / I love you" followed the body-meeting in chemical glow before he could ask if it was just a fuck? The album version is musically far superior to this early "demo", with the hypnotic church organ played by Mark being the driving force throughout, a feature lacking here in 1982. Today saw Mick Pointer drumming, but as "She Chameleon" was put to tape 18 months later, Ian Mosley held the sticks, and on the album we get nearly 7 minutes of intense slow-rock with rolls, fills and beats, that intensifies the sad and emotional expression encapsuled by Mark. Steve's guitar solo was removed for the benefit of one of Mark's finest keyboard-solo's in the Marillion catalogue. Lyrically Fish's description just before tells entire story, short and simple, but indeed frustrating for a vocalist (or a teacher, or an author, or one in your profession?). The benefit of reading most of Fish's lyrics is that even if they are mostly written from his own personal perspective, and therefore are rich on fine penned details and personal references, they are yet broad and describing. Fish often deals with interpersonal relations from an existentialistic point of view, and as none of his audience can claim to live in a social vacuum (even if we can all relate to "The Web" from one time to another) there is a lot of soul-searching to be done when reading his lyrics. Should this be dedicated to the women in the audience only? 21st, London, Clarendon Hotel |
|